Is it just me or do others get annoyed when they see people walking their dog whilst scrolling or talking on their mobile phone? It also upsets me to see parents pushing a pram and engaging more with their phone than their child, but that’s another forum! I’d be glad to read your opinions
Maybe applying for a THS sit, making sure they get in to the first 5.
Perhaps they have an urgent work email to respond to, or an elderly parent with some issue, or a thousand other possibilities. Although sometimes I can’t help it, I try not to be so judgemental about what others do that has no effect whatsoever on me.
Once AI and the robots start walking your dog and child you will look back at this memory fondly. 
I aim to stay engaged while out with pups and I try to time our outings to avoid work interruptions but sometimes my options are stay home and work from my desk or take the pup out for fresh air knowing I may need to take a call, reply to an email or at a minimum, check to see if it can wait until we are home. I do make a point of stepping off the trail and keep eyes on the dog and our surroundings. Hopefully if we cross paths while I am screen engaged, you will allow me some grace.
It doesn’t bother me unless there is something about the dog’s behavior that needs their attention. I might take photos and send them to the HO while on a walk, so i am using my phone. I often listen to podcasts when walking dogs. There are also the urgent situations that others have mentioned.
If there is something so dire and urgent that it Can Not Be Ignored! during a walk, someone with a dog needs to pull over, get out of the way, and deal with it, rather than keep walking blindly. It is far more likely that this behavior will affect someone else, through a dog reacting, poop being missed/not picked up, or even just making it difficult for another person to get by, than whatever is on the phone being as critical as you suggest.
In my city, the new fad is for people to get leashes that attach to their belts, so their hands can be fully engaged with their phone - or phone in one hand, coffee or bubble tea in the other. These are so dangerous, but at least they seem to have replaced the trend of retractable leashes, which are a menace.
Yeah I personally hate people holding their phones and walking their pets. That’s why I do that using apple vision pro 
Poo will certainly get missed
When I go out for walks, whether my daily morning walk, or walks with the dogs, I tend to leave my phone at home unless I am going somewhere I want to take pictures, or we are doing a bit of exploring on foot and need it for directions, etc…
As a sitter, I have found there are some dogs where you can probably zone out a bit more when walking them, and others where you want to remain very alert. But even with the former dogs, my husband and I prefer to give our full attention. And again, I try to minimize time on my phone anyway.
I don’t think most people take exception to the periodic use of the phone per se…sometimes a call is unavoidable or a text may be urgent/timely. I sometimes have mine out, but 4/5 times it’s either to take a photo for the pet owner or consult my navigation app to figure out where I’m going in a strange city!
The objection I have is people who are so engaged with their phone that they’re oblivious to everything around them: the dog, where they’re walking, people in wheelchairs/electric scooters, potential traffic hazards, other people or pets nearby, etc. They potentially put themselves, the pets, & others in danger, and that’s just not acceptable imo…whether you’re walking an animal, or even just on your own going down the sidewalk/mall corridor/etc.
I do get a bit of a giggle though when it reminds me of a story I read a few years ago, about a city in the UK who started installing padding on street- and light-posts, because so many people were getting head injuries walking into them while looking down at their phones.
I realize it’s a bit mean, but personally I wondered why they bothered to go to the effort; to my mind, that’s just a classic example of Darwinism in action. 
All I can think is, “That’s a way to actually USE one’s travel insurance,” !
And especially when not our own dogs, need to be as alert as possible.
I haven’t heard of the padding on lampposts. Personally I think the councils should have saved their money and let the people walk into them, they’d soon learn not to do it again!
Exactly…they can often behave differently with sitters in various ways. And you never know what dogs you will encounter each time you are out.
I rarely use my phone when walking outdoors, because I want to stay situationally aware for safety reasons and avoid tripping or such.
With dogs, I want to stay aware when out, because some people let their dogs off leash and I might unexpectedly need to protect my own dog or a sit dog.
Especially with small dogs, I look around to see whether there’s anything safe that I could put them on top of (like a car or huge planter or secure public trash can) in case a big dog suddenly tried to attack them.
@Smiley, fair point on both observations. And @springy is not wrong - more than once we’ve quickly submitted an application to a listing while walking a dog!
While not always possible, we subjectively prefer listings where dogs are accustomed to walking off-leash on trails or equivalent. At such times, all of us can enjoy the surrounding nature 
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When I was a new mother in London in the early 90s I vowed that I wouldn’t be like those parents that gave their toddlers packets of crisps to eat while being pushed in a stroller. Judging parents is eternal!
I feel likewise, @Smiley . It’s just a fact that mobile phones rule, nowadays. I’d argue that it’s all gone too far, but the situation is irreversible, now.
I sit dogs to enjoy their company. I wouldn’t want to be on my phone when out and about with them. No, I’m far more likely to be engaged in a long and involved discussion with Bongo about the relative merits of various philosophers (although Bongo tends to be far more interested in Chicken vs Beef).