Is your neighbor’s dog poop in your yard? Yeah, me too.
Do you have difficult neighbors and do they let their dog take a HUGE crap in your yard? Do you think to yourself “my neighbor dog poop on my lawn – what do I do about it?”
Neighbor’s Dog took a HUGE CRAP on my Lawn
Then you’ve come to the right place. We understand you and how you feel. You’re probably angry, confused, and unsure of what to do with neighbors that have no respect or courtesy for your personal property.
You are angry, confused, and unsure. Your neighbor’s don’t respect you. What should you do?
“My Neighbor’s Dog is Pooping in my Yard. Now What? 101 Ways to Get Your Yard and Dignity Back” is the book written for you. It is Available on Amazon.com. This book contains the stories of people JUST LIKE YOU – and they have advice JUST FOR YOU. We know this book will help answer those tough questions you have for what might seem like a simple problem, is actually very emotionally complicated.
Book Excerpt of Neighbor’s Dog Pooping on Your Lawn
We had just moved into our new house in 2006, when we were immediately met with an interesting challenge: our neighbor freely takes their dog poopy on our front yard. Now what? Well, like any spineless male in their early 30’s, I wrote a blog post about it. What happened next was magic: I received hundreds of comments advice about what to do with a neighbor who takes their dog poopy in others’ yards. I knew quickly that I had hit a nerve because the volume of responses was so high and the tone of their responses was full of emotion. And now, six years later, that blog post still receives comments and advice from readers from around the world. It became very clear to me: dealing with dog poop in our yards from dogs that are not our own is a universal problem. It’s been said that Math is the common language across all cultures. I’d venture to say that poopy in our lawn is a common experience across all cultures, religions, and geographies. But there’s a backstory here: That original post became somewhat of a channel for people to vent and share their own experiences about dog poo and their neighbors. What I came to realize is that it wasn’t just dog poo and property rights at stake here, but our overall notion of dignity, respect, and basic human decency were being threatened. In a way, that article became an online Dr. Phil show about dogs and poopy in the yard, but also about feeling victimized, anger, revenge, salvation, vindication, and what it means to be a human. So, I present to you the advice of many random and emotional people about what to do with neighbors that have no regard about where their dog goes poopy. As you read, keep in mind that it’s not just advice you’ll be reading, but you’ll be presented with their personal stories and experiences. This book is a compilation of the best advice from that article originally written in 2006. At best, I hope you find the advice here helpful; at worse, I hope you’ll read something that will make you laugh.
Here’s the Original Story
Neighbor dog pooping in my yard.
Yes, that describes my neighbor. They have a really nice black lab, but he roams our neighborhood unattended. During his galavanting around the block, he leaves “calling cards” on the lawns of our neighborhood, including ours. Yuck! We live in a new home and when we bought it, we didn’t have grass, trees, or anything. This summer, we had landscaping done — grass, 14 trees, and a bunch of cement work. So, we’re a little sensitive to poop on a brand new yard. Here’s a picture of our front lawn on the day the landscapers finished their work:
What do I do with the Poop?
Any suggestions? I’d love to hear how others have approached this problem. At first, I thought about placing the poop carefully on their front step with a note stating that “your dog crapped in my yard. please be thoughtful and take care of your dog” — something like that. But, the neighbors are pretty private and anti-social. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very nice to them and go out of my way to talk and to help them with things, but they’re a little different and very unapproachable.
News about the neighbors
Well, they’re moving; so, maybe I don’t have to deal with this anymore. But we have new neighbors and I just had a frank chat with them. They’re really nice and confronting your neighbor is really the best approach – just total honesty and openness.
What about dog poop bags? I wish they had them and used them. I guess it wouldn’t be too bad if their dog ate poop – at least the dog would be cleaning after itself. Or, if the neighbors had a dog poop composter – even better. Or, simply buy a dog poop scooper and use it!
To conclude, let me go back to where I began . . .
Neighbor dog pooping in my yard — Yes, I like the dog, but the owners aren’t that thoughtful. To make the matter worse, the dog owners know about their dog’s habit. Any suggestions? Someone from Petstmart help me.
I live on a corner and have the same problem from time to time. I’ve thought about getting a motion-sensor activated sprinkler like this one:
http://www.smarthome.com/6120.html
Dealing with this recently, adding dog sound s, but then someone actually turned it off, so going ot security lights and night cameras ,14 bucks on ebay
police said if i catch them they will arest them and take the dog
I have had similar experiences with barking dogs.
You should explain the problem to your neighbors and ask them politely to keep their dog out of your yard. If that doesn’t solve your problem you should call the local police or animal control and report them. Most cities have laws and ordinances forbiding people from letting their dogs run loose. The authorities will probably warn your neighbors for the first offense and fine them for subsequent offenses.
With all respect to the previous poster (who probably doesn’t know the owner of his problem dog), you shouldn’t buy motion sensors and other gadgets just to avoid a confrontation with the neighbors. Putting up with with a problem to avoid talking to someone, regardless of how anti-social they seem, is cowardice.
Don’t listen to Gideon unless you want a neighborhood war. Calling the police and/or animal control will only cause problems.
Just have a friendly and polite talk with them, introduce yourself, offer your assistance, and ask them to clean up the poop. If they are un-approachable, leave a card with chocolates or a small gift with the same sentiment. It is better to have friends in your neighborhood, than enemies. “Kill ’em with kindness”
I just got into it with my neighbor about my dog pooping in his yard. I was walking my two dogs and one of them pooped in another yard. I picked it up and moved on. My dog still had something hanging from his butt so he did his poop stance and the neighbor came out and said “please don’t let your dog poop in my yard”. I immediately got on the defense stating I always pick up my dogs poop and showed him my poop bag. He again said the same thing and I said I can’t control when he poops. We exchanged much more words and I then left. I’ve always tried to be a good neighbor and don’t want my dogs to be offensive to my neighbors. Been walking same route for over 8 years. Maybe my neighbor is having a bad day.
No…you have control over WHERE you walk your dog! I don’t want any dog pooping or peeing in my garden….EVEN if you pick up the crap! Why can’t you dog owners understand that other people’s lawn is not your dog’s toilet! What gives you the right? This sense of entitlement is absurd!
I have to agree. I have a neighbor who never caries poop bags when she walks her dog. She always goes home with the dog “empty handed”. Unfortunately, I found the poop many times when I mow my lawn on the shoes or on my mower blades. I don’t ever remember seeing any dog ever peed or pooped in her yard because everyone would carry a poop bag and control where their dogs walk.
Nancy,
It does matter where your dog poops. It’s become habit for many dog owners to let their pets relieve themselves, poop or pee on the edges of neighbors lawns or landscaping, but the truth of it is, MOST neighbors do not like it. They might not be as direct as the neighbor you got into it with, but they most likely think irritated or angry thoughts of you and your pets.
No one likes their nice yards to be thought of as your dog’s toilet. As the sign says, “I don’t relieve myself in your yard, please don’t let your dog use mine as his toilet”. I hate my neighborhood dog owners thinking it’s ok, also if they just pick it up, which sometimes they don’t…that it’s fine. Frankly, even if you pick it up it leaves some poop behind, it stinks, it attracts flies to the yard, it’s a health hazard. Peeing in the yard will also cause damage to sensitive landscaping and lawns. My thought as a pet owner, is just don’t do it. Train your animal to go in your own backyard (then reward the animal with a walk and or treat) or in a place that is not directly in a neighbor’s yard.
Just because everyone seems to do it, doesn’t make it OK with the neighbors around you.
Even if you pick up your dog’s crap, you should know better than to let it take a shit on your neighbors’ lawn. If I caught your dog taking a shit on my lawn, I’d shoot you and your fucking dog.
Maybe you should walk your dog in your yard!!!
You can’t control when the dog poops, you can control WHERE!
best thing to do is apoligise over and over , it your puppy , and your puppies toilet droppings so you are responsible just as if your child went trespassing , people spend a lot of money and hard work wanting thier lawn to look great and not step in doggie stool , please note you wouldnt want your neighbor pooping in your yard, be kind, pick up behind
I’m currently going through this with my neighbors. I’ve talked to them 4-5 times and even had them come down the street to clean it up. I’ve called animal control 3 times. My husband has physically removed and returned their dog twice. What more can we do beyond re-homing the dog ourselves?
I’m not sure I’d buy chocolates for the neighbor, but I certainly wouldn’t avoid the converstation. 75% of the time, talking with them will solve the problem. Even if they don’t care, they won’t want to deal with talking with you again, so they’ll fix the problem. If that doesn’t work, ask them 1 more time, then start calling animal control. In that situation, it doesn’t do the dog, the neighbor, or your sanity any good to put up with it. They’re also your neighbors, so you don’t want to make them angry since your lives are intertwined for a while. So … be nice and confront the problem in person. If that doesn’t work, show ’em some tough love. You shouldn’t have to pay for sprinklers/fences/etc… for someone else’s illegal negligence.
I agree with all the forementioned suggestions. If the neighbors fail to respond, however, tough love might look like this: scoop up the poop in a baggie and put it in your neighbor’s mail box.
I always wondered what makes people think it’s alright to let their animals use their neighbors’ lawns as a toilet.
Why punish the mail carrier???
Actually give the chocolate to the dog. It will never bark ever again
Hey Joe, if you give the dog chocolate, then he will poop your yard up even more. lol… He now have diarrhea and finds his way back to his marked spot to let it all out.
sure he might poop more on the same spot, but chances are he will also get the runs inside their house. I bet they’ll clean up after the dog inside lol
HHaaaaaHHHaaa..good one!
Chocolate is toxic for dogs – it can kill them! I know that you aren’t suggesting that murdering an animal is okay!?!? Animal lover or not! That’s like killing a child because they have crappy parents!
Chocolate can make a dog very sick, up to and including death. It is not Ex-lax! I can imagine your frustration but please don’t hurt the animal, poison the neighbor. lol
Did you actually see their dog(s) pooping on your lawn? If not, and you are going on the assumption of finding dog droppings in your yard, it could be someone else’s dog(s). I know many people in my neighborhood who walk their dogs in the dark, who think after big Duke does his duty on their lawn, they can just scamper back home into the darkness. This happens nightly to our lawn.
I have two little dogs and they totally are not capable of putting out the huge piles I am finding in my yard. I mean something that size won’t come out of 8lb dogs.
just so you all know , ebay sells lights and barking alarms for 8 bucks , but theni have a person that shuts them off , now for a cam lol
For over a year now I have asked my neighbor nicely to please not let their dog do his business on my lawn they have a black lab..Since I am a seasonal resident there isn’t much I can do while I am not at the house but my lawn service calls and complains that they are walking into it often enough..So now I have resorted to picking up the last poop and plopping it right on their lawn and instead of getting an apology I got laughed at and ridiculed.. they were not happy at all about having to clean up their own dogs mess..i told them that it belonged to them and that now they know how i felt having to pick it up for the few weeks that I have been at the house..thenI simply called the dog warden and will continue to document each episode ..eventually their dog will either get picked up or the owners will be fined..I will be returning every 3 months and inspecting the property..if I find more poop I will not only return it to them after taking a picture of it to document it I will be calling the dog warden again..enough complaints should eventually turn into a civil suit…maybe they will put up a fence or at least keep the dog on a leash.
For over a year now I have asked my neighbor nicely to please not let their dog do his business on my lawn they have a black lab..Since I am a seasonal resident there isn’t much I can do while I am not at the house but my lawn service calls and complains that they are walking into it often enough..So now I have resorted to picking up the last poop and plopping it right on their lawn and instead of getting an apology I got laughed at and ridiculed.. they were not happy at all about having to clean up their own dogs mess..i told them that it belonged to them and that now they know how i felt having to pick it up for the few weeks that I have been at the house..thenI simply called the dog warden and will continue to document each episode ..eventually their dog will either get picked up or the owners will be fined..I will be returning every 3 months and inspecting the property..if I find more poop I will not only return it to them after taking a picture of it to document it I will be calling the dog warden again..enough complaints should eventually turn into a civil suit…maybe they will put up a fence or at least keep the dog on a leash.
For over a year now I have asked my neighbor nicely to please not let their dog do his business on my lawn they have a black lab..Since I am a seasonal resident there isn’t much I can do while I am not at the house but my lawn service calls and complains that they are walking into it often enough..So now I have resorted to picking up the last poop and plopping it right on their lawn and instead of getting an apology I got laughed at and ridiculed.. they were not happy at all about having to clean up their own dogs mess..i told them that it belonged to them and that now they know how i felt having to pick it up for the few weeks that I have been at the house..thenI simply called the dog warden and will continue to document each episode ..eventually their dog will either get picked up or the owners will be fined..I will be returning every 3 months and inspecting the property..if I find more poop I will not only return it to them after taking a picture of it to document it I will be calling the dog warden again..enough complaints should eventually turn into a civil suit…maybe they will put up a fence or at least keep the dog on a leash.
For over a year now I have asked my neighbor nicely to please not let their dog do his business on my lawn they have a black lab..Since I am a seasonal resident there isn’t much I can do while I am not at the house but my lawn service calls and complains that they are walking into it often enough..So now I have resorted to picking up the last poop and plopping it right on their lawn and instead of getting an apology I got laughed at and ridiculed.. they were not happy at all about having to clean up their own dogs mess..i told them that it belonged to them and that now they know how i felt having to pick it up for the few weeks that I have been at the house..thenI simply called the dog warden and will continue to document each episode ..eventually their dog will either get picked up or the owners will be fined..I will be returning every 3 months and inspecting the property..if I find more poop I will not only return it to them after taking a picture of it to document it I will be calling the dog warden again..enough complaints should eventually turn into a civil suit…maybe they will put up a fence or at least keep the dog on a leash.
I got a good laugh about “killing your enemies with kindness.”
& a good laugh out of giving the Dog Chocolate.
Our Neighbor claimed that the dog that barks has a bladder problem & is therefore kept outside & the two younger dogs pick on him (the older) dog. They brought it inside & for 1-2 days & told us about the dog having a medical problem.
Likely storey: L.O.L.!!
Now what? I’ve been thinking about this for awhile now. My husband is the one who knows what to say, & how to put it politely, however: I do not believe that is fixing this situation.
I do not feel we should have to get into some kind of fight with our neighbor, nor to have to cause some scene.
I do believe something needs to be done.
Why did I laugh about the chocolates? Well, Killing the neighbors with kindness sounds good along with another idea that I have:
The neighbors dog came into our yard & had attacked my husband while outside in our yard (almost), good thing he had some kind of steal rod with him at the time: the dog then ran off. However, the dog comes into our back yard as though he owned the place & he will not come into the yard if there is more then one person in the yard. Unfortunately, dog owners do not realize their dog is mean around others without them being around.
I’ve got this idea in my head to have chocolate with Ex-lax in it: In our yard, for the dog. And my husband can make some chocolate cookies for our neighbors.
If an issue comes up, we didn’t feed your dog anything, he came into our yard & helped himself: & get it on candid camera.
If this doesn’t help you, then you can @ least get a good laugh about it, as I’ve not done it yet: however the idea sounds good. The dogs stomach would be so upset, he will not want to leave his own yard & probably wont even feel like barking. Besides, from what I’ve heard, Chocolate isn’t good for dogs: L.O.L.
In looking for a solution: I may have found it. I should also make a sign: No-Dog Trespassing aloud: Mainly for the owners of the dogs since dogs can’t read: L.O.L.
He (the dog) jumps over our brick wall, I am thinking of attaching an electric fence @ the top of it: to keep him out, along with a zapper & a dog dazer. This dog needs to know where the property lines are & how he can avoid getting himself into trouble. Out our office window is where our back yard is located: we see this dog, in action.
Our home is our place of refuge & this dog is going to find out where the property lines are!!
Note: The neighbor is only allowed to have 2 dogs & has 3 dogs.
Hi–
Sort of a cliche, but how about a fence? Yes, this avoids confrontation, but it certainly protects your yard and offers protection for your children. Personally, I like the look of fences and the sense of hominess they offer. If you don’t like the look of a fence, try planting a row of hedges and put a green wire garden fence behind them. Everybody wins.
Your neighbors are thoughtless, but you are not going to change them. The dog may be the one who really suffers in the end. It’s not his fault.
#
Toni said,
July 30, 2008 @ 5:24 am
Hi
Sort of a cliche, but how about a fence? Yes, this avoids confrontation, but it certainly protects your yard and offers protection for your children. Personally, I like the look of fences and the sense of hominess they offer. If you don’t like the look of a fence, try planting a row of hedges and put a green wire garden fence behind them. Everybody wins.
Your neighbors are thoughtless, but you are not going to change them. The dog may be the one who really suffers in the end. It’s not his fault.
I cringe at hearing this: “You should call the local police or animal control and report them. Most cities have laws and ordinances forbiding people from letting their dogs run loose.” (Forbidding is the correct spelling by the way)
I agree with Toni, build a fence and keep them out. I am sure you do things that are just as irritating to your neighbors. We all live close together and we all poop in each others yards in some manner. What is more important, winning the poop war or having a good relationship with a neighbor? A short white picket fence would look nice around your house.
By the way, I linked one of your articles to our website. I hope that is all right.
Fences are expensive. Why should I have to PAY FOR someone else not taking care of their animals properly?????
Then they just pee on it and stain it yellow! Why don’t you all walk your dogs in your yard, there’s an idea!!
Marisa you’re exactly right. I’ve had a medium sized dog that liked to go out and stay outside on nice days. We kept her fenced in. I now have two small dogs and live in a neighborhood with large lots and we have no fence. Our dogs go out with us and stay in our yard with us without roaming.
My problem now, is that a new neighbor moved in with a large dog that roams the neighborhood and craps in our yard. I now have to worry about this large dog attacking my small dogs plus I don’t appreciate the large piles being left behind by someone else’s dog. The neighbor ignored my concerns when I told them to keep their dog in their own yard.
They should build a fence for their dog or get one of those invisible fences that are used with collars. It’s not other peoples responsibility to “look out” for your dog.
How about a low power BB gun or paint ball gun to light up his butt? I assume this is not legal but if I’m not mistaken so is letting your dog run loose. Just don’t get caught.
I have a similar, but slightly different problem. I live in a big city and have two tneighbors with dogs who live above us in the same building. They are leaving the dog poop all day long, and occasionally, not always, pick it up in the evenings or the next morning.
I have two small children who like to play outside in the yard. One of them is still at the age where he would potentially eat the poop if he accidentally comes into contact with it. I have asked the neighbors politely to pick up the poop, I have written an angry e-mail and my husband has asked politely as well. I have had several conversations with one of them who argues with me about this and says, “oh, it’s no big deal–I get it at the end of the day.” I have explained to her that my children are playing outside DURING the day, so this is useless. She dismisses my requests and continues to say it’s not a problem because “the poop is just in the one little area in the yard.” I never know where the poop is and clearly polite conversation/confrontation has not worked, nor has anger. What should I do? Right now, I’m combing the yard for poop before my children go outside to play and picking it up myself.
I understand the sentiment behind the advice that people have given about just putting up with the crap or putting up fences (good fences do make good neighbors, after all), but at the end of the day, it IS the responsibility of dog owners to control their dogs, and you should NOT be required to alter your life or property to accommodate their negligence. Unfortunately, however, the people who are willing to allow their dogs to run loose are the very people who are unwilling to take responsibility or make changes, so their victims are left to play defense.
Do call animal control, especially if you have children or small animals of your own. Dogs that are left loose to relieve themselves on your lawn are not dogs that are under control, and their misbehavior can easily escalate to physical attacks. Period.
We just experienced an episode of this sort of escalation this week. We have a neighbor who has let her small dogs out unsupervised for several years. They clearly are under the impression that the entire neighborhood is their playground, and leave piles all over the place, in addition to blocking postal and UPS delivery trucks and chasing cats and children on scooters. A couple days ago, they finally got their jaws on a cat and tore its throat out.
Unleashed dogs are no joke. Put your foot down.
I baste the poo with leftover bacon fat, the next time the dog comes around it takes its last deposit with it. this usually means there is always one poo on the lawn but it is now a most entertaining poo, there are some who say “don’t abuse the dog” but as far as I am concerned they eat poo all the time so no harm done. You could always kindly inform the dogs owner that this WILL be your tactic if they do not contain their dog.
Unfortunately, we’ve found that talking to the owner of the dog does no good, for the dogs wouldn’t poop on your lawn if it were not for the owners. I believe some of the owners do not want to take responsibility for their dogs actions, so they are in denial that there is even a problem.
We need more responsible dog owners that care to leave good rather then bad impressions.
We are responsible dog owners & well…….since we’ve gotten a dog & Ironically our neighbors dog barks less. & their dog rarely ever tries to jump our fence, or to pup on our side of our yard anymore.
Maybe the neighbors are learning through observance what a responsible dog owner is like & should be like. People learn through observance. If you can’t keep a dog properly, how then do you expect them to?
I find people get too upset about dogs going on their yards (playing the devils advocate), if you care so much about your yard and your property, then you wouldn’t mind building a fence or having a hedge around the perimeter. No one is going to go on your yard that way, and then you can find something better to do other then trolling your windows.
Ethan, you are not making any sense at all. Why so much extra work for neighbors. It’s your dog & your responsibility of his (your dogs) whereabouts. Dig? Go take a nap..lol..
It’s not my job to alter my life or pay to alter my property because you cannot control your animal. Nope! My domain is all I am responsible for and I am not responsible for decorating it to accommodate the irresponsible actions of others. So if i dont want to put up a hedge that isn’t aesthetic to my lawn design, I won’t. There is no reason I should have to get a crystal ball and see into the future that some idiot that can’t control their dog is going to just let says animal irk are and defacate all over my lawn. Yeah, I’ll pass on that notion.
If you allow your dog to constantly \go\ in a neighbors yard, then you are disrespecting them in a major way. If they talk to you and you continue to do so, then whatever they do to you in retribution is warranted since you are technically in control and by ignoring their requests you have brought in on yourselves. You idiots that think it is ok for a dog to go in your neighbors yard are just that……. idiots.
Agree Perry… Thank you!
Thank you for bringing up the core issue here — RESPECT! People who use their neighbors’ properties as their own personal dog toilet have a mental problem. They are stunted in their development of respectful, mature, sensible behaviour. Just return their dog’s poo to them making sure it is placed where they are sure to step in it. No amount of polite communication is going to work. They are not that evolved. You might as well be teaching a chimp to play the piano.
I never said it was ok for people to let their dog go on your lawn, and yea I agree with your whole warranted retribution spiel, but if you have some wide open yard basically inviting dogs to squat, its inevitable. If you have some big garden at the curb, what do you expect? There is always going to be that one idiot as you call them that will let their dog go on your lawn. Get a fence or a hedge around your property, and then you won’t have to come up with these ridiculous schemes because your ego is hurt.
some neighborhood associations do not let people build fences around the yards…….duh. are you going to suggest that everyone move away from neighborhoods with deed restrictions now???? or that maybe people should not live where there are certain rules? if that response for me crossed your mind, then maybe you should also think about the city rules that say you should keep your dog under your supervision. bottom line, we shouldn’t have to fence ourselves in. people should just be responsible for their own pets and thats all there is to it.
It had nothing to do with ego you dumb ass lol. Who the hell in their right mind likes to clean up dog shit huh ? You tell me who? Dog owners don’t even like to do it but they know they have to. Why the hell should somebody have to come out of pocket to put a fence up and look at something that they didn’t even want but had to do it just to keep a fuckin dog off the lawn huh? You really are a clueless idiot. Have some god damn respect and pick up your dogs crap end of story
Wow lol, Matt you should really pick up some reading comprehension. Responding to a post over a year old and throwing out personal attacks when in fact all I did was give another side of the argument is only proving you to be the “clueless idiot”. I’m in no way agreeing that a person letting their dog crap on your lawn is OK as I stated in a previous post. I’m saying chances are there’s always going to be that one person in the neighborhood that doesn’t clean up after their dog. I take pride in my yard, so in the majority of the houses I lived in I’ve either built a fence or had a hedge around the perimeter so that it enforces boundaries.
Yeah people “should” be responsible for their pets, but some people see it as “should” and not “must”. If you value your nice yard it “should” be common sense to have some sort of ensuring factor to keep it nice, like a fence. The same logic applies to your house, your car, etc. That’s why we invented insurance as a line of protection for the things we value.
Imagine one day you’re driving down the street and someone crashes into you with their car. No matter whos fault it was, if you value your car you should have some sort of insurance on it. You’re stupid not to because there will always be that factor of it happening. Yeah I don’t like paying for car insurance, but it’s taking responsibility and control over something important in my life. If I got into an accident with no insurance I can get pissed at the other person all I want for what happened, but its equally my fault for not being prepared accordingly. Your yard follows the same logic. You can be pissed off at the person all you want for letting their dog poop on your yard, but it’s equally just as much your fault for letting your yard be a candidate and not having any sort of defense.
It does have a lot to do with ego, otherwise this website wouldn’t be up. People see it as a personal attack, and automatically think the dog owners single your yard out and force their dogs to go in your yard just to spite you as a person, when in fact most of the time it’s just the luck of the draw. The houses I didn’t build a fence or hedge I mirrored the offenders attitude judging on their actions. If its just a first or second time random offender, then I took it as lightly as they did and just assertively told them not to do it and they respected my wishes. If I were to overreact and start freaking out on those first time offenders, they will probably take it personally, and their hurt feelings may lead to retaliation by singling my yard out in the future depending on how bruised their ego is.
So there’s a little rational thought. Life isn’t fair, so don’t expect things to be. Not all people have the same values and morals as you do, so don’t expect them to. Just because If I had a dog I would always clean up after them, doesn’t mean another dog owner shares the same code. Therefore it’s my responsibility to adapt and be prepared for those types of things, rather then complain and blame everyone else.
Ethan, I can’t agree with anything you have said. I do value my yard, but I don’t WANT a fence and I shouldn’t have to put one up to keep a dog off my lawn. My lawn is my private property and the offender is trespassing. End of story.
We have a dog and she never sets foot on anyone else’s lawn without invitation. It is not hard to do, if she tries, we tell her “off” and she doesn’t do it. It is not rocket science, it is basic dog training. People like those who allow (yes, they allow it) their dogs to use other people’s property as a toilet and don’t pick up after their dogs (regardless of where they leave a deposit) are the reason dogs are allowed so few places anymore. As a responsible pet owner, it irritates the crap (pun intended) out of me. And trying to lay it off on the homeowner as their responsibility to keep the dogs at bay is irritating at best too. Epic fail in your argument as far as I am concerned.
If you were aware of car jacker[s] in your neighborhood, would you be saying the same thing? If you lived in a bad part of town, wouldn’t the smart and logical decision be to get some security for your vehicle? Lets switch some words around in your opening paragraph:
Ethan, I can’t agree with anything you have said. I do value my car, but I don’t WANT anti theft and I shouldn’t have to have it to keep other people away from my vehicle. My car is my private property and the offender is trespassing. End of story.
Even though you’re right that it is wrong for people to be violating your property, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. It is still humorous to scale your blind argument with a different scenario however. It doesn’t matter what you want or don’t want. I wouldn’t want to get anti theft for my car, but if I lived in a bad area I would much rather have it then have my car vandalized.
The exact same logic applies to dogs crapping on peoples yards. If you are aware of irresponsible and stubborn dog owners in your neighborhood, you can shut out the offenders with a fence or a hedge. It would be stupid to just expect them not to if you are already aware of it, it would be like leaving your car unlocked in a bad part of town and expect it to be there in one piece by morning.
So please explain to me how my argument is an “epic fail” aside from the fact that you personally don’t agree with it. People as dense and ignorant as you and Matt often leave me to think that there are only stupid people left breeding in North America.
You crack me up. Clearly you are someone who likes to argue just for the sake of arguing. You don’t even know the definition of your example, but my argument is blind? And I am the dense and ignorant one? Something tells me you are the type of person who does (or would let) their dog crap on other people’s lawns unless they were “smart” enough to put a fence up to keep you out.
For the record, a carjacker (not CAR JACKER) is defined as “The criminal taking of a motor vehicle from its driver by force, violence, or intimidation.”
man I wish you were my neighbor.
I spent 5 years landscaping and creating a yard with their permission.
Between our properties. (7k worth of work)
Now they have a tenent with a boxer running amuck.
And don’t care. All they want is the $
I don’t like seeing the dog miss treated by just letting it run all over.
I have even stopped it from running away a few times.
Tried to talk to them, but they say I am the a&& hole.
Thank you Anna,
That was one of the most logical comments I’ve read so far. My neighbor does watch her 75lb. Boxer poop in others yards, because I’ve witnessed her doing it this summer. All of our backyards are side by side. She has a baby that is almost two. She doesn’t want the dog going to the bathroom in her yard where her child plays, so she allows it to run loose daily, watching it go. All of my neighbors have seen this. We are also afraid because of the size of the dog. When we yell at it, it just stands there, barking at us. I’ve told the owner four times, over the last 3 years about her dog, but she ignores me & goes in the house. I’m video taping it now.
Yeah you’re right on cue Matt.
Quote: Who the hell in their right mind likes to clean up dog shit huh ? You tell me who?
I’ll ask – “Anybody?” Raise your hand!
Quote: Dog owners don’t even like to do it but they know they have to.
I’ll say – “That’s why they (Dog owners) Need to Put Up a Fence around their own yards…to keep him in their yard, so the dog won’t have to leave home to poop… And They can Clean It up. This way, Everybody, All neighbors will remain happy, and easy to live with”. Nawww, that’s too much like right! What’s the Big Picture & Problem here? They’re LAZY Asses!
Quote: Why the hell should somebody have to come out of pocket to put a fence up and look at something that they didn’t even want but had to do it just to keep a fuckin dog off the lawn huh?
I’ll ask – “Yeah Why? Why-Why should we? Somebody Tell Me Please!”
Quote: You really are a clueless idiot. Have some god damn respect and pick up your dogs crap end of story
I’ll say to those who are frustrating, aggravating & doing things for spite to your brother or sister in your neighborhood to hate on them, things do have a way of coming back to/on you! Your neighbor may be the one who will save you life if there was an emergency with you.
Try this technique:
Clean it up “Out of Your Own yard, behind Your Own fence installed around Your Own home!!!
BTW – There are Some very respectful pet/dog owners out there, and they know who they are, and I commend you. They potty train their dogs, teach them when & where to poop, and never have their dog go in someone else’s yard, because that is straight out Nasty. Good ones even go as far as having dogs barking under control. Those who don’t, simply don’t care about other people’s well-being.
Selfishness & Self centered is what it really is.
Yet, there are some Real Lazy Nasty Non-caring Disrespectful Bitter & Devious dog owners, using their animals to piss other neighbors, & people in general off. I observe neighbors like this all the time, who are unhappy themselves, have lost communication skills with decent educated human beings. They are very unlovely, unfriendly, jealous & envious of others. Not to mention sour and resentful with self as well. It’s very noticeable, wanting attention. When they can’t get it from me, then I deal with sort of thing.
You guys out there are not alone. It’s an epidemic! This is their way of grasping for attention that they cannot achieve from their animals, so they’re bitter & jealous of people. They tend to stay close to their animal so they will feel love. That’s it. That’s all some people have, and that’s not enough.
I study neighbors who do this all the time. Let me make my self clear, Not everyone is like this, but the ones who are, they know this is true – from observance & studying behavior modification, plus, years ago in college, I know it is.
Just offering a little input for this type of behavior. Now, these owners want their surroundings neat & clean, and they get a thrill out of destroying others properties in order to make theirs stand out, and look better than yours’. What arrogant selfish fools they are.
In the end they will still need a human being to possibly save their life, in the time of an emergency. These people should start having respect for their fellow brother & sister… stop trying to make others lives hell because you are living in hell within.
Clean the Crap Out of My Yard & Do Get a Fence for Your own Yard. Better yet, I may have said it before, but this is important. How about letting your dog poop in your/his own yard before taking him for a walk? OR Put a pamper on the dog before you walk him if he hasn’t been taught that everybody is not fond of looking at Or stepping in his/her waste. They’re not that cute. I wouldn’t want to step in my own crap! What is the real purpose of the walk everyday, anyway? Is it for the dogs exercise? Yeah right, I didn’t think so! Let them exercise in your fenced in yard, and again – everyone’s happy again. Lastly, “IT IS ALL PURPOSELY DONE” No Mistakes made by owner…
They know all about what they’re doing to you as a neighbor. The question is – Do you?
Trust me on this. Gotta say…
Right on, Matt! I’m out too!
What if you live in an area where covenants prevent fences, and the land won’t support hedges? Your advice is silly. Where I live, there is far too little dirt to support hedges and water restrictions would mean that the hedges had better be plastic! Also, deer must be able to pass through, so fences are not allowed. The yard is not to blame. Selfish, ill-mannered, disrespectful dog owners are!
I am asking anyone for advice on what to do. I am having a similar problem. My neighbor is letting her dogs out to do their business on my lawn.
I have:
1.) yelled at them when they are on my property. She is on her porch watching so I see no reason to go over and talk to her about it. She knows that she is a dirty birdie.
2.) I basted her dogs turds with bacon grease. My dog has a pen so I know which piles belong to her animals. I figure dogs eat crap anyway and if they clean up after themselves, everyone wins. Apparently the dogs are smarter than their owner, they wouldn’t eat their own feces, bacon grease or no bacon grease.
3.) I called the police. The police have been to her house a number of times. She has been issued at least one ticket. I overheard her 3rd conversation with the police officer regarding her coming visit with the magistrate.
At that time she told the officer that our dog frequents her yard. We have an 86 lb GSD that hates dogs and people and that I DO NOT trust off leash, the end. If my dog was in her yard she would have a bigger problem than improper doggy defecation. So not only is she retarded, she is a liar as well.
I have not attempted to collect the droppings and leave them at her place. I do not want an altercation or her charging me with trespassing etc.
Our neighborhood has a no fence law. Otherwise this would be our obvious next step. I have thought about a scarecrow sensor sprinkler, but I am having a hard time spending upwards of 60 bucks on something that may or may not work. I would hose them down myself, but when they hear me open the back door they pinch it off and finish their job in my next door neighbors yard. I don’t want to hurt the dogs, because it is not their fault that their owner is a derelict imbecile, but each passing day it gets harder and harder.
Hey Kim. This story of mine is similar in a sense, where the owners are on the porch watching as well. They call their dog when he finishes loading my yard. This is on purpose I know for sure. I have no problem at being a decent caring neighbor.
This story has an additional act, along with the demonic ways of these animal owners. Only one dog owner family in my block or on my street, with 2 dogs. Everybody knows this. Have you experienced any thing like this? Has anyone?
My neighbor lets his dog out to roam around our street, around 12 midnight and he’s very sneaky with it. Already standing on his/their porch, by the time he thinks the dog is finished he starts calling the dog. At this time it’s too late. In speaking to them a while back about this, Owner gets very angry, appears to be devious & dangerous – says he’s not the only one who has a dog around here, yet he is. Police spoke to him/them, then they retaliated against me worse. Nobody can stop these people.
I’m a witness to that.
He knows what he’s doing. He’s been fined in the past for poop in front of my sidewalk, and he still doesn’t stop. Seems to be unstoppable to me. He has a back yard fenced in, but he does this on purpose. Why confront someone when they know what they’re doing? Also he has been doing everything he can think of to destroy our neighborhood, for the five years he’s been living in this block, and the dog is one of the ways.
I’ve been living in this corner home, now for 21 years, and with No fence. I’m looking for solutions to stop it (dog poop) as well. I was recently searching for a cheap way to fence my front yard without at a high cost, or going into debt. This neighbor has caused me a lot of money trying to catch him head-on for the trash thrown in front of my door overnight, and the midnight poop sessions…
El-slicko, I’ll say! There are about 6 spots with dog poop where I have put sand from my granddaughters sand box on my porch.
Hear this: I live alone, and always in some school learning new trades, so neighbor started this when I graduated from college as a pc tech in ’09. He (male dog owner) saw me doing my hedges one hot day… came to my yard, told me that the other neighbors didn’t like me. I ask why! He says, they are jealous of you because you
are smarter than they ‘is’. That’s exactly how he said it. “Shame, Shame, Shame on him! School is waiting for him, no doubt…Lol…
First it started with turning neighbors against me, and one another, trashing the side of my home 3 years ago, then came the dog ‘let loose to poop on my property or right outside my front yard’ thing. He’s jealous of all the residents in the block. He does a lot of crutty things, like a crackhead would do, for no reason at all. I am a loner, except for friends who come to visit me from afar, and we bother no one.
The point here is… no one is allowed to run in and out of my home (casing it).
You see, I’m from the old school.
To sum it all up: If this neighbor (family) can’t come in & out of other neighbors home, borrowing, plotting & planning on ways to set them up somehow, then they show they anger & hatred with trash & dog poop around my home & a couple of others residents (wife in it too). He’s not the only trash-er though. There’re others as well who have been fined, but as long as housing get their fine money they don’t care. Everything starts all over again, continuing as usual.
So the real question is… what is the solution and who do you call? Well, with the…
City? (hears & takes complaint & cleans the trashers trash up with alley sweeps)
Housing? (checks complaint, fine neighbors & collects their money)
Us Neighbors? (day later we continue to see the poop & trash build-up same places as before). Ohhhh – the poop stopped in the male neighbors yard, but continues in mine.
Those who are Not dealing with such Don’t think it’s a big deal. How foolish!
If you haven’t dealt with this sort of aggravation, your day will come. Live long enough…you will, and it ain’t pretty.
Note: There is a fee for a permit to put up fence, cost for the fence, and a cost for the labor to have it put up correctly. Whew… Who has extra money laying around these days for this crap? Not me!
You can’t bite butt & ‘make’ neighbors let you treat them nice. I’m always kind.
They really don’t want that. Not bragging but I’m one of your best, respectful, private & considerate neighbors you’ll ever find, without a dog. I help others when I can, but I enjoy minding my own business. Some people don’t like this type neighbor!
Remember, the sad thing is… No One is protecting you from retaliation!!!
It all sucks if you ask me. Plus these haters only do this to women, not men.
Owners sit, watch and wait for women to speak up, as Kim mentioned, so they can attack them verbally to get their anger out.
I spoke up for 2-3 years about all this to everyone – community president, city, housing, police, citation enforcement – you name them, and it’s still going on today… 8-2011. Go figure!
Peace out!
Bottom line: I still haven’t figured out what to do
to put a stop to all this madness (above).
I can totally relate. Trying to talk politely to your neighbour is only a good solution when he’s a civilized person. Otherwise he just gets angry and yells at you (when in fact YOU are the one who should be angry), tells you to get lost and retaliates against you when you dare call the police, who won’t care much afterwards if you tell them about the retaliation. I’m just a quiet student living with his mother (I think my other neighbours barely notice I live here) and a 40-something-year-old bully who lives a couple of houses away has apparently decided to devote a lot of energy to harassing me. One of the things he does is parking his lorry close to my house to try to wake me up with the noise it makes every morning. Another is letting his dog poop on my front lawn.
Apparently those retards don’t only target women, but also young and physically weak students like me.
It’s both comforting and appalling to know we are not the only victims of such unscrupulous degenerates. Whenever I see this kind of story I ask myself: “How can human beings be so despicably rotten?” Take a look at this article for instance:
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9525301.Neighbours_forced_family_out_of_home/
How is it possible to be such an uncivilized scumbag in the 21st century? Those people are not cut out to live in a modern society if they can’t respect their neighbours and are ready to retaliate against them for the rest of their lives instead of recognizing that they are in the wrong. They should go live alone in caves. If I had a time machine I’d lock up my neighbour inside and send him back to the age of Neanderthal men, which is probably where he came from.
I previously left a comment on here about my neighbors, who are our friends and still leave their dog poop, in spite of our numerous requests. There are three families who live in the same building as we do–we live in a big city in a condo building and share a yard. My children play in the yard and have stepped on dog poop numerous times. I have told them this and they still do it. After writing all of this on here last year and spending a long time being angry with them because they did not do anything about it, I finally bought a pooper scooper and some doggie doo doo bags and started combing the yard myself for dog poop before my children play in the yard. Acceptance has made my life peaceful again! I don’t think people who have been asked numerous times are ever going to change behavior, so my final advice to all who have visited here in anger with their neighbors is….acceptance! As soon as I did, my anger went away. The friendship with the neighbors is obviously not as close as it otherwise might have been had they picked up their dog’s poop, but nonetheless, we’re still friends and I am now at peace picking up the poop!
More power to you Alice. I put sand on top of it(poop), because I’m not combing my yard looking to scoop it up. Where am going to put it after picking it up.
I don’t carry anger, personally. I just don’t want to step in dog sh**, and bring it in my home. Happened to me before at a park and I DIDN’T LIKE IT!!!
I had to stop & realize – I have retards as neighbors. It is, what it is, ya know. I don’t own a dog and don’t feel comfortable scooping dog crap up from my property. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it… However, I do have other solutions to this problem. That’s it.
@ Alice, I am not ready yet for acceptance. I bought the sprinkler for $57 with free shipping on Amazon.com. When it soaks her dogs, then I will call the police and tell them that the dogs were in my yard again as they are wet (proof) and we can do this every day until one of us moves or she dies or whatever. I am currently unemployed so she is my new project. I was up late last night and noticed that her cat was in my yard marking as well. My yard has become one big latrine. I am thinking that this sensor sprinkler should take care of all the problems without hurting the animals. Of course in the winter,when it is below freezing, I am back to square one. With any luck her animals will be reprogrammed by then.
Recommended:
I posted about the same problem prior to getting a motion sensor & a dog. We now have an inside dog. We go outside a few times daily & now the next door neigbhor tells his dogs to be quiet. They are not home much, so when we catch their dog who is sensored: we tell the dog with authority to go home (in a firm voice). He goes home & rarely bothers us much anymore.
The neighbors have a different kind of stench about them, as they smoke in their back yard & while out there, I can bearly breathe, so I have to come back inside: it is too bad i can’t call an Environmentalist to come & lock them up.
I’m glad this world is not my home!!
@Cyndi
Sounds like you need to have a scarecrow sprinkler for your neighbor. Watch it hose him while he is trying to light up. Maybe he could use a shower too:0)
I’m having a similar problem…I live in a townhouse, with no yard but a small patch of grass, right in front of where I park my car. Every Sunday, the woman next door has her daughter visit. Her daughter has a very loud, annoying dog that continuously barks for no reason..so I know every time it is outside…I’ve watched, on many occasions, her daughter (who is in her 30s and should know better) come outside with a leash and purposefully bring it over to where I park my car, so it can poop. I wouldn’t care, if i didn’t have to walk through it every day to reach my car. My husband comes home from work at night, and has stepped in the poop. I have asked her to take the dog somewhere else, or at the very least, clean it up, but of course, it hasn’t stopped the problem. I’m fed up..is it acceptable to call the police at this point?
I tried this and it worked! It looked funny for a couple of days but the neighbor got the picture.
http://www.cafepress.com/whatbugsme.459147444
People who let their dogs go and not clean it up are pyscopathic anti-social bastards who hold animals in a higher regard than humans. I heard a story from a friend who had the problem. He put the poop in a baggie and duct taped it around the dogs neck like a necklace. It never happened again.
Currently there is an asshole in my tract who is burying dog poop under my ground cover. I think I’ll call the cops.
I don’t usually post comments on these types of sites, but I was so angered at reading what “Ethan” posted on March 22 & April 18, 2010, that I felt I had to reply. It’s people like him that cause the rest of us to have continuing problems with neighbor’s pets, etc. He’s one of those idiots. I don’t “troll” at my window looking for trouble. My husband and I built our home on 2 acres out in the county in 2004, mainly to get out of a crowded subdivision in town. Houses are supposed to be on a min. of 1-1/2 acres out here. A builder bought the 2-1/4 acres next to us, greased some palms, and built his daughters two homes. One of the home’s driveway is only 10′ from our property line. The girl living there had 2 huge dogs that she trained to stay inside an invisible fence. They barked incessantly; she wasn’t very friendly, so I never confronted her and tried to ignore it. She got rid of those dogs, is now living with a guy who has 4 loud barking dogs, one of which is a German Shepard/Chow mix. None of them stay in the yard.
One day their beagle was in the upper waterfall pool of my koi pond. It has run into my yard numerous times. But today the shepard mix attacked my elderly cat on our front porch. When I ran out to stop him, he snarled and barked at me. He then ran to my back yard and when I went out on the driveway to see where he was going he crouched in attack position. At that time the guy next door called another dog who was barking at me from the lot line. The shepard then ran back to his yard. I hollered to the guy asking if that was his dog and that it had just attacked my cat and started to go after me. All he said was, “I apologize. It seems that the shock collar isn’t working.” Oh, you think? Then he just went back inside. No asking if I was ok or if my cat was hurt.
Our lot line is 400′ long. I can’t afford a fence. I shouldn’t have to go in debt to fence in a 200 x 400′ piece of property because I have ignorant oblivious neighbors. I had been living in my home for nearly 3 years when she moved in and everything was great; we’re friends with our neighbors on the other side.
If the dog comes back I will photograph it and call the law, neighborly relations be damned. They’re not that friendly. And if my physically disabled son ever gets attacked while out on our driveway, I will shoot the dog and then sue them big time! There’s no excuse EVER for vicious dogs running around loose! What do you have to say about that, Ethan?
I earlier suggested the use of a sensor sprinkler, but you obviously have a bigger problem than poop. First, I would call the police, today, and let them know what is going on and that you and your family are in danger and afraid of being attacked. Do this so that law enforcement has this on record. The police are going to come out take a report and pay a visit to your neighbor. I would try to keep the cat in the house until you get this problem resolved. The second time that you see the dog in your yard, I would call the police immediately so that they can get there in time to witness the dog in your yard. When I called the police on my neighbor, her dogs were out and threatened the police man. He had to call the owner so that he could get out of his car. If you have called the police and they have been out a few times to speak with your neighbor and the dog is still loose………Don’t wait for it to attack your child.
Kim, there’s no way I’m letting my cat outside; besides I don’t think he wants to go outside at this point. If he hears any dog barking he looks terrified, poor thing. It’s pretty bad when your cat can’t go out in his own yard without being attacked by a rogue dog. He always stays right around the perimeter of the house and never travels any further unless one of us are outside with him.
Last night I had to go into town. When I got back it was really dark. I got out of my car and that shepard mix dog started barking at me in the dark at the edge of his yard. They actually let him out and no one was out there watching him! My hair stood up on my arms and I rushed inside. Today they all must have been gone because it was pretty quiet over there. I’m hoping they realize what trouble they could be in if the dog ever actually hurt someone and maybe they’ll get rid of him. But that’s probably wishful thinking 🙁
Anyway, thanks for your advice. I will for sure call the police if I see him out barking in my yard again. The law around here seems to be pretty complacent about stuff like this unless someone actually gets hurt (I live in southwest Virginia). Even in domestic disputes they don’t do much anything unless one spouse decks the other or shoots him/her. They say they can’t do anything if there’s no proof or no one is hurt. My husband is a long haul truck driver and is gone a lot, but he said as soon as he gets home he’s going to talk to the guy. But I now have my camera ready to take photos for proof when the dog comes back in my yard. I’ll just put it on zoom!
Susan, I would call the police anyway so that they have a complaint on file. (Now I am going to be blunt) Then I would get a 9mm. VA is an open carry state. Check the laws as to whether or not you can carry in your car. If not, get your ccw. You need to be able to protect yourself while you are getting in and out of your car. I would recommend this anyway if you are alone much of the time. You cannot live in fear or let this dog run your life.
I’m going to try something new with regard to dealing with my neighbor and this very issue. I have read through all of these posts and have tried some of these tactics to no avail. I own two dogs myself and firmly believe it is the owner’s full responsibility to ensure his/her pet is not a nuisance or threat to anyone — no excuses!
We rent our home in a nice neighborhood. Everyone seems very conscientious except the neighbor to one side, who on a daily basis allows her small dog to come over and pee and poop all over our front yard. She watches from her porch and is well aware of what her dog does everyday. Of course she never cleans up. For months I have done the neighborly thing and picked up the messes and properly disposed of them. I know she’s seen me do this, pointing the problem out to her was useless. I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old who play in our yard — so it is a serious hygiene issue as well (pinworms, anyone?). Also, it is very obvious that all of the poop in our yard is from the same small dog (not to mention I see the dog doing it’s business and have tried to shoo it away with the neighbor right there watching). Since the neighbor does not seem to care, I finally had enough and picked up several droppings and left them in a pile on her driveway (all dry little pellets, nothing messy). A week later our yard is covered with droppings again — obviously she didn’t get the point and continued to let her dog over in our yard. Again, I left an even larger pile on her driveway (the dog goes about 2x or 3x in our yard a day and amounts to a lot of poop). This latest pile in her driveway resulted in her screaming at me (and me offering her a few choice words for her about responsible dog ownership). She told me she will call the police if I do it again (I said good luck telling the police that your neighbor returned your own dog’s poop from your unleashed dog that you allowed to roam all over another’s property). I did not want to call the police or animal control because I thought that would only make things worse and create unnecessary drama in an otherwise nice and quiet suburban neighborhood.
We’re renting, so fences, sprinklers, etc are not an option nor would they work with the way our front yard is set up. Back yards are already fenced.
In addition, they keep two large dogs in their backyard that bark incessently at all hours. She can’t put the little dog back there because one of the big dogs killed her last small dog. Clearly, not well-trained pets. Other neighbors have complained to me about how they can hear the neighbor’s dogs barking at all hours. No one wants to make waves in this neighborhood, so people tend to put up with the hassle, but it’s obvious that this woman and her dogs are making a nuisance of themselves.
So, what I intend to do now is send, via certified mail, a formal letter to the neighbor detailing and documenting the problems with her dogs and attaching to the letter the appropriate city ordinance about pet noise and sanitation requirements. This may sound pointless, but it puts her on formal notice of what she is doing and it serves as documentation for me if , as a last resort, this needs to go to another level. Our city ordinance states that if a dog is left unrestrained and found on another’s property, then it will be impounded. I’ve found in my professional experience that this method tends to wake folks up and make them realize that the issue is being taken very seriously and preparations are being made to take further action. It also prevents them from claiming ignorance if authorities get involved — you’ve got documented communication. It is my hope that this method will prevent the situation from escalating, avoid dragging the other neighbors into the drama and serve to encourage this pet owner to “take ownership” of his/her responsibilities instead of turning it around on those unfortunate enough to live around her.
I’ll follow-up on this site if this tactic is at all successful . . . or unsuccessful.
Sadly, many dog owners feel rather offended than apologetic about discussing this problem. I learned from trial & error; i.e. to avoid nasty clashes of this kind in the first place, I prefer to educate dog owners, in a rather drastic, yet highly effective way:
Here in Santiago (Chile) I suffered endless arguments with filthy dog owners, who allow their dogs to deposit “brown traps” in front of my house.
I tried lemons peel and hot chilly juices etc. to no avail. At last I found the effective solution:
Instead of trying to educate/ repel the dogs, I aim at educating/ repelling these unscrupulous dog owners: Instead of helplessly cleaning up the mess, I simply collect it onto an old sweeping pan and place it onto the section of the footpath (in front of my house), which I am not using.
Effective result: Now I don’t argue anymore with these dog owners, for now I rather “invite them” to walk through mess themselves, instead!
I trust they will get the message, eventually!
Motto: Help yourself so helps you God! 🙂
@Kelly, We also rent and will have the opportunity to buy this year, but I think that we are going to move. I have called the police a hundred times, they have been out a hundred times, nothing changes. Now that it is too cold for the sprinkler, it is business as usual, literally, and the dog that lives behind and to the left of us barks until 11 PM and then starts again at 6 AM. @Joh, great idea.
I have a problem and I’d love to hear any suggestions!
I live in a large house that is divided into 3 apartments. The lady below me has a very aggressive German Sheppard that will not stop barking! He barks all day and all night long! Also, the way the house is set up, it states in the lease that I have the back patio, and the lady below me has the front porch. This lady piles her junk on her porch and REFUSES to stay the hell off my patio! She allows to let her dog run free out there without a leash… nor is the area fenced in. This dog has chased me back inside my door several times. He ran at me barking, hair standing up and showing teeth. The owner makes no effort to control the dog. It’s obvious that she is proud of her aggressive dog. I guess he makes her feel safe. The mail carriers are now complaining about her dog. They are afraid of being attacked. There have also been times when I was walking my dogs, and the lady below me allowed her dog to pull his leash out of her hand… he nearly attacked my (smaller dogs), but I was able to give the sheppard a kick to the face. I hated to do that because I love animals, but this dog is very out of control!
After 9 months of dealing with this, and asking her politely to control her dog, I had no choice but to call animal control. The day after animal control talked to her, she started letting her dog poop on my patio, right beside the driver’s side of my car, and even right next to my apartment door! Her dog has even gotten worse with the barking. I called animal control again tonight, because she is clearly now doing this on purpose. An actual officer was sent out this time. I don’t know what will come of it. Any suggestions?
JC,
It sounds like you’re renting. Have you contacted your landlord? I had a similar situation years ago with a tenant below me and their dogs — I ended up having a basis to break the lease because there was no improvement in the situation (there were some other issues with the apartment, too). Perhaps your landlord would be willing to threaten to evict the tenant because she persistently breaks the law by failing to clean up after her dog, allowing it to run loose, its an aggressive animal, noise nuisance (most cities have an ordinance about these). Usually leases require that the tenant abide by governing laws (city, state, etc.). At the very lease, you’ll have a right to break your lease as the property can be deemed uninabitable because of these violations. I think this tactic is more effective when you live in the same building as the offending neighbor.
Regarding my post above, I actually saw my neighbor with a plastic bag this week and she was cleaning up! She knows I’ve documented what she does and she thinks I have video of her dog doing its business on our yard (I don’t, but she doesn’t seem to want to call my bluff). She initially denied it was her dog, but now seems to have changed her mind. So far, so good. You might try this with your neighbor — but if she doesn’t care, then it might not work.
Good luck.
Thanks, Kelly. Yes, I am renting and I really like it here. The landlord allows all three tenants here to make this place feel like our home. But we each have our own areas… and the lady below me insists on using my patio. She won’t stay off it. Her, her rude friends, and her aggressive dog are simply taking over my area. I’ve put so much time and money into my back yard and patio for the past 3 years, just to have it taken over by this lady that moved in less than a year ago. Her junk and trash is left lying around, along with her dog poop, her friends cigarette butts, etc. Sorry to vent, but I feel like a prisoner in my own home, and I just can’t seem to get any results. Every time I walk out my door, I have to worry about me and my dogs being attacked by a German Sheppard. I have talked to the landlord and he says he is going to evict her. Apparently she’s been a lot more of a problem than I realized. But my landlord is a big softy and what he says he’s going to do is different than what he actually will do. I would NEVER want to see someone evicted, but at this point… good riddance!
Thanks again, Kelly! 🙂
Kelly, I read your situation and that behavior from your neighbor is unacceptable! At this point, I would not feel bad about calling animal control if I were you. That’s going too far on your neighbor’s part. Being a pet owner comes with responsibility. Some people should not be allowed to have pets. I understand how some want to take the “nice approach”, but if that doesn’t work after the first 10 or 12 times, then it’s time to get serious. It should only take ONE time of asking a pet owner to clean up after or control their dog’s barking. Most just don’t care. But when the big, white animal control truck pulls into their driveway… they will change their tune.
i”ve decided to clean up the poop myself after evil thoughts have passed my mind and know it would only cause chaos . I will bag it up and deposit into all surrounding neighbors mailbox also and see what the out come brings.
I had the same problem at my grandmother’s house. Told the wife and husband to many times. The whether broke so the kids went out to play. Well they found it(head first) . I got mad and put it on the Hood of there car. Not the smartest thing to do,but they got the point. The cops came and said I could get arrested for it. Good news dog wont go on my grandmother’s lawn again.
I have a pekingese and I always pick up after his shit. Now a nieghbor has made a complaint to the rental office stating that Hercules shit in their yard. I started taking the bags to the office to prove that I always pick up after my dog. I should say that the complaint comes with a $25 dollar fine and I can’t know the identity of the complaintant. Now they are threatening eviction if I bring the bags to the office so I’ll stop. I’m just pissed. If the complaintant is who I think the nieghbor has a pappillion that goes out without a leash. They are the same size and coloring and I have seen Bear running free on numerous occasions, but no one believes me. Any ideas?
Greetings Folks,
I now have come up with a new weapon: I bought one of these J018 Cloth Hooks cameras, because it can be easily accessed and made work for weeks with a 3 x C-size/ 4 Amp NiCad batteries in series (3V6) and a 16Gb Micro-SD-card.
This will help me monitoring neighbors’ activities while I’m asleep (!!)
Since this Cam setup detects and records movements in a radius of up to 8m (20 feet) and only records movements, it can record for months.
I then deliver the evidence to the relevant authorities, who only are able to take actions on tangible black on white evidence. The great thing is that this lousy hook doesn’t look anything like a camera. 🙂
Greetings to you lovely Poo-Fighters,
I now have come up with a new weapon: I bought one of these J018 Cloth Hooks cameras, because it can be easily accessed and made work for weeks with a 3 x C-size/ 4 Amp NiCad batteries in series (3V6) and a 16Gb Micro-SD-card.
This will help me monitoring neighbors’ activities while I’m asleep (!!)
Since this Cam setup detects and records movements in a radius of up to 8m (20 feet) and only records movements, it can record for months.
I then deliver the evidence to the relevant authorities, who only are able to take actions on tangible black on white evidence. The great thing is that this lousy hook doesn’t look anything like a camera. 🙂
Your solution sounds better than trying to figure out how to set-up and use a snare to catch the little bugger!! Wondering where you found that camera & how much it cost.
I actually went to the authorities, locally, and they told me the same thing… Get the dog on “film” and they will take care of contacting the owners [and issue the appropriate fines].
A while back I set out live traps [on two separate occasions]. Both time the trap had been sprung and the dogs were no where to be seen. Then, yesterday, I found poo in the fenced part of the yard — the fence was still shut, which indicates to me that the owner is letting the dog into the fenced yard and then closing the fence after the damage was done.
Hi
My question is
Where I need to call ¦ or what I have to do If my neighbor have 5 dogs, they dogs make poo in his back yard and the owner never pick up it, plus Too many times one of the dog use my property like toilet too and The bad odor is too much, even I can’t go out to my back yard for this reason it’s in sanity.
Note : After being told him too many times
where do you live?
sorry to hear about your problem.
tz
Had similar problem with a lady in our condo community. After numerous verbal warnings and letters, she would still not pick up from our yards. So, I went one very late Friday evening wearing rubber gloves and scooped up about five or six big piles of her dog’s waste. I then deposited them right on the door mat in front of her door. Early Saturday morning her kids ran out the door and stepped right in it, tracking it across her entryway deck. That was the very LAST time she ever failed to pick up after her dog.
I have two large dogs and a fenced in yard. I clean up after them and would never let them doo in another persons yard. My neighbors on the other hand, will walk out their back gate and straight over to the grassy area between my fence and the road to give their two large dogs a “potty” break. I have been saving my used coffee grounds
And plan on putting it out on the grass. I read that they won’t like the smell and will want to find somewhere else to go. Unfortunately their are too many people in the world that can’t handle a civil confrontation and my neighbors did resort to retaliation. I like the water sprinkler idea especially because the dog owners would probably get hosed as well. Their are solutions that won’t involve hurting the animal because they don’t ask for inconsiderate owners. Be creative!
Man all this info has been helpful. My neighbors rent a mother-in-law apt, and we have a 5 year old girl. Over the past 5 years I have landscaped our yards together. Hindsight – not a good idea. Well 200 sq ft of rock wall later, their latest tenent decided to bring home a boxer. The apt is really small, like 600-700 sq ft. So they decided to “let that dog run”. Sharing the space had worked in the past, I had built a garden, and shady spot under a their magnolia – which was covered with blackberries and ivy… Now I did not understand quite why but I did not like them constently letting the dog out unattended. It would venture into my yard and was killing the grass via urine. And even ate my blackberry while I tried to tak to it’s owner. Not to mention it was against the law.
I talked to the owner and they made “concessions” by not letting the dog in certain areas. I thought that would fix things for me, but it did not. I then asked them to put up a fence. You would have thought I attacked them personally, both the tenent and owners wife attacked me with vicious rederick. And said that they did not want a fence. I finally asked the tennent to stop accessing their apt via my property and told the neighbor that we had to seperate the yard somehow. There are several levels of terrace (200 sq ft on theier side) I have built over the years – so I guess I’m out a bunch of materials and time and just landscaped and maintained the neighbors yard for the last 5 years. Funny thing is they claim I am the a&&Hole. What do you think?
I am glad that I found this webpage, it was really interesting to read and enlightening. I own a dog, a very small female pom/poo mix. I walk her every day, 3 times a day. I live in an apartment building that is pet friendly but I don’t have my own yard, so I need to exercise her. The first walk I take her on is usually early in the morning, and I start off by having her pee in my apartments yard, and then we continue our walk as she will normally not poop right away no matter how hard I try to get her to. I carry poop bags with me all the time, one tied to the leash in plain sight, and an extra in my pocket. I walk on the sidewalks, I don’t trespass onto people’s lawn’s, but sometimes Bailey will and I will pull her back so she is off the grass. Anything she leaves behind I pick up, EVERY TIME, but I still find that I get treated very rudely by property owners as soon as they see me close to their property or her sniffing near the grass. I feel I have every right to walk anywhere I want on the street, and I will continue to do so. I know what trespassing is and I do not step onto other people’s properties and purposely let my dog empty herself and then purposely leave the mess there, never, always pick it up.
I can also totally understand how frustrating it is when people don’t pick up after their dogs, it frustrates me as well having to dodge it just walking down the sidewalk! But what I don’t appreciate, is being blamed for something someone else did! I hate how the irresponsible are ruining it for the responsible and make neighbours so angry at ANY dog owner now.
Just last night I was on the sidewalk walking past an apartment building near my house, and Bailey was walking along a small strip of grass right against the sidewalk. A woman who lived in this building walked past me and accused me of letting her crap on the grass, when she hadn’t even done anything yet, and I was standing there with the bag in my hand. Where am I supposed to walk anymore? I have every right to walk down ANY sidewalk I want to don’t I? I pick up after her, I am responsible, and I don’t want to be talked rudely to because of other irresponsible people. I am just wondering what you guys think.
People walk past every day and throw their trash all over the lawn at the building where I live, that isn’t okay either, and they also walk onto the lawn, let their dogs crap, and DON’T pick up up. Who suffers? The tenants who live here do and get punished for again, someone elses fault.
It is also frustrating on the side of the GOOD dog owner. We are out there…
Tanya
Your a good person.
Sorry to hear that sometimes your getting the short end of the stick.
Just last week my 5 year olds school went to golden gardens – a beach here in seattle.
While we were there lots of kids enjoyed watching a seal pup sun himself while seperated from its mother. While watching the pup everyone was instructed to keep their distance in case the mother came back. When up walked a small unleashed palmerainian – the owner did not listen to the adults or children asking to keep the dog away from the pup, instead she used this time as a photo op. Finally she decided to pick up her dog and then started helling at one of the adults. I’m sure everyone was suprised to hear f – this and f U comming from an older gal at the beach. Finally she asked if we were the beach police. I told her I’d be the beach police and told her having a dog unleashed is illegal, and having a dog on the beach is illegall. She then told me I was a wife beater, and that i should go home and JO. All this in front of a bunch of kids.
I hope to see this gal again when I’m at the beach without all the kids – “that’s how I roll”
Jack black quote get it ? It is sort of funny no? anyway. –
Here is what to do! If you have a dog start saving all its crap in bucket…. then when you aquire “enough”, take Fido for a late night wlk by the neighbors driveway with it in a bag. with a latex gloved hand “bomb” the neighbors porch with all the doodies!
If you dont have a dog then you could take their dogs crap or yours put on a glove and squeeze around their cars door handles… Surprise! They will not eat anything with their hands for a month and when they finnaly do it will be in the back of their mind. I got tired of picking up my dogs mess in my fenced back yard, only to step in someone elses in my front yard.
I think dog owners need to be more conscious of where they let their dog do their business. Keep off my property! Have them do it on your own property! please. Thanks. My grass is dying and I am trying to revive it.
I take it personally that you dog owners allow for your dog to do their business on MY LAWN! TAKE THE MUTT SOMEWHERE ELSE LIKE A DOG PARK! DO NOT LET IT DO IT’S BUSINESS ON THE SIDEWALK OR IN THE STREET WHERE SOMEONE ELSE WILL STEP IN IT OR DRIVE OVER IT. THAT IS F’ING SELFISH~
Good result on the video – but did that guy REALLY pick up his dog poop bare handed? Spose it’s some kind of self-imposed payback if he didn’t take a bag along with him, but sheesh!
Oh boy, dog issues, I have them also. I live on a corner with sidewalks, in the couple years I have lived here, I have caught 2 people leaving their mess for me to pick up. Decided recently to confront them. 1st one, neighbor across the street, multiple complaints from other neighbors about their dogs. They roam free, no leash, no nothing. To say he was pissed that I would accuse his dogs is an understatement, he states they NEVER poop in my yard, NEVER cross the street. He must have a closed head injury or something because I delivered a bag of his dogs poo right to him last summer, his wife once saw it and came across and cleaned it…..NEVER……really? Animal control will now be called each time I see those dogs on my yard.
2nd instance, 12yo boy walking his dog leaves the doo-doo and runs. I went and talked to his father, 10 minutes later I had an apology letter from the 12yo.
I’ve been noticing many a dog owners actually use bags to pick up the poop.
But then just leave the bags full of crap anywhere they want too.
Like anywhere and everywhere…? Has anyone else noticed this??
I know it has been over a year since I posted the messages above. I just wanted to share with everyone how the situation turned out.
The crazy lady was evicted. The night she was moving out, I came home from work and she had blocked my driveway with her moving van. Ok… I let it slide. But when I got to my door, I immediately realized she had cut the lock to my gate with bolt cutters and had broken a couple of my flower pots while she was using my patio to move her stuff out. That was enough! I called the police over her damaging my property AGAIN. When the officer arrived, crazy lady and her friends were on the front porch with her dog. As usual, no leash. The officer got out of the car and the dog attacked him. (Little did I know, the dog had attacked a cop in the past and was tazed.) This time the dog would not be so lucky. This officer shot and killed the dog. I blame this all on the owner. That crazy bitch should have done a better job of raising that dog. But she liked the fact that it was aggressive. The cop should’ve shot her…
A person who would let their dog poop on a neighbor’s lawn is definitely low class. But so is a person who would call a woman a “crazy bit–.” If you want others to act better, JC, begin by acting better yourself.
seriously ? maybe you should take the high road. You have no idea what this person has experienced? Or have you via the opposite fence? Stop pointing fingers.
Every morning very early, my neighbor opens his door and lets his dog out to run up to our yard to poop (we have a flag lot above his home). Even when I worked two jobs and went to college, I had to come home and pick up poop. Enfuriating, yes. But I certainly won’t use his behaviour as an excuse to be verbally abusive. All I am saying is better behaviour has to start somewhere. Be an example to these people, don’t join them in low behaviour.
Dorothy, I’m simply saying “these people” should not own pets if they don’t want to take care of them. Which in my world, would include cleaning up after them. These pets are a true reflection of their owner. Careless and ruthless. In my opinion these pets are being abused. This however, is not the way the owner sees things. There take is that you are the one with the problem. Owners of these pets believe that you hate their dog or them, for some reason. I spent the last seven years reconstructing my yard and my neighbors yard, while letting them use my property to access their mother-in-law apartment. Then their currrent tenant decided to use the space to “let their dog run” – (go to the bathroom – unattended) I’m now in the process of cutting them off. Which is at my expense. Relandscaping is not cheap. Everything I have done is now being re-done. After all, the only thing I asked them to do is watch there dog. Previously, their tenant had cats, which were great… Until one got ran over and I had to deal with a half way dead cat. (it got ran over and did not die). In retrospect, I should have been the one to build only on my property and should have not listenened to the landlords “What mine is yours” comments. But I was just being a good neighbor – like you. Perhaps the comments we read are only from people who love pets, and are just tired of seeing them abused.
have you ever tried to ask your neighbor to not do that?
just an idea.?
give it a try
?
The way I see it you have a good reason to be “verbally abusive”, as you put it. Yes, having anti-social neighbours doesn’t mean you should behave badly too, but criticizing someone (no matter how much foul language you use) doesn’t make you as bas a person as the one who disrespected his neighbours in the first place.
I also think you’re being MUCH too optimistic. “Be an example to these people”? I’m not sure all bad neighbours are able or willing to follow your example when you strive to behave correctly, and I speak from experience.
(That being said, I mean no offence: you’re probably a more respectable person than both your neighbour and the “crazy lady” JC was criticising.)
Some people should not own pets.
Yes, of course I have asked them not to use my yard as their own personal dog toilet. All I am saying is that there is never an excuse/reason/justification for calling anyone a “crazy bit–” or anything else so vulgar. You lose my sympathy when you start talking like some foul-mouthed rapper!
Believe me, bitch is the nicest of the names the person who owns a vicious dog would be called by me. I originally posted here in Sept. 2010 about a problem with my next door neighbors letting their dogs run free, and that one of them is an aggressive shepard mix who attacked my cat on MY front porch. These dogs do get loose from time to time, but fortunately I have not had a problem with them recently. They are my neighbors to the left of us.
My problem now is with neighbors two houses over to the right of me. A couple who are divorcing lived there. The woman is still there and pays absolutely no attention to her two dogs since she and her husband split up, maybe because she has two small children and a young teenager. The woman lets her Bassett hound and border collie mix run loose. She has been fined TWICE for letting those dogs run free! (I wasn’t the one who reported her, though). The Bassett hound is sweet and I feel so sorry for him because most of the time he depends on handouts from neighbors in order to eat. He’s a big baby and my cat (the one who was attacked by the next door neighbor’s dog) will chase him out of the yard, with the dog howling as he runs. It’s so funny! But it’s not funny at all concerning the collie mix. He’s even nastier than the shepard mix next door. Last summer he ran in my front yard and snarled and barked at me while I was cleaning my pond and I was afraid to move until my husband ran out and chased him away with a rake. I have no idea how long I would have been stuck there if he hadn’t been home. They both poop all over our front and back yard.
Since I posted in 2010 my granddaughter was born in Feb. 2011 and stays with me several days and a couple of nights each week. I was carrying her out to my car a couple of months ago and the collie mix was standing to the side of the driveway, between some bushes, snarling at me. My husband was not home at the time and I was terrified he would run at me, and here I am holding a baby. I yelled at him and he backed off some so I was able to put the baby in her carseat. It was not long after that my next door neighbor to my right said the owner had been fined. I didn’t see the dogs for awhile, but recently they have been seen running around again. My granddaughter is 15 months old and we want to put up a swing set for her, but it’s kind of a worry that the dog will show up again. Not to mention having to check the yard for poop every time I take her out to play. The divorcing couple have their house up for sale, but they’re asking such a high price for what it’s worth that it may be on the market for a long time.
If that frigging dog had attacked me while I was holding the baby, or ever comes near her, all my good upraising will go out the window because when I get through with that woman who owns that dog, she will wish she had never moved to this road! And believe me, after being married to a truck driver for nearly 25 years, I have heard every swear word out there, and then some! Nobody can intimidate me anymore!
BTW, unless the dog attacks, the police around here just leave it up to animal control to take care of the problem. And then animal control just leaves if the dog has left the person’s yard who called in the complaint. So, unless one wants to take the responsibility of shooting the dog to get rid of the problem, then we just have to live with it.
Dorothy… this woman did alot more to me than I care to tell you about. Karma got her and that’s that. As far as me calling her a bitch… well if she don’t want the name, she shouldn’t play the game. So keep your holier than thou comments to yourself before I call you a bitch. 🙂
To JC, the only thing we can ever truly control is ourselves. Another’s behaviour, no matter how bad, need never cause us to lose self control unless we let it. You can call me any foul name you like, but that will be a reflection of who you are not who I am.
To everyone else, frequently trying to solve a problem at the level of the problem only creates another problem. At first I allowed myself to get sucked into the terrible cycle of reacting to my neighbor and the poop problem. Nothing worked. And ego victories are always hollow and short lived. Eventually, I had to go higher. I would meditate and try to get as peaceful as possible, even “talk” to the neighbor in question in my mind, as well as talking to God/Higher Power, asking the Holy Spirit to intervene, etc. I’m not a religious person, but I do believe in turning over a problem to a Higher Authority if it seems impossible to solve. I also believe in intuition, and intuition does not work if we are all riled up. Only very recently have things improved. Staying peaceful and dignified in difficult circumstances is not to be “holier than thou.” It IS to not let the other party win. Once they have you acting like a foul mouthed out of control angry jerk, they’ve won! Don’t let them win. Use this as an opportunity for personal growth and empowerment. It takes maturity and strength to stay cool when provoked. Any two year old can throw a fit when things don’t go the way they want. And where does it stop? I used to go nuts when I saw people throwing cigarettes out the car window. Just like people who think the world is their dog’s personal toilet, others think it is their own personal ash tray! And there are the people who think the world is their own personal spitoon! You can be angry forever. Where will that get you? Probably in the hospital with hypertension, high blood pressure, and so forth. They are not worth it! Pray for them to evolve and pray for patience or yourself. Good luck.
Dorothy please… take a joke honey. There is no problem. The crazy bitch was evicted and her evil shepard was killed by the cop. I hated to see the dog die, but the CRAZY BITCH had TRAINED the dog to be like that. She wouldn’t use a leash, animal control was on her case every week, the dog bit a total of 19 people over the past 4 years… this is not ok!! If I tried reasoning with her, she would go nuts, cuss me out, break my bird feeders/flowers pots/gate locks, etc., while I was at work. No joke… this was all documented by the police. The dog even once tried to attack my little 16 year old dog. A stiff kick to the chin solved that problem! I’ll be damned if my elderly dog is gonna be attacked at 16 years old. I would have ripped into the shepard with my own teeth! So Dorothy, you can go ahead and judge me and say I’m low class by calling names… but that lady put me through hell for over a year and she deserved any name she got. So you can have your opinion about me and pass judgement little hypocrite… I don’t give a EF YOU SEE KAY! 🙂
Dorothy, so you’re saying you would stay “peaceful and dignified” if you were holding your baby grandchild and a nasty dog jumped up on you and bit the baby? You wouldn’t yell or at least act angry towards the owner, all the while holding a screaming baby with its leg or another body part ripped open? You would just go inside and pray to God to keep your cool? Unless you are completely cold and heartless I can’t see how you could deal with something like that rationally.
And I have never confronted my neighbors about their dogs; the one time I did say anything I just said his dog had chased my cat up onto my front porch and tried to attack him and then he turned on me when I tried to run him off the porch. I didn’t get all “riled up” or cuss the neighbor. The other neighbor has been fined more than once and doesn’t care. Her dogs should be removed if she can’t take proper care of them. The nasty one who confronted me while I was holding the baby chases cars regularly and it’s a wonder he hasn’t been run over yet. How would you like to walk to your car, baby or no baby, and be startled by a snarling dog?
I believe in God, but you just sounded downright fanatical with your last comment.
Don’t be ridiculous. Of course if attacked one has to be in the moment and do what you have to do to protect yourself and your loved ones. But you were not attacked. The dog snarled at you. It didn’t rip you or your baby apart. We were talking about poop on the lawn. Keep things in perspective. What is fanatical is to blow everything up out of proportion and make a mountain out of a mole hill. Deal with what is, not what might be. And deal with it in a sane, sensible way not a vulgar, name calling, excuse for drama sort of way. And, in my experience, where I couldn’t solve things prayer helped. That’s all.
Susan, forget her… I’m beginning to think she IS that crazy bitch that used to live next door to me!
JC, I’m about to agree with you about Dorothy. And she just doesn’t get the point. She says I’m not keeping things in perspective because dogs pooping on lawns was the discussion. I did mention the poop all over my yard that those dogs left. That was just part of the problem. The point I was making evidently didn’t register. How was I making a mountain out of a molehill? The damn dog got up in my face twice, in my yard! I’m sure you understand what I was getting at since you had to deal with so much crap (no pun intended) from your crazy neighbor. I really feel for you because my son had to deal with a crazy neighbor also, who for no reason, walked up to his new car and smashed in all his windows. The judge dismissed the charges against her because he said she was mentally incompetent and therefore not responsible for her actions! My son had to pay $500 out of pocket to replace the windows because that was what his deductible was. Talk about lopsided justice!
And I never confronted my neighbor and cussed her out. Dorothy brings that up, also. I just said I would probably do more than cuss her out if her dog had bitten the baby, but in reality, I would be too distraught to do anything but save her. Maybe if something like that, which is much more serious than people dumping their ashtrays out of their car windows, had happened to Dorothy she would be singing a different song. She should go thump her bible at a Pentacostal tent revival, not on a message board about dogs pooping in people’s yards.
Hopefully your next neighbors won’t be whack jobs! Good luck to you.
WHOA! If I were your son, I would have a “mental moment” and kick her ass! Damaging someone’s property is so cowardly and lame. Well, my new neighbors have two nice Boxers, but the neighbors are drug dealers. Pretty sure they have a meth lab. It stinks. I think I should just move lol.
JC, I had said I was through here, but I had to comment on your bad luck with neighbors. If it were me I would move because meth labs have been known to blow up and kill people. I saw a tv news report where a burned-out trailer was torn down and carted off and the property was more or less condemned because they said the chemicals from meth stay in the ground for years and even get in the groundwater! I can’t believe people put this junk in their bodies. Several years ago, in a town about 40 miles up the interstate from where I live, some drug dealers were cooking meth in a motel, of all places, and blew up the room. It caused several rooms to burn down and that section of the motel had to be torn down permanently. No one was killed by some miracle.
I know this has nothing to do with dog poop, but some of these inconsiderate dog owners act like they’re on meth or they’re crack heads, lol.
Look out female commentators, any lady who does not do, think or say what JC wants them to do, think or say is a crazy bit–!
Now, that is irrational! Where do you get off saying JC will call any woman a bitch (yes, I spelled it out), who doesn’t agree with him? I completely understand what he went through with this insane neighbor and the anguish he must have felt when that nasty dog attacked his elderly dog because my neighbor’s dog tried to attack my elderly cat right on my front porch! You judge him, yet talk about praying to God and acting Christian. What you’re doing smacks of hypocrisy to me. I’ve had my say about my situation, so I’m through here.
No Dorothy… just you. Don’t blame me because every man has done you wrong.
Susan, I can tell she is bitter and lonely. I will leave her to her bible thumping, lol.
Wow! I’ve never actually read the Bible. The Course in Miracles and a number of other spiritual works have been helpful. My husband of 25 years found your comments interesting (he is still laughing as I write)! What happened to you to be so disrespectful towards women? Very sad. I’ll say a prayer that you find some peace. Good luck to you in getting past this sense of being so wronged. This was a site about finding creative ways to deal with the dog poop issue. Not about viscious dogs, and personal vendettas, etc. I offered here what I found helpful — pulling back from the tit for a tat stuff and seeking some higher help.
Dorothy, if you look through all these posts, you’ll see several where the issue of vicious dogs has come up, and also what you refer to as personal vendettas. Seeking a higher help or meditating will not make dog poop all over your yard go away or solve the problem of lazy animal control officials who don’t care enough to try to help with the problem of roving dogs destroying other people’s property. Sure, it may help one relax, that is until that person walks out in his/her yard and steps in a stinking pile of dog mess.
And I find it sad that your husband of 25 years would think nasty dogs attacking people would be so amusing that he was laughing as you were writing your last comment, whether he was laughing at JC’s problem or mine. I’m glad I’m not your neighbor. I just try to keep to myself, take care of my family, and take pride in my yard, landscaping, and koi pond. I don’t look for trouble and don’t want it looking for me. Since I don’t own any dogs I shouldn’t have other people’s nasty dog poop in my yard. This has nothing to do with “a sense of being so wronged.” This is not a sense, it is a reality. I don’t “imagine” the piles of dog mess in my yard or the nasty border collie running rampant in my neighborhood that authorities don’t care enough about to catch and lock up.
Short of spending thousands of dollars to enclose our 200 x 400 two acre property, there’s nothing we can do but grit our teeth and deal with it. I’ve had several evergreen trees severely stunted by male dogs spraying them in the past (I caught them in the act), but there’s nothing I can do about it because we can’t afford the fencing.
You remarked I was blowing things out of proportion because I was upset that the dog simply snarled at me and didn’t actually attack. That’s a completely irrational statement on your part. I was very scared and the next time I could very well be bitten. I could have my granddaughter out playing in our yard and the dog show up and this time actually attack. Meditating will not make the dog not show up again. But fear that the dog will attack next time does prevent me from taking her any further than my back or front porches. I could just buy a pistol and shoot it next time it comes in my yard, but I don’t like the thought of having a gun in a house with a small child in it.
Don’t judge me and act all high and mighty with your arrogant attitude unless you can walk in my shoes. I see how you have ticked several people off with your know-it-all attitude.
Dorothy is married???? Poor guy…
You’re right, Susan. I really need to look into moving. Speaking of terrible dog owners… there were 3 arrests made yesterday at the house across the street. They had 2 pitbulls that were being used in dog fights. This town is so classy…
By the way, I’m not disrespectful to women, Dorothy… just to ignorant, holier than thou, judgemental bitches like you.
I have been having the same issue with a man who lives up the street. He let’s his dog crap whereever he feels like and refuses to pick it up. I finally took it to the next level. I filed a formal complaint with my local police department. They are obligated to respond if the incident is reported as a trespass. Once the formal complaint is documented, you can file a lawsuit under a trespass to land theory and private nuisance theory. This is in addition to any ordinance in your area regulating dogs. For me it’s relatively easy as I am an attorney and I’m in court frequently; so this costs me relatively nothing and it forces the offender to take a day out of work, retain counsel and defend. They get the hint after they are forced to retain legal counsel. I also have cameras on my property so the case is a slam dunk. Also, do not think that you are the only people with this issue in your area. As soon as I began taking action, neighbors were willing to testify, sign affidavits, etc., regarding the same individual and the same conduct.
This is not legal advice, it’s just the simpliest way for me to deal with the issue. If it weren’t for this I would make the offender eat the poop off my lawn.
I also want to make clear that I wasn’t looking to give this guy a hard time. When it first happened I told him that I couldn’t care less if his dog went to the bathroom on my law (I have two dogs of my own), just have the common courtesy to clean it up. But he just ignored my request. Also, it’s not difficult to establish damages if you’re creative.
I have dogs. They poop in my back yard and nowhere else. Not even on the road on walks. I don’t allow them to go in my front yard and don’t want others to either. i don’t even want them to poop there if they pick it up! I’ve told a few dog owners this. I told them I do not allow my dogs to go on their lawns and I expect the same respect from them. As an experienced dog shit picker upper I know it all doesn’t always get picked up. My kids play in the front yard and I don’t want them to step in or lay down on dog shit.
I only had an issue with one asshole who did not like my request. He continued to let his dog go on my lawn every now and then. First, I picked it up, put it in a bag and handed it to him at his door. He thought I was nuts. I made myself very clear that I don’t want his dog going on my lawn and left. A few weeks later I saw him allowing his dog go on my lawn. Right where my kids play football. I lost it! I went out and picked it up, with a poop bag and offered it to him. He laughed. I promptly smashed it all over the top of his head. Seriously.
He, and no one else, has allowed their dog to shit on my lawn since. I’m 57 and he’s about 25 or so. Age didn’t matter. I was defending my property and I think this guy finally understood that point.
All you jerks telling people to put up a fence or schrubs or WHATEVER are cowards. These inconsiderate a-holes who disrespect people’s property need to be taught a lesson. Let bullies act like bullies and they will never stop.
These stories are all so familiar. I have a wooden fence between my neighbor and myself. I had two dogs that were escape artists, any time they got loose I immediately made necessary changes to resolve the issue. They didn’t poop in others yards just ran through them before coming back home. I finally put up dog runs to contain them, problem solved. Now i’m on the other end of the issue.
My rental neighbor got a lab that is mean as hell and will try to bite you through the fence, gate or whatever. They decided to let her have puppies and kept two of them. three labs now in a rental house. They tore two holes in the wooden fence to get into my yard. I fixed the holes and asked the neighbor to control the dogs in a nice manner as we usually get along. he said ok but did nothing. The dogs tore two more holes in the fence, jumped on the hood of my car to escaps as it was in their way. They scratched up the side of the car and the hood. I informed my neighbor again and let the paint scratches ride. again he said ok and threw a board on the ground in front of a hole and an ice chest in front of the other. Yesterday they tore two more holes in the fence, trampled my grandkids pool, attacked my cat in my yard, stole the food dish and acted like they were going to bite me before leaving my yard.
What did I get? f**king dogs, whatever, i’ll do something but i’m having a bad day already so f**k off. the fence is yours so it’s your problem not mine. what did he do ? NOTHING.
Next episode will be calls to police, animal control and his landlord followed by registered letters informing them of the coming estimates to fix my cars (3 scratched vehicles now) and the estimate to fix the fence. not to mention un-licensed dogs. I asked him if he really wanted this to turn into a neighbor war and got a whatever again. Mind you, I got the cussing screaming ream job for his animals and I was the one just asking him to control the dogs. I guess it’s time to play some hardball. Being in a wheelchair and having grandkids at the house there could be some dead dogs coming up if they actually bite someone in my yard. Too bad he decided to act like an a*s instead of just minding his dogs. We’ll see how his landlord likes a lawsuit if it comes to that.
Ignorance must be bliss. Dogs will be dogs and they poop. Sometimes they poop when there owner is not looking or if the dog gets loose. Big dogs do get loose sometimes well because they are big and strong they can break a leash etc. Does that make it o.k. no but accidents do happen and some neighbors are so unforgiving and rude that they will overreact when a dog poops on their yard. Big dogs are more noticeable they have larger poop. If a small dog runs in a yard and poops no one cares because they are small and there poops are small. Big dogs tend to piss people off more and also even if they are friendlier than a little yappie dog people think they are dangerous just because they are larger. My neighbors little dog always relieves itself in my front yard and I don’t make a fuss. The other day the leash slipped out of my hand and my dog ran. I had to chase after him. I didn’t realize he pooped in their yard until the neighbor came over my house later angrily to let me know. I didn’t give her an attitude and say youre dog poops in my yard I just said sorry because she was so angry. I always pick up poop from my yard from another neighbor with a bigger dog and no I didn’t knock on their door and yell at them. Pick your battles people. Don’t be the miserable neighbor that thinks all people don’t care. Shit happens
I’m in a similar situation as many here. I’m a dog owner, but my dog is on a chain, restricted to an area in my yard where he can do his job, and I clean up his messes after he goes. My neighbors let their dog(s) run freely – and they use my yard to make their dumps, both front and back yards. This, even after last year, when I caught their dog doing it’s job while they stood outside looking at the dog as it was going. I did go out there and tell them to come clean up their mess – and at that time I told the person I didn’t want their dog(s) on my property.
I have now written a letter to them, which I will go and tape on their door. If they don’t start to act like responsible owners, I will call the police – there is a leash ordinance here. You can have your dog “off leash” as long as it’s under your control, but letting your dog use your neighbor’s yard to do it’s business is wrong. Period. End of story.
Ppl kill me,you can’t get nothing thru dog lovers head that their dog needs to poop in their yard,and not walk them dwn to neighbors house bcuz it’s more convenient and less stressful to let your neighbor deal with it..NEWS FLASH..ppl think they own neighborhoods..esp dog lovers,they want everyone to understand and be sympathetic to their dog pooping in ur yard,to shut up ,and go back in your house,and act like it never happen,in the REAL WORLD..I don’t wanna walk in poop (bcuz I don’t own a dog)when I walk out the door,I dont wanna track poop in my house I shouldn’t have to..I don’t own a dog,I shouldn’t have to deal with a infestation of flies either bcuz I don’t own a dog.BOTTOM LINE…KEEP UR MUTT IN UR YARD..IN THE REAL WORLD,no one spending unnecessary money to accommodate a neighbor disrespecting ur property…why should I go to hardware store,buy materials,while my neighbors reap the benefits of me accommodating them,you pay mortgage,rent etc..I WISH I WOULD…
We have spent an enormous amount of money on our lawn. We have a neighbor who has brought his mixed Chihuahua to our lawn, to use as a toilet for several years. We have spoken to this neighbor several times about not allowing his pet to use our lawn as his toilet, we have suggested that he cleans up after his pet. Nothing we have ask him to do has had any effect upon him. We ourselves have a 3 lb Chihuahua, he is a indoor pet, who has a designated area to do his business outside, in our lawn, where it is not tracked into our home, unlike our neighbors dog, who chooses to do his business everywhere, and including killing one of our organic apple trees. We would love to put up a fence, but it is not affordable for us. We have a huge yard. Not all pet owners are irresponsible. But the ones that are not responsible make the rest of us look bad. I now pick my neighbors dog poop, put it on cardboard, and when I drive by, I throw the poop as close to his door as possible. This is not the best solution, but we no longer track it into our home. This is our neighbors dog poop & he should have to deal with it.
WOW!! I’ve been the property manager and groundskeeper for over 8 years..here at the Duplexs were I live…And trust me!! I have experienced each and every fresh new hell…involving dogs and dog owners!! I can see trouble coming in the eyes of any new renters that the owner sometimes will let move in..against my advise! (I’ve been right so many times! That he now… No longer allows potential renters to move in before I approve of them) But!! Back to dogs! The point is!! Rules are rules…folks!! That’s what I tell people!! And it usually works!! Now you folks without dogs…might not realize…they (dogs) are incredibly predictable creatures of habit when it comes to were they choose to go potty!! And people as much like all the dogs they live around are inherently going to be one way or the other! They’ll be responsible or they will simply NOT! If your neighbors dog has been allowed to poop in a certain spot before!! He will no doubt return or try to return to that same spot!! Over and over!! It’s called marking their spot! So if you are new to an area and are experiencing poop bombs in your yard? It’s only because that’s were the dog has previously been allowed to do so! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!! HAVE THE POOP CONVERSATION WITH THEM LIGHT HEARTDLY…VERY FIRST THING!!! But also realize! It will still…take lots of time for the old dog and it’s owners to adjust and much frustration on your part to overcome the dogs urge to stop marking its territory….That is!!
Only..if the owners are willing to put in the effort!! If not! Your basically screwed..
Now.. if your poop bombers are new!! Meaning they just moved in to your neighborhood!! WELL THEN!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!! MAKE THE POOP CONVERSATION!!! THE VERY FIRST THING YOU LIGHT HEARTDLY DISSCUSS!!! Some of you sound to me…as if anyone whom chooses to live by or around you… are potentially or really…more like eventually going to piss you off about one thing or another anyway…Just so happens the dog thing is the most convenient avenue for you to vent your disapprovel…. The absolute bottom line is..Dog crap is not the END OF THE WORLD!!! It’s merely an inconvenience at best… And dog pee doesn’t damage outside foliage AT ALL….folks are really stretching when they use that excuse..LOL SO.. In the grand scheme of things in life…try not to allow such pety things to cause stress…
If you are picking up the poop anyway, follow them home, should you catch them and pitch it on their porch. Let them call the cops. When the cop asks how do they know that it was me and they screw up and say, “Because I know where my dog pooped, then the cops can issue them a ticket….Laugh if you must but this really happened. They now take another route.
We recently bought a house in a very nice neighborhood. The last ten years of the previous owners life the lady had lost her sight so all the dog walking neighbors probably got use to having their dogs crap on her lawn and since she never said anything they probably thought it was okay. The day we moved in, my wife was trying to turn into our driveway but it was blocked by a man allowing his dog to crap on our driveway. He made my wife wait and then walked away not cleaning up when the dog finished. The front yard was run down and I spent the next 8 months working on it myself. Over that time dog owners would walk by let their dogs on the yard, some would even walk with the dog up on the lawn, some would pick it up others would not. I would set my garbage bins out on trash day and after they were emptied by the company, dog owners would drop their baggies of crap into them…I would be out working in the yard and dog owners would let their dogs on the lawn to crap, right next to me… I finally just started confronting them. Their first response was always “I am going to pick it up” with a panic look because I was actually questioning them. They new it was wrong and were just trying to get their dog to crap on someone else’s yard and they got caught. I would not back down and asked why they thought it was okay? I told them it is disgusting to have their dog in my yard only to crap. I would say I don’t do it to you why do you do it to me? I would always finish by saying you and your dogs are not allowed on my property again. Most of these stuck up neighbors were shocked and could not believe I was talking to them that way. They always walked away mumbling something about me…mean person, crappy neighbor, etc. I was out in what I call my “Bistro” patio, I built a privacy wall in the front and now have a nice new patio. While enjoying a cold one-behind my wall-a couple allowed their two small dogs on my lawn to crap. Now this is not what I want to see when I am relaxing after working all day in the yard…I walked out from behind the wall and said “I do not allow dogs on my property to crap” the canned response “We are going to pick it up” did not work for them. I really went overboard, never threatening and staying on my own property, but let them know how disgusted I was and how rude they were. The man started being a smart ass and the women just could not believe what she was hearing. She was looking around for help but all my neighbors love me and they know how hard I have worked on the house…The man kept bad mouthing me as he walked away, I finally said to the wife “to tell your pussy husband to shut up”. Not one of these rude neighbors bothered to ask my permission or introduce themselves to me. I have met a few dogs walkers that are very nice, they stop and talk I pet their dogs, I have no problem with them because they have seen my effort in the yard and have enough respect for me to not allow their dogs on my yard…btw, I caught the man that let his dog crap in our driveway the day we moved in doing it again. I opened the garage door and he was actually smart enough to say ” I will not do this again” I still ripped into him……….These people know what they are doing, they could care less about you and your yard, and will only stopped when embarrassed.
It’s called curbing your dog. Your dog needs exercise. Teach the dog that he’s not on a sniffing expedition, he’s on a walk. Teach the dog to do it’s business at home, before you walk. If you’re dog does it’s business on my yard, YOU get sprayed with a water hose. Not the dog, YOU. Poor dog doesn’t know any better, YOU should
what can i do as far as legal matters, with this neighbor letting her dog shit on my property and allowing the dog to run free on our condo property.
dog, cat, critter repellent can be found at home depot, Lowe’s, and ace hardware stores. it works great, but needs to be reapplied after rain.
We have new neighbors who seem friendly enough but they allow their dog to run free and it poops on my lawn. We all leash the yards our homes are on so there are rules set up and each person purchasing a home gets a copy of those rules. NO Dogs off of leashes, even in your own yard. My dog is on a leash and we pick up the poop which she is only allowed to go on our lawn. We are tired of picking up after the next door neighbor’s dog. It obviously when someone lets their dog do this to a neighbor they don’t give a flip for anyone but themselves. There is also piles of their dog crap on their lawn which they are always saying they are going to pick it up but never do. Loud noises til 10pm, their trash cans on my lawn and now their dog crap. It will be summer soon and the smell is going to be bad and that is when the crap will hit the fan. Not going to talk nice when I do approach them because these types of people are ignorant to start with.