Oiy, I think there are a lot fo us who can empathize. Right now I am trying to decide with my neighbor problem which consists of their dog who is left alone in their yard for hours and hours and will repeatedly throw itself against our fence when ever it hears me or dogs in our yard. I talked to him about it last year nicely, but guess he thinks that now that the weather is cold and nobody is out much it doesn't matter anymore. Ugh.

I am sure there must be leash laws and clean up laws that you have in your area. Look them up and talk to the neighbor about those ordinances and your concerns for your children playing in a poop and urine contaminated area. Tell them that if they don't fix what they are doing you will consider reporting the off leash and non-cleanup to appropriate agencies. As the next step if nothing improves I would write a non emotional letter citing the ordinances and let them know that if things don't improve you will next report the issues to appropriate public agencies.

Do they have a fenced yard also? If so why don't they send these dogs to their back yard?

If all else fails there is the bag of dog poop on their front steps, lit on fire or not as you please....

 

I totally understand I have a friend who had the exact same problem. Her neighbor who is very very nice and a friend of hers also let her dogs go all over her lawn and she had small children. She mentioned it politely and said her daughter fell in it. The woman laughed and said OMG I hope that wasn't my dog sneaking over there. She knew it was cause he did it all the time, Actually she had 3. My friend couldn't do a thing without making an enemy so she would pick it up and just toss it back into the dogs yard to whom it belonged.

 

I agree with Lily......return their poop to them! Then get one of these signs and hope they know how to read!

 

Put it up on the property line between your property and hers facing her yard haha

 

I like that sign!

 

I live on a corner property and we have an area that people walk past with/without dogs and all sorts of stuff ends up there. I recently did get a variation of that sign and one about picking up trash that will go out in the spring when the ground thaws.


There are, sadly, not too many ways to deal with this without risking the neighbor relationship, but my friends aren't really our neighbors and I only really care about quiet and polite dealings, so if they think I am a stuffed shirt so be it.

 

anyone that ignorant I would not want for a friend, so tell her nicely and then do what you got to do. I had a friend that came by with her dog, every time it would poop in my front yard. First time it happened I met her at the door with a paper towel and plastic bag. and said I do not allow mine out front as I do not want dog poop in my front yard, so pick it up. She learned quickly although she gave the dog away

 

I friend who works as dog control officer for my local council said, "The most common reason people give for not cleaning up after their dog is that they can not bring themselves to touch Poo even with protection." It sounds like a common aversion or Phobia.

Eric

 

I prefer to have cordial relations with my neighbors. I would say something like, “ I’ve been finding a lot of dog poo in my yard. Not sure if it’s your dog, but if it is, please pick it up. If I happen to see your dog in the process, I’ll mark it and give you a call.”

At the Dallas townshouse neighborhood where my son used to live, nearly every few steps there were signs, curb your dog, no dogs on the grass etc. They didn’t seem to work. And at the nearby park, with waste bag dispensers, and designated bins for dog waste, it was a dog poo minefield.

 

I think not only does this problem happen everywhere - but in well to do neighborhoods where houses are far apart with lots of landscaping, it's easy to think no one is watching you and your dog pooping.

I am sorry you're suffering from this problem. We had someone who walked their dog on a leash and knowingly left the poop behind. One of my neighbors caught them and came running out of her house with a poop bag and demanded that they pick up the poop. She also nicely but firmly read them the riot act that they had to always pick up the poop. That was enough for them to realize that everyone knew the poops were from their dog and they were shamed into behaving properly.

My next door neighbor lets their dog poop on their front yard - and they have young children. Disgusting. The dog sticks to their yard......except when we had snow on the ground. We had shoveled a grassy knoll for Babykins and their dog had pooped in it. I'm not proud to say, I was so mad, I picked the poop up and tossed it back into their yard. If the weather wasn't so nasty, icy, cold, I might have walked over and knocked on their door and requested they come over to clean it up. This only happened twice. If it happens more often I would talk to my neighbor. I don't know what they feed their English Bulldog but that dog's poop is unique. I also don't know this neighbor well, the family isn't as friendly and never go to block parties.

It is wise to find out what the laws are in your area before you take any action. Have you considered taking a photo of the dog in action with enough background so she can clearly see her dog is on your property? Or setting up a webcam focused on your yard so you can show her the evidence.

Psychology research has found that signs with a large eye are more effective - it makes people think that others are watching them, or perhaps a webcam is videoing them. When people think they are being watched, they tend to follow societal norms more closely.

 

I have had the same issue.

I really wish that humor worked.......

 

haha, I love that second sign, if your dog poops pick it up, love that the woman picked up her dog and not the poop.

 

Before I would address them again I would try to catch their dog in the act and take a picture - since one of the obvious responses will be "Must be someone else dog" then I would call a company that specializes in clean ups and ask them to give you a quote for your front yard clean up and then send a copy of quote and picture to your neighbor. If you do this via mail it would be a little more confrontational. If you do it in person you could convey that you are seriously concerned about health of the children who use your yard and it will make it less of a confrontational issue. I have found that some people will only change their behavior if they are hit in their pocket books.

 

Clever thinking Moni!

 

We have one or two guy's in our neighborhood, we all know who they are. One walks his dogs, never carries a used bag, so..the other and I've caught him will let his dog poo, will reach in his pocket and pull out a bag (if he sees you) then goes to the trouble of b ending over like he is scooping it up walks away with he bag, only when you go past where his dog went, there is the pile still there. I called him on it once and he got all nasty telling to get a life. I just said yep this is my life reporting folks who are bad dog owners.

 

I actually spoke with an enforcement officer from the township where we live and he read the ordinances to me regarding dogs. It seems that the real problem is she is not following the leash laws. She can’t just open her front door and let the two dogs go running free into everyone else’s yard. But that’s what she does daily. I feel like mentioning this to her would be painfully awkward. Sigh.

 

I think there is a polite way to say this. I would not tolerate it for sure. I moved into a new house this summer and I had two different neigbors come to my door within 2-3 weeks (one came three times, the other one came once), to ask me to cut the bushes on public property the previous owner had neglected for years ! I did it because I’m a good neigbor and because that’s what needed to be done.

Those dogs are on your property, and you have the right not to step on dog poop in your own yard. Besides, dog urine will kill the grass.

Definitely tell them. Or, maybe just install a small ornament fence and if they don’t get it, then you can address it.

 

Maybe if you speak to her not so much about the poo and pee, but the possibility of dogs running away, being lured away by coyotes, being kidnapped, etc. you would get somewhere.

I really have very little patience for this sort of BS. The fake picker uppers are the worst. And almost every place has leash laws and just because my dogs would stay with me without them doesn't mean they get to walk off leash. The ordinance is there for everyone.


I live on a corner property with a sort of T shaped intersection since the little street my driveway faces is just a tiny connector between two more major streets. The intersection has a three way stop sign that lots of people pay little attention to. When I see lots of non-stops I go to the police precinct and report it and ask them to do extra patrol. They always ask what days and times are worst. Maybe you could do the same and enforcement catching her might make her stop.