Canine Confrontation - an age old problem

[Seeking Hobbes]

This morning I confronted a "neighbor" (I assume he lives in my neighborhood, although not next door) whose dog took liberties on my lawn... and who then casually walked away leaving the steaming pile behind. The conversation went something like this...

Me (from my front door): Hey buddy, how 'bout picking that up?
Man (from street): Oh... I will... I'll come back.
Me: Yeah... I bet you will.
Man: What's YOUR problem?!
Me: My problem is stepping in dog s#!$ every time I work on the lawn!

(I love that fact that he turned his rudeness into there being some kind of problem with me.)

Had I not been dressed only in boxers and a t-shirt, I would have walked a bag out to him and watched him pick it up. As it was, however, I let it go at that.

This has been an long standing problem... but, not wanting to surveil my yard, the first time I was able to catch someone "in the act".

Questions...

- What's the best way of handling a situation like that?
- Does anyone have a suggestion for keeping neighbors/dogs from crapping on your yard?

 

[braumeister]

A friend once followed the miscreant to her home a block away, then went back to his own lawn, picked up the offending residue, and dumped it on the miscreant's lawn.

"Just returning your property, like a good neighbor."

The miscreant subsequently found a different dog-walking route.

 

[Onward]

went back to his own lawn, picked up the offending residue, and dumped it on the miscreant's lawn.

This is exactly what I did, repeatedly, when I had the problem. Except I dumped it on the dog-owner's door mat.

It did not end well.

 

[TromboneAl]

- What's the best way of handling a situation like that?

I think any confrontation will stop that particular perp from doing again (on your lawn), unless you tick him off so much that he does it on purpose. For that reason, an "Excuse me, I stepped in dog **** the other day, could you please not let your dog do it there?" would probably be better. The nicer you are, the more guilty the person will feel.

- Does anyone have a suggestion for keeping neighbors/dogs from crapping on your yard?

A neat little sign should absolutely cause the person to go to someone else's lawn.

or

​

 

[LOL!]

....
The conversation went something like this...

Me (from my front door): Hey buddy, how 'bout picking that up?
Man (from street): Oh... I will... I'll come back.
Me: Yeah... I bet you will.
....
(I love that fact that he turned his rudeness into there being some kind of problem with me.)

See the difference to the bolded part:
Me: Great! Thanks! I appreciate it.

 

[Amethyst]

And the dog-owner walks away thinking, "What a sucker! He was even nice to me!"

Amethyst

See the difference to the bolded part:
Me: Great! Thanks! I appreciate it.

 

[sinjin]

Heh, in my last neighborhood we all lived on 3+ acres. The last year we lived there, our neighbor across the street routinely walked her dog over to our yard to take a dump. My husband confronted her and you might think that made her stop, but nope, she just continued to do it Even when we were outside in plain sight. Mrsin wanted to escalate the matter by delivering the goods back to her but I didn't want to get into a neighborhood fight, we were moving anyway.

We weren't good friends but we never had any kind of a disagreement in the 10 years we lived there. The only thing I can think of is that we didn't hire her husband to originally install our flooring and refinish it before listing our house for sale. We just prefer to not mix business with neighbors.

Dog owners frequently confuse me. Another neighbor always and I mean everyday always let her dog run thru my yard even though I asked her not to. But when another neighbor's dog got out of it's invisible fence a couple of times she immediately started a poster campaign against him. People are weird.

 

[W2R]

Ah, this makes me SO glad that I live in New Orleans. I have lived nearly a decade in this house and never once had that problem, even back when I mowed and edged my own lawn. It's not that my neighbors don't have pets or don't walk them. A number of them have dogs and some walk them, but they are very considerate.

Another nice doggy experience here - - I have never seen an unleashed dog on my street. I love that since large dogs frighten me. And I have only seen one cat, an elderly black kitty with a collar that is a real sweetie and loves to rub up against my ankles and purr.

These are some of many reasons why I am a little reluctant to move.

 

[Midpack]

I've firmly but politely confronted two neighbors for same where I live. With both I said, 'how would you like it if I brought my dogs to your yard to do that?'

The good news, they don't do it anymore. One just never comes by our house anymore and has since moved. The other I've seen out the window several times to confirm. [in case you're thinking 'how do you know?]

The bad news, there are others I have not caught. One is a neighbor family who let their two dogs roam wherever they want unsupervised daily. When I talk to them, they say 'very sorry' - and continue to let the dogs wander the neighborhood. So mixed results here...

 

[LOL!]

My dog goes into other yards and eats the crap that it find there. But do my neighbors thank me? Nope.

 

[Seeking Hobbes]

See the difference to the bolded part:
Me: Great! Thanks! I appreciate it.

Yeah... you're right. Usually I'm a "live and let live" kind of guy, but
Sleepiness + Pent up frustration of stepping in "yard waste" + His cavalier demeanor = ALL of my buttons being pushed.

 

[Midpack]

My dog goes into other yards and eats the crap that it find there. But do my neighbors thank me? Nope.

TMI!!!

 

[W2R]

My dog goes into other yards and eats the crap that it find there. But do my neighbors thank me? Nope.

Maybe he's trying to tell you what he thinks of the brand of dogfood you provide! (Just joking)

 

[eytonxav]

We have many in our neighborhood who do this regularly. However, even worse, there is an individual in our neighborhood who is known to be a peeping tom. What he does is walk his dog all the way up on peoples lawns and peers into their windows. He has been caught doing this by several neighbors and its even been reported to the Police who don't seem willing to do anything about it unless they catch him in the act.

A couple of months ago, I was doing some yard work in the back yard, and was bringing some clippings out front and I see this guy exiting my yard and it was obvious he had been way up on the lawn. I yelled at him, I better not catch you up on my lawn again. He just walked away and didn't even look at me or say anything. How do you handle a situation like this?

 

[haha]

Another nice doggy experience here - - I have never seen an unleashed dog on my street. I love that since large dogs frighten me. And I have only seen one cat, an elderly black kitty with a collar that is a real sweetie and loves to rub up against my ankles and purr.

These are some of many reasons why I am a little reluctant to move.

Same situation where I live-- many dogs, all on leashes, and owners very careful to pick-up after them. In spite of walking miles every day, I almost never see a dog pile, and I cannot remember ever seeing a dog not on a leash, or a dead dog in the street.

Ha

 

[brewer12345]

You could always write "@sshole" on the offender's lawn in the middle of the night in 10 foot high letters with defoliant/bleach in the middle of the night.

 

[Brat]

My husband's solution back in the day was to lay a section of electrified fence wire in the area dogs would use and turn on the juce during the times dogs would frequent the yard. The yard was posted with the graphic above and there was a ribbon fence to make it clear that it wasn't a 'safe' area to walk. After several yelps the dogs didn't come near any more and he removed the wire, fence and the sign.

He told me when he was a kid he knew the dog that would defecate on his parents' yard so he collected it in a paper lunch sack and after he had a critical mass he walked up to the door of the owner's home, rang the bell and when the door opened he told the owner they forgot something and dropped the sack in their foyer. That property owner would frequently keep little kids balls that went into their yard. He had no problem getting even. I seem to recall that the dog owner called the cops who visited the neighbors about the issue, then they advised the dog owner to be considerate and that if they saw the dog loose they would pick it up. He got no sympathy.

 

[Keim]

My dog goes into other yards and eats the crap that it find there. But do my neighbors thank me? Nope.

My former dog did that. Would eat her own. Potty mouth! Needless to say, she wasn't allowed to come near me with that mouth.

We called her "The Recycler."

 

[braumeister]

Alas, I think those days are gone forever. Our society has become so litigious that it's nearly impossible to get away with such simple remedies now.

My husband's solution back in the day was to lay a section of electrified fence wire in the area dogs would use and turn on the juce during the times dogs would frequent the yard. The yard was posted with the graphic above and there was a ribbon fence to make it clear that it wasn't a 'safe' area to walk. After several yelps the dogs didn't come near any more and he removed the wire, fence and the sign.

He told me when he was a kid he knew the dog that would defecate on his parents' yard so he collected it in a paper lunch sack and after he had a critical mass he walked up to the door of the owner's home, rang the bell and when the door opened he told the owner they forgot something and dropped the sack in their foyer. That property owner would frequently keep little kids balls that went into their yard. He had no problem getting even. I seem to recall that the dog owner called the cops who visited the neighbors about the issue, then they advised the dog owner to be considerate and that if they saw the dog loose they would pick it up. He got no sympathy.

 

[Lsbcal]

This morning I confronted a "neighbor" (I assume he lives in my neighborhood, although not next door) whose dog took liberties on my lawn... and who then casually walked away leaving the steaming pile behind. The conversation went something like this...

Me (from my front door): Hey buddy, how 'bout picking that up?
...(snip)...
This has been an long standing problem... but, not wanting to surveil my yard, the first time I was able to catch someone "in the act".

Questions...

- What's the best way of handling a situation like that?
- Does anyone have a suggestion for keeping neighbors/dogs from crapping on your yard?

My answer will be a bit controversial so first let me say I completely sympathize with you. You are after all the victim.

I think to get a better outcome and to avoid having a confrontation with negative consequences for the victim, the phrasing might be something less charged like (with a modest smile):

"Hi, nice dog you have there. I would sure appreciate it if you could pick up that stuff your dog dropped." Might follow up with:
"Would you like a doggy bag, I could get one for you?"

I say this because these confrontations leave me even more of a victim if I run the conversation over and over in my mind. Not everyone is troubled by this sort of ruminations but I am.

Recently I had someone's (friendly but untrained) large dog jump all over me in an open space while I was running. The confrontation with the owner got a little loud. After thinking about it, I concluded I should have just ignored the whole thing, dog and owner. DW happened to have met the guy + dog shortly afterwards that same day and just looked the other way. Dog ignored her. I had confronted the guy because DW had complained about the dog jumping on her. The guy was completely unrepentant. A jerk and we all know some of these.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I'm glad I don't have that problem. In this community there is a strict rule to pick up after your pet. Everyone I see walking their dog has a hand full full of baggies. I have never found a "pile" in our yard. Also, you must have your dog on a leash. We do not follow the rules but then our little Chihuahua's never leave the yard. We do not walk them. They go out, do their thing and are back in the house. And, I don't pick up after them in our own yard. Not much to pick up.

 

[toofrugalformycat]

I'm glad I don't have that problem. In this community there is a strict rule to pick up after your pet. Everyone I see walking their dog has a hand full full of baggies. I have never found a "pile" in our yard. Also, you must have your dog on a leash. We do not follow the rules but then our little Chihuahua's never leave the yard. We do not walk them. They go out, do their thing and are back in the house. And, I don't pick up after them in our own yard. Not much to pick up.

Unless you never let those dogs out of your sight or you have a fence they cannot escape, I GUARANTEE they are going farther than you think and doing more damage than you know. If you're not finding their poop, believe me, some unhappy neighbor is. And now you are going to say, "Not MY dog."
Johnnie36, I'm not just picking on you, I'm reliving a lifetime full of friends and neighbors who let their dogs out loose "only for a few minutes", and expect the dogs to have the same moral code as them. They are DOGS, they don't know any better. They poop and piss and sometimes dig wherever they damn well please, even if you would never tell them to do so. And they move much faster and go much farther than you can believe. Trust me on this. If you let your dog loose on the world without your direct supervision, you are part of the problem.

 

[grasshopper]

No neighbors, no neighbors dogs, but those darn coyotes.

 

[travelover]

My observation is that some people use their dogs as surrogates for vicarious aggression. The bigger the @$$hole, the more egregious the action.

Personally, I don't put up with it and call them out on it, though, as has been noted, many are quick to try to play the victim.

 

[TromboneAl]

he collected it in a paper lunch sack and after he had a critical mass he walked up to the door of the owner's home, rang the bell and when the door opened

He forgot to light it on fire.

Would you like a doggy bag,

You have just ruined the idea of restaurant leftovers for me.