neighborhood dog issue

[Deleted]

My large neighborhood has a Yahoo email group so emails are constantly going around regarding various things in the neighborhood.

The latest involves several people griping and complaining about people walking their dogs and putting the 'poop bags' in people's trash cans, etc instead of taking them to their own house--I get it & this doesn't bother me, I agree. But then some people chimed in that dogs should not be allowed to even pee on someone's else's property b/c it can kill bushes, grass, etc. They "will be watching", taking photos, etc Really??? So basically they don't want anyone to walk their dogs.

Would you ignore or respond?!! Not sure what to say without being a complete smartass. Yes, I have a dog and I walk him constantly; I always pick up his poop & bring it home but the pee part is what baffles me.

[bleubook]

I curb my dog when walking her. It's polite. I just hold her leash on the street side of the sidewalk till we get to the park. I also use public trash cans or my own (unless its trash day and the full can us waiting by the curb to be picked up- then I use whatever)

[Becca]

I am always the voice of dissent on dog issues here, but here are my thoughts...

Poop I agree - pick it up and bring it to your own garbage.

Pee I can kind of understand, if it is creating problems. If I didn't own a dog, and my yard looked like this:
greensideupblog.com/2008/06/is-dog-pee-killing-your-grass-here-is-a-solution/
I would definitely be asking my neighbors not to let their dogs pee in my yard. If I didn't have the brown spot issue, the pee would be NBD to me. (as long as people weren't regularly letting their dogs pee in the snow in my front yard - I hate having to tell my DD she can't play out front in the winter because there is too much dog pee in the snow. Ewwwww.)

Also, I don't think that not wanting a dog to pee in your yard means that you don't want your neighbors walking their dogs. It just means you don't want a dog peeing in your yard. I guess I don't know much about owning a dog, but can't you let them out and wait for them to do their business before leaving your own yard?

We have people in our neighborhood that don't like kids. I make sure that my kid never runs through their yards. That doesn't mean we never go on walks. Same kind of premise to me I guess.

[CallingAllAngels]

Our neighbor also complained about this. I just don't let our dog walk on his grass. It seems petty to me, but it's easy enough to avoid doing.

[ECB]

Do people not get it that it's really not possible to tell a dog to hold it? Sure, an owner can use the leash to try and direct their dog to a certain area, but if they have to go, they have to go.

OP. my main reaction is "sure, take pictures. Not sure who your going to report them to that's going to care, but f it makes you happy, go for it. ".

[6fsn]

Ignore it. What sort of response would you give?

I admit when I see it happen I think "gross, my kid plays there." Then I think about the deer, squirrels, birds, and everything else that pees all over the place.

[aspentosh]

We don't let our dogs pee in yards. The piece of grass on the other side of the sidewalk is another story. I see what they do to our yard and I don't want them to do it to anyone else's yard. That being said, I don't really care if another dog pees on the outer edges of our yard (we have a large front yard so I wouldn't want a dog way up in our yard).

[aspentosh]

Oh, and I would probably ignore. No point in starting a battle with these people- then they'll probably start targeting you!

[vegas]

Dec 7, 2012 7:27:47 GMT -5 6fsn said:

Ignore it. What sort of response would you give?

I admit when I see it happen I think "gross, my kid plays there." Then I think about the deer, squirrels, birds, and everything else that pees all over the place.

That's what I was thinking. Do these people not realize that other animals are probably peeing on their yards constantly? I get that owners can prevent their dogs from doing it but that won't guarantee the yard will stay free of piss from other animals--squirrels, deer, stray cats and dogs, etc.

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2012 7:06:36 GMT -5 Becca said:

Also, I don't think that not wanting a dog to pee in your yard means that you don't want your neighbors walking their dogs. It just means you don't want a dog peeing in your yard. I guess I don't know much about owning a dog, but can't you let them out and wait for them to do their business before leaving your own yard?

Not really, especially a male dog since they mark their 'territory' by peeing on trees. Pel will have a big pee in our yard first thing, then pee like 10 times on a walk, mostly like 5-10 drops of urine at a time. That's why it's good ownership to curb your dog at all times on a walk. Pel knows he's supposed to walk on the street side of the sidewalk and not go in front yards.

In my town, it's a city ordinance to curb your dog, as the town owns the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street. So when people do so, animals are urinating on city property, not private.

[darkling_glory]

Unless the dog is peeing in the exact same spot multiple times a day, they're not going to kill your neighbors grass. Ignore it. People are dumb.

I agree about the poop though!

[McGavin]

As a non-dog owner I don't want dog poop in my trash can.

I don't care if your dog pees on the edge of my front lawn. I assume you aren't walking to the middle of lawn for your dog to pee.

[Deleted]

GBCN is the only place I've heard that it's okay to actually open your neighbor's trash can and toss a bag of dog shit in there.

I think it's rude. Our trash guys frequently don't get anything small that falls to the bottom of the trash can. I would be pissed if that dog shit fell to the bottom of the can and sat there for a few weeks or if the bag opened and turds were just hanging out in the bottom of my trash can.

I would seriously hunt a bastard down for this in my neighborhood.

[Deleted]

When I first got my first dog, my neighbor complained to my landlord that I was letting it pee in the yard in front of their house. I was really offended/upset about their complaint, but I guess maybe it happened more frequently in front of their house simply because it was the direction we headed most of the time and she often would have to pee soon after leaving, so I guess it ended up being there too frequently. After that, I stopped walking past that house and if I did, I did it across the street or in the street so it wouldn't affect them.

I don't know what I'd do if it was the whole neighborhood. Like someone else mentioned, a male dog pees on everything. My dog probably attempts to pee at least 20 times on a typical walk. I don't think much comes out the last 15 times, but an observer wouldn't know that.

I have never heard the term "curbing your dog". I guess that makes sense. I have never lived in an area where that was a thing. That I know of, at least.

[vanillacourage]

Don't put your dog's poop in trash cans that don't belong to you. Ever.

[dexteroni]

I'm with them on the poop issue. This was debated to death just a few weeks ago so I won't get back into it too much. But putting your dog's poop in any residential trash can except your own is gross.

As for the pee issue, I keep them to tree lawns only, and try not to even let them walk on the main part of the yard, let alone pee there. I do have a couple neighbors who asked us when we moved here to not let Dexter pee even on their tree lawns, so I walk him past those houses without stopping. He does like to mark, so if he gets near a tree, at least a little pee is going come out. But you can make sure they do the "big" pee before you leave your own yard, and guide them to where you want them to pee on the rest of the walk. There's a good amount of effort that can and IMO should be made.

[dexteroni]

Oh and as for the message board, I wouldn't respond. Saying crap like "I'll be watching and taking pictures" is jerky and doesn't deserve a response. If they had said "hey this is George Jones at 42 West Street and I'd like to request that you don't let your dogs pee on my yard, not even on the tree lawn. Thanks, I really appreciate it, and if I can every do anything for you, please don't hesitate to ask," then I would be like "no problem George!" It's all in how you approach it.

[dexteroni]

Dec 7, 2012 9:00:36 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

GBCN is the only place I've heard that it's okay to actually open your neighbor's trash can and toss a bag of dog shit in there.

I think it's rude. Our trash guys frequently don't get anything small that falls to the bottom of the trash can. I would be pissed if that dog shit fell to the bottom of the can and sat there for a few weeks or if the bag opened and turds were just hanging out in the bottom of my trash can.

I would seriously hunt a bastard down for this in my neighborhood.

Where were you a few weeks ago when this was being debated? We could have used a few more voices of reason. lol.

[dexteroni]

And since I'm already spamming this post, I have never known and I still don't know the definition of curbing your dog. Does it actually mean taking it to the curb so it pees in the street?

[LoveTrains]

WTF is a tree lawn?

[lanyac]

I don't have a problem with either issue. I don't mind if dogs pee in my yard (its rare, because I live in a culdesac) and I don't mind if people put their dog's poop in my trash can. Its just the trash. I don't expect it to be all pleasant smelling.

I have been yelled at while my dog was peeing in someone's yard. While it was raining. People are just BSC. My childhood dog peed in the same spot every day, and the nitrogen in the urine actually made the grass/weeds grow better, lol.

[pitterwoo]

People are so weird. I just don't let my dog pee at the one corner near my house where there is a brown spot on the grass already from other dogs. I also don't let him pee on flower beds/small shrubs.

[phunluvin82]

Posts like this make me glad that I live in the city where there are no yards and neighbors generally MYOB about anything short of criminal activity.

[pitterwoo]

Shit happens. Pee too.

it's just not something I would be worked up about on my own property. Stray cats hanging out under my foundation shrubs and using it as their litter box annoys me more because it really stinks, but I can't really reason with stray cats. So oh well.

[MixedBerryJam]

I have a new lawn with some kind of fancy schmancy grass, and it's covered with about 10,000 4" dead circles, so I totally agree that pee can kill the grass. Most of my neighbors have mostly crabgrass, or at least mostly native grasses, and while I'm really careful not to let my dog pee on their lawns, I think that strip next to the street is totally okay. Mine only pees and poops on grass, so while the idea of curbing is good in theory, I don't think it would work for me ... she is both too old (at 6) to learn this new habit, and I'm not very proficient at training her. Poop always gets picked up and brought back to my own rubbish, even on rubbish day. Well, I will deposit in public rubbish bins when we're in a commercial-type area, but in my neighborhood I always bring it home with me.

[dexteroni]

Dec 7, 2012 11:29:41 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

WTF is a tree lawn?

The strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street in many residential neighborhoods. It has many other names, and apparently its official name is "road verge."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_verge

ETA: Apparently "tree lawn" is localized to my city. How odd!

[Deleted]

There are no sidewalks, no strips of land between sidewalk/street. There is the street and there are people's yards. We don't have a park I can walk him to. I have a male dog; he probably marks (pees on) about 20 things when we walk--even if he's already done most of his business in our backyard. He doesn't sit there and pee for 5 minutes in one spot while walking. I will definitely pay more attention though and make sure he's not peeing on anyone's flowers or nice looking bushes or whatever but I'm not sure what else I can do unless someone tells me exactly which house we should avoid. I guess they'll come out screaming at me one day and then I'll know. In fact we're headed out for a walk shortly so wish me luck! I didn't respond to the email & don't plan to. Thanks everyone for input.

[awkwardgirl]

Dec 7, 2012 11:54:18 GMT -5 @chloe77 said:

I don't understand the entitlement sentiment that some people have expressed. It doesn't matter what someone's reasons are, whether you agree or not -- if someone does not want your dog peeing on their private property, then do not take your dog on their private property! I don't care how inconvenient it is, I don't care how hard it is to tell your dog to hold it. You don't have liberties with someone else's land. It doesn't matter if they would be unsuccessful if they took pictures and reported it. You should not feel entitled to take your dog on someone's property to pee if they don't want you on it.

Thank you!!!! Totally agree.



I have issues with dogs crapping on my lawn - whether picked up or not, I don't want them doing it on my lawn! Not only does it kill the grass (google it if you are doubting me - 'is dog poop good for grass') but more importantly, it ruins a place that my kids like to run around and play!! And being that I own my lawn, take care of it, and pay taxes on it, my kids should be able to roll around in that grass if they want to, without rolling around into a pile of dog sh!t!