my neighbor's dog - your thoughts, please!

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

i'd like your thoughts on this situation. i am particularly interested to hear from the dogs owners out there, as we do not own any animals.

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we have a neighbor whose dog likes to use our backyard for his toilet.


i don’t like this for several reasons;
- if i really liked to clean up doggie-doo, i'd get my own dog.
- i don't like doggie-doo killing my grass.
- most importantly, i don't want my two young daughters playing in a dog's toilet.

so, we called to complain - twice.

the first time got us an apology and a promise to 're-adjust' their electric fence.

the second time got us a very cold response. no apology. no promise to 'fix' the fence.

this was after having cleaned up eight piles of doggie-doo in a two week period.

i caught him in my yard one saturday. the neighbors were gone for the entire day. the dog was left in the yard all day. this happens often. i spent ten minutes chasing him out of my yard. finally, i went inside and called animal control. they were closed, so i called the sheriff's office to file a complaint.

in the time that it took the cruiser to arrive, another neighbor down the road saw what was going on and he ran all over the neighborhood chasing the dog to try to get him back in the yard. he is good friends with the dog owners. he was still outside when the cruiser pulled up to talk to me. the officer went down and knocked on the dog owner's door. no answer. he told me that he left them a note and that i should follow up with animal control on monday.

after i finished mowing the lawn, and had time to cool down, i called the dog owner's and left them a message about what had happened. i told than that i had called the sheriff and that i was calling animal control on monday. i told them that it was apparent that they didn't care what their dog was up to while they were away, so i was not going to waste any more time talking to them. i told them that i would just call animal control or the sheriff if it happened again.

a few evenings later, i am working out in the yard and the 'missus' flies up the street on her broom. she is yelling at me and wagging her finger at me and telling me off for calling the law and for leaving them a 'nasty message'. she tells me that if i didn't want to live around people that had dogs, i shouldn't have moved into a residential neighborhood. she also told me that if i didn't want dogs in my yard, i should put up a fence.

i didn't know whether to laugh, or knock her teeth out.

in a rather uncharacteristic performance, i managed to keep my cool and explain to her that the whole situation was her fault for not controlling her animal, in the first place. all she could see was that i had called the sheriff and animal control. she couldn't make one move backwards in her thought process to understand WHY i had called the sheriff and animal control.

she made a few more equally ludicrous comments.

i responded in a cool-headed manner and again explained that this was all her fault.

this wasn't getting anywhere. it became obvious that i was arguing with a two year-old. before long, she started cussing and name calling. at which point, i told her to "go home" and resumed my yard work.

for the next few weeks, every time the dog was out, it was on a leash.

lately, the leash has disappeared. the dog has been outside, unattended all day on several occasions. the last time i mowed the lawn, i found another present. my wife convinced me NOT to call animal control, since it had been a long time since the last incident. reluctantly, i gave in to her request.

so, what's a poor guy to do?

do i keep calling animal control and waiting three days for them to come out? that's what happened last time.

do i keep calling the sheriff? i hate the thought of this. i know they have better things to do with their time.

do i just resign myself and carry a 'pooper scooper' with me every time i mow the lawn?

do i scour the yard and remove doggie-doo every night before i let my children play in their own back yard?

my wife has already told me that i am not allowed to purchase a dillon M134 gatling gun, so any equally violent solutions will likely meet with the same scowl.

i am open to any constructive suggestions (flaming paper bags full of doggie-doo left on door steps are not constructive suggestions).

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I have NOT done the "Flaming" bag trick, but I HAVE taken a shovel and sent the dogs present back to his owners yard. After a while, they actually decided to do something smart and put up a two poles with wire strung between and chained the dog to it.

I'm not sure that your neighbors are that smart.

Bruce

Forgot to mention. I am a dog lover, too. When we were going to get a Dog, we built the Chain Link first.

[Judy Kingery]

Jeffery,

My sympathies to you, and as absolute dog lovers, I will say - still and all, yes, it is THEIR responsiblity to be accountable for their pet's whereabouts, totally. It's not up to you to clean up after their dog, nor should the dog be wandering freely about the neighborhood nor taking a doo in your yard period. It should be their responsibility to fence their yard in a secure manner to keep their dog in.

As they are apparently not inclined to do so, and unfair as it is to you, I'd likely fence my own yard anyway. Well, we like our privacy fence for a number of reasons, keeps our dogs in, keeps other dogs out, it's more quiet than say a chain link. Anyway, just wanted to validate that no, even though we have dogs and love dogs, it would never dawn on us to let them wander freely or go crap in someone else's yard or anything like that.

Best to you on this situation,

Jude

[Dave Lehnert]

I would first check that to see if they have a dog license.

Snap a photo each time the dog is in the yard. Do that a 1/2 dozen times then complain.

[Rob Cooper]

I have a lab and a neighbor who doesn't like dogs. My dog ran over to this neighbor's property twice. No poop, no digging, just ran over. They expressed their displeasure. Now I do not like this neighbor, but I put up a fence without being asked. My dog is my responsibility. Your neighbor knows the score, they just don't care.

Also, I have called animal control on problem dogs for rental properties. They have not acted quickly unless there was a rescue or an agressive animal. Keep a record and if you call animal control again, give the responding officer backup to your claims and concerns so they can take better action.

I don't like cleaning up after my own dog!

[Greg Peterson]

You're dealing with unreasonable people and poor pet owners. Not sure there is much you can do to 'train' them to take better care of their dog.

I would put up a fence, chain link or privacy, budget and/or aesthetics permitting. Good fences make good neighbors.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

First I'll tell you I am an avid dog lover. Currently we don't have any dogs but once we retire, I hope to get two. Two, in my opinion, seem to be easier to manage than one.

Your neighbors dogs are their responsibility. Their attitude is quite prevalent in our society today. Whether it's kids or dogs.....folks don't want to be responsible for that which they have or create.

We have about 13 cats in our neighborhood. I am not a cat person. The folks who have cats don't have flower beds. My next door neighbors and I do. Can you see where this is heading? We regularly pickup cat droppings out of our flower beds. If we don't, the nitrogen in it will kill plants.

One thing we have found that helps. We purchased some of these super-sonic electronic animal repellant devices. They function on a 9-volt battery and are motion activated. They put out a sound that is out of the human hearing range but in dog and cat hearing range. The only problem with them is regularly changing the batteries. If you don't turn them off when mowing the yard, etc, the batteries run down. Since installing them and trying to remember to replace the batteries, the amount of cat gifts we have had to pickup has reduced dramatically.

[Peter Stahl]

Get a paint ball gun, a couple shots to back side and they won't come near your yard any more. I won't hurt them just leave a lasting memory.

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

we've talked about installing a fence, but neither my wife nor i like them. plus, we don't feel that we should have to spend the money on a fence as a result of someone's lack of responsibility.

i know. it sounds like i'm being stubborn. well, that i am. no denying it.

the restrictive covenants in our neighborhood dictate that fences can be no higher than four feet and they must start at the rear of the building line. privacy fences are prohibited. unfortunately, the rear one-third of lot drops off over a fairly steep embankment. it's too steep to mow or do anything constructive with. installing a fence there would be costly and difficult. installing a partial fence won't accomplish much. even if i could surround the backyard with a fence, that leaves the entire side and front yard 'unprotected'. so, this means that fido will just poop outside the fence, since he can't go to his favorite corner of my yard.

we've been keeping the camera at the ready, in case we catch him out of his yard, again. but, we both work, so no one is home during the day when most of his visits seem to be occurring.


ken--

i like the ultasonic repellant idea. i may have to investigate that option.

do they have a 'vaporize' setting?

[Keel McDonald]

I would first check that to see if they have a dog license.

Snap a photo each time the dog is in the yard. Do that a 1/2 dozen times then complain.

Dave,

What's a dog license?!? No such thing around here.

I am a dog owner and we have one of those underground fences. Believe me, if it's on and working properly, our dog won't go near it.

I'd call animal control and/or the sheriff every time you catch the dog, or evidence, out. Eventually, they'd take care of it. After all, you saw results after calling the sheriff the first time, although it was temporary results. And I agree, it should not be your responsibility to fence in your yard and have that added expense because of irresponsible pet owners.

[Jim Becker]

I happen to love animals and pets. We don't have a dog simply because it's impractical for us, both from a care standpoint and because it would be a danger to our birds. Otherwise, we might already have at least one.

That said, I agree with the sentiments stated that the dog and all the ramifications for controlling it are the responsibility of the owners. You a) asked them nicely several times to deal with the situation and IMHO, you have good reason to ask. When you didn't get the required results, you b) called the authorities about the situation, resulting in temporary resolution, but a whole lot of verbal abuse. Now you say that the problem is reverting back into the picture. Collect your evidence, as it were, issue a final warning (nicely) and if you don't get the intended result, call animal control. You and your family do have a right to enjoy your property without the damage being done by the uncontrolled domestic pet of your neighbor. Further, you have a young daughter that could at the very least be frightened by an encounter with the dog or more, depending upon the demeanor of the dog. No question, I'd be calling animal control every time...

[Mitchell Andrus]

There are repelants that you can spread on the ground (like weed and feed) that the dog will avoid. After a while, he'll be trained not to wander over the line.

Otherwise, does the dog like raw hamberger?

[Bonnie Campbell]

I would keep calling animal control. It is the pet owners responsibility to keep their animal under control. Though from the sounds of it your neighbor won't improve any. I've no sympathy for people that let their dogs run, OR that like to take a poop break on your property when they're walking dogs on leashes. That being said, we have three large yard dogs and two small inside dogs. Our yard is fenced with a 6' chain link that also has privacy slats installed. We had to section the yard with fencing also because WE don't like walking in dog poop either. If your neighbors want a dog, a fence is part of the expense they should have allowed for.

Now for the backlash of calling to report them.... People treat their dogs as 'children', that they think can never do wrong. We've all seen real children like that. The 'parents' can get very vindictive. Watch you backside and keep documenting the problems with the dog AND the owner.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

This because there is no "crime" as defined by any criminal statute.
Your neighbor ,may be guilty of a civil tort ( for which you can sur) but I seriously doubt there is any crim invikved ERGO: the Sheriff is the wrong guy to call.
Call a lawyer.

What your neighbors are doing is called "trespass."
Which they compound by inflicting upon you a second species of harm by way of depositing this "haz mat" material.

First tell them they are trespassing and instruct them to cease.


You are entitled to pay a haz mat ( or any one else) team to come and collect the material and dispose of it in a manner prescribed by law.

Then send them the bill. They gotta pay.

And do it again for every subsequent occurrence.
When when they refuse to pay you~ ~ ~ ~ ~ You file in your local superior court for recovery of your costs plus exemplary damages.

It won't make you their number one pick for X-mass parties but it will encourage them to learn a little about restraining their pooch.

Any affirmative action you take that involves you tossing the stuff back where it came from or placing a flaming bag of crap on their door step will most likely constitute both a crime and an an actionable tort for which you will be exposed to both civil litigation as well as a possible statutory criminal prosecution.

Their dog crapping in your yard is merely a civil tort and not a crime ( unless you have a local criminal ordinance about dogs and crap in yards etc., - very unlikely).

My advice:
Video tape the animal crapping in your yard, then ask them to restrain their animal and if this fails continue to video the critter and speak to local counsel.

[Randy Cohen]

dogs typically will 'go' in the same place over and over again. i suggest you get some strong hot pepper and spread some on the dog's poop places. i would think some ground up peppercorns will work or some ground up dried chili peppers. not sure how many different poop places there are but chances are that there are not a lot. one sniff and the dog will avoid that spot if not your entire yard.