My neighbor has a big dog, and they walk it right up to my lawn every day. The dog does its business, and yes, they pick it up, but it still leaves little bits, smell, and sometimes spots.
I asked politely if they could just walk the dog somewhere else. They got defensive and said, “I clean it up, so what’s the problem?”
Now they’re cold with me, and another neighbor told me I was being “uptight.”
AITA for not wanting dogs to use my yard as their bathroom, even if it gets cleaned up?
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My neighbor has a big dog, and they walk it right up to my lawn every day. The dog does its business, and yes, they pick it up, but it still leaves little bits, smell, and sometimes spots.
I asked politely if they could just walk the dog somewhere else. They got defensive and said, “I clean it up, so what’s the problem?”
Now they’re cold with me, and another neighbor told me I was being “uptight.”
AITA for not wanting dogs to use my yard as their bathroom, even if it gets cleaned up?
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I asked my neighbor to stop letting their dog poop in my yard, even though they always pick it up afterward.
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
NTA have somebody’s
kidorangutan shit in their lawn and then pick it up and see if they care.Your actual lawn or the lawn in the spot between the sidewalk and the street?
NTA
This is such a silly argument. Can I drive your car without your permission? I’ll refill the gas afterwards, so why would you care? Can I wear your shirt without permission? I’ll pay for the laundry bill!
This is your boundary, and it should be respected regardless of if it’s perceived as not a big deal from anyone. People that think that they can just disrespect someone’s personal limits with them just because they judged your boundary with them as “not a big deal” don’t deserve your time
You weren’t being uptight. You set a very reasonable, clear boundary with this person. It’s your yard, not theirs
NTA.
You asked politely. It’s your property.
Alternatively, shit in their yard and see how they like it.
NTA, but this is really tricky and needs some communication strategy. Building a cordial relationship is probably the best method, but often times it’s a lost cost.
They can pick up the dog poop from their own yard. Every single walk is training the dog to poop only there. At a minimum, changing the walk, the routine, crossing the street before your house will the train the dog differently. They are the ah, not you.
This depends on how honest you are being here. If it’s literally always (or let say a few times per week) NTA. If it’s like once a month, yeah YTA this is just part of living in a society where dogs are legal, have to shit, but have responsible owners who pick it up.
It depends. Where i live the city own 4 feet of land at the edge of properties so if you’re walking a dog and they go there you can’t do anything about it and it’s common sense if the dog barely go a feet on your property who care, it’s a dog that being said if sheet her walk all over your yard then yeah it’s a problem. It’s an invasion.
“You don’t clean it all up, and my yard is not a toilet. Let them shit in your yard if ‘I pick it up’ is all you need to do. Your dog’s killing my lawn.”
NTA. As you point out, they can’t possibly pick up all the remnants of their dog’s poop. It’s not like they’re vacuuming your yard or something. It sounds like this is not the kind of person that is going to listen to logic, but you could mention to them that it leaves a little bits behind. Or you could skip talking to this Yahoo in the first place and install motion activated sprinklers. That seems to be the common suggestion.
NTA. I absolutely hate it when people let their dogs piss and shit on someone else’s property. All the letterboxes in my neighbourhood have huge piss marks on them and they stink in summer.
I live in a tiny af townhouse and don’t have a lawn between the footpath and my house, just my garden. I once had to bang on the window because someone walked past and let their dog walk straight into my garden and up to my lounge room window to try and take a shit.
Nope
Yatah. The dog has no idea what yard they’re popping in and to yell at them when they’re popping would be cruel. Just suck it up. Pets bring much joy to their owners. Don’t ruin it.
If they are very routine about it, you can set up sprinklers to run at the same time they’d come by to try to get them to go elsewhere. Aside from that, NTA but nothing you say will stop them.
I dunno. I mean I guess it’s technically your right. I just can’t imagine caring that much about it. Growing up my family and neighbors didn’t really make a big deal about it as long as folks were picking it up and nobody had any problems so to me it just feels like obsessing over something tiny and insignificant. Unless they were bringing the dog to the very middle where kids would be playing or something, then I’d get it. But since this is asking about being an asshole rather than being technically right, I would have to vote a very, very light ESH. Just like, relax man. But also you did ask the neighbor and it’s not a tough request to honor.
INFO
Is there no fence or other boundary between your street and the lawn? Are they actually entering your property with the dog? Or is this a matter of them coming up next to your property and the dog pooping on the nature strip adjacent to your lawn?
Yes you ATAH. If the dog is cleaned up after you are a jerk for giving them a hard time. I wouldn’t speak to you either. You don’t care about animals. You are the people that the world needs less of.
NTA I like to walk barefoot and I would be livid from walking through my yard and stepping poop knowing full well, the only dog that could’ve done it is my neighbors. I am currently dealing with this now. He hasn’t been in my yard for a while and I’m hoping that’s permanent…..so again heavy on NTA.
I had a neighbor that would let their dog out the front door and it would immediately run across the street and shit in the middle of my front lawn. It just felt disrespectful as hell even if he did clean it up. Freshly mowed lawn and a huge dog running to take a huge dump on it EVERY TIME.
NTA people with dogs need to learn the world does not revolve around them
NTA but also not much you can do. You can build a small fence around your front yard or creatively time your sprinklers to be going at the right time
YTA
They clean it up. You should have just gotten some sprinklers and set them to go off around the time they take a walk. Then they would avoid your yard without conflict.
NTA, if they are leaving bits behind then they aren’t cleaning up properly are they. Also F them of they walk their dog up to your property to take a shit, tell them they are trespassing and to stay off, it’s private, not public property.
NTA. This is your property and they are disrespecting your request. Unfortunately, it seems that manners and courtesy have fallen out of favor. Have you considered any of the following?
And if those were to fail, I would think about documenting it with images from a ring camera or something and put up the images in the neighborhood to shame them.
YTA- seriously? They pick it up. Why would you make for bad relations with your neighbors over this? I can’t imagine how exhausting living next to you is…YTA
NTA. You had the right to ask them not to, and they were assholes to not walk the dog somewhere else, but also is it really that big of a deal? Escalating further would make you an asshole too
Put a little fence up
I’m going against the grain based on what I’ve seen so far: it’s a lawn. It’s grass. Outside. “Little bits, smells, and sometimes spots”?
Yes, I get that it’s your property, so the dog owner doesn’t have any grounds to object if you tell them to keep off. But for me, you are being “uptight.” Your lawn has squirrels, mice, bugs, slugs and all sorts of biological material. I don’t believe that you could detect any residual smell, or see bits and spots unless you got on your knees and searched the area with a magnifying glass like Sherlock Holmes.
ESH
I have two large dogs and you’re NTA. It’s your property and we absolutely avoid letting our dogs bathroom on marked lawns. The urine will also kill your grass.
Put up “no dog poop” signs.
Both sets of your neighbors suck.
My dogs have bad day, runny poops, etc. and they inevitably leave scraps. We have a small yard inside our urban lot and we never lay/play on it because of this. We discourage parents from letting their kids play when they come over for bbq because it’s become the rainy day/nighttime dog potty spot (we live in a coyote city).
I’m confused. Why is the dog pooping in your yard and not theirs? Why are people telling you you’re being uptight? If it isn’t a big deal to them, maybe the dog could go on their lawn.
If it’s on more “public” land, such as on the verge between sidewalk and street, you might have to let it go (still don’t understand why your neighbor needs to use your lawn though).
Well, are they cleaning up the urine also? That will damage the lawn too.
They have chosen your lawn and it seems uncivilized to do that to a neighbor. You have lots of suggestions here. Wondering if you have an HOA and if there are any rules in your neighborhood regarding this kind of issue.
Get over it. Someday your little kid will throw a ball and it will land in their yard. Hopefully they will be gracious about it. But after a while, it will happen over and over and you will see it as an innocent thing-your neighbor will not. In the end, it’s not a big deal..pick your battles Nancy
YTA. It has smells after they pick it up?? Do you go running out and put your nose right where the dog shit?? Oh my god, there are bits here!! My lawn is no longer perfect!! What will my neighbors say?? They will say you are THAT neighbor! Act like an adult!
NTA
People in this comment section being very weird about the idea that dogs do their business outdoors and most of the outdoors is now yards and lawns and parking lots and drive ways. Like damn I know some subreddits hate dogs but some people are acting like the dogs are personally insulting them.
You are NTA. A civil request isn’t asshole behaviour, and that sounds like what this was. I’d think you’d only be an asshole if you were really aggressive or rude about it.
I once had a neighbour come outside and outright scream at me like I was a vandal because my dog peed on the side of the road.
He kept yelling at me to pick it up. The pee. Even after I said it was pee.
It wasn’t even on his lawn, it was a gravel ditch by the curb 😭
THAT is how you approach this like an asshole. You’re fine. If I were your neighbour, I’d appreciate the polite establishing of boundaries, since I’ve experienced a much more assholeish approach to the situation.
NAH but it’s on you to explain that your neighbor isn’t cleaning up enough and poop is still being left behind.
YTA. Are you aware that you live on earth and all kinds of animals poop in your yard all the time?
Life is too short to worry about minuscule bits of fertilizer. Isn’t a solid relationship with a neighbor who is a human being more important that an inch of grass?
It’s your yard, it belongs to you and not any of your neighbors. I don’t know what you can do to enforce that but I sure would try.
More info needed.
If it’s the area between the sidewalk and the street, they are curbing their dog appropriately, cleaning it up, and so 100% YTA. That’s just a part of living in cities/suburbs.
If it’s your actual lawn, that’s different. My initial response to “just walk somewhere else” still wasn’t great though. Very NIMBY behavior. If they’re walking the dog on public property (e.g. sidewalk), you don’t really get a say anyways. Focus on the part you do (e.g “please stay off my lawn”).
If it’s just on the edge of the yard (like the first few inches), even if it’s a little justified, imo you’re still overreacting and not being neighbourly. The person is trying their best to clean up and keep control of the dog near the sidewalk. In that case, it doesn’t sound like they’re trying to disrespect you or shirk their owner responsibilities – and, tbh, I struggle to see how it could be such a major inconvenience that you need to cause conflict, unless your yard is only five inches wide to begin with.
If they’re just letting their dog run through your yard all the time and they poop in the middle or past the edge, that’s hugely disrespectful in general. They need to have better control of their dog around private property and more respect for you/society. In that case, NTA.
INFO: Do you get those with every single neighbor who has an outdoor cat?
I had a similar experience. I yelled at them to poop in their own yard. Unless they wanted me over poopin in their yard.
NTA, I have dogs that like to go out front frequently and they do NOT like it when another dog has been wandering their yard. And you are right, the mess doesn’t always seem to be cleaned up completely. Don’t feel bad for making the ask.
NTA. If you have a dog, curb it. You don’t let it go on people’s lawns jesus.
NAH. You know that birds and squirrels and mice and chipmunks are all pooping in your yard too, right? Unless the neighbor’s dog leaves so much poop behind that you’re stepping in it and it’s getting on your shoes, I think you should chill out.
Honestly, this post kinda makes me sad
NTA. Every now and then isn’t an issue but every day is too much. They are allowing the dog to pick up habits and are uncool.
Nta… your neighbour is purposely choosing your property for the dog to shit on…. miss be a way to report them somehow? Or put up a fence?
I’ll never understand why Americans don’t have front yard fences…
People can walk their dog out the front of my house and leave the business behind for all I care. Only people it will annoy is other people walking their dogs and mail man riding over a doo doo.
I drive in via a powered side gate and the front gate it locked unless a delivery is coming then I’ll buzz it open.
Nice see-through steel black rail fence so it’s not claustrophobic.
YTA Dogs poo on their walks, it’s what they do and it can’t be helped. Of the owner picks up what they can, they are being a responsible owner.
Your effective options are a fence or timing your sprinklers with the walks. Arguing with the responsible owner has zero potential to solve anything but is guaranteed to cause your unnecessary trouble.
NTA. Why isn’t their dog doing their business in THEIR yard?
If it was random and not an everyday occurrence I would say let it go. But this sounds like they have trained their large dog to poop in your yard.
Going to say NTA if it is your yard. Can you just put a fence up around your yard so they can’t get onto it?
Obvious NTA. What the hell are some of these other answers? Letting your dog poop on someone else’s property is vile, disrespectful and inconsiderate. You are 100% correct in this.
You should poop in their yard to see how they like it.
NTA. The thing a lot of folks are missing here is dog poop can carry lots of nasties like roundworm, hookworms, and the dreaded whipworms which are incredibly hard to eliminate from the contaminated ground and animal. It also can spread distemper, parvovirus, and giardia. Some of the things dog shit leaves behind even after being picked up can spread to humans through contact with the soil. Dogs pooping on your lawn is rude and gross. They should be directing their dog to poo on the strip that’s between the sidewalk and the road. That’s the courteous and decent thing to do.
NTA. This is like a piece of an episode of Fear Thy Neighbor
NTA
Yta, if you dont like it, build a fence.
NTA the neighbour can let the dog shit on their lawn then.
Go ask the dog nicely to hold it until they’re home. I’m sure he’s a reasonable pup.
I think we are missing some information. Do you have children that play in the area? How intense is the smell to you, because some people are really sensitive? Do you not water the area, which should get rid of any residue? Were you mean when asking them to use your yard less? Not that important of a question, because after all it’s your yard, just trying to judge their reaction.
In the end, it’s your lawn, your choice. They were offended as shown by their reaction. Do you care enough to allow the messes to continue to make them happy or is a clean yard more important to you?
NTA, I’m a dog owner and I never let my dogs poop on peoples actual yards when walking. Nature strip is a different story though.
NTA. I am a dog owner and have had dogs all my life. One of the first things I was taught is that you don’t let your dog’s poop/pee on other people’s property – period.
Private property is private property. It is not public property. Letting your dog go onto someone else’s property is tresspass. It is no different that the homeless guy coming to sit on your front porch. Or the neighbor parking their car in your driveway. It is not their property to use.
It is your property. If you don’t want dogs pooping on your lawn, or peeing, or walking, that is your right. It doesn’t matter if they “always clean it up” – it’s your property.
This is the number one reason why I hate this need to walk your dog to potty. Because it creates a belief that other people’s property is an acceptable potty spot while ensuring your yard remains poop/pee free. Teach your dog to potty at home not in other people’s yards.
Motion censored sprinkler sustem
It’s true, they are cleaning it up, so I dunno hat else you expect them to do. If you’re really harping on the “little bits and pieces” then you are being uptight yes
Get a fence.
NTA, i hate when people let their dogs poop in peoples yards, but a fence is the only effective way to keep it off. If your neighbour is petty enough they might stop cleaning it up now you’ve said something about it.
NTA
An occasional poo is understandable. Regular stops for the specific purpose of pooping on your lawn is not.
The neighbor needs to walk her dog elsewhere.
For me, YTA. Although it’s technically your right to be uptight about it, it’s not your right to be thought of as a cool, reasonable, or sane neighbor, or as not an asshole.
I’m gonna say NTA because I completely understand. I fostered many dogs. Some pooped normal-ish, some not. One would only poop on the sidewalk, not grass (we were told because the original owner lived in a condo with no grass are so it used to sidewalk pooping). For that dog, I would bring cleaning spray and wipes to wipe the concrete. I felt so bad and didn’t want anyone stepping on the smear. My last foster had diarrhea but would poop in our yard. When we walked him, he pooped in a neighbors yard which I could tell their kids use to play on since it was near a soccer goal. I had newspaper with me to lay down when I saw him squatting, but it couldn’t catch it all. I felt so bad, I went back to try to clean it up more with a bucket of water and tried to get as much off as I could. I also rang the bell to let them know to try to hose it down more. As for our yard, before we put up the fence people would have their dogs poop and not clean it up. Now the fence does the work. If you can, put up a fence, otherwise not much you can do except for motion sensor sprinklers.
YTA. This is petty.
For me, and I’m a dog owner, I’ll say, “It depends on where the dog walks.”
Is it in your yard? Would they be considered trespassing? Then NTA. No one should let their dog run into someone’s yard, for any reason.
Is the dog going along the sidewalk, or the easement, where people normally walk? Then, legally, they can walk their dog as long as they clean up. You can ask them to walk on a different path, but they don’t have to.
YTA. It’s a dog bro, it’s gonna do what dogs do. They pick up after it. If you don’t want dogs shitting in your yard then move out of a neighborhood.
If it’s your actual lawn NTA I guess technically, as it’s your property, but it still sounds kinda absurd tbh. If it’s the bit of grass between the sidewalk and street it’s city property, at least in most places in the US, in which case YTA.
Sprinkle chili powder along the edge of your property or mix with water abd pour along the edge. Won’t hurt the dog but they dont like the smell. Works for me. Live in a duplex style apartment neighborhood. We each have our own lawn. My neighbors decided instead of using their own lawn mine was a perfect place to let their dogs do their business on. Haven’t had an issue since
Fuck no. I dont allow my dog to use the neighbors lawn for the bathroom. That’s what the public park and public lawns are for. The neighbor can just as well train the dog to shit on their own property instead of yours, but they choose not to. Fuck em. NTA
YTA. Part of living in a community is sharing it with other people. Part of that is that people walk their dogs and they need to poop. If they’re picking it up, they’re not doing anything wrong.
In a world with so much to worry about, I can’t imagine caring about something so mundane.
Dear God, I am so thankful that I don’t live anywhere near neighbors like those of you supporting horrible behavior! I’ve seen: “shit in their yard,” “turn the sprinklers on them,” and “electroshock the dog.” And then downvoting people who live in actual reality and would rather have good relationships with neighbors than have a whisper (at worst) of a piece of dog poop OUTSIDE!
The neighbor you chided is now “cold.” Duh! Another one told you that you were being rude. Duh. Depending on circumstances, you may live there for decades, and so might this neighbor! What ACTUAL damage are you experiencing? Why do you want to be a person who fights with people over an inch of grass? Do you want to be happy or do you want to be “right”?
Downvote away, dog haters and over-reactors. I could not possibly care less. I’m sad for those of you who smell grass and may watch video to see if a dog pooped. Get a life.
Set up a sprinkler, wait by the faucet, and turn it on when they come by. NTA.