by Shirley J Smith

Created on: August 01, 2010

There is nothing more troublesome than coming home and finding dog poop in your yard—when you do not own a dog. I had this experience with a neighbor. 

I found dog excrement in my yard and knowing that my neighbor had a large dog, I spoke to him about it. I was friendly and polite and asked him if he would please clean up after his dog. He assured me it was not his dog that had made the mess. 

Not having seen the dog do the dirty deed, I was inclined to believe him but not entirely. I was still fairly sure he was the culprit but couldn’t swear to it. I checked with the neighbor across the street and found that she owned a very small dog that was walked twice a day. There were no other dogs close by and trust me-it was a large dog that made these piles. 

This went on for several days and I again asked him to please clean up after his dog. He continued to assure me that it was not his dog that was doing this but he would watch to see who did it. 

We spent a large part of the summer in this manner, me asking him to clean up after his dog, him denying that it was his dog and me cleaning after a dog I didn’t own. I continued to watch to see if I could catch him, but with work and house chores I just could not catch him. 

Near mid summer, I took a week’s vacation. Upon returning home, I found a LOT of piles in my yard and you could smell them the minute you got out of the car. My neighbor came out the door with his dog at that moment and headed for his car. I called him over to speak to me amidst the piles and smell. He put the dog in the car, told him to stay, left his drivers side door open and came over to talk to me. 

I then showed him the mess in the entire yard and told him this had to stop. He said “and why do you continue to insist it is my dog that did this?”  It was at this point that his dog (I love him for this) exited the car, came over to the feet of my neighbor and proceeded to deposit a very large and smelly pile at our feet while looking up lovingly at his owner. 

My neighbor looked amazed, then embarrassed, then sheepish and said simply “I’ll be over as soon as I get home this evening” I said thank you and went into the house where I could laugh hysterically, in private.

No more problems! 

Most dog owners are considerate about this, but sometimes you will have a problem. Be polite when talking to the owner. If this does not work, you may have to be firmer in your conversations, but most people when they realize it is their dog and it is a problem will do the right thing,

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