Friend's neighbour's dog problem.......?

Question

My friend's neighbour's dog continually craps in her garden and the neighbour doesn't seem bothered by this whatsoever (I think he actually trained it to use their garden as a toilet). She'd had enough and last night she finally cracked. She got a shovel and scraped it up and posted it through his letterbox as it's his property. Trouble is, the neighbour has gone on holiday for the weekend and is due back tonight. Has she gone too far or did she do the right thing? The smell in his house will be incredible when he returns..............

Ps - I'm not being crude or funny here - this is what happened.

Answer 1

She has done the right thing. I have done this myself. The dog stopped coming over to use my yard for it's toilet after I did it. Yes the dog owner stands there watching the dog **** in your yard. So they deserve the little gift. After all it IS theirs.

Answer 2

I am assuming she is in the UK. She should take a photo of the dog crapping in the garden. She should throw the dog mess back into the neighbours garden. She could ask the council what can be done or ask the police. After all, if a branch hung over her garden from a neighbouring property, she has the right to cut the branch but not keep it, the branch is the property of the neighbour. Ask your friend not to get angry at the dog, it's not the dogs fault.

I hope she can get it sorted - it was neighbours that made me buy a detached house with a large plot. Ficking neighbours make me sick.

Answer 3

This has obviously been traumatic for your friend but she has over-reacted rather. I suspect that the depositing of dog excreta through the letter box is certainly an anti-social behaviour act if not bordering on the criminal. Your neighbour should have reported this to the local authority, possibly to the dog warden/animal welfare officer, who would be bound to take action ... after all, the dog's owner has committed an offence. The dog's owner has been terribly negligent here but I don't believe that they deserve to have the excreta through their letter box and yes that is out of order. However, the frustration that you friend has had to suffer is of course understandeable. If the neighbour calls the police upon her return, then your friend clearly will have a case to answer.
My advice? Get you friend to call on the neighbour as soon as she returns and simply apologise for the action, even offering to assist in the clean up. Remember she has committed an identifiable offence here. I would suggest that she goes to her neighbour accompanied by someone responsible, both as a witness and support. But, together with the apology, she must identify the frustration that your neighbour has caused and insist that this matter is resolved. I know that these suggestions are all very well, but I guess that the neighbour concerned is probably not one of natures diplomats. I work for a local authority myself and I see this kind of antisocial behaviour every day .... but this has to be resolved even if your friend has to humble herself in the first instance, but she has, herself, now acted in a deplorable manner, possibly putting her on an equal level with her neighbour.
If the police are called by the neighbour, then your friend must be totally honest about what drove her to it. The police should see that the act was commiitted out of almost equal frustration and agree to the matter going to professional arbitration. The neigbhour also has to see this although from the image that I am forming here, the neighbour has little respect. Good luck!

Answer 4

Yeah, that was a little overboard. There are products that work like an invisible fence (one is actually an invisible electric fence, another operates on sound and a third is chemical) any of which will keep the critter out of her garden. It's a shame that she has to take such measures to preserve her own property, but it sounds as though that is her only option if the neighbor won't cooperate.
Technically, putting the dog poop through his letter slot involves trespass and malice on her part, and she could actually be taken to court for that.

Answer 5

She's gone way too far. She has to live next to these people and she has created a horrible rift. She should have just been a mature adult and if after speaking to her neighbors about it, used the tools at her disposal. If the dog is in her garden, then the dog is not being properly controlled. She should have called animal control. Also, there are ordinances about picking up after your dog, she could have reported that as well.

She's just proven herself to be worse than the neighbors who simply don't manage their dog. She actively proved herself to be low-class trash.

Answer 6

If the dog keeps crapping in her garden she must make sure that all gates are closed and that there are no holes in the fence/hedge for the dog to get in through. If the neighbour is on holiday who is looking after the dog? Report them to the RSPCA for leaving an animal on its own.

Answer 7

Is your friend UK based? Repeated fouling is an offence and all conscientious dog owners clean up after their dogs. Has your friend spoken to her neighbour? We had a similar problem and when we had no results after speaking to the offender I took exactly the same course of action (but put the muck in bags first). When a very annoyed person came round later I them that I was returning their property to them and they were £%%^&* lucky I hadn't called the police. If they continued then I would. Simple as that. Your friend's neighbour obviously has no respect for your friend so she has nothing to lose. Go for it girl and stick to your guns.

Answer 8

i can see why she was tempted to do to this...however, a better way was to first speak to him, as a dog owner you have a duty to keep their dog in theur own garden, secondly she could complain to the council or environmental health, or repair / heighten her fence.. she has to actually see the dog do it and prove its the neighbours dog , so a camera phone is a good idea.. she could end up with more problems by her actions, esp if he was away on Holiday? where was the dog and why wait until he went away before taking action, police will ask all this if her neighbour brings them into the situation...

Answer 9

Doesnt sound like she did a very wise thing, but hopefully it will all blow over.

It sounds to me like you're friend is going to have to start dealing with problems better. It sounds to me like she is a people pleaser..doesnt like to ruffle feathers....avoids conflict. But the problem with that is that she still does get bothered by things...she just hides it inside instead of saying anything. So incident after incident occurs and they just start to build up until she realizes shes standing on top of this mountain of anger about the particular problem. So she explodes, blows up the whole mountain, and in doing so she acts far more irrationally than she ever would normally and then has to suffer the consequences of her outburst.

I think you should worry less about this specific incident and more about the underlying issue. You can help your friend by encouraging her to calmly and politely confront issues right when they happen.

Answer 10

I can't say I blame her. If my dog pooed in someones garden, I would clean it up.

As long as the smell doesn't bother you I wouldn't worry about it. Hopefully it'll teach the neighbour to be a more considerate dog owner!

Answer 11

Your don't train dogs to do their business in peoples gardens, its their scent that takes them their, a bit harsh posting it through the letter box really and she could end up in serious trouble for that, maybe she would have been better dumping it on the doorstep.