Gross.... yet serious question.. Can I force my neighbor to keep his dog in his yard?

Question

OK... My neighbor has trained their dog to do his "duty" in our yard (I dont know if they litterally trained him to, but he ONLY goes in our yard.) Now, This dog has horse pile "duty" cuz he is SOOOO big. We have to go and pick up their dogs "duty" before we can mow our lawn... because of the size of it. Is there any way that we can get them to be forced to keep their dog on their property... (like a fence or something) he is an out door dog that wanders the neighborhood and see's our yard as his toilet. I have 4 kids.. and I dont need them stepping in it for fear they will get lost, and because its just plain nasty!(yes, it is that big and nasty.) Is there some way to force them to keep their dog on their property? We have tried talking to them, but they are so uncivilized the laugh about it and say "sucks to be us", We have two dogs.. and clean up after ours, because its gross to not.. Our neighbors are drunks who are the white trash of the neighborhood (pardon the truth)

We live in a nice neighborhood, and there are like 8-10 adults and 11 kids living next to us... its bad.. HELP!

I shoud add that many many neighbors have complained about various issues.. NO one wants them here but that is a completely different issue.

Our yard is too big to fence in

Answer 1

Check your city ordinances, and find out if their is a leash law. Dogs in such cases are required to be fenced or leashed. If one is in place, the next time you see the dog in your yard, call animal control.

Answer 2

Some states require your dog on a leash or a fenced back yard, I know Texas does and if they don't obey the rules you call the dog pound. I know what your talking about you hate to get into it with your neighbors but that is real bad. My yard is real beautiful the people moved in next door with 2 huge dogs and they use my front yard for their toilet. You mow your yard and you tractor wheels are all bogged up and it is hard to get that stuff off of there. We got a shovel and every time we found a big pile we just took the shovel and threw in their yard, but this never faze them. The County Commissioner of my district is a real close friend and I showed him what was going on because I don't like to call the dog catchers on any animal.
He sent them a warning in the mail from the Mayor and that didn't stop one thing. The police came out and talked to them and thank goodness they moved in about 2 weeks. I mean that is very rude thing for neighbors to have to go through, your dogs all in your privacy fenced back yard and you still have to clean dog poop up.

Answer 3

Obviously you are not going to get anywhere talking to them if they think it is funny. If the dog is allowed to run freely then call the pound to come pick up the dog. They would ahve to pay a fine to get the dog returned to them.
Or continue to clean up your yard by throwing it into their yard.
I had to do that to a neighbor once and after a week or so he started paying attention. I politely raked it over onto his yard right at the property line and he would hit it with his lawnmower and it stopped after a few times of this. It seems people don't care as long as it doesn't affect them.

If there are as many people living there as you say then you shoudl consult the city ordinance and see what the laws are about having too many people living under one roof. Also if they are not keeping the yard clean or the animals healthy it does cause health issues and soemtimes they will fine the people.

Not any right or truly brilliant answers but you have to decide what lengths you are willing to go to have the problem solved.

Answer 4

I would suggest doing two things: 1. documenting it -- take pictures of the dog going to the bathroom in your yard or take a video tape of it; and 2. file an appropriate complaint. You can do this two ways: a. you can call the police or animal control. Most likely there are animal nuisance statutes in your jurisdiction -- be it an animal at large statute (not allowing the dog to roam over to your property to begin with -- sometimes called leash laws) or just a general nuisance statute (which may explicitly say something about animals going to the bathroom on other people's property). These type of statutes are usually under the jurisdiction of the city or county in which your property is located. or b. file a civil complaint against the neighbors seeking damages and an injoining them from allowing their dog to go onto your property. You'd likely have to hire an attorney for this, but if there are multiple people in the neighborhood that complain of the problem, perhaps others would share the legal expense.

Obviously the former solution is the easier and cheaper solution. Most likely there are laws in place that make what they are doing illegal (there are in my jurisdiction), so a call to animal control should take care of things. Of course it will be a good idea to have documentation of the problem so you can show the proper authorities when you make your complaint.

Best of luck.

Answer 5

Your kids could get sick if they play near where the dogs duty was, even if you cleaned it up. Especially if the owners don't keep up with their pet's worming and shots.

I would build a fence around your property, sorry to say. My husband says get a paintball gun and shoot the dogs whenever they're in your yard, (paintballs hurt) but I don't know if you're allowed to do that in your town.

You could also spray the dog with your garden hose whenever he visits.

Do you have a leash law in town? I do, and if the dog is roaming just call the police. They'll have the dog taken to a shelter and the owners will have to pay a fine to get their dog back. Either they'll leave it there, or finally get the message and keep the dog contained.

My back neighbors let their pit bull run. The first one was poisoned (not by me, but I freaked out because I found it up against my back fence, which was where they put the body after it died) And the new one disappeared a few weeks ago because they let it run and someone called it in. Apparently they're pissed because they have to pay money to get it back.

Answer 6

Check with the local plant nursery about a product that you can spray on your yard to discourage dogs from using it for a toilet.
As an incentive to you neighbor you might toss the "duty" back into your neighbor's yard when you pick it up with the shovel. Be sure it is that neighbor's dog who is the culprit though.

You might also want to sprinkle garden lime all over your yard and wet it down a little bit. This will kill any existing odors and be good for the plants.

As a last resort you can contact animal control and ask them to
enforce the leash law and pick up dogs who are not penned up, tied up or on a leash. This, however will lead to hard feeling from everyone in the neighborhood

Answer 7

I have had this problem, actually I still do. I dont have a dog, and my son is always stepping in poop. I also have to pick it up before I can cut the grass. But, when I pick it up, I throw it back in their yard. Why shouldnt I, its their ****. There are laws against letting dogs roam freely. I suppose you could also call the police, but I dont like to bother them with things unless its something major. But, I have NO problem calling animal control. They have gotten so many tickets, they just dont care.
A fence is a good idea, if you have the money to do , than my all means do. My neighbors are also the white trash of the neighborhood, I wont even tell you how badly they treat their cats. Good luck to you.

Answer 8

It is the law that you must keep your dog leashed and pick up after it. Call the police department and ask their advice. If you have a Civic Association, bring it to their attention. You also have to have your dog licensed. Call the ASPCA and turn this guy in.
Keep making calls and writing letters until you get some results before one of the kids are attacked. You never know when there will be an incident. Why wait?

Answer 9

Call the Sheriff or Police in your area, see if their is a leash law. If so, problem solved, they will have to keep the dog in the house and bring him out to poop in their yard. If there isn't a law start a grass roots effort and get signatures from as many people as you can and go to your local city council meeting and ask for a law be passed.

Answer 10

Other members have mentioned the possibility of a leash law, so I won't mention that.

However, what I will mention is the fact that many counties require dog owners to pick up after their animals. To not do so can result in fines.

I agree with whoever it was that said document it with times, dates, photos, etc. If your neighbor is there when the dog does his thing, document that as well. Document any times you broach this subject with your neighbor as well.