[ericav]

My husband and I walk our puppy (9 months 15 pound dog) once a day. All the other times of the day she does her business in our backyard. When we walk her, we only let her step on the sidewalk grass. We never let her touch people's lawns. If she poops, we always clean it up. We would never leave the house without the cleanup bag.

So today on our walk, one of my neighbors decided to scream at me from her front door saying I should let my dog go on her own grass. My dog didn't even pee on her sidewalk grass. I informed her that the town owns the sidewalk grass and she doesn't go on the lawns.

I'm trying to be a respectful neighbor but now I'm not really too sure on what to do or how to handle this. I called the police to make sure I wasn't breaking any laws and they informed me that I wasn't. It's not like I went home in tears crying my heart out. I'm just not trying to start a "neighbor war" now and it would be nice to not have to wonder if my neighbors are going to start screaming at me when I take my dog for a walk.

Has anyone else been in this situation, what's the best way to deal with it? I figured I would just ignore her and if she gets in my face I can explain politely I called our town police after our first encounter to make sure I wasn't breaking any laws.

 

[rosborn]

your pups are so cute .... what kind are they?

 

[ericav]

oh thanks rosborn it's all the same dog actually, she's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She's still young so her ears and feathering haven't fully grown in yet.

 

[MrsJohnnyG]

Personally, the way I would handle it would be by walking up to the neighbor so that we weren't screaming at each other, and politely explain that my dog does go on my own grass and we were just enjoying the spring weather. Somehow, people who are rude enough to scream from a distance, aren't usually that rude when they're face to face with you. Sorry this neighbor was so rude and hopefully you can "kill her with kindness" and be able to walk your dog in peace.

 

[ericav]

Her house is set up on the hill, and I'm not too sure how happy she'll be if I start walking up there.

 

[InkedMarie]

Do you have to walk by her house, can you walk the opposite direction or on the other side of the street? I know it doesn't help the situation but unless you confront her face to face or ignore her, both of which are hard, this may be the best option

 

[Alli]

We once had this problem with one of our next door neighbours. Our Sadie was pretty much blind and she was sitting in the driveway as my husband worked in the garage. At one point Sadie had wandered a little bit but was still in our yard. The neighbour came over screaming at my husband that Sadie had done her business in her yard and that she was sick of us allowing her to do that. My husband tried to explain that it wasn't Sadie and she was blind and never ventured very far and for sure not out of our yard. The neighbour just kept going on and on....so my husband told her to get off our property. We knew all along it was the other neighbours dog that lived about 4 houses over. Both of our dogs were white and she had assumed it was our dog. Too funny the next day I caught the other little white dog in my yard. I picked him up and went next door. I said to my grumpy neighbour is this the dog that has been doing its business in your yard. She said yes. I said well then here you go...handing her the dog he lives over there and is not my dog. My dog has not been in your yard so before you come yelling make sure you are accusing the right dog. I don't think she knew what to do....but she never came yelling at us again about our little Sadie.

 

[ericav]

Well the way I see it, I shouldn't have to alter where I walk. I live on the same street as her and I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm probably going to encourage my dog to go to the bathroom in our backyard before our walk like the other times during the day, but if she doesn't go I'm not going to worry about it. I think if she starts screaming at me again I will say something like,

"I called the town after you first time you confronted me and the lieutenant confirmed that I wasn't breaking any town ordinances. So your not going to bully or intimidate me from walking my dog down my own street. I'm not encouraging my dog to go anywhere, we're just trying to have a nice walk. She does go in our yard before her walk and I'll be more than happy to prove to you that she does. Have a nice day."

If she ever says anything to me after that, I'll just ignore her and shoot her dirty looks. I was bullied a lot when I was growing up and I'm not going to alter my life for someone else, especially when I'm not doing anything wrong.

 

[Ganondorf]

That woman is a jerk. I think the best thing to do would be to ignore her. I was always taught to ignore rude people.

 

[ericav]

That woman is a jerk. I think the best thing to do would be to ignore her. I was always taught to ignore rude people.

Yeah, that's also a possibility. I think I might walk with my headphone on but there's no way I'm altering my route. If I don't say anything, I'm definitely going to glare a dirty look at her. I'm not the type to give someone the finger.

 

[Elana55]

It seems to me you have 3 choices:

1.) Ignore her and keep walking. This way the ball is in her court.

2.) Go to her house and talk to her. This may be uncomfortable for you, but if you do it without your dog and face her head on, you may find a lot more reasonable discussion ensues. If not, you still can fall back on Option 1. Uf she is unpleasant I would look her in the eye and say, "Screaming at me from your front porch is rude and might even be construed by some as a bit unbalanced. I do not appreciate rude behavior. If you have something to say to me, say it now or walk down to me and say it to me face to face. Please do not treat me rudely. It is a poor reflection on YOU." Then walk away.

I have learned to call people on rude behavior. I believe in having good manners.

3.) Walk the other way. The problem with this is you are then allowing yourself to be bullied and while this time it is only about a dog walk, what will happen the next time you need to have some back bone?

Personally, I would go for #2 w/o my dog in tow and then fall back to number 1 if she perisists. Good grief.. you have such a mean and dangerous dog.. all of what.. 10 pounds of her? I am sure she leaves dinosaur poos behind too for you to clean up.

There are people and then there are people who need to get a life. Your neighbor is clearly in the 2nd category.

 

[RonE]

I'm definitely going to glare a dirty look at her.

And a dirty look will accomplish what?

Rude behavior should be openly confronted or ignored. Dirty looks, screaming back and similar actions will only reinforce her bad opinion of you and your dog and, probably, extrapolate into bad opinions of other dogs and dog owners.

It's amazing how many "dog problems" on this forum are actually people problems. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be discussed but an awful lot of issues encountered by dog-lovers have to do with dealing with the non dog-lovers out there.

I had a woman come to her front door as I was walking my 115# lab and yell, "Your dog better not be crapping on my lawn!" It would have been easy, and briefly satisfying, to give her some snarky response but I held up a bag and said, as calmly as I could, "He's not but, if he ever does, it will magically disappear."

The problem is, a whole lotta dog-walkers DO let their dogs crap wherever they please and can't be bothered to pick it up. I've had owners tell me "It's biodegradable." Well, yeh, after a couple of years.

Non dog-owners and some dog-owners are sick to death of picking up other people's messes and it pays to remember that when we encounter these folks. The way you respond reflects on every dog and dog-owner out there.

(Elana said it better and sooner.)

 

[Elana55]

I've had owners tell me "It's biodegradable." Well, yeh, after a couple of years.

LOL Yeah.. and that is where it RAINS..

(Elana said it better and sooner.)

Just remember, my refusal to tolerate rude behavior has my sister In Law electing not to speak to me (it is OK tho because I prefer silence to rudeness).

 

[ericav]

Well, I walked her twice today past the house on purpose. The first time was at 7 am and Stella already pooped and peed in our yard so I wasn't too concerned. The second time was at 12 and usually Stella just pees around that time. So I had her pee in our backyard first, but brought a poop bag with us just in case. She did poop on the walk but I made sure she did it away from that house but I also made sure on my way back I would walk past that house holding the used poop bag.

On my way back, I saw the neighbor that lives in the house next to the shouting neighbor peek out her head out the front door and watch me walk past.

I figured since the solid waste is what is actually up in the ordinance, I could at least have Stella pee in our backyard before the walk. That way it will be less likely she will pee again during the walk (it could happen though but at least I'm trying not to encourage it). If she poops, I can pick it up and that way I have proof I'm following the ordinance.

Before our walk, I rehearsed my speech on what I would say so I would feel comfortable if there was a second confrontation. I'm also going to refer the sidewalk grass as "curb grass" because that's how it's worded in the ordinance. I agree with you guys, rude behavior should be confronted. I'm pretty sure if she's yelled at her neighbors before none of them have put her in her place and I have no problem doing it, especially since I'm not doing anything wrong. If I ever yelled at a neighbor, I would definitely do some research beforehand to make sure I'm on the right.

 

[melgrj7]

I always try to encourage my dogs to go in the yard before a walk but they sometimes still go on a walk. I always pick it up if its solid and never let them pee or poop on lawns, just the side walk grass. I have had people yell at me before and I simply ignore them or tell them I have a bag and will be picking up. If they are yelling about the dog peeing on the curb grass I usually ignore them or simply tell them it is public property. If they come out and politely ask me not to let the dogs go there for what ever reason I tell them I will do my best to discourage my dogs from going there while also reminding them politely that it is public property. (like: even though it is public property I will try to remember not to let my dogs pee here.)

If there is a sign up or it looks like someone has tried to make it look nice by planting flowers or something I try not to let them pee there then.