Anonymous wrote:Yikes 14:13, you seem unwell. Please get help.

Anonymous wrote:I didn't put this in the "Pets" subsection b/c it's really more of a neighborhood/community question.

I am not a dog owner, so I don't know what the standards are. We have an older man in the neighborhood whom we have always been pleasant with when we see him. I don't know his name, but he frequently walks his dog (seems like it is a younger black lab maybe -- not full grown) on the sidewalks. He tends to let his dog roam on the various owners' property. I don't really have a problem with this b/c dogs want to explore, right? As long as the dog is on a leash, he can sniff around my flowers or grass.

My problem is that he lets his dog pee on our lawn. My handyman saw it and commented on it yesterday. So, when I saw the man and his dog today, I watched, and sure enough, the dog came to the middle of our lawn and peed. I went outside and said "sir, could I ask that you not let your dog pee on our lawn." And he immediately resisted saying, "oh, so I should keep him off of your lawn, but he can pee on everyone else's lawn?" (or something close to that -- suggesting that I was increasing the burden on other lawns by restricting his access to my lawn. And I said that the pee is acidic and can kill the grass, and again he argued with me about asking if he was supposed to remember that JUST MY LAWN was the one his dog couldn't pee on... etc. I said, well, we recently found dog poop on our lawn as well. He said it wasn't his, etc. (maybe it wasn't). Ultimately, he was miffed that I asked for him to keep his dog off our property. (FWIW, there is a little strip of grass b/t the sidewalk and the street and I presume most people let their dogs pee there on all the mailboxes -- b/c the paint at the bottom of all the mailboxes gets stripped off from it.)

Anyway -- what is the usual practice for dog owners in regards to neighbors' lawns?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The arrogance of dog and cat owners never ceases to amaze me. They all think it's their RIGHT to have that animal, no matter what it costs the neighborhood in terms of their peace and quiet, lack of privacy, effect on their lawn and gardens, spreading of bacteria and disease, etc. It's really disgusting.

The answer, OP, is that the legal rules usually say the dog/cat is technically allowed to pee anywhere it wants where it is legally allowed to go, and it's also allowed to poop as long as the owner "cleans it up" (whatever they interpret that to mean). Of course, an animal is not allowed to go onto private property - and your front lawn is your private property, although the strip between the sidewalk and the road may not be considered private property for this purpose. Usually it is your property but technically an easement for walking and utility maintenance access so a bit of a gray area.

The moral rules for anyone with any level of decency say that everyone needs to keep all of their animals off others' property plus any property that others are responsible to maintain, period. For example, the HOA at our last property certainly considered the strip out the front to be our property, in the sense that if it looked bad, wasn't kept up to the same standard as the other parts of the community then we'd get a citation.

But most dog owners and cat owners don't care much about the law and they couldn't care less about what's morally decent. They only care about themselves, but hide behind the argument of what the right/best way to treat the animal is. They think that any cat they choose to own means the cat can roam where it wants, despite the fact that neighbors might not want it on their property, and that dogs can go on people's yards that are not physically fenced off. It seems to never occur to them that if they actually cared about what's best for the animals, they simply wouldn't get a pet if they don't have a decent sized yard themselves where they can keep it safe and happy and not trample on their neighbors' rights.

It's the age of entitlement, after all.

Right, got it, only rich people are allowed to have pets, for you must have a fenced-in manorial yard for the animal to roam.

I don't have a dog. I have only a strictly-indoor cat (because I also like birds). But I could care less if someone's dog pees on the corner of my yard. I've got better things to do than hide behind the curtains and burst out the door whenever a canine dares to approach the Sacred Lawn.

There you have it, OP. See the above. Some people think that they "are allowed" to have any pets they want, even if they can't look after them without making them a community problem. No doubt the PP is also one of the people who thinks they can have as many kids as they want, no matter how many they can afford, how big their house or yard is, how much time they have to read to them or teach them things or drive them places, etc, because it's their "right" to have as many kids as they want and "the village" will just need to "help" to raise them.

So sick of the entitlement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The arrogance of dog and cat owners never ceases to amaze me. They all think it's their RIGHT to have that animal, no matter what it costs the neighborhood in terms of their peace and quiet, lack of privacy, effect on their lawn and gardens, spreading of bacteria and disease, etc. It's really disgusting.

The answer, OP, is that the legal rules usually say the dog/cat is technically allowed to pee anywhere it wants where it is legally allowed to go, and it's also allowed to poop as long as the owner "cleans it up" (whatever they interpret that to mean). Of course, an animal is not allowed to go onto private property - and your front lawn is your private property, although the strip between the sidewalk and the road may not be considered private property for this purpose. Usually it is your property but technically an easement for walking and utility maintenance access so a bit of a gray area.

The moral rules for anyone with any level of decency say that everyone needs to keep all of their animals off others' property plus any property that others are responsible to maintain, period. For example, the HOA at our last property certainly considered the strip out the front to be our property, in the sense that if it looked bad, wasn't kept up to the same standard as the other parts of the community then we'd get a citation.

But most dog owners and cat owners don't care much about the law and they couldn't care less about what's morally decent. They only care about themselves, but hide behind the argument of what the right/best way to treat the animal is. They think that any cat they choose to own means the cat can roam where it wants, despite the fact that neighbors might not want it on their property, and that dogs can go on people's yards that are not physically fenced off. It seems to never occur to them that if they actually cared about what's best for the animals, they simply wouldn't get a pet if they don't have a decent sized yard themselves where they can keep it safe and happy and not trample on their neighbors' rights.

It's the age of entitlement, after all.

Right, got it, only rich people are allowed to have pets, for you must have a fenced-in manorial yard for the animal to roam.

I don't have a dog. I have only a strictly-indoor cat (because I also like birds). But I could care less if someone's dog pees on the corner of my yard. I've got better things to do than hide behind the curtains and burst out the door whenever a canine dares to approach the Sacred Lawn.

Anonymous wrote:The arrogance of dog and cat owners never ceases to amaze me. They all think it's their RIGHT to have that animal, no matter what it costs the neighborhood in terms of their peace and quiet, lack of privacy, effect on their lawn and gardens, spreading of bacteria and disease, etc. It's really disgusting.

The answer, OP, is that the legal rules usually say the dog/cat is technically allowed to pee anywhere it wants where it is legally allowed to go, and it's also allowed to poop as long as the owner "cleans it up" (whatever they interpret that to mean). Of course, an animal is not allowed to go onto private property - and your front lawn is your private property, although the strip between the sidewalk and the road may not be considered private property for this purpose. Usually it is your property but technically an easement for walking and utility maintenance access so a bit of a gray area.

The moral rules for anyone with any level of decency say that everyone needs to keep all of their animals off others' property plus any property that others are responsible to maintain, period. For example, the HOA at our last property certainly considered the strip out the front to be our property, in the sense that if it looked bad, wasn't kept up to the same standard as the other parts of the community then we'd get a citation.

But most dog owners and cat owners don't care much about the law and they couldn't care less about what's morally decent. They only care about themselves, but hide behind the argument of what the right/best way to treat the animal is. They think that any cat they choose to own means the cat can roam where it wants, despite the fact that neighbors might not want it on their property, and that dogs can go on people's yards that are not physically fenced off. It seems to never occur to them that if they actually cared about what's best for the animals, they simply wouldn't get a pet if they don't have a decent sized yard themselves where they can keep it safe and happy and not trample on their neighbors' rights.

It's the age of entitlement, after all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to have your dog use your own yard as a toilet. The purpose of a walk is exercise, not to find some other sucker's yard to use as a toilet. If on the walk your dog HAS to go, you avoid other people's property and clean it up afterward.

I've fostered a LOT of dogs. Many will only poop while being walked. Despite taking them out in the yard often. I don't get it but, whatever.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poop gets picked up, dog leash doesn't extend beyond the first foot or so of lawn.

OP you do realize squirrels, raccoons, deer, birds etc freely use your yard as a bathroom all day and night, correct?

not to mention bunnies

First of all, people mentioning acidity are just wrong. Dog urine tends to be neutral or slightly acidic. Browning due to animal urine is due to the nitrogen and basically it is a fertilizer burn. Frequency makes a difference. My (neutered male) dog pees like a race horse in a small area of the yard first thing in the morning and usually when I get home from work. That area is chronically brown, due to getting dosed constantly. Walking, he tags trees, fenceposts, whatever. Quantity is small. Sometimes he will find an area in grass (maybe where a female has urinated?) and sprinkle that--but if dog urine was going to instantly kill the grass, it would have been browning already but those spots are indistinguishable from the surrounding grass. I'm skeptical that dogs being walked are likely to damage other people's lawns although that would depend on the amount of dog traffic and available area for voiding. I have a few regular routes for walking and usually walk 2x a day, 8 to 10 blocks each time, have been doing this the past 7 years, no indication that my dog or other dogs in the neighborhood are killing anyone's grass.

Stop making excuses for your own rudeness.

I have a dog. I love dogs. When I walk my dog I don't let it pee on other people's property or even on my own. Our basement also tenants have a dog. When they first moved in they routinely let it pee on our front lawn. Took no time for everything to turn yellow and brown. I told them they couldn't let the dog pee there and put up a small metal fence. The lawn is alive again.

Somehow I doubt you regularly inspect your neighbors' lawns for signs of damage from your dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poop gets picked up, dog leash doesn't extend beyond the first foot or so of lawn.

OP you do realize squirrels, raccoons, deer, birds etc freely use your yard as a bathroom all day and night, correct?

not to mention bunnies

First of all, people mentioning acidity are just wrong. Dog urine tends to be neutral or slightly acidic. Browning due to animal urine is due to the nitrogen and basically it is a fertilizer burn. Frequency makes a difference. My (neutered male) dog pees like a race horse in a small area of the yard first thing in the morning and usually when I get home from work. That area is chronically brown, due to getting dosed constantly. Walking, he tags trees, fenceposts, whatever. Quantity is small. Sometimes he will find an area in grass (maybe where a female has urinated?) and sprinkle that--but if dog urine was going to instantly kill the grass, it would have been browning already but those spots are indistinguishable from the surrounding grass. I'm skeptical that dogs being walked are likely to damage other people's lawns although that would depend on the amount of dog traffic and available area for voiding. I have a few regular routes for walking and usually walk 2x a day, 8 to 10 blocks each time, have been doing this the past 7 years, no indication that my dog or other dogs in the neighborhood are killing anyone's grass.

Anonymous wrote:Poop gets picked up, dog leash doesn't extend beyond the first foot or so of lawn.

OP you do realize squirrels, raccoons, deer, birds etc freely use your yard as a bathroom all day and night, correct?