Living in a clean environment is a desire of every individual, whether they keep pets or not.
One of the most annoying experiences is waking up one day only to find dog poop on your lawn when you don’t have a dog.
Past ruining your mood, literally, this would mean that your neighbor does not clean after their dog.
So, What Should You Do If Your Neighbor Doesn’t Clean Up After Their Dogs?
The simplest and best approach to solve this is to ask your neighbor to take responsibility for their pets. If they fail to act, you can now take more considerable action by reporting them to environmental authorities.
Understanding these laws may help you determine when to take legal action against neighbors who let their dogs distract the comfort and beauty of your home.
In this post, you will find the right approach to use when you find out that your neighbor doesn’t clean up after their dogs.
How To Solve The Problem Of Neighbors Not Picking Up Their Dog’s Waste
For any problem that may arise between neighbors, it is always advisable to engage in a mutual agreement that will bring about resolutions to the problem.
The issue of a neighbor’s dog poop in your compound is not an exception. It can be addressed by both parties meeting and finding a solution to that.
In the real world, one reasonable solution is the owner of the dog following and cleaning after the pet.
Another one could be that the owner should lock up the dog and train it on where to poop.
If the dog owner agrees to either of the two and commits themselves to do it, then you will happily live together as each person takes their responsibilities.
On rare occasions, your neighbor might be rude and unwilling to clean poop dropped by their dogs despite your struggle to inform them.
Such an individual may need a super action for them to do what is right. In this case, the better action would be reporting to legal authorities.
The regulatory laws for pets have terms like “dogs,” “animal law enforcement,” and “animal control” in the title. Cleaning up after your pet is one of the pet owner’s behaviors that are regulated by such animal control laws.
Keep in mind that reporting such a case to the police department may not be of great help.
Therefore, you should call your local animal control service, which is better positioned to help resolve the issue effectively.
They may reach the owner of the dog with a warning. If the problem is not solved, the neighbor may be issued a citation to pay for or challenge in court.
How To Approach Someone Who Does Not Clean Up After Their Dogs
As much as it is frustrating to clean up poop that is not for your dog, approaching the owner with anger may not yield the results you hope.
Even though you are offended, you will need to compose yourself and approach the other person with a polite and friendly tone.
Otherwise, if you approach the person harshly, they may feel attacked and be defensive, thus hindering both of you from reaching an agreement.
To quickly pass your complaints and get better results, try the following:
1. Offer Them A Dog Waste Bag
Most of the people who fail to clean up their dog’s waste will always give an excuse that they forgot their dog waste bags.
If you have any, you can willingly and politely offer some to your neighbors. They will start using the bags just to avoid social shame
2. Don’t Threaten Them
It is absurd to start a conversation in a raised voice of r by giving threats. Try to talk in a low tone so that you reduce animosity that a raised voice could have otherwise created
3. Have Some Empathy
Some of your neighbors might just be having a bad and moody day.
They probably don’t intend to leave their dog’s poop all over but are still overwhelmed by their feelings.
For such reasons, you should be empathetic when giving out your complaints to avoid worsening your neighbor’s moods.
Once they feel that you care, they may not attempt leaving dogs poop in your yard again.
What If You Don’t Know The Owner Of The Dog?
In some neighborhoods, you will realize that most people own dogs.
Therefore, determining precisely whose dog poops in your yard may be pretty tricky. You can try these techniques, which can be of help.
1. Install Cameras
These cameras capture everything that happens within your compound, including dogs and their actions.
If you want to report to the authority, video evidence will be necessary.
2. Ask Around
Probably, one neighbor saw who left the poop and can give some essential information concerning the fog owner.
3. Put Up A Sign
Signs that ask people to pick up their animal waste may make them act responsibly.
Before concluding that your neighbor left their dog’s poop in your compound intentionally, you should at first get the truth and refrain from making baseless assumptions.
Consider what might have happened first, and consider that this one-time mistake might have been an accident.
You can ask yourself a few questions before taking stern action against your neighbors:
- Did a stray dog pass through your compound?
- Did your neighbor’s dog escape his enclosure?
- Did your neighbor forget to carry plastic bags for picking dog poop?
- Is your fence intact?
Answering the above questions will precisely help you decide on what action to take.
Six Things NOT TO DO When You Find A Dog’s Poop On Your Lawn
You have the right to feel angry, annoyed, and irritated when you see your yard contaminated by a dog’s waste.
However, you should not translate your anger into actions that may cause more harm.
Avoid doing these actions when you find your lawn “violated”:
- Don’t pick the dog’s poop and toss it at your neighbor’s property.
- Don’t yell at your neighbor.
- Do not cause any physical harm to the dog or the neighbor.
- Do not put the dog’s poop on fire in front of the owner
- Don’t deliver the dogs poop to your neighbor’s mailbox or front door
- Do not dump the dog waste on your farm.
Six Reasons Why Some People Fail To Pick What Their Dogs Leave Behind
Here are a few reasons why some people will intentionally leave their dogs waste :
- They don’t want to carry it with them.
- They are more self-absorbed and do not care about the other people around them.
- They leave behind their dog bags.
- Some think that dog poop is natural and does not harm the environment.
- Others believe that picking up a dog’s poop is gross.
- Some are unaware of animal laws and think that picking up after their dogs is not that important.
Conclusion
Leaving with neighbors who own pets requires you to be very keen and strict, else they may end up making your yard a toilet.
In case you find dogs pooping on your clean green lawn, you should identify the owners and make them aware of their pet’s misbehavior.
If they fail to pick it up, then you can try the ways stated in this article to solve the issue at hand.