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Last night a women who lives in my development was walking her beautiful large Husky. She proceeded to let the dog urinate on my front yard, near a tree and a flower bed. We added an element to our alarm system that alerts us to someone in our yard (not near the street) so we looked out when we heard the alarm and watched the owner allow the pet behavior.
I do not know the owners, but have seen them before in the neighborhood and they seemed pleasant, waving, etc. I posted a mention on our HOA FB page that I thought was improper pet owner behavior and rude.
Of course I was summarily blasted by other residents.
Is it too much to ask that all the hard work my 71 year old husband puts into our yard, restoring it from neglect from the previous owner and spending money on flowers, fertilizer, etc. to think dog walkers would curb their dog and use city-owned grass areas near the street? I don't feel it is asking too much.
The owner responded that, basically, his dog could pee anywhere it wanted, it wasn't something he considered or worried about and that he picks up feces per city rules. I understand that there may be a generational difference of opinion here. He was not totally impolite but his responses as well as other responses had a snarky quality to them.
I just wonder how these people would feel if I deposited about a pint of urine on their front yard and flowers.
Opinions, please.
If I gave my honest opinion of these people I'd probably be sent to banned camp. So I'll just say I'm sorry you're going through this. I know how much work goes into landscaping and keeping up flower beds and what not.
I suppose you could always leave a 'surprise' on their front porch.
I always try to make my dog walk on my left so he's on the parkway side of the grass. However, you can't always win. You said that he peed near the flowers, not on them. I'd be more upset if he did but bottom line is that's part of the nuisance of living in a neighborhood. I'm sure he's not the only creature who has relieved himself on your lawn.
Yes...but once a dog marks there, other dogs tend to "pile on" and you have a patch of dead grass from excess urea.
You REALLY can't pull your dog to a different area? Even if it is only 20 feet away to get to the public part next to the street or to a less used area of grass? If you can't do that, then you aren't really in control of your dog - and that is a problem. Don't use that as an excuse to not curb your dog.
Wildlife (squirrels, rabbits, whatever) are much more random and lesser in volume so you really can't compare the two situations.
OP, I understand your frustration, but I think you are overreacting a little. You probably haven't thought of all the stray dogs and cats that wander through your yard, not to mention many other animals that eliminate at will. I can almost guarantee you that the dog isn't eliminating "a pint" of urine on your flowers. If a dog was digging in your flowers, or leaving poop behind, then yes, I'd be angry. But a little pee? Nope.
A healthy husky weighing 60 lbs. (27 kilos) produces about 2 ml/kilo an hour. That's 27x2 - 54 ml per hour, and about 1,296 ml. per day. At 473 ml. per pint, that's about 2.7 pints in a 24 hour period. The average indoor dog goes out 3-4 times a day, which means that there's less than a pint for each walk or outing. Most of the urine is eliminated in the first leg lift, usually in the owners yard within 10-15 yards of the owners front door. :-) (For example, we let our 40 lb. dog out in the backyard for a few minutes before taking him on a walk, to give him a chance to eliminate.) Dogs mark their territories (which, in the dog's mind, extends far beyond their yard) with a small amount of pee and leave their "business card" in other areas. Often, the pee is to cover up other smells that they detect and assert their ownership. Other times, the pee gives a lot of information to other dogs, such as sex, age, rank, sexual availability, etc. Such marking is a small amount, usually 2-3 teaspoons at most.
I think it's fair to ask the dog's owner not to allow the dog to pee on your flowers. But I don't think a couple of teaspoons of urine on the grass is cause for distress.
Thanks so much for the explanation and attempted excuses...if the volume is enough to attract other dogs and that kills the grass then move on! I had the issue - it was clear the same person let their dog go in the same place EVERY day - the grass was dead...and they couldn't go to another area? GET OFF MY YARD!
How does the existence of stray dogs and cats let YOU off the hook?
Last night a women who lives in my development was walking her beautiful large Husky. She proceeded to let the dog urinate on my front yard, near a tree and a flower bed. We added an element to our alarm system that alerts us to someone in our yard (not near the street) so we looked out when we heard the alarm and watched the owner allow the pet behavior.
I do not know the owners, but have seen them before in the neighborhood and they seemed pleasant, waving, etc. I posted a mention on our HOA FB page that I thought was improper pet owner behavior and rude.
Of course I was summarily blasted by other residents.
Is it too much to ask that all the hard work my 71 year old husband puts into our yard, restoring it from neglect from the previous owner and spending money on flowers, fertilizer, etc. to think dog walkers would curb their dog and use city-owned grass areas near the street? I don't feel it is asking too much.
The owner responded that, basically, his dog could pee anywhere it wanted, it wasn't something he considered or worried about and that he picks up feces per city rules. I understand that there may be a generational difference of opinion here. He was not totally impolite but his responses as well as other responses had a snarky quality to them.
I just wonder how these people would feel if I deposited about a pint of urine on their front yard and flowers.
Opinions, please.
I totally agree with you. the fact that this owner, and the snarky responders don't see the difference in curbing their pets....and allowing them to intrude onto your maintained yard is ludicrous.
That is what a berm is for.
I think that you should post a pic of this owner doing this next time. I also think you should review your HOA and your city's rules on this type situation. Report this issue appropriately.
Have you addressed this with your association.....I would forward this owners comments and see what the association decides. Pet urine does affect your lawn and flowers.
I have to replant spaces every spring from my own dog. And, I would never walk up on someone's lawn to allow my dog to potty on someone else's property.
Last edited by JanND; 05-17-2017 at 07:48 AM..
Reason: edit text
As a former dog owner I agree with you. My dogs got to water any telephone post they liked and even a few mailbox stands. Hydrants also, but I NEVER let them go onto anyone lawn(property) to whiz.
To me, that's YOUR property and it's MY job to make sure MY dogs stay off YOUR property.
I agree. It is surprising that so many dog owners are posting that they cannot control where their dog pees.
Pretty poor owners imo. Stay off other people's lawns. End of!
How does the existence of stray dogs and cats let YOU off the hook?
It doesn't. My explanation was to refute the implication that pints and pints of urine was being poured on her yard, and to perhaps put it in perspective. My dog isn't permitted to mark mailboxes, flowers, trashcans on the curb, etc. I pick up after him, and I, too, have asked dog-walkers to please not allow their dog to mark my mailbox area - most comply, as far as I can tell, but who knows? One couple I know, the woman is very conscientious about where she walks her dog. Her husband, on the other hand, is pretty much zoned out when he's walking. :-)
All the animals in the area are intrigued by the scent of the deer and the coyotes that regularly visit out neighborhood. I think sometimes homeowners forget that their yard is not an island fortress in the neighborhood ecosystem.
Why is this even a question? Nobody is allowed on your property unless you allow it except law enforement. I wouldn't care if the person cleaned up the dog mess either because it doesn't matter it's my property.
Oh, didn't you get the memo? Dogs rule the world now, as they are the most intelligent, noble, sublime creatures in the whole universe.
Doesn't dog pee make grass turn yellow? Won't it kill a bedding plant if it's done over and over? I'm thinking so....
Not to throw shade on your conclusion, but we've never had any creatures other than birds apparent in our yard.
This was a really big dog, not a little one. I can only imagine how much of his urine ended up on the grass.
I guess I could collect some from my dog and take it to her yard and deposit it, wonder if she would mind?
Horrors! I'm guessing, not much. I guess I'm more neighborly than you (I don't have an alarm for my lawn, for instance), so I would have just gone out and run the hose over the area a bit, if I felt it might harm my grass.
I have dogs myself, and have never seen a yellow spot for a single "hit" of urine. Even a repeated hit of urine, now that I think about it. I know I've never replaced sod because of that. We must have more robust grass here in Texas.
Sorry, yes it is and yes it has. You can train a dog just like you can train a child. Your kind of thinking is why dogs can't be brought into stores anymore and why kids act like hellions in public places. You think training an animal or a child to behave in public can't be done, but I'm here to tell you it can and it has.
A friend of mine used to water her flowers in the morning when a someone would go by every day and let her dog pee all over everything. One day my friend casually turned the hose on the dog owner. That dog owner never came near the yard again.
But sadly, most pet owners lack the knowledge and experience to train dogs like this. Heck, I also show in obedience, and see these so-called "trained" dogs lifting their legs on vertical surfaces all the time.
Sometimes a dog has to "go".
And sometimes neighbor relations are more important than a $5 plant.
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