"Jibby" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Does anyone have any ideas on how to prevent my neighbor's dog from using
my yard as it's own personal toilet? I am disabled and use a power
wheelchair and there is nothing worse than getting dog crap on a wheel
(especially since I can't clean the wheels myself). I don't want to put
up a fence, and speaking to the neighbors about it has been no help.

Thanks,
Jibby


Very easy. The general theme is that you never, EVER cut a dog owner any
slack. Period. No slack. If you were repeatedly crapping on their lawn, they
would cut YOU no slack. You'd be arrested, and probably interviewed by a
psychologist, who would report to the judge that you needed a bit of
therapy. The dog owner is no different - the dog is just an extension of the
human who's supposed to be responsible for it.

1) Call your town and find out how many times a dog has to be off its
property before the dog catcher is allowed to remove the animal permanently.
For instance, in my town, it's 3 offenses. The dog catcher has to come over
and issue citations. They come with steadily increasing fines, none of which
are enough, but anyway....when incident #3 comes along, the dog catcher is
required to take away the dog. Depending on just how big of an asshole the
owner is when it appears before the judge, there's a good chance it will not
get the dog back.

2) Inform the neighbor that they have a problem, give them 30 seconds to
think, and then ask them for a commitment to stop the problem immediately.
That means "never again". Not "I'll start next week because this week, 'As
The World Turns' is so exciting that I can't get off my fat ass to walk the
dog and clean up after it".

3) Their response to #2 will usually be "Oh....sorry....I didn't know it
bothered anyone", or "I didn't know the dog was leaving the property". Both
are lies. Accept what they say because you can't fix their minds anyway.
There could be other responses, and the specifics will be useful insofar as
telling you whether to watch for their dog immediately, or the next day.
But, the behavior will not stop.

4) Start calling the dog catcher. Many years ago, ours told me he had to
witness the dog being off the property before he could do anything. That's
not true, and a judge will confirm it if you're given that line. Normally,
it takes a few weeks or more for 3 complaints to be made, but some dog
owners are so intensely stupid that you can actually have the animal gone in
a week. I've done it. It's great fun.

Keep in mind that the dog catcher is required to respond and do his or her
job. Do not accept any excuses. Remember, too, that dog owners' offenses are
100% intentional. They know exactly what they're doing, and they don't care
what effect is has on anyone else.

Good luck!