When I lived 'downtown', I had a very small front yard much taken up
with a magnolia tree. The tree would drop these big 'plastic' leaves
that never seemed to disintegrate. I raked all the time. I had to rake
with rubber gloves on as the dog poop would stick to the leaves and make
a real mess. My grass strip was always half yellow and dead.

There was a very nice, big park at the end of the street with a wooded
area for the dogs 'to go'. And I took my dog there, not allowing her to
use a neighbor's lawn. I was furious about the stinky mess outside my
door, with the park only a block farther down.

I decided I had had enough. Every morning and evening I lurked by the
front door and just as Fido would go into a squat, I ran out the front
door yelling "no! no! no! no! no!" and waving my arms and looking like a
mad woman. The dog and owner would freeze in position. Then the owner
would say 'oh, he/she just ..." feebly justifying it like it was the
first and only time. And I would say 'I have to rake all these leaves
with this very smelly mess. Take him/her to the park!"

There was a certain timing to it - before work time and after work time
- and I had to get the timing right. But I never had to do the same act
twice to the same person. I did notice they regularly crossed the street
when they came to my house.

Doug Kanter wrote:

Well, you're right, as far as this information goes. But, then there's the
vague part of the dog-human thing. I have a theory that dogs train their
owners to permit certain types of behavior which, when explained (to the
owners) with the right words, are obviously antisocial. For example, what if
you decided to have a cookout - a big one, with a rented tent and
everything, and invite maybe 50 people. But, you realize that the whole
affair will probably wreak havoc on your lawn, and people who've had a few
too many cocktails may wander out in the dark and step on your flowers, and
heaven knows you wouldn't want THAT to happen. So, you have the tent set up
on your neighbor's property.

You're thinking that only a lunatic would do such a thing, and you're right.
The cops would agree when they arrived, although they are often trained to
be tactful when dealing with nut cases. But, they would still explain to you
that you had taken your business onto another person's property, which was
entirely unacceptable.

Now, try saying this to someone who lets their dog stop on your property:
"Excuse me, would you mind doing that somewhere else? This is my property.
Why not have your dog do that at YOUR house?" They will look at you like YOU
are out of your mind, as if they are somehow above the concept of property
ownership. This is what dogs do to their owners. Not much different than
parents who say their kids are "usually such angels" after they spray paint
someone's car.



"Suzy O" wrote in message
...

Silly? The owner is either letting the dog run loose -- illegal in most
places -- or walking the dog and not picking up after it. What does the
dog
know but don't crap in the house -- maybe.

Suzy O


"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Suzy O" wrote in message
...

Aw, why punish the dog? I say watch for the dog & owner -- dog walkers
usually are out on a pretty regular schedule -- and then bag the stuff
and
return to owner with, "Hey, I think you forgot something on my lawn."
Maybe once he/she knows you know the source .... well, one can hope!
Suzy, Zone 5, Wisconsin

wrote in message
legroups.com...

The problem is that i might see diarrhea in my yard. Can you get Exlax
at Walmart? Hope it doesn't kill grass.



That's silly! The dog is doing the deed. If a teenager kills someone, do
you
throw a dart at the phone book, and punish the person whose phone number
you
hit?