repellant

Question
Charlotte,

I know I'm asking something that may not be in your field of expertise, but I thought perhaps you can help.  Our neighbor has a new dog and this dog has decided to use our yard as his personal bathroom.  One side of our yard is dog mess. Please believe me, I am a lover of animals I would do nothing to harm any animal.  It's not in me. But could you suggest a safe repellant of some sort to ward off this dog.  Our neighbors are seldom around, and do not put the dog in the house.  He is free to roam.  They are not receptive to not only me but other neighbors as well.  They aren't considerate in this way.  So hopefully you can help if not thank you for your time..


Answer
Hi Jan;
Isn't it wonderful to have such nice neighbors?
The only repellant I know, and it works fairly well, is chopped up grapefruit peels.
I strew them in the part of my back yard I don't want my dogs to go in, and they play there but do their business in other parts.
When people are this discourteous, they do not deserve courtesy.
I used to have a next door neighbor whose dog used my front yard. I spoke to him, he ignored, I started scooping it up with a shovel and throwing it on his yard. That did nothing, he just encouraged the dog to do it.
So one day, I scooped one of the piles up, and put it on his porch, where he would most likely step in it when he came outside.
When I saw him later that day, I told him " From now on, I am going to scoop it up, and sling it into your windows. It will make a nice mess when it hits the screens".
I didn't get any more piles in my yard.
Do you have any leash laws or ordinances in your town?
Would your neighbors join you in a complaint?
See the City Attorney.
Here we have an arbotrator that will try to settle neighborhood suits, if possible, rather than going to court.
Ni matter where you live, you are intitled to the private use of your opwn land, without harrassment from neighbors or their animals.
You can file suit in small claims court. The person losing the suit pays the court costs. They would probably get a fine as well, and they would be ordered to keep their dog up.Yhe may be ordered to get rid of the doh, or it may just be taken away.
They should not have a dog. They are not fit dog ownrs. Laving a dog to roam is not protecting and taking care of their dog.
I think if I lived in your neighborhood, I would make friends with the dog, spend time with him/her, take him for fun trips, like to a rescue group in another city, or to a person I knew who would like a nice dog, and take care of it. It would be doing the dog a favor.
When people will not pay attention to decency, they will listen when they are hit in the pocket book.
I would deffinately take them to small claims court ior a nuisance suit.
You would be surprised how a judge would talk to them.
To have friends in a neughborhoodd, you have to BE a friend.
If you will not listen to reason, you WILL listen to a judge who will take away a bit of your monet, and each time you come to court, it will cost you more.
They maybe need to learn this.
That is what small claims court is for,
The judge might even order them to clean up your yard.
I love animals. My dogs go in my back yard , and I ewxpct to watch where I step back there, but NOT IN MY FRONT YARD!
I do not allow my animals to annpy my neighbors in any way.
In the first place, besides having respect for my neighbors' rights, I care more than that for my dogs. an angry neighbor miight p[oison them or harm them in some way.
It isn't the dog's fault. It has not been taught better.
When people take an animal, they are responsible for it's safety and well being.
Threse jerks are NOT taking proper care of their dog's safety and well being.
Hope that helps some.
Other than that. putting up a fence is about the only remedy.
Charlotte
PSL
I did finally take that character to court, when his dog went after my grandchild. Had we been 20 seconds later getting out there, that Pit bull would have been around her neck.
The judge came down on him like a house.