Honk if you .....

marylago said:
... I think it's unrealistic to think that dogs are not going to use the berm. And frankly, if I had a dog, I would not let him/her pee on the begonias, but I would not be dragging him or her into the street either.

Agree completely.

mjh said:

marylago said:
... I think it's unrealistic to think that dogs are not going to use the berm. And frankly, if I had a dog, I would not let him/her pee on the begonias, but I would not be dragging him or her into the street either.

Agree completely.

Same here.

Although if you landscape property that doesn't belong to you, you should be able to tolerate some misuse of that area.

Put up some signs asking people nicely not to let their dogs "go" on the areas you take pride in. But don't be surprised (or nasty) if some people don't effectively control their dogs as well as you would like.

The etiquette goes both ways. Ask for cooperation, and hopefully you will get it. But a smile is going to make me feel much more cooperative than a scowl, any day of the week. That is, if I had a dog and a neighborhood like Maplewood to walk it in.

My parents had the perfect solution to this issue; they just never walked their dogs. Never. They let them out into the yard to do their business, and that was it. The yard looked like heck... but it was their yard.

So you see, there are many different ways for dog owners to fall short of their obligations... I really wish dog owners had to get licenses (in addition to the dogs themselves) for which you had to pass a basic skills test, like with driving a car...

Setting aside the poop problem, most dogs need more exercise than that...

bluepool said:
My parents had the perfect solution to this issue; they just never walked their dogs. Never. They let them out into the yard to do their business, and that was it. The yard looked like heck... but it was their yard.
So you see, there are many different ways for dog owners to fall short of their obligations... I really wish dog owners had to get licenses (in addition to the dogs themselves) for which you had to pass a basic skills test, like with driving a car...

If your parents got away with having dogs which didn't chew on the furniture and generally raise all kinds of hell inside the house, especially when it was empty of humans, you had lucky parents.

More likely they just left the dogs outside all day. I've known quite a few who take that approach.

PeggyC said:
More likely they just left the dogs outside all day. I've known quite a few who take that approach.

Well, that's a thing, too.

Indeed, yes.

PeggyC said:
More likely they just left the dogs outside all day. I've known quite a few who take that approach.

They did not do that, Peggy. I never meant to infer that my parents were completely clueless. Other than the walking part, they took good care of their dogs. The current one just passed his 13th birthday.

bluepool said:

PeggyC said:
More likely they just left the dogs outside all day. I've known quite a few who take that approach.

They did not do that, Peggy. I never meant to infer that my parents were completely clueless. Other than the walking part, they took good care of their dogs. The current one just passed his 13th birthday.

Good to know! I didn't mean to be harsh on your parents, either.

Since we live in a society and people like to have dogs and dogs have proven to be good protectors and companions for people and dogs are living creatures who have to pee and poop and they cannot use a litter box I have absolutely no problem with a dog peeing or pooping on my yard. I don't like it if people do not clean up the poop but that is very rare around here, in my yard anyway. This seems like something to try and get over being upset about since 1) people are not going to stop having dogs and 2) until we GMO the mo-fo's they will have to pee and poop and most importantly, 3) we live in a community and a society where we should have an ounce or two of patience.

Clearly, the answer is to pay for colostomy bags for all the neighbor's dogs.

One day the kids were playing in the front yard, and my neighbor, my spouse, and I were standing and talking in the driveway. Someone comes by walking their dog (on a leash), and as this person was texting, they were not paying any attention to the dog. The dog walks onto our flower bed along the front part of the lawn, and in front of all of us, promptly poops in it.

My spouse goes ballistic on the dog owner (who is embarrassedly trying to clean the poop out of the flower bed). Our neighbor commented that my spouse is usually so calm... and found it an interesting experience to watch him completely fly off the handle.

We've never seen that dog owner, or their dog, walk by our house again.

bluepool said:
My parents had the perfect solution to this issue; they just never walked their dogs. Never. They let them out into the yard to do their business, and that was it. The yard looked like heck... but it was their yard.
So you see, there are many different ways for dog owners to fall short of their obligations... I really wish dog owners had to get licenses (in addition to the dogs themselves) for which you had to pass a basic skills test, like with driving a car...

If you're anywhere near my age, that's what most parents did back then.

Our dog would let us know when she needed to go out by standing at the back door. Then she'd take care of business and hang with the roving neighborhood dog pack -- sometimes for hours.

No one seemed to worry about dog bites, leashes, etc. There were no sidewalks, so no one really walked their dogs much, and there was no berm to speak of.

Then she'd jump against the back door to let us know she was ready to come back in.

She was always on a leash if we were in town or more public places.

I'm very conscientious about cleaning up after my dog, but this thread has made me even moreso. I used to try to get her to walk on the berm. Now, even if I have to hip check her to do it, I keep her on a very short leash and make her walk there.

I guess I just wanted to speak up for those of us who always do pick up after our dogs, because it frustrates me as much as it does you when other people don't.

Until we're back at our house, I don't close up the bag. I'll pick up poop other people have left behind -- because I don't want her eating off that plate either! She shouldn't pick up some other dog's heartworm because she finds it difficult to resist her canine instincts. Because she sometimes finds other dog's poop, she's always looking for it. I'd rather just have a relaxing walk with her than be on watch and a taskmaster about what she's trying to sneak by me.

This never used to happen in our neighborhood, but the last couple of years it's gotten really bad.

I can't imagine someone not understanding they should pick it up in neighborhoods like these. Putting up signs/reminders would help even dog owners like me.

I honestly do not see much dog poop - I do not see this as a "really bad" problem. I have lived in places where it is really bad and Maplewood ain't it.

cleg said:
Since we live in a society and people like to have dogs and dogs have proven to be good protectors and companions for people and dogs are living creatures who have to pee and poop and they cannot use a litter box I have absolutely no problem with a dog peeing or pooping on my yard. I don't like it if people do not clean up the poop but that is very rare around here, in my yard anyway. This seems like something to try and get over being upset about since 1) people are not going to stop having dogs and 2) until we GMO the mo-fo's they will have to pee and poop and most importantly, 3) we live in a community and a society where we should have an ounce or two of patience.

An ounce or two of patience on a homeowner's part, is a good suggestion.

How about an ounce or two of consideration by dog walkers?

Curb your dog.

TomR

Tom_R said:

cleg said:
Since we live in a society and people like to have dogs and dogs have proven to be good protectors and companions for people and dogs are living creatures who have to pee and poop and they cannot use a litter box I have absolutely no problem with a dog peeing or pooping on my yard. I don't like it if people do not clean up the poop but that is very rare around here, in my yard anyway. This seems like something to try and get over being upset about since 1) people are not going to stop having dogs and 2) until we GMO the mo-fo's they will have to pee and poop and most importantly, 3) we live in a community and a society where we should have an ounce or two of patience.

An ounce or two of patience on a homeowner's part, is a good suggestion.
How about an ounce or two of consideration by dog walkers?
Curb your dog.
TomR

So what does "curb your dog" mean?

Apparently, no one can quite agree on that... http://southpoop.com/2010/04/06/curb-your-curb-your-dog/

cleg said:
I honestly do not see much dog poop - I do not see this as a "really bad" problem. I have lived in places where it is really bad and Maplewood ain't it.

Do you have a dog, and walk it?

Just curious.

cleg said:
I honestly do not see much dog poop - I do not see this as a "really bad" problem. I have lived in places where it is really bad and Maplewood ain't it.

Agree. Seems to me that when I was a kid, it was much more common to accidentally step in dog poop (or "dog doo" as we called it). Maybe the problem varies by neighborhood and depends on where there are clusters of inconsiderate dog owners...

marylago said:
So what does "curb your dog" mean?

It means do not allow your animal relieve itself on property for which another person is responsible.

Or, in other words, have you animal relieve itself in the gutter.

TomR

Tom_R said:

marylago said:
So what does "curb your dog" mean?

It means do not allow your animal relieve itself on property for which another person is responsible.
Or, in other words, have you animal relieve itself in the gutter.
TomR

That's YOUR interpretation but obviously not everyone's. Did you even click the link

marylago said:

Tom_R said:

marylago said:
So what does "curb your dog" mean?

It means do not allow your animal relieve itself on property for which another person is responsible.
Or, in other words, have you animal relieve itself in the gutter.
TomR

That's YOUR interpretation but obviously not everyone's. Did you even click the link

I'm with you Marylago, I honestly thought it meant - clean after your dog.

When Im walking in Maplewood I don't even let my girls step on anyones front lawn. I'm just afraid someone might yell at them or something. Less a dog

Robert_Casotto said:
Have your dog pee on your own berm not someone else. ain't that a novel idea?

It's not that easy. And you do know that you don't own your berm, right?

sac said:

Robert_Casotto said:
Have your dog pee on your own berm not someone else. ain't that a novel idea?

It's not that easy. And you do know that you don't own your berm, right?

Worth repeating. Because I don't think he understands either of those points.

I suspect that if all dogs were peeing in the gutter there would be MORE complaints about that. (I certainly think it would be more disgusting.)

Like it or not, the community standard around here is for dogs to go on the berm. I've known this since long before I (very recently) got my first dog. I work to make sure she goes only on the berm and try to keep her from peeing in the same place repeatedly and also from going on very green 'manicured' patches of lawn (favoring weedy sections where there is less likely to be any resulting 'burn'.)

sac said:
I suspect that if all dogs were peeing in the gutter there would be MORE complaints about that. (I certainly think it would be more disgusting.)
Like it or not, the community standard around here is for dogs to go on the berm. I've known this since long before I (very recently) got my first dog. I work to make sure she goes only on the berm and try to keep her from peeing in the same place repeatedly and also from going on very green 'manicured' patches of lawn (favoring weedy sections where there is less likely to be any resulting 'burn'.)

Or welcome burn anyway. We should all try to make our doggies only pee on weeds..

I used to have a neighbor in West Orange who let his dog pee every day on a rock in my front planting bed. NOT the berm. A well-thought-out planting bed with rhododendrons, azaleas, hostas, astilbes and ferns. And the rock always had some weeds around it that I pulled by hand, until the day I noticed the dog peeing on them. And then I felt rather ill.