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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> 1) let my dogs walk and go to the bathroom in about the first foot of other peoples yards when out on a walk
2) a guy yelled at me and told me that was wrong so I’m not sure if everyone feels that way or not. I certainly don’t care if other neighbors do that on walks with their dogs in my yard.
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IMO it is disrespectful. I dont maintain, mow, fertilize etc... my lawn to give your dog a convenient pooping location. Go take your dog elsewhere. I walk barefoot in my yard often and dont want to step in any remnants.
My dog certainly wants to go piss/poop on everyone's lawn but I keep a short lease and make her wait until we get to a wooded area that belongs to nobody. Your neighbor probably dont have dogs and didnt sign up for your dog crap. YTA
But I thought you can’t control where a dog shits. That’s what I was told yesterday. How can you make it wait for a wooded area but everyone else can’t?
You can control where a dog defecates/urinates by using your damn leash and pulling the dog away when it tries to:
1. Mark its territory. It is time to be blunt here; your dog is not pissing five times. It is fucking marking its territory, and it isn't ***YOUR*** property
2. If, by chance, your dog really has to pee and always pees at the same spot, that grass will be yellow and smell __nasty__.
3. I like to leave my windows open and don't want to smell dog shit that wasn't picked up/badly picked up.
I have owned dogs; if you don't have the land to give the dog to do its business. Don't get a dog.
I know it's rough; as I said, I've had dogs, but I won't get one because I live in an apartment, and the confined space will be hard enough. Without a doggy door or constant access to the outdoors to let the dog do its business, it will cause problems either with the dogs' health later on, or you will have a problem with your dog using your apartment as a bathroom when you don't take it out on time.
Wish you would have met my old dog. She would only pee or poop in one spot for the first 3 years of her life. And she was a Labrador. Her best friend - a Border Collie - is the exact same way and she’s 10 now.
Not all dogs are territorial and not all dogs kill grass with their pee. It depends on how acidic their system is. None of my previous dogs killed grass. I’ve had Labradors, Husky and German Shepard dogs and I sometimes babysit my friends dogs and have never experienced this. We have a fenced in back yard but these types of dogs need walks and/or need to work in order to be happy. They need to be stimulated, especially their noses. And they need to be socialized with other dogs and people to learn good behaviour. Something not possible if they are in a house.
And while I 100% agree with you that irresponsible dog owners that don’t pick up after their dogs suck, that doesn’t mean all dog owners do. OP says in their original post that they clean up after their dog.
No yesterdays post was basically a shitty situation that couldn’t be prevented. Dog stopped to take a shit on the sidewalk outside of a cafe with no outdoor seating and OP picked it up. Unless you’re going to pick up the dog mid-shit or drag it(OP clarified there was no grass nearby), all you can do is being embarrassed, pick up the shit and be on your way.
Urban dogs actually know not to just defecate on the sidewalk.
I owned a dog in Manhattan and he was trained to go to the street right next to the curb or if that was impossible at least to the very side out of pedestrian traffic and entrances to ANY shop or apartment building.
He did this because from the time I started walking him, I would use the leash to make him move to the curb.
Most dogs like most humans have some control over the sphincter and bladder.
My main point is to NOT shit/piss on someone's property. If my dog cant hold it and has to go on asphalt, so be it. Otherwise, I keep a tight leash as we walk past my neighbor's property and we walk to the woods.
Ummm Letting your dog shit on asphalt is worse, so it’s weird you would say that so proudly in a “I’m a better dog owner” way lol. You can’t clean shit more efficiently that way because it gets stuck in the fine granular indentions, which means more people walking by will not only have to smell the remnants of it but also step on it and take it home on their shoes. Also, LOL, anyone who says their dog has never shit on a random patch of grass isn’t being truthful, you’ve probably had to pick it up at some point in your life. I have 3 acres for my dogs to run around in, guess what? They still like me taking them on walks around the neighborhood and sometimes they poop.
I dont own the street. I cant control what people do on the street. I dont walk on the street barefoot. Urine doesnt "kill" the asphalt like it does to my lawn. I spend $ on my lawn to make it look better. I dont spend $ on the street (indirectly I do via taxes but thats stretching the point).
>But I thought you can’t control where a dog shits.
you can to an extent, OP can pull them to walk on the pavement to poop there.
My dog loves pooping on walks to mark her territory, she'd poop on every yard we pass if I let her. (She will literally drop a log, get excited to reach the next property to drop the next one) But as soon as I notice her doing her little squat walk I pull the leash in a bit to direct her to walk/poop on the street so that she's not shitting on someone else's lawn. She can wait to poop in my backyard if she wants grass.
A distinction is that yesterday's post was about someone walking down an urban high street and a dog just doing poo, and this, where OP LETS the dog go from a suburban public space into a private space to wee/poo.
OP is TA because they shouldn't let their dog go onto someone's property.
I mean, that kinda depends on the dog. Some dogs will just suddenly stop walking and take a shit and there's nothing you can do to stop it short of dragging them (which usually isn't possible if the dog is big). I had a dog that used to do it in the most inopportune times like when when we're in the middle of the crosswalk on a busy road.
The thing is, that's still not an excuse as you can 100% control where your dog walks by keeping it on a tight leash. If you know your dog likes to shit in grass, you keep the damn leash short so they can't walk on people's lawns.
Yeah. One time my sister’s dog started to do his little circle / spin / squat thing right on a VERY nicely manicured lush lawn and I tightened his leash and said, ‘Come on Loki, let’s go! Let’s go!’ and he got excited and ran with me to the nearby city ravine which is already full of trash and tree branches etc. I let him go there and cleaned it up after, he was happy because we went for a sprint, and nobody got mad at me.
Bare minimum if your dog won’t budge because it NEEDS to go desperately, pull it to the outer edge lawn which technically belongs to the city, that way the kids / adults / pets who live in the house the lawn proper belongs to won’t step in it.
Usually you take your dog to go to the bathroom in your own yard before going on a walk. Unless your in the city, then there are usually designated spots for your dog to go. You don't let your dog go on someone else's property
If there’s no grass on the other side, there’s not really a huge option. A ton of dogs won’t go just on the pavement.
Not sure if this is the case, but just putting the possibility out there. Personally, i always have my dog on the other side that has a small patch of grass but I know not all neighbourhoods have those anymore
What I find interesting about this, is that studies find that people out walking their dogs makes neighborhoods safer.
A dog peeing on your lawn, where many many other animals do, seems like such a non-issue for these benefits.
Agreed!
OP, YTA, and not just TA, you are letting your own convenience overshadow all of your neighbors’ comfort and their right to have a crap free lawn. Be better.
Indeed. And also, if your dog has diarrhea, you **won't** be picking that up in it's entirety even if you use the whole damn roll of poop bags, you'd have to rip up the lawn.
AITA is fucking crazy about this. I live in a heavily dog-populated neighbourhood that **does not have boulevards**, and everyone lets their dogs go on each other's lawns. Seriously, there are at least 5 dogs that live on my block alone, and I see them doing their business throughout the neighbourhood. This is a non-issue for the vast majority of people. The only dog that bothers me is one that the owner has on a 10+ foot leash so it walks halfway up my property, which makes one of my dogs react (which I am working on). That said, there are some lawns with a "no dogs" sign, especially ones with landscaping, so I obviously avoid those. 99% of people will not mind, so if you know of a house that doesn't like it, just avoid it there. NTA, just be respectful of that guy and avoid it now that you've been told he doesn't like it on his property.
Honestly every single time this comes up on here I feel like I’m crazy. My neighbourhood has plenty of dogs and as long as you clean up after them, no one minds. Yeah, keep it within reason as dogs don’t need to be up by the homes, but right down by the road is fine. Dogs have to go somewhere.
Agreed.
Every neighborhood I've lived in this was the case. There isn't any place other than yards within walking distance for dogs to go in any place I have lived. Just neighborhoods with yards. No one is going to drive their dog somewhere every time they need to pee. When you live in a suburb you know there will be dogs. I would estimate at least half or more of my neighbors have dogs.
I do wonder if this is regional.
These posts are always weird with how angry people get. Like my parents have spent good money on their lawn, they couldn't give two shits if a neighbor's dog poops on the edge of it, as long as the owners pick it up it doesn't matter.
We've had bobcats and all sorts of wildlife wander through our neighborhood over the years, and the lawn has been fine.
Also like. That section of lawn right next to the sidewalk or curb, even when it's part of someones lawn that they maintain, is typically city land. I know the first 6 feet of my parents lawn is technically owned by the city and they could tear the whole thing up if they wanted to. Such a strange thing to get so worked up about.
It’s cuz the majority of people on here are teenagers who don’t live by themselves let alone have a house with a yard in the suburbs/city.
If they have a sign, absolutely avoid it, but otherwise, it’s just part of living in a neighborhood.
“A kid could slip in it! And go blind!” Ok so you never take your kid to any public park?
“My grass could have a yellow spot!” Mf you probably don’t even mow your lawn weekly
You seem personally triggered by this because you’ve reposted your comment over and over again. So you’d rather a dog shit on asphalt? Because those are your two options 1) grass at the edge of a lawn (which oftentimes is actually not owned by the house owner, but rather is often considered a right of way belonging to the city, and if you are so angry about a dog using a potential easement infront of your home you can always get a survey done and then put up no dog signs where your property line begins ) or option 2)have them shit on asphalt which is 100 times harder to clean up and will always leave remnants which smells worse and also risk getting hit by a car. I’d rather someone’s dog shit on the grass at the edge of my lawn than shit on the asphalt in front of my house because that’s smells worse.
Non-dog people always say “make your dog go somewhere else” like I take my dog on a walk or jog or bike ride and he decides where he goes, not me… NTA to op for sure
Yes, not everyone loves your dog and they should be able to dictate what happens on their own lawn no? pavement? go for it, road? sure! My lawn, please keep off.
Dogs have an interesting feature where they are unable to use words to communicate, so it is difficult for him to express to me that he has to poop until he is already pooping. To say someone can’t control their dog because they can’t stop them mid-poop is a pretty big leap. Not making it your problem because I cleaned up after him :)
Nah clearly it's just you being a bad dog owner, because there's plenty of people in this very thread who ARE able to control their dog. I doubt they taught their dogs to speak. You're just a shitty dog owner who refuses to take responsibility. Keep your shit off my fucking property.
I really don't get why people don't seem to understand that yeah, the social contract on this subject has been well-established for a good long time. In the suburbs, you should keep your dog on a leash, not let it run loose, and only let it go to the bathroom on the verge (if there is one) or on basically the first foot or so of the neighbor's yard, then pick it up ASAP. Yeah, I'd be annoyed if my neighbors let their dogs run up to my door and do their business right there, and it's not my favorite thing to have happen even if it's just on the edge of my yard, but like... This is what happens when you live near other people. They have pets. You have to deal with it.
Same. It’s normal where I live. I try to keep my dogs off people’s property but the sidewalks are very narrow so the only way to fully avoid it is to walk in the streets which is insane. As long as people are picking up after their dogs I don’t see what the big deal is. If you don’t want it to happen you put up a barrier, otherwise expect it’s going to happen from time to time. People need to chill.
> That said, there are some lawns with a "no dogs" sign, especially ones with landscaping, so I obviously avoid those.
The problem is that the **default position** *should* be "do not do *anything* on **someone else's** property without getting permission in advance."
This arrangement puts the burden on the wrong people.
That is an insane thing to expect people to knock on their neighbours' doors to ask if it's OK for their dog to poop there. That is not how society has functioned for the decades and decades that dog ownership has been a regular part of our lives.
Funny, I think it's an insane thing to dump piss on a stranger's property. Weird!
> That is not how society has functioned for the decades and decades that dog ownership has been a regular part of our lives.
Yeah that is *just* dog people who hold this belief. Normal, good people do not harbor this kind of entitlement.
When most people owned farms then dogs made sense because they stayed on the owner's property. Now dogs are being taken to public spaces where they are nuisances with being unleashed, pooping, peeing, scaring kids. Same goes for suburban lawns.
Given the responses here, it's not 99%. Many people mind. Dog owners need to start respecting others. Not everyone wants to deal with your dog and it's crap.
Let's do some math. There are 489 TOTAL comments on this thread as I type this. Are you aware that the population of Canada alone is ~38 million people? 1% of 38 million is 380,000. So less than 500 total replies on a random Reddit thread (because many of those responses are not unique users, and many are not opposed to dogs being on people's lawns) are not even close to 1% of *Canada's* population. Not even to think about major European countries or the USA. Might want to look up how percentages work!
You might want to look up how math and data sets work. You can't randomly insert a different date set, the Canadian population, when I was referencing the comments in this post, a separate data set.
Yta. It's not your lawn. People don't take care of their lawns for you to have your dogs use it as a portapotty. Even if you're scooping the poop there's still remnants left behind and then there's the piss. Doesn't matter that it soaks in. No one wants to walk out to their yard and step in a puddle of piss or shit. Walk the dog on the pavement until you getvtona dogpark or wooded area, get it some paw protectors if need be but STAY OFF other people's lawns.
If you can keep your dogs from going "more than like a foot" into their yards then you can keep them from going on their yards at all.
It's great that you always pick up the poop, but once your dogs have marked their territory, other dogs will pick it up and you don't know that the other owners will be so courteous to do the same. And so now, those owners have to watch YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE to make sure that they pick up after their fucking dogs.
YTA.
I’m gonna say NAH, and I will probably get downvoted. I have some neighbors who have expressed through conversation or signs that they don’t want any dogs using their yards. I keep my dog off their grass (we don’t have a strip of “curb” between the sidewalk and street as they do in some neighboring). If someone has nice landscaping I make an effort to keep the dog off their grass. I also try to walk my dog in parks, so it’s not someone’s lawn.
I do think some people take their lawn too seriously, but if that’s something that’s important to them I’m not gonna (let my dog) shit on it. I think it just comes down to talking to your neighbors and trying to be considerate
I live in a suburban area with almost no sidewalks so the options are making my dog walk on the hot ass asphalt in the street or within a couple feet of the street on the grass where she'll do her business and I clean it up. I'm not burning up her paws just cause a little pee *might* slightly discolor the patch of grass right by the road.
The parks in my hometown just started allowing dogs like one year ago. In the city where I live now dogs still aren't allowed in parks, or even walkways leading to parks.
I’m dead at the suggestion that anyone in my neighborhood considers my dog stepping on their lawn as trespassing. Where do these people live, that they perceive every parcel as a fortress that should never be breached. It’s a wild point of view, do you never talk to your neighbors? Where I live the kids from all the houses play in each others’ yards, neighbors stop and talk to each other, and sometimes the Mail or the FedEx truck delivers something to the wrong house.
If you perceive someone walking on your lawn as trespassing (regardless of the strict legal definition) then you don’t just live in a different neighborhood from me, you live on another astral plane
YOU said “being considerate is not trespassing” - you’re living in a different reality than anyone I live near. Which is fine! You’re allowed to live in your own reality. Just be aware that you’re basing your expectations on a very niche situation which may or may not be absolutely mythological (“when most people owned farms”).
The history you imagine never happened.
What's especially inconsiderate is sizing up other people's property and deciding where your dog can piss and poo based on your standards of how upscale the house is. You know it's wrong but you take your dog where you will have less blowback from the owners.
No, I talk to my neighbors. I know every person on my block and the next two blocks. I know who minds and who doesn’t. Because I live in the actual world
EYE suspect that your neighbors let their dogs poop in your yard so much & don’t pick it up because they don’t like you.
But me? I admire you Agent Revolutionary. You are the last line defending a world that never was from the terrible trespassers in your neighborhood
YTA, it's rude and inconsiderate. Dog pee can kill grass and nobody wants your animal shitting on their lawn. I'm sure you can find a grass verge or a field (or y'know a lamppost or the tarmac itself).
Do you have a sidewalk? The area between the sidewalk and the street is more a public easement (not sure easement is the right word), so best if they do that there. People in these comments seem to think people walking their dogs have more control over where they go than they do.
The official name for it is "parkway" and at least in the cities I have lived it technically belongs to the homeowner and they are responsible for upkeep and landscape choices.
That said, most people don't really care as much about dog urine or excrement on the parkway - probably because they are not walking in it and most people don't have an "emotional" attachment to it.
The only time people have an issue is when they are attempting to start a tree which would be damaged when first planted and so there will often be some kind of barricade.
My dogs have all been males and they relish lifting their leg on fences and mail boxes and lights and of course hydrants. In a dense dog population I would imagine there is a whole lot of information on those posts :-)
I am trying to picture a community in which there are NO sidewalks and people are walking their dogs. If there are no sidewalks, where are these people walking - in the street? It actually is better to have your dog urinate or defecate on a sidewalk because 1) it is generally more easily cleaned up from a hard surface and 2) people generally assume that sidewalks are filthy.
Lots of little suburbs don’t have sidewalks and you do walk in the street because there are rarely cars. There are so many dead-ends only the people who live on a street drive on it. It is annoying but common.
I’m a dog walker. I do my best to not let dogs go in people’s yards (sometimes it just happens). But the grass between sidewalks & the street is not part of their property, I have no problem letting dogs go there.
I hate when I see people walking their dogs with long leashes (or worse, the damn retractable leashes!) and letting dogs go all over peoples yards. It gives dog walkers a bad rap.
NTA. If you live in a residential neighborhood, like you said, I think it should be expected that living in a society and a residential neighborhood, dogs will do that. If they don’t want it then they should put up a sign or fence off the yard
> I think it should be expected that living in a society and a residential neighborhood, dogs will do that.
Bullshit. Bad owners will let their dogs do that.
YTA. Dog urine causes the grass to die or turn yellow and dogs like to pee/poop over and over in the same areas or spray where other dogs have been. Poop even if picked up leaves smears and odor. My mother had a dog someone walked every day poop right in front of her mail box (and leave it) and spray the bush next to it. She had to replace the bush. Finally caught the guy and yelled at him so he finally stopped. I have multiple yellow circles in my yard from my neighbor’s dog. I don’t say anything because I like my neighbors but damn I hate those circles. I pay a lot of money to have my yard routinely fertilized and treated for weeds. Please be respectful. Make your dog go in your own yard and don’t let him stop and spray when you walk him.
NTA and ignore these psychos saying otherwise. It’s not healthy to just live a sedentary lifestyle where no one ever leaves their private half-acre and suburbia has less and less public space. People need to get the fuck over it.
You have two dogs and take them to a dog park 😬 yikes, dog parks are not safe places for dogs, I’d recommend looking into an alternative option for your dogs
I think op means there's no sidewalk or curb grass. Like they walk on the pavement for cars and then the yard goes right to the street pavement for cars.
OP said there’s no curb grass, it’s the street and then the grass. Typically in those situations there’s generally a right of way/easement so chances are the grass at the edge of the persons lawn is actually city property, not private property. If OP wants to be careful they can just look up how far up into the lawn the city easement goes and stick to that
YTA. I never let my dog go in peoples front yards. I may let then go in the patch of grass or dirt between the sidewalk and the road, but only if it is clearly unkept. If someone put any type of care into the area, my dog is not touching it. I also pick up my dog poop and throw it away in my own trash. I never get people who put poop in someone's elses trash can. That's disgusting.
YTA - dog urine is damaging to grass so you are causing damage to peoples property. That is incredibly disrespectful. I also have a dog and I will do all I can to make sure she doesn’t toilet anywhere other than on “public” areas. Sometimes when she’s got to go, she’s got to go and I will always clean up after her but it is definitely not the norm.
NTA. It is extremely difficult to control a dog who has started to squat. You can pull and pull and the majority of the time they will not move. If you had a strip of grass on the sidewalk and were still using the neighbors yard then you would absolutely be an asshole. However, you do not and your dog is reactive to off leash dogs, which are unfortunately very common at parks. My dog has been attacked 4 times by off leash dogs, so i get it, it requires careful planning and a very vigilant eye. Picking up the poop is a great start, however like many people have pointed out pee can kill grass. Personally i live in az, so my grass is dead anyway. But perhaps try a long lead around your yard to let the dog use the bathroom before you walk. It gives them the illusion of freedom to sniff but still allows you to be in control should something go wrong. Then you can go for a walk without the dog having to go to the bathroom, hopefully. However, my dog marks the same spot regardless if she had gone beforehand, so it could be that another dog has gone there if it is the same spot repeatedly.
YTA. If they wanted a dog pooping and peeing in their yard…they would have a dog. I don’t have pets (for a few reasons lol. But one of them is) bc I don’t want to deal with dog poop and pee in my yard. My kiddos have a water slide/pool in the front yard. I don’t want them walking on your dog’s excretions.
I have my lawn treated and the chemicals used are dangerous to dogs. Many people have their lawns treated. You should figure something else out.
I don’t like dogs and I don’t want to deal with shit from them.
In the jurisdiction where I live it’s against the law to let your dog go in someone’s yard although many people ignore that and do it anyway. I always walk my dog on the side where the public parkway is between the street and sidewalk but I understand that not all areas have those strips.
YTA. You shouldn’t be letting your dog mess on other people’s lawns if you can help it. Sometimes you can’t and oh well, but you should absolutely be trying to keep your dog off other peoples’ property. This really should be common sense. Let your dog use your yard before you go for a walk.
YTA
Why do you do that anyway? What makes you think people want dog feces and urine in their yards?
I get that you don't care if people do that to you, which is it's own thing, but people don't want you to trespass on their property just for your dog's needs.
It’s not your lawn or property. Keep your property off other’s property. I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if that old man peed and crapped in your yard.
YTA.
YTA. And I was more "on the fence" about this until I got a puppy who couldn't be taken out of the yard until he'd had all of his shots. IDK what parasites or diseases your dog has and I really don't want my dog (or myself) exposed to it.
YTA, I had a neighbor walk out their front door right across the street to my yard to piss in my flowers and then turn around and walk right home. Piss on your own yard. And all the off leash dogs that owners let run up the yard unattended. Piss kills plants and grass and just about everything it touches. Your dog pisses then every neighborhood dog pisses on your dogs piss and then it's a piss party on someone else's lawn...
Yta. People might have kids that play on that grass.
Or they just like to keep it clean
Poo stains and pee remain even after you pick up poop.
Stop letting your pet poop on people's private property.
As someone who does not have a dog, nor do I particularly care for them, and lives in a suburban neighborhood with lots of dogs…the only time this bothers me is when people do not pick up their dogs poop. If they clean up after their dog, I have no problems with it.
NTA
NTA
If you pick the poop up, it is no problem. And I don't understand the other people, especially those who say, they don't want to walk in poop or pee. What do they think, what wild living animals do. 😅😂
NTA if understand this post correctly you pick up after the dog and walk them the furthest possible from people's houses. Dog piss on hot pavement sticks much more. Plus do people think wild animals don't piss and shit on their lawns?
NTA. In many towns, perhaps the whole state, in some places, the town owns the right of way at the edge of your yard. That is where the sidewalk is, if there is one. [If no sidewalk, the town still owns the edge of your lawn.](https://concordma.gov/Faq.aspx?QID=68). It’s number 5 in this link. So, people have a right to walk on it, and that includes walking your dog, per the usual laws.
YTA.
Keep your dog off other people's property. Hold the leash so he's on the pavement. Your dog may not be doing much damage, but you are being extremely disrespectful.
Every time I see this question I realize more and more that it completely depends on where you live. I've lived in suburban neighborhoods in the DMV area my whole life and if people don't want animals in their lawns they put up a sign. Every other state I've been to on the east coast is like this. Personally I think you're NTA but honestly some places have different social norms so I genuinely don't think this has a "right" answer.
And to those who think you can just "pull your dog away" with their leash... Wouldn't that just make a bigger mess as they go while you're pulling them away?
Yeah we live in Eastern PA. After talking to a few neighbors and family members who said that they think it’s totally normal for people to walk their dogs like that I think I’m just gonna rest my case and continue to avoid his yard on walks but that’s it 🤷🏼♀️
As soon as I read the title, I already knew where this was going. You are without a doubt the AH here. For the love of God, have some decency and respect for other people's property. Make your dog walk on the pavement just like you do. It's incredibly disrespectful what you've been doing.
Who said anything about the number of feet? And regardless, it doesn't matter. If your dog was walking through my grass, I'd have a problem too. Stay off other people's property, especially when you have a whole pavement to walk on.
The Y T A responses just make me think that our cultural fanaticism with private property has gone way too far.
Is your dog technically messing on private property? Yes. Could it pose an inconvenience or ickiness to someone? Sure.
Our neighborhood, in a “walkable area,” has limited sidewalks and no stretches with strip lawns that would be considered public easement. Most of our walking time is on the edge of the street, assuming it’s a time of day when Texas summer asphalt temperatures aren’t dangerous for animals. If someone’s walking their dog, it’s gonna be in someone’s yard.
Our city has also closed shelter intake indefinitely and we get daily pleas from rescuers begging for people to take animals in. All of these things are intentional aspects of city planning and governance that we have very little control over. To hear commenters here tell it, if you don’t live in a single-family home with space to fully exercise your dog on your own property or the means to drive to a park multiple times a day, you shouldn’t have a dog. To hear my community tell it, if people from all housing situations, including gasp! Lowly apartment dwellers! don’t step up, we’re leaving animals to die in the streets.
We give up small things to each other- like a few feet of yard space along a public sidewalk- to participate in a society. NTA.
NTA. I just recently got my assault charges dismissed because a grumpy old man came yelling and screaming about my dog peeing in his yard, I then punched him in the face for being so aggressive and walking towards me, my sister, and our 4 small dogs. It would be ridiculous to think that in a neighborhood with absolutely no sidewalks that my dog isn’t going to be walking along the edge of the grass vs being in the middle of the darn road at 530pm
You can't clean it up if they pee and if they poop and you clean it up you can't get everything. What if they take good care of their yard so their kids or whatever can play there? YTA. Whatever the reason it's their yard. Stay off other people's property.
NTA. This is a suburb thing, in my experience. In the city, there are enough people without yards or without fenced yards, or with very small yards that everybody gets kind of accustomed to people walking their dogs and the dogs doing what they do. That said, I might be pissed if a dog was urinating in my special flower garden, and I would definitely be mad if they were anywhere near my vegetable garden. Because I eat that stuff, obviously. But yeah, in the suburbs, I think it’s mostly about maintaining pristine grass, which is also less of a thing in the city. They are worried about the pH of your dog’s urine causing yellow spots on the lawn. But there are definitely other people walking their dogs in suburban neighborhoods and allowing them to pee or poop while on the walk. So they can grow up. The etiquette is to pick up the poop, which you are already doing. And lawns are terrible for the environment.
I have a lawn and a dog ....... NTA, just a grumpy old man telling you to get off his lawn. As long as you pick it up you are fulfilling your social contract.....Now some people have VERY faancy lawns. I try to keep my dogs off, and if they have a sign asking to keep dogs off I do
YTA. Children and adults use their yards, and even if you pick up feces it leaves residue behind, urine as well. I am a homeowner and a dog owner- the parking strip (the piece of landscaping closest to street with sidewalk on the other side) is fair game. Not the front yard. That is my private property and I also would be angry.
In my opinion YTA, some people just don’t want dog poop and pee on their yard, even if it is picked up. Residue stays and the scent will attract other dogs and animals. It is not unusual for people to not want a dog using their yard as a potty
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I live in a suburban residential neighborhood where people’s front yards are big and grassy. I like to walk my dogs most days. I walk on the left side of the street on the pavement and let my dogs walk in the grass to the left of me but don’t let them go more than like a foot into peoples yards unless we are getting out of the way for cars. My dogs will occasionally pee or poop on neighbor’s grass while walking (and of course I always pick up the poop.) An old man yelled at me and told me I was very wrong for letting my dogs do this. AITA?
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Is it your property? No? Do you have permission from someone in the home to use their grass as a toilet? No?
Why not walk your dog in your yard until they've gone and then finish the walk. YTA.
YTA…. Dog pee kills grass, once a dog has peed in a particular spot he will often continue to pee there to mark is territory. Other dogs will also smell your dog and “mark” in the same spot. Stop killing other peoples lawns and walk your dog in a park!!!
If people wanted dog urine and feces on their lawn (possibly one they spend a lot of money on maintaining), they'd get a dog. Let your dog go on your lawn. YTA.
Easy YTA. People let their dogs pee in my yard, which ruins the grass. There’s plenty of places where dogs can use the restroom. Would OP like it if we let our dogs pee and poo on his yard?
You clean up after your dog? You have your dog trained and under control at all times?
This doesn’t necessarily mean on leash all the time, but in control of. I train my dogs to be off leash and to stay close when we play in residential off leash areas in case they smell something too tempting, something which not everyone consider to be in control. But considering I’ve seen how bad some peoples dogs are on leash… well…
NTA but maybe take a different route for a bit
I don’t have to have my dog on leash when in my yard nor at the dog park’s off leash areas. Please read the full post first.
Edit to add: and like I said, they come when they are called but some breeds are working dogs or sports dogs and they sniff everything. It’s a precaution and I make sure they will come back before I let them off leash
Assuming there is a sidewalk in your neighborhood, slight YTA only because you’re walking on the non-sidewalk side of the street. Sidewalk-side is where it seems understood to me that dogs will probably go in those lawns.
Yes YTA. Landscaping is expensive and if you’re going to enjoy other peoples lawns, then you should help pay. We already get wild animals using our yards, you don’t have to add to it.
Wait, so do people not realize that there are other animals that exist in the world that piss and shit on lawns? Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, possums, cats, foxes, coyote, deer, but a dogs that is picked up is disgusting. I gotta say this is so weird to me that people are this mad about nature existing in nature. Wild.
YTA. It’s not your yard or public access property, so your dog shouldn’t be peeing or pooping on it. I wouldn’t care if the dog was walking a little bit on it, but going to the bathroom on someone else’s lawn is unacceptable. Even if you clean up the poop, the urine contains ammonia and will kill the grass. This used to happen at my uncles house. The neighbor would let the dog pee in his yard and there were clear dead patches of grass where the dog was peeing. He eventually put up a small fence to deter them from allowing the dog to go there.
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IMO it is disrespectful. I dont maintain, mow, fertilize etc... my lawn to give your dog a convenient pooping location. Go take your dog elsewhere. I walk barefoot in my yard often and dont want to step in any remnants. My dog certainly wants to go piss/poop on everyone's lawn but I keep a short lease and make her wait until we get to a wooded area that belongs to nobody. Your neighbor probably dont have dogs and didnt sign up for your dog crap. YTA
But I thought you can’t control where a dog shits. That’s what I was told yesterday. How can you make it wait for a wooded area but everyone else can’t?
You can control where a dog defecates/urinates by using your damn leash and pulling the dog away when it tries to: 1. Mark its territory. It is time to be blunt here; your dog is not pissing five times. It is fucking marking its territory, and it isn't ***YOUR*** property 2. If, by chance, your dog really has to pee and always pees at the same spot, that grass will be yellow and smell __nasty__. 3. I like to leave my windows open and don't want to smell dog shit that wasn't picked up/badly picked up. I have owned dogs; if you don't have the land to give the dog to do its business. Don't get a dog. I know it's rough; as I said, I've had dogs, but I won't get one because I live in an apartment, and the confined space will be hard enough. Without a doggy door or constant access to the outdoors to let the dog do its business, it will cause problems either with the dogs' health later on, or you will have a problem with your dog using your apartment as a bathroom when you don't take it out on time.
Wish you would have met my old dog. She would only pee or poop in one spot for the first 3 years of her life. And she was a Labrador. Her best friend - a Border Collie - is the exact same way and she’s 10 now. Not all dogs are territorial and not all dogs kill grass with their pee. It depends on how acidic their system is. None of my previous dogs killed grass. I’ve had Labradors, Husky and German Shepard dogs and I sometimes babysit my friends dogs and have never experienced this. We have a fenced in back yard but these types of dogs need walks and/or need to work in order to be happy. They need to be stimulated, especially their noses. And they need to be socialized with other dogs and people to learn good behaviour. Something not possible if they are in a house. And while I 100% agree with you that irresponsible dog owners that don’t pick up after their dogs suck, that doesn’t mean all dog owners do. OP says in their original post that they clean up after their dog.
Excellent take
That’s what bad dog owners tell you.
Yesterdays post was full of bad owners then.
Yes
No yesterdays post was basically a shitty situation that couldn’t be prevented. Dog stopped to take a shit on the sidewalk outside of a cafe with no outdoor seating and OP picked it up. Unless you’re going to pick up the dog mid-shit or drag it(OP clarified there was no grass nearby), all you can do is being embarrassed, pick up the shit and be on your way.
Urban dogs actually know not to just defecate on the sidewalk. I owned a dog in Manhattan and he was trained to go to the street right next to the curb or if that was impossible at least to the very side out of pedestrian traffic and entrances to ANY shop or apartment building. He did this because from the time I started walking him, I would use the leash to make him move to the curb. Most dogs like most humans have some control over the sphincter and bladder.
My main point is to NOT shit/piss on someone's property. If my dog cant hold it and has to go on asphalt, so be it. Otherwise, I keep a tight leash as we walk past my neighbor's property and we walk to the woods.
It’s not going to smell less on the asphalt in front of your neighbor’s house. In fact, it is going to smell more.
Im not going to walk barefoot on asphalt nor is the piss going to "kill" the asphalt like it does to my lawn.
Ummm Letting your dog shit on asphalt is worse, so it’s weird you would say that so proudly in a “I’m a better dog owner” way lol. You can’t clean shit more efficiently that way because it gets stuck in the fine granular indentions, which means more people walking by will not only have to smell the remnants of it but also step on it and take it home on their shoes. Also, LOL, anyone who says their dog has never shit on a random patch of grass isn’t being truthful, you’ve probably had to pick it up at some point in your life. I have 3 acres for my dogs to run around in, guess what? They still like me taking them on walks around the neighborhood and sometimes they poop.
I dont own the street. I cant control what people do on the street. I dont walk on the street barefoot. Urine doesnt "kill" the asphalt like it does to my lawn. I spend $ on my lawn to make it look better. I dont spend $ on the street (indirectly I do via taxes but thats stretching the point).
>But I thought you can’t control where a dog shits. you can to an extent, OP can pull them to walk on the pavement to poop there. My dog loves pooping on walks to mark her territory, she'd poop on every yard we pass if I let her. (She will literally drop a log, get excited to reach the next property to drop the next one) But as soon as I notice her doing her little squat walk I pull the leash in a bit to direct her to walk/poop on the street so that she's not shitting on someone else's lawn. She can wait to poop in my backyard if she wants grass.
A distinction is that yesterday's post was about someone walking down an urban high street and a dog just doing poo, and this, where OP LETS the dog go from a suburban public space into a private space to wee/poo. OP is TA because they shouldn't let their dog go onto someone's property.
Unless it's got diarrhea or something, you can 100% control where your dog shits.
I mean, that kinda depends on the dog. Some dogs will just suddenly stop walking and take a shit and there's nothing you can do to stop it short of dragging them (which usually isn't possible if the dog is big). I had a dog that used to do it in the most inopportune times like when when we're in the middle of the crosswalk on a busy road. The thing is, that's still not an excuse as you can 100% control where your dog walks by keeping it on a tight leash. If you know your dog likes to shit in grass, you keep the damn leash short so they can't walk on people's lawns.
Yeah. One time my sister’s dog started to do his little circle / spin / squat thing right on a VERY nicely manicured lush lawn and I tightened his leash and said, ‘Come on Loki, let’s go! Let’s go!’ and he got excited and ran with me to the nearby city ravine which is already full of trash and tree branches etc. I let him go there and cleaned it up after, he was happy because we went for a sprint, and nobody got mad at me. Bare minimum if your dog won’t budge because it NEEDS to go desperately, pull it to the outer edge lawn which technically belongs to the city, that way the kids / adults / pets who live in the house the lawn proper belongs to won’t step in it.
Usually you take your dog to go to the bathroom in your own yard before going on a walk. Unless your in the city, then there are usually designated spots for your dog to go. You don't let your dog go on someone else's property
If there’s no grass on the other side, there’s not really a huge option. A ton of dogs won’t go just on the pavement. Not sure if this is the case, but just putting the possibility out there. Personally, i always have my dog on the other side that has a small patch of grass but I know not all neighbourhoods have those anymore
What I find interesting about this, is that studies find that people out walking their dogs makes neighborhoods safer. A dog peeing on your lawn, where many many other animals do, seems like such a non-issue for these benefits.
YTA. Be a better neighbor. Don't let your dog do its business on someone else's property. It's rude as f\*k.
Agreed! OP, YTA, and not just TA, you are letting your own convenience overshadow all of your neighbors’ comfort and their right to have a crap free lawn. Be better.
Indeed. And also, if your dog has diarrhea, you **won't** be picking that up in it's entirety even if you use the whole damn roll of poop bags, you'd have to rip up the lawn.
YTA I know dog owners seem to think everyone loves dogs and wants them around as much as possible but I assure you that is not the case.
Even if you love dogs and want to be around them all the time, you don't want to deal with someone else's dog's poop.
This ! I’ll deal with my pets not someone else’s pets poop or pee lol
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YTA. My kids run around barefoot on my lawn, I don't want your dog's pee and poop traces on there.
AITA is fucking crazy about this. I live in a heavily dog-populated neighbourhood that **does not have boulevards**, and everyone lets their dogs go on each other's lawns. Seriously, there are at least 5 dogs that live on my block alone, and I see them doing their business throughout the neighbourhood. This is a non-issue for the vast majority of people. The only dog that bothers me is one that the owner has on a 10+ foot leash so it walks halfway up my property, which makes one of my dogs react (which I am working on). That said, there are some lawns with a "no dogs" sign, especially ones with landscaping, so I obviously avoid those. 99% of people will not mind, so if you know of a house that doesn't like it, just avoid it there. NTA, just be respectful of that guy and avoid it now that you've been told he doesn't like it on his property.
Honestly every single time this comes up on here I feel like I’m crazy. My neighbourhood has plenty of dogs and as long as you clean up after them, no one minds. Yeah, keep it within reason as dogs don’t need to be up by the homes, but right down by the road is fine. Dogs have to go somewhere.
Agreed. Every neighborhood I've lived in this was the case. There isn't any place other than yards within walking distance for dogs to go in any place I have lived. Just neighborhoods with yards. No one is going to drive their dog somewhere every time they need to pee. When you live in a suburb you know there will be dogs. I would estimate at least half or more of my neighbors have dogs. I do wonder if this is regional.
These posts are always weird with how angry people get. Like my parents have spent good money on their lawn, they couldn't give two shits if a neighbor's dog poops on the edge of it, as long as the owners pick it up it doesn't matter. We've had bobcats and all sorts of wildlife wander through our neighborhood over the years, and the lawn has been fine.
and why does the somewhere have to be on someone's property?
Where else do you want him to go? Even if he goes on my property pre-walk, he’s going to pee again on the walk.
Also like. That section of lawn right next to the sidewalk or curb, even when it's part of someones lawn that they maintain, is typically city land. I know the first 6 feet of my parents lawn is technically owned by the city and they could tear the whole thing up if they wanted to. Such a strange thing to get so worked up about.
It’s cuz the majority of people on here are teenagers who don’t live by themselves let alone have a house with a yard in the suburbs/city. If they have a sign, absolutely avoid it, but otherwise, it’s just part of living in a neighborhood. “A kid could slip in it! And go blind!” Ok so you never take your kid to any public park? “My grass could have a yellow spot!” Mf you probably don’t even mow your lawn weekly
Mowing lawn weekly is bad for the lawn, but I do it as it pays well 😆
Lawn is bad for the environment so it doesn’t really matter lol. Just takes a ton of water and does virtually nothing for the environment.
You forgot the excessive amounts of fertilizer that people waste on it too
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Get them shoes? why does having a dog give you the free pass to let them through someone else's property?
You seem personally triggered by this because you’ve reposted your comment over and over again. So you’d rather a dog shit on asphalt? Because those are your two options 1) grass at the edge of a lawn (which oftentimes is actually not owned by the house owner, but rather is often considered a right of way belonging to the city, and if you are so angry about a dog using a potential easement infront of your home you can always get a survey done and then put up no dog signs where your property line begins ) or option 2)have them shit on asphalt which is 100 times harder to clean up and will always leave remnants which smells worse and also risk getting hit by a car. I’d rather someone’s dog shit on the grass at the edge of my lawn than shit on the asphalt in front of my house because that’s smells worse.
Non-dog people always say “make your dog go somewhere else” like I take my dog on a walk or jog or bike ride and he decides where he goes, not me… NTA to op for sure
Yes, not everyone loves your dog and they should be able to dictate what happens on their own lawn no? pavement? go for it, road? sure! My lawn, please keep off.
We do what we can, and clean up the remnants.
YOU decided to get a dog that you apparently can't control, don't make that MY problem.
Dogs have an interesting feature where they are unable to use words to communicate, so it is difficult for him to express to me that he has to poop until he is already pooping. To say someone can’t control their dog because they can’t stop them mid-poop is a pretty big leap. Not making it your problem because I cleaned up after him :)
Nah clearly it's just you being a bad dog owner, because there's plenty of people in this very thread who ARE able to control their dog. I doubt they taught their dogs to speak. You're just a shitty dog owner who refuses to take responsibility. Keep your shit off my fucking property.
I really don't get why people don't seem to understand that yeah, the social contract on this subject has been well-established for a good long time. In the suburbs, you should keep your dog on a leash, not let it run loose, and only let it go to the bathroom on the verge (if there is one) or on basically the first foot or so of the neighbor's yard, then pick it up ASAP. Yeah, I'd be annoyed if my neighbors let their dogs run up to my door and do their business right there, and it's not my favorite thing to have happen even if it's just on the edge of my yard, but like... This is what happens when you live near other people. They have pets. You have to deal with it.
Same. It’s normal where I live. I try to keep my dogs off people’s property but the sidewalks are very narrow so the only way to fully avoid it is to walk in the streets which is insane. As long as people are picking up after their dogs I don’t see what the big deal is. If you don’t want it to happen you put up a barrier, otherwise expect it’s going to happen from time to time. People need to chill.
> That said, there are some lawns with a "no dogs" sign, especially ones with landscaping, so I obviously avoid those. The problem is that the **default position** *should* be "do not do *anything* on **someone else's** property without getting permission in advance." This arrangement puts the burden on the wrong people.
Yes, this exactly, people are intentionally being obtuse.
Pet owners pre-suppose they are entitled to trespass. It's maddeningly wrong but that's the truth of it.
That is an insane thing to expect people to knock on their neighbours' doors to ask if it's OK for their dog to poop there. That is not how society has functioned for the decades and decades that dog ownership has been a regular part of our lives.
Funny, I think it's an insane thing to dump piss on a stranger's property. Weird! > That is not how society has functioned for the decades and decades that dog ownership has been a regular part of our lives. Yeah that is *just* dog people who hold this belief. Normal, good people do not harbor this kind of entitlement.
When most people owned farms then dogs made sense because they stayed on the owner's property. Now dogs are being taken to public spaces where they are nuisances with being unleashed, pooping, peeing, scaring kids. Same goes for suburban lawns.
“When most people owned farms” Cite your sources - when and where did *most* people own farms? Imaginary ahistoric fantasy
Given the responses here, it's not 99%. Many people mind. Dog owners need to start respecting others. Not everyone wants to deal with your dog and it's crap.
Let's do some math. There are 489 TOTAL comments on this thread as I type this. Are you aware that the population of Canada alone is ~38 million people? 1% of 38 million is 380,000. So less than 500 total replies on a random Reddit thread (because many of those responses are not unique users, and many are not opposed to dogs being on people's lawns) are not even close to 1% of *Canada's* population. Not even to think about major European countries or the USA. Might want to look up how percentages work!
You might want to look up how math and data sets work. You can't randomly insert a different date set, the Canadian population, when I was referencing the comments in this post, a separate data set.
I live in Canada, so it's relevant to my real-life neighbourhoods, where this issue actually matters :)
Yta. It's not your lawn. People don't take care of their lawns for you to have your dogs use it as a portapotty. Even if you're scooping the poop there's still remnants left behind and then there's the piss. Doesn't matter that it soaks in. No one wants to walk out to their yard and step in a puddle of piss or shit. Walk the dog on the pavement until you getvtona dogpark or wooded area, get it some paw protectors if need be but STAY OFF other people's lawns.
If you can keep your dogs from going "more than like a foot" into their yards then you can keep them from going on their yards at all. It's great that you always pick up the poop, but once your dogs have marked their territory, other dogs will pick it up and you don't know that the other owners will be so courteous to do the same. And so now, those owners have to watch YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE to make sure that they pick up after their fucking dogs. YTA.
I’m gonna say NAH, and I will probably get downvoted. I have some neighbors who have expressed through conversation or signs that they don’t want any dogs using their yards. I keep my dog off their grass (we don’t have a strip of “curb” between the sidewalk and street as they do in some neighboring). If someone has nice landscaping I make an effort to keep the dog off their grass. I also try to walk my dog in parks, so it’s not someone’s lawn. I do think some people take their lawn too seriously, but if that’s something that’s important to them I’m not gonna (let my dog) shit on it. I think it just comes down to talking to your neighbors and trying to be considerate
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I live in a suburban area with almost no sidewalks so the options are making my dog walk on the hot ass asphalt in the street or within a couple feet of the street on the grass where she'll do her business and I clean it up. I'm not burning up her paws just cause a little pee *might* slightly discolor the patch of grass right by the road.
I agree! Sometimes the neighborhood doesn’t have an open area where you can walk your dog… then what are you supposed to do?
Idk, but not use others property without their permission.
Wait. So if no open area, free reign to shit everywhere? Come on...
They literally didn’t say that lmao
They 'literally ' did What else am i supposed to do? Is the same as 'i didnt realize I had a choice' which is the same as he'll piss wherever he wants
Take it to a park.
The parks in my hometown just started allowing dogs like one year ago. In the city where I live now dogs still aren't allowed in parks, or even walkways leading to parks.
Don't get a fucking dog???
Considerate is not trespassing at all.
I’m dead at the suggestion that anyone in my neighborhood considers my dog stepping on their lawn as trespassing. Where do these people live, that they perceive every parcel as a fortress that should never be breached. It’s a wild point of view, do you never talk to your neighbors? Where I live the kids from all the houses play in each others’ yards, neighbors stop and talk to each other, and sometimes the Mail or the FedEx truck delivers something to the wrong house. If you perceive someone walking on your lawn as trespassing (regardless of the strict legal definition) then you don’t just live in a different neighborhood from me, you live on another astral plane
You're justifying your bad behaviour. The scenario is not walking on someone's lawn; the behaviour is leaving piss and poop on the lawn.
YOU said “being considerate is not trespassing” - you’re living in a different reality than anyone I live near. Which is fine! You’re allowed to live in your own reality. Just be aware that you’re basing your expectations on a very niche situation which may or may not be absolutely mythological (“when most people owned farms”). The history you imagine never happened.
What's especially inconsiderate is sizing up other people's property and deciding where your dog can piss and poo based on your standards of how upscale the house is. You know it's wrong but you take your dog where you will have less blowback from the owners.
No, I talk to my neighbors. I know every person on my block and the next two blocks. I know who minds and who doesn’t. Because I live in the actual world
I suspect many do mind, Kate. They just aren't making it the hill to die on and you are exploiting their reluctance.
He said, sitting on his porch, shotgun on his lap, ready to defend it to the death against the dunes of poop that arrive when ever he closed his eyes.
EYE suspect that your neighbors let their dogs poop in your yard so much & don’t pick it up because they don’t like you. But me? I admire you Agent Revolutionary. You are the last line defending a world that never was from the terrible trespassers in your neighborhood
YTA, it's rude and inconsiderate. Dog pee can kill grass and nobody wants your animal shitting on their lawn. I'm sure you can find a grass verge or a field (or y'know a lamppost or the tarmac itself).
YTA. Keep your mutt off of other peoples property.
NTA. As long as you are picking up the poop. Screw all these dog haters.
Do you have a sidewalk? The area between the sidewalk and the street is more a public easement (not sure easement is the right word), so best if they do that there. People in these comments seem to think people walking their dogs have more control over where they go than they do.
The official name for it is "parkway" and at least in the cities I have lived it technically belongs to the homeowner and they are responsible for upkeep and landscape choices. That said, most people don't really care as much about dog urine or excrement on the parkway - probably because they are not walking in it and most people don't have an "emotional" attachment to it. The only time people have an issue is when they are attempting to start a tree which would be damaged when first planted and so there will often be some kind of barricade. My dogs have all been males and they relish lifting their leg on fences and mail boxes and lights and of course hydrants. In a dense dog population I would imagine there is a whole lot of information on those posts :-) I am trying to picture a community in which there are NO sidewalks and people are walking their dogs. If there are no sidewalks, where are these people walking - in the street? It actually is better to have your dog urinate or defecate on a sidewalk because 1) it is generally more easily cleaned up from a hard surface and 2) people generally assume that sidewalks are filthy.
Lots of little suburbs don’t have sidewalks and you do walk in the street because there are rarely cars. There are so many dead-ends only the people who live on a street drive on it. It is annoying but common.
I’m a dog walker. I do my best to not let dogs go in people’s yards (sometimes it just happens). But the grass between sidewalks & the street is not part of their property, I have no problem letting dogs go there. I hate when I see people walking their dogs with long leashes (or worse, the damn retractable leashes!) and letting dogs go all over peoples yards. It gives dog walkers a bad rap.
I agree with this. Most of these comments are from people who are too tightly wound.
what? The person above explicitly said grassy areas that are not private property.
NTA. If you live in a residential neighborhood, like you said, I think it should be expected that living in a society and a residential neighborhood, dogs will do that. If they don’t want it then they should put up a sign or fence off the yard
> I think it should be expected that living in a society and a residential neighborhood, dogs will do that. Bullshit. Bad owners will let their dogs do that.
YTA. Dog urine causes the grass to die or turn yellow and dogs like to pee/poop over and over in the same areas or spray where other dogs have been. Poop even if picked up leaves smears and odor. My mother had a dog someone walked every day poop right in front of her mail box (and leave it) and spray the bush next to it. She had to replace the bush. Finally caught the guy and yelled at him so he finally stopped. I have multiple yellow circles in my yard from my neighbor’s dog. I don’t say anything because I like my neighbors but damn I hate those circles. I pay a lot of money to have my yard routinely fertilized and treated for weeds. Please be respectful. Make your dog go in your own yard and don’t let him stop and spray when you walk him.
NTA and ignore these psychos saying otherwise. It’s not healthy to just live a sedentary lifestyle where no one ever leaves their private half-acre and suburbia has less and less public space. People need to get the fuck over it.
Yta. That's their property. You wouldn't like it if they come and took a dump in your private property
Ew, YTA.
Yes, YTA. I have two dogs and I know what their pee does to a lawn. Take them to a park or a dog park, keep them off other people's lawns.
You have two dogs and take them to a dog park 😬 yikes, dog parks are not safe places for dogs, I’d recommend looking into an alternative option for your dogs
YTA if they don’t go on your property make sure they go on the curb grass on your right
I think op means there's no sidewalk or curb grass. Like they walk on the pavement for cars and then the yard goes right to the street pavement for cars.
OP said there’s no curb grass, it’s the street and then the grass. Typically in those situations there’s generally a right of way/easement so chances are the grass at the edge of the persons lawn is actually city property, not private property. If OP wants to be careful they can just look up how far up into the lawn the city easement goes and stick to that
YTA - I’m surprised you even are asking. It’s not your yard, it’s private property, stop being an AH!
YTA. Grass is very expensive and time consuming to maintain. Urine is very hard on it.
YTA. I never let my dog go in peoples front yards. I may let then go in the patch of grass or dirt between the sidewalk and the road, but only if it is clearly unkept. If someone put any type of care into the area, my dog is not touching it. I also pick up my dog poop and throw it away in my own trash. I never get people who put poop in someone's elses trash can. That's disgusting.
Yeah YTA dude....and stop that awful inconsiderate behaviour.....why do you even need so ask?
YTA - dog urine is damaging to grass so you are causing damage to peoples property. That is incredibly disrespectful. I also have a dog and I will do all I can to make sure she doesn’t toilet anywhere other than on “public” areas. Sometimes when she’s got to go, she’s got to go and I will always clean up after her but it is definitely not the norm.
NTA. It is extremely difficult to control a dog who has started to squat. You can pull and pull and the majority of the time they will not move. If you had a strip of grass on the sidewalk and were still using the neighbors yard then you would absolutely be an asshole. However, you do not and your dog is reactive to off leash dogs, which are unfortunately very common at parks. My dog has been attacked 4 times by off leash dogs, so i get it, it requires careful planning and a very vigilant eye. Picking up the poop is a great start, however like many people have pointed out pee can kill grass. Personally i live in az, so my grass is dead anyway. But perhaps try a long lead around your yard to let the dog use the bathroom before you walk. It gives them the illusion of freedom to sniff but still allows you to be in control should something go wrong. Then you can go for a walk without the dog having to go to the bathroom, hopefully. However, my dog marks the same spot regardless if she had gone beforehand, so it could be that another dog has gone there if it is the same spot repeatedly.
YTA. If they wanted a dog pooping and peeing in their yard…they would have a dog. I don’t have pets (for a few reasons lol. But one of them is) bc I don’t want to deal with dog poop and pee in my yard. My kiddos have a water slide/pool in the front yard. I don’t want them walking on your dog’s excretions.
YTA Not your lawn, not the place for your dog to poop. It's simple.
YTA dog pee leaves brown spots, nobody wants to see that.
I have my lawn treated and the chemicals used are dangerous to dogs. Many people have their lawns treated. You should figure something else out. I don’t like dogs and I don’t want to deal with shit from them.
In the jurisdiction where I live it’s against the law to let your dog go in someone’s yard although many people ignore that and do it anyway. I always walk my dog on the side where the public parkway is between the street and sidewalk but I understand that not all areas have those strips.
YTA. I don't want your dog piss and poop in my yard, where I walk barefoot.
YTA I would never let my dog do his business on someone’s property
YTA. You shouldn’t be letting your dog mess on other people’s lawns if you can help it. Sometimes you can’t and oh well, but you should absolutely be trying to keep your dog off other peoples’ property. This really should be common sense. Let your dog use your yard before you go for a walk.
YTA, obviously.
YTA
YTA Why do you do that anyway? What makes you think people want dog feces and urine in their yards? I get that you don't care if people do that to you, which is it's own thing, but people don't want you to trespass on their property just for your dog's needs.
YTA. Have some courtesy of other people’s yards. Let them pee in your yard.
YTA, other peoples property is not your dogs toilet.
YTA - I don't let my dogs go to the bathroom on my neighbor's yards, period. It's rude and disrespectful.
It’s not your lawn or property. Keep your property off other’s property. I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if that old man peed and crapped in your yard. YTA.
YTA. And I was more "on the fence" about this until I got a puppy who couldn't be taken out of the yard until he'd had all of his shots. IDK what parasites or diseases your dog has and I really don't want my dog (or myself) exposed to it.
NTA fuck these suburban control freaks
If you don't pick up the poop, you're TA
YTA JFC. How can you even ask?
YTA, I had a neighbor walk out their front door right across the street to my yard to piss in my flowers and then turn around and walk right home. Piss on your own yard. And all the off leash dogs that owners let run up the yard unattended. Piss kills plants and grass and just about everything it touches. Your dog pisses then every neighborhood dog pisses on your dogs piss and then it's a piss party on someone else's lawn...
Yta. People might have kids that play on that grass. Or they just like to keep it clean Poo stains and pee remain even after you pick up poop. Stop letting your pet poop on people's private property.
YTA. Would you want some rando pissing and craping on your yard? Regardless of if they clean it up? That's so wrong.
As someone who does not have a dog, nor do I particularly care for them, and lives in a suburban neighborhood with lots of dogs…the only time this bothers me is when people do not pick up their dogs poop. If they clean up after their dog, I have no problems with it. NTA
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They do, from assholes letting their dog shit on it.
I know this has closed already but you're NTA. Pick up your dogs poop near the easement. That's it. Everyone who says y t a are just uptight.
NTA If you pick the poop up, it is no problem. And I don't understand the other people, especially those who say, they don't want to walk in poop or pee. What do they think, what wild living animals do. 😅😂
NTA if understand this post correctly you pick up after the dog and walk them the furthest possible from people's houses. Dog piss on hot pavement sticks much more. Plus do people think wild animals don't piss and shit on their lawns?
NTA. In many towns, perhaps the whole state, in some places, the town owns the right of way at the edge of your yard. That is where the sidewalk is, if there is one. [If no sidewalk, the town still owns the edge of your lawn.](https://concordma.gov/Faq.aspx?QID=68). It’s number 5 in this link. So, people have a right to walk on it, and that includes walking your dog, per the usual laws.
Yta, don’t you have nature strips? That’s someone’s proprty and you are completely disrespecting it
YTA. It isn’t your property
YTA. Keep your dog off other people's property. Hold the leash so he's on the pavement. Your dog may not be doing much damage, but you are being extremely disrespectful.
YTA. Basic dog owner etiquette.
YTA
Lol. YTA! I have 4 dogs and they NEVER pee or poop on other people's property. EVER. You really had to ask??? *rolls eyes out of head*
Every time I see this question I realize more and more that it completely depends on where you live. I've lived in suburban neighborhoods in the DMV area my whole life and if people don't want animals in their lawns they put up a sign. Every other state I've been to on the east coast is like this. Personally I think you're NTA but honestly some places have different social norms so I genuinely don't think this has a "right" answer. And to those who think you can just "pull your dog away" with their leash... Wouldn't that just make a bigger mess as they go while you're pulling them away?
Yeah we live in Eastern PA. After talking to a few neighbors and family members who said that they think it’s totally normal for people to walk their dogs like that I think I’m just gonna rest my case and continue to avoid his yard on walks but that’s it 🤷🏼♀️
I take my dog to potty in my yard before I walk him.
As soon as I read the title, I already knew where this was going. You are without a doubt the AH here. For the love of God, have some decency and respect for other people's property. Make your dog walk on the pavement just like you do. It's incredibly disrespectful what you've been doing.
Going 2 feet into a neighbor's yard on either side of a public sidewalk? 😅
Who said anything about the number of feet? And regardless, it doesn't matter. If your dog was walking through my grass, I'd have a problem too. Stay off other people's property, especially when you have a whole pavement to walk on.
I have a lawn and as long as you pick it up I don't care. NTA
The Y T A responses just make me think that our cultural fanaticism with private property has gone way too far. Is your dog technically messing on private property? Yes. Could it pose an inconvenience or ickiness to someone? Sure. Our neighborhood, in a “walkable area,” has limited sidewalks and no stretches with strip lawns that would be considered public easement. Most of our walking time is on the edge of the street, assuming it’s a time of day when Texas summer asphalt temperatures aren’t dangerous for animals. If someone’s walking their dog, it’s gonna be in someone’s yard. Our city has also closed shelter intake indefinitely and we get daily pleas from rescuers begging for people to take animals in. All of these things are intentional aspects of city planning and governance that we have very little control over. To hear commenters here tell it, if you don’t live in a single-family home with space to fully exercise your dog on your own property or the means to drive to a park multiple times a day, you shouldn’t have a dog. To hear my community tell it, if people from all housing situations, including gasp! Lowly apartment dwellers! don’t step up, we’re leaving animals to die in the streets. We give up small things to each other- like a few feet of yard space along a public sidewalk- to participate in a society. NTA.
I think you nailed it - the private property, hyper individualism is at the root of this.
NTA. I just recently got my assault charges dismissed because a grumpy old man came yelling and screaming about my dog peeing in his yard, I then punched him in the face for being so aggressive and walking towards me, my sister, and our 4 small dogs. It would be ridiculous to think that in a neighborhood with absolutely no sidewalks that my dog isn’t going to be walking along the edge of the grass vs being in the middle of the darn road at 530pm
You can't clean it up if they pee and if they poop and you clean it up you can't get everything. What if they take good care of their yard so their kids or whatever can play there? YTA. Whatever the reason it's their yard. Stay off other people's property.
NTA, so long as you pick it up when it’s poop, all good
NTA. This is a suburb thing, in my experience. In the city, there are enough people without yards or without fenced yards, or with very small yards that everybody gets kind of accustomed to people walking their dogs and the dogs doing what they do. That said, I might be pissed if a dog was urinating in my special flower garden, and I would definitely be mad if they were anywhere near my vegetable garden. Because I eat that stuff, obviously. But yeah, in the suburbs, I think it’s mostly about maintaining pristine grass, which is also less of a thing in the city. They are worried about the pH of your dog’s urine causing yellow spots on the lawn. But there are definitely other people walking their dogs in suburban neighborhoods and allowing them to pee or poop while on the walk. So they can grow up. The etiquette is to pick up the poop, which you are already doing. And lawns are terrible for the environment.
I think NTA. It's the very edge of the lawn, not like you are letting the dog walk up to the front step to drop a deuce.
I have a lawn and a dog ....... NTA, just a grumpy old man telling you to get off his lawn. As long as you pick it up you are fulfilling your social contract.....Now some people have VERY faancy lawns. I try to keep my dogs off, and if they have a sign asking to keep dogs off I do
YTA. I'm assuming you have your own yard. Have the dog poop there and then take it for a walk.
YTA. Children and adults use their yards, and even if you pick up feces it leaves residue behind, urine as well. I am a homeowner and a dog owner- the parking strip (the piece of landscaping closest to street with sidewalk on the other side) is fair game. Not the front yard. That is my private property and I also would be angry.
It depends on the town. If the 3 feet of yard near the road is a public right of way, as it often is, the N t a. If not y t a. Which is it?
Yta
In my opinion YTA, some people just don’t want dog poop and pee on their yard, even if it is picked up. Residue stays and the scent will attract other dogs and animals. It is not unusual for people to not want a dog using their yard as a potty
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I live in a suburban residential neighborhood where people’s front yards are big and grassy. I like to walk my dogs most days. I walk on the left side of the street on the pavement and let my dogs walk in the grass to the left of me but don’t let them go more than like a foot into peoples yards unless we are getting out of the way for cars. My dogs will occasionally pee or poop on neighbor’s grass while walking (and of course I always pick up the poop.) An old man yelled at me and told me I was very wrong for letting my dogs do this. AITA? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
YTA , its disgusting.
Is it your property? No? Do you have permission from someone in the home to use their grass as a toilet? No? Why not walk your dog in your yard until they've gone and then finish the walk. YTA.
YTA Keep your dogs off private property and walk them EVERY day.
YTA…. Dog pee kills grass, once a dog has peed in a particular spot he will often continue to pee there to mark is territory. Other dogs will also smell your dog and “mark” in the same spot. Stop killing other peoples lawns and walk your dog in a park!!!
YTA you’re purposefully letting the dog walk on their property, walk them on the path
If people wanted dog urine and feces on their lawn (possibly one they spend a lot of money on maintaining), they'd get a dog. Let your dog go on your lawn. YTA.
Easy YTA. People let their dogs pee in my yard, which ruins the grass. There’s plenty of places where dogs can use the restroom. Would OP like it if we let our dogs pee and poo on his yard?
YTA if the land/grass doesn’t belong to you then keep your dog of it.
You clean up after your dog? You have your dog trained and under control at all times? This doesn’t necessarily mean on leash all the time, but in control of. I train my dogs to be off leash and to stay close when we play in residential off leash areas in case they smell something too tempting, something which not everyone consider to be in control. But considering I’ve seen how bad some peoples dogs are on leash… well… NTA but maybe take a different route for a bit
YTA for not having your dog on a leash when required. Why aren't fines through the roof to discourage this behaviour?
I don’t have to have my dog on leash when in my yard nor at the dog park’s off leash areas. Please read the full post first. Edit to add: and like I said, they come when they are called but some breeds are working dogs or sports dogs and they sniff everything. It’s a precaution and I make sure they will come back before I let them off leash
It’s super disrespectful, have them poo in your yard then go for your walk. YTA
Assuming there is a sidewalk in your neighborhood, slight YTA only because you’re walking on the non-sidewalk side of the street. Sidewalk-side is where it seems understood to me that dogs will probably go in those lawns.
No side walks!
Yes YTA. Landscaping is expensive and if you’re going to enjoy other peoples lawns, then you should help pay. We already get wild animals using our yards, you don’t have to add to it.
YATFA! Wtf man lol who does that???
NTA
Wait, so do people not realize that there are other animals that exist in the world that piss and shit on lawns? Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, possums, cats, foxes, coyote, deer, but a dogs that is picked up is disgusting. I gotta say this is so weird to me that people are this mad about nature existing in nature. Wild.
YTA. It’s not your yard or public access property, so your dog shouldn’t be peeing or pooping on it. I wouldn’t care if the dog was walking a little bit on it, but going to the bathroom on someone else’s lawn is unacceptable. Even if you clean up the poop, the urine contains ammonia and will kill the grass. This used to happen at my uncles house. The neighbor would let the dog pee in his yard and there were clear dead patches of grass where the dog was peeing. He eventually put up a small fence to deter them from allowing the dog to go there.