Neighbors dog droppings

[stampsx2]

Every morning, you make your coffee, open up your blinds to get a bit of sun and get a view of turds all over your neighbors backyard.

Is there anything that can be done about neighbors who let their dogs deficate in their own backyard and don’t pick up all winter? It’s disgusting. I find it strange people are ok with dog waste where they bbq.

Is there a point where the city can get involved?

This seems to be a particularly bad year for it. Especially when you walk around the community. As far as i can tell, there hasn’t been a bag shortage due to covid. So what is it?

Am wondering what everyone does? Ignores it? Offers to go pick it up? Goes and talks to neighbor (i suppose this option could end up in a confrontation depending on the type of neighbor you have). How do you ask a neighbor to pick up his sh/&.

[Flashpoint]

Man up, go talk to them. Keep your cool no matter the response.

If they are old or infirm offer to pick it up.

[burn_this_city]

Some people are so lazy, unfortunately short of moving I don't think you can do much. I'm sure the smell is something else when it warms up.

[Iggy_12]

An entire winter of dog poop? Yuck, I mean i have two small dogs, i dont do it every week but an entire winter would you even see snow anymore!

[Weitz]

Luckily my dog mostly poops on walks, but the melting snow does reveal some in the backyard. I hate it probably as much as the OP.

[Bonded]

I could be the neighbour you hate lol. I don't let it go all winter but if I miss a week and then a huge dump of snow comes in, I am not going to go digging in the snow.
This is the worst time for it as the snow melts and uncovers all the turds in my backyard that I didn't get to and they are either still iced in or very soggy. Mid-March is usually when I get to it.
Every year I say I am going to go out and pick it up right away but when it is early in the morning or late at night and it is cold and I have to trudge through snow, my laziness kicks in.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Leaving it around the neighbourhood is unacceptable. I can’t believe how many people do it. We have a large dog and I knew that was one of my key responsibilities as a member of the community. Can’t believe how much #### I see on the Blvd. Makes me worry that people will start to think it’s me!

In their own yard, that’s gross. I stay relatively on top of it for my own sanity. Can’t imagine letting it get to the point where it’s annoying my neighbours.

[troutman]

NUISANCES
REMOVING EXCREMENT


22.(1)If an Animal defecates on any public or private property other than the property of its Owner, the Owner shall remove such feces immediately.

(2)If an Animal is on any public or private property other than the property of its Owner, the Owner shall have in his possession a suitable means of facilitating the removal of the Animal’s feces.


file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/23M2006%20-%20Responsible%20Pet%20Ownership%20-%20Office%20Consolidation.pdf


The bylaw doesn't say anything about removal on private property.

[Fuzz]

I don't know how you dog owners do it. So gross.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Man up, go talk to them. Keep your cool no matter the response.

If they are old or infirm offer to pick it up.

This is the worst advice imaginable.

The exact kind of dope that won't pick up after their dog is the exact kind of dope that will get uppity when you confront them about it. Great, now you have friction for the rest of time with your next-door neighbour all because they're disgusting slobs who won't pick up literal piles of feces all over their property. Only a total pig would live like that - any rational person would have picked it up without a fellow adult needing to remind them of their basic pet-ownership responsibilities. Why approach a demonstrably irrational person with a rational request like, 'excuse me, but your animal is defecating all over your lawn where the neigbourhood has to see and smell it...any chance you could pick that up?' Fata that.

OP, straight to bylaw on this. If your neighbours ask if you called, just say no. It's too annoying having friction with your neighbours, so just let the people you already pay (bylaw officers) handle this for you.

I have done this. If your neighbour ignores the bylaw requests eventually bylaw will actually pick up the crap themselves and charge your neighbour. That's what happened in the situation I was in.

First question bylaw will ask is if you talked to the neighbours before calling. Just say yeah. Also, keep a log and take some photos.

If people are going to leave #### on their lawn (unbelievable this is even a thing), go straight to thermonuclear. That is beyond disgusting.

[troutman]

file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/5M2004%20-%20Community%20Standards%20-%20Office%20Consolidation.pdf

Accumulation of Materials

8. (1)No owner or occupier of a Premises shall allow on the Premises, the accumulation of:

(a)any material that creates unpleasant odors;
(b)any material likely to attract pests; or
(c)animal remains, parts of animal remains, or animal feces.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Good fences make for good neighbors...

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Good fences make for good neighbors...

If he has a walk-out, though, no fence will help. That was a big part of the issue with my old neighbour. We were both in walk-outs so the main floor kitchen table nook overlooked their yard. You could see big fat steaming brown sausages all over their lawn when sitting at the kitchen table. Totally foul.

Also, the fence won't help with the smell. Nice spring day...let's finally open some windows and air the house out...nope - punch in the face #### smell.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

If they are old or infirm offer to pick it up.

Offer to pick the dog up and take it to the pound? Yeah, that would be reasonable.

Offering to pick up the crap is the weirdest pro tip I've ever seen. If they can't take care of the animal, they need to re-home it. Who the fata would want the one worst job of having a pet (picking up the ####) while the owner gets all the fun parts of owning it?

Like, what are you even talking about here?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Sliver

This is the worst advice imaginable.

The exact kind of dope that won't pick up after their dog is the exact kind of dope that will get uppity when you confront them about it. Great, now you have friction for the rest of time with your next-door neighbour all because they're disgusting slobs who won't pick up literal piles of feces all over their property. Only a total pig would live like that - any rational person would have picked it up without a fellow adult needing to remind them of their basic pet-ownership responsibilities. Why approach a demonstrably irrational person with a rational request like, 'excuse me, but your animal is defecating all over your lawn where the neigbourhood has to see and smell it...any chance you could pick that up?' Fata that.

OP, straight to bylaw on this. If your neighbours ask if you called, just say no. It's too annoying having friction with your neighbours, so just let the people you already pay (bylaw officers) handle this for you.

I have done this. If your neighbour ignores the bylaw requests eventually bylaw will actually pick up the crap themselves and charge your neighbour. That's what happened in the situation I was in.

First question bylaw will ask is if you talked to the neighbours before calling. Just say yeah. Also, keep a log and take some photos.

If people are going to leave #### on their lawn (unbelievable this is even a thing), go straight to thermonuclear. That is beyond disgusting.

I didn't think bylaw cared what was on private land.

Also, #### that, they lost all consideration for a friendly relationship when the left their place covered in dog ####. If they don't like that you confronted them or feel uncomfortable they might move, yay.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Good fences make for good neighbors...

And bad feces make for bad neighbors!

[krynski]

Interesting. Not your neighbour, but I think I'm guilty of this. This was the first winter (and plan to be only winter) that it accumulated to this extent.

We have 2 rather large dogs (Shepard & great dane mix). I used to walk them all the time, and pick up after them. The Shepard's arthritis got really bad, so we just got into the habit of taking him to the backyard. My SO and a friends couple convinced me that its better to leave it to dry for a couple days than pick it up right away, but this winter it accumulated far too much. I am literally not ok with how much dog crap I have back there. Patterns will be changing at my house and any droppings will be removed promptly....too bad I'm not your neighbour.

[Fuzz]

I'm getting a new neighbor soon, and now I have something else to dread. The current ones have dogs, but are really good dog owners. I just realized I could get really bad dog owners. Ugh.

[krynski]

I suppose I should pose the question, is this a seasonal thing? Is this all-winter's crap, or does this routinely happen throughout the year?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I didn't think bylaw cared what was on private land.

Also, #### that, they lost all consideration for a friendly relationship when the left their place covered in dog ####. If they don't like that you confronted them or feel uncomfortable they might move, yay.

Yeah I don't give one single fata about making them uncomfortable in this situation. I'm more concerned about making myself uncomfortable. Plus, dog people never think their dog is doing anything that bad and they think you getting upset about crap on "their property" is none of your concern. You have to worry about revenge from them. You've called them out for being a slob, they'll naturally want to call you out on anything you do to show that you're not so great either - and they'll do it whether it's warranted or not. Just no point in getting into it.

But yeah, with persistence, Bylaw - at least from my experience - will come out and will eventually clean up the #### and bill them.

And kind of on topic, if you have a neighbour that lets their dog bark outside (that's illegal - even one bark is illegal!) keep a log of date and times of barking. When you call bylaw, let them know you're concerned about the animal's welfare because they're left outside and seem to be in distress. Don't pose it as you're annoyed by the barking because if you get a dog-lover fur-baby-type call centre agent, you've already lost the battle. It needs to be positioned as you're a caring neighbour really worried about this poor neglected doggo and are hoping somebody can come check things out. Give them the dates and times of the barking (needs to be a 30-day log) and you'll see some corrective action.

Reference: Bylaws related to dogs
"As a dog owner, you must ensure your dog does not: Bark, howl or disturb anyone"