# Irresponsible dog owners



## Deadmeat (May 2, 2010)

After reading a previous post on a beloved dog who was killed by a couple of chows, I decided to weigh in on the topic of irresponsible dog owners. It's a particular pet peeve of mine (well, so is anything that relates to those who won't take responsibility for their actions, whatever they are). 

Years ago my wife and I bought a new house at the end of a cul de sac in a semi-rural area near Maryville, Tennessee. The house was on a .75- acre lot, most of which was in the rear of the house. On the back end of the lot was a wooded area, and since we were at the end of the cul de sac, the houses of both of our neighbors on either side of us were in front of ours. The yard was plowed up, seeded, and hay put down to get the grass started.

Unfortunately, my neighbor to the left had two large Irish setters, a male and a female, both of which were allowed to roam free and considered my newly-seeded yard as their personal outhouse. Walking though the yard was like walking though a minefield--you really had to watch where you stepped--and more than once I managed to step in a dog pile and track it all over our new wall to wall carpet.

Finally, I went to the neighbor and asked him if he would please keep the dogs out of my yard, explaining that they were keeping my grass from coming in. He told me in no uncertain terms that this was the country, not the city, and out here roaming dogs were a way of life. He said there were no leash laws, and unfortunately I checked and found he was right. 

Having explored every option I could think of to resolve the situation peacefully, I loaded my .22 with rat shot and kept it beside the back door, which faced the back yard, the favorite location of the dog's outhouse. At the time I was working at night while all my neighbors worked during the day. My plan was to just pop the dogs in the butt with the rat shot once they came into the yard and after getting shot a time or two maybe they'd find another place to squeeze the Charmin. Since we were in the country it wasn't unusual to hear gunshots, so if one was heard nearby it could be easily explained. 

Sure enough, a few days later I was at home when I saw the male dog come into the yard with the intended purpose of doing a job in my neatly plowed yard. I grabbed the .22, gently opened the back door a crack, and pointed the rifle outside. While I was reaching for the .22 the dog had found a comfortable position and was in the process of letting it go. Unfortunately, when I looked outside I saw that instead of seeing his butt he was facing me not more than 30 feet away. Not being able to shoot him in the butt, I was just about to wait until he finished when I saw the twins hanging down. I figured, "Why not?". I drew a bead on the boys and touched 'er off. 

Well, if my purpose was to get the dog out of the yard, I succeeded masterfully. I don't think the space shuttle ever left the launch pad as fast as that dog left my yard. Unfortunately, the space shuttle never made as much noise as that dog did either. I've never heard as much noise come out of an animal as I did that dog. Thank goodness everyone on the street was at work.

The dog made a beeline for the woods and I heard it howling until the sound faded in the distance. Later that evening I heard the owner calling the dog's name but it didn't come. Several days later I finally saw the dog walking slowly, very slowly, and very gingerly up the street. The steps it was taking were slow and deliberate and it had a most unusual gait, the rear legs appearing to be much more widespread than usual. 

Interestingly, the next day the owner built a fence around his property, and until we moved seven years later the dogs were never again outside it. I'm sure he knew I was the culprit in giving his male dog a .22-caliber vasectomy but he never approached me about it. Come to think of it, I don't remember the female ever having any pups either. 

I'm not proud of what I did, and I wish there had been another way to resolve the situation. I don't dislike dogs, just irresponsible dog owners.


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## KMixson (May 2, 2010)

Not a dog, but I remember my dad shooting one of our hogs that had gotten loose and went out on the road when I was a kid. He told us that it was better to kill the hog than to let it get into something it should not or cause an accident on the road. Too bad the owners of some of the dogs do not have the same mentality.


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## Quackrstackr (May 2, 2010)

In KY when it deals with destruction of private property (the dog ruining your lawn could be considered such), even "in the country" you would be within your legal rights to do what you did. Matter of fact, you could have dropped it stone cold on the spot and called the guy to come and pick it up.


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## gregk9 (May 2, 2010)

Poor dog! Shoot the owner. It's 100% his fault. He's a complete douchebag!!! :evil: :evil: :evil:


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## FishingBuds (May 2, 2010)

country roaming dogs, mixed feelings on this but,

I had roaming dog issues, but i used a BBgun instead, its funny now how all the roaming dogs will pass thru on the other side of the corn field when it comes to my house :lol: 

only once in the last 6 yrs it got serious on a dog that always growed at ya when you crossed paths, after checking with the nieghbors and no one claiming it, is when it all ended one morning going to work, in front of my garage.


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## S&amp;MFISH (May 3, 2010)

I have the same problem with "CATS".Peeing and crapping in my yard,climbing on my vehicles and getting into everything.Like it belongs to them.I've owned cats and I once owned a Chow-Chow.And none of my pets were ever allowed to roam free.The cats never left the house.If my Chow got out of the yard I would track her down,bring her home and chain her up as punishment.That usually took care of the running problem,she used to love to run and run and run,for about a year.Then if she found a way out,she was on the chain again.I even went to most all if my neighbors and told them if they saw here out of the yard, and she threatened them,feel free to BLAST her without hesitation.She passed away of old age,14yrs.I hate people that LET their pets run loose.I really hate my neighbors who let their cats invade my space.I wish a tree would fall on thier house,as they might move.Or maybe it burn.I've lived here 15years,and never once violated my neighbors space.Man,I hate them.Sorry,I'm Ranting Now.


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## bobberboy (May 3, 2010)

Deadmeat said:


> Interestingly, the next day the owner built a fence around his property, and until we moved seven years later the dogs were never again outside it. I'm sure he knew I was the culprit in giving his male dog a .22-caliber vasectomy but he never approached me about it. Come to think of it, I don't remember the female ever having any pups either.



We'll have to call you Dr. Deadmeat from now on. Nice job on the vasectomy - and no anesthetic either. I agree that it was the owner's fault and not the dog's but performing that particular operation on the owner might have been a little dicey. Once our cat was attacked by a neighborhood tom - by the time all the trips to the vet were over and $900 was spent the cat survived. Not knowing who the owner of the tom was (and to whom to submit the bills!) I decided to take another approach. One raccoon trap and a can of tuna later and the tom was mine. Cats in cages aren't good swimmers. 

Pet owners who let their pets roam around should be prepared to accept the consequences. It's irresponsible. People have a right to feel safe and protect their property. I guess like in medicine, sometimes you can't treat the cause so you have to treat the symptoms...


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## Deadmeat (May 3, 2010)

Actually, I already am a doctor (Ph.D.) although I work on the dead, not the living. I was lucky enough to have shot the dog in the 'nads and gotten away with it, and doing the same to the owner, much as I might have liked to, was out of the question.


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## DocWatson (May 3, 2010)

Deadmeat said:


> Actually, I already am a doctor (Ph.D.) although I work on the dead, not the living. I was lucky enough to have shot the dog in the 'nads and gotten away with it, and doing the same to the owner, much as I might have liked to, was out of the question.


I was going to say, you're not accustom to working with anesthetized patients. That might have made the shot harder for you. :LOL2:


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## Jim (May 3, 2010)

I don't want this topic to spiral off course. Some people care about their pets more than they do other people. Others could care less.


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## wasilvers (May 3, 2010)

As a kid we had cats which just roamed free - we were way out in the country where everyone had a 1/2 to 1 acre lot. Mine was a black cat that only got to spend the week before Halloween in our house. All the rest of the year, he lived outdoors. Yeah, I know now that that plan had issues, but I was a kid - blame my parents and everyone else in the area who let their pets run free - cats and dogs. Anyway, this cat became the bully of the neighborhood. He would kick every cats' butt up to a 1/2 mile away - all the new kittens around had black streaks in them - even a lot of the dogs were afraid of him. My neighbor was watching one day as 5 of the other neighbor's cats set up an ambush on my cat in his yard. The neighbor saw what was unfolding and got his bb gun out in case he had to stop the killing... Well, long story short, my cat whipped all the other's at once and went on his way. I couldn't have been prouder.

Then someone shot my cat in the head. But they didn't kill him, it took off a portion of his skull. I card for him and watched him suffer for months, but wouldn't let my parents put him down either. Amazingly he healed from that, but was never the same - it was like his personality was gone and he became stupid. Evenutally he got run over in front of the house. 

The story doesn't realy have a point, just sharing. Maybe if I had to have one is that you can't control what happens to your pets when they leave your property.

Also, when we lived WAY out in the county (1 mile from nearest neighbor) - my sister somehow brought home a stupid dog. Stupid because he kept biting me as I moved about the yard. I told her time and again to get it under control (this was years before the Dog Wisperer was around). Well she didn't even make an effort beside chiding it a bit and chaining it up once in a while. I put up with torn clothes and bites for about 9 months. One day it bit me for the last time - I took that dog away, shot and buried it. It took my sister 4-5 days to notice that her dog wasn't around anymore. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy - but because she didn't care about it except every 4th day, I didnt' feel bad either.

Guess the point would be, if you don't control your pets, someone else will!


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## gregk9 (May 3, 2010)

Deadmeat said:


> Actually, I already am a doctor (Ph.D.) although I work on the dead, not the living. I was lucky enough to have shot the dog in the 'nads and gotten away with it, and doing the same to the owner, much as I might have liked to, was out of the question.



But the owner's the one that really needs to be neutered so he can't procreate and bring more rude, irresponsible morons into the world.

Shooting the dog in the testicles is just plain cruel! I bet spraying the dog with water from a garden hose would have been effective in keeping him off your property.


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## cyberflexx (May 3, 2010)

Is there anything I can put on my yard to keep the dogs from dropping a duece there? My front yard gets full of landmines, i know where they are when I go to mow since the grass is always greener in a yard mine. I cant let my kids play out front, since they might get in the poo and my fenced backyard is always a swamp due to water run off from the upper part of the hill. It takes my backyard 4 days to be dry enough to walk on. I have been looking for something that stinks or may burn their nose alittle but I dont want anything toxic that would hurt them or my family. Is there anything to put around the border ( other than a fence since I cant have a front yard fence )? I had thought about constantly blasting high pitches warble tones that a human cant hear, to hopefully keep them away.

Any ideas would be great.. I dont want to harm the dogs, I just dont want their little gifts left in my yard..


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## Deadmeat (May 3, 2010)

I've been told that playing rap music works.


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## cyberflexx (May 3, 2010)

Deadmeat said:


> I've been told that playing rap music works.




LOL!!! I havent seemed to get it to work. When I am working in my garage, I usually have sometype of rap or dance music playing ( non obscene ) since I like the beat and really dont like country music at all..


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## Deadmeat (May 3, 2010)

I am convinced that listening to both country music and rap music causes cancer. Anything that sounds that bad is bound to mutate cells. That said, it might cause the dog to die, albeit slowly. For me, the only way to listen to country music is to put on a Shania Twain or Julieann Hough video and hit the mute button.


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## Nevillizer (May 3, 2010)

On a little different note I appreciated all comments and prayers and well wishes. For the last few days My other neighbors dogs have not let as much as a peep out when we have been working in the yard or garden. An interesting side bar on my irresponsible dog owning neighbor, or "former dog owning neighbor"  he mowed my entire front yard Sunday (and it's pretty big). When I cam home, he was just finishing up. When we spoke he just said "Good day to mow a yard". Then he went own to mow his own yard. By the time he was done he even came back and swept cut grass of the porch and the curbs.

In conclusion, I think the incident may have given him a moment of pause to reevaluate things. Then again maybe he was just grateful I didn't shoot him.


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## Quackrstackr (May 3, 2010)

cyberflexx said:


> Is there anything I can put on my yard to keep the dogs from dropping a duece there? Is there anything to put around the border ( other than a fence since I cant have a front yard fence )?


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## Nevillizer (May 3, 2010)

Quackrstackr said:


> cyberflexx said:
> 
> 
> > Is there anything I can put on my yard to keep the dogs from dropping a duece there? Is there anything to put around the border ( other than a fence since I cant have a front yard fence )?



:shock: Yeah, I believe that would do it :!:


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## longjohn119 (May 3, 2010)

I would have never shot the dog ...

I would have went over every night and left a big streaming pile on his porch and whizzed on his doorknob .....


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (May 4, 2010)

You can get a motion sensor that turns on a sprinkler when the dog or animal comes on your yard.


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## juggernoob (May 6, 2010)

lckstckn2smknbrls said:


> You can get a motion sensor that turns on a sprinkler when the dog or animal comes on your yard.



https://www.amazon.com/Contech-Electronics-CRO101-Scarecrow-Motion-Activated/dp/B000071NUS


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## Brine (May 6, 2010)

cyberflexx said:


> Is there anything I can put on my yard to keep the dogs from dropping a duece there? My front yard gets full of landmines, i know where they are when I go to mow since the grass is always greener in a yard mine. I cant let my kids play out front, since they might get in the poo and my fenced backyard is always a swamp due to water run off from the upper part of the hill. It takes my backyard 4 days to be dry enough to walk on. I have been looking for something that stinks or may burn their nose alittle but I dont want anything toxic that would hurt them or my family. Is there anything to put around the border ( other than a fence since I cant have a front yard fence )? I had thought about constantly blasting high pitches warble tones that a human cant hear, to hopefully keep them away.
> 
> Any ideas would be great.. I dont want to harm the dogs, I just dont want their little gifts left in my yard..



I assume these are dogs not on a leash that are leaving the parting gifts. If you know whose dogs they are, I'd ask the owners to either keep the dogs off your lawn or to have them come clean up after them every day. Thats :BS: to not be able to let the kids play in your own front yard because of someone else's pet, let alone having to cut grass over it. Is this unreasonable? 

This is a dog owner issue, not a dog issue. Loud noises, burning noses, and stink stuff don't address what's causing the problem IMO.


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## russ010 (May 6, 2010)

I got the same problem with the neighbors dogs.... I pick the poop up with a shovel and give it back to the rightful owners' yard... 

to keep them from spraying my leyland cypresses and other small trees - cheap bottles of cayenne pepper work wonders.. they go up to sniff, get a big dose of that in their nostrils and just start peeing uncontrollably as they try to figure out what is going on. They don't mess with those trees much anymore and seldom come back into my yard since they have to pass by them first


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## cyberflexx (May 6, 2010)

juggernoob said:


> lckstckn2smknbrls said:
> 
> 
> > You can get a motion sensor that turns on a sprinkler when the dog or animal comes on your yard.
> ...



Hehe.. this thing will probably blast my kids when they go to 'inspect' the new thing in the yard.. hahahahaha..

Thanks for the idea..

About the dog owner.. one of the dogs ( i think) not verified is my mother in laws. She is also my kids buddy so I dont want to hurt Ms Maggy [Golden Lab] ( she is really a good dog and great with my kids). I dont want to make my mother in law mad since she watches my 3 kids for free during the week while me and the wife work and will take them places to give me and my wife an hour break to go get dinner or to a movie (we have 3 kids 5yrs and under). Now the other runt dog , Sir WagsAlot is notorius for dropping dooky. Every wednesday he eats well since he likes to go garbaging around the neighborhood (thats when everyone has their trash out for the trash service pickup). I havent seen him giving presents in my yard, but those are the only 2 dogs and when you see a small pile, you can bet it was him. I dont know who owns sir wagsalot. There is probably 1 big pile to 3 little piles and when I mow, there is at least 6 piles in the front/side yards. I hate mowing the fresh ones, those are stinky nukers when the get sliced and diced by my mulcher blade.

Do you think moth balls or something like that would work?


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## gregk9 (May 6, 2010)

cyberflexx said:


> when I mow, there is at least 6 piles in the front/side yards. I hate mowing the fresh ones, those are stinky nukers when the get sliced and diced by my mulcher blade.




Free fertilizer. :lol:


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (May 6, 2010)

Just tell your mother in law there are neighborhood dogs messing up the yard. Don't mention her dog might be one of them.


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## russ010 (May 6, 2010)

moth balls won't work...


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## Brine (May 6, 2010)

okay....well the whole MIL part of the story adds another twist.

Personally, I'd want to find out which dog is a repeat offender. Easy to do with a webcam pointed out the window and recorded to the hardrive. Just play it back at 3x/7x once you've found the new poo and again.....I would think of a way to address the owner instead of the dog.

If it was the MIL's dog, I'd have no problem telling her, that you or one of the kids just tracked dog poo all into the house from the front yard and now are considering having to have the carpets professionally cleaned, and ask her if she has noticed any dogs leaving their calling cards...... or better yet, tell her you found one of the 3 kids 5yrs and under playing with the dog poo in the yard and had it on their face. Maybe that's the subtle approach that says..."If you happen to see your dog about to poo in my yard, please stop it, and if it does, please remove it because it either costs me money to deal with, or is a health concern to the family."

I'd also take a pic of Sir WagsAlot, make up some flyers and pass them around the neighborhood asking...."Do you know who's dog this is?" and if anyone asks why.... give them the carpet cleaning story or one of your own that associates the dogs poop in your yard with an expense. Undoubtedly, one of your neighbors is probably the recipient as well from time to time and would support contacting the owner. 

If you'd prefer to bypass any confrontation with the owner and simply go after the dog, everything I've read about the subject seems to favor the cayenne pepper route like Russ explained.


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## WhiteMoose (May 6, 2010)

I had a good chuckle at the OP's story, but a more humane way to deal with it would have been to collect all the land mines in your yard and move them to the neighbor’s front steps. (Thats what my neighbor did to me and I got the message)  

On a related note, it is very easy to train your dog to stay in your yard without buying an expensive underground fence. I got a cheap remote shock collar and for a few weeks, always went outside with the dog or watched from the window when I let her out. If she wandered over the property line, I would give her a little buzz (not strong enough to make her yelp, just strong enough to make her cock her head like WTF?), followed by a good scolding. 
Later, I would play fetch with her and periodically throw her toy or ball over the property line and buzz her when she crossed. I'd say it took about 4 weeks of this to have her trained completely. 
Now when I throw a ball or she sees a rabbit off our property, she just sits and stares at it. She will only cross if I go first and call her over.


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## russ010 (May 6, 2010)

WhiteMoose said:


> I had a good chuckle at the OP's story, but a more humane way to deal with it would have been to collect all the land mines in your yard and move them to the neighbor’s front steps. (Thats what my neighbor did to me and I got the message)




well... actually, I did - and between their 4 dogs, there was enough to cover each step. Needless to say, it didn't stop


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## cyberflexx (May 6, 2010)

WhiteMoose said:


> I had a good chuckle at the OP's story, but a more humane way to deal with it would have been to collect all the land mines in your yard and move them to the neighbor’s front steps. (Thats what my neighbor did to me and I got the message)




Maybe I should start taking my own poo and putting it at the edge of the yard. The dogs will think some big dog was in their bathroom and not come back around.. HAHAHAHAHA!! :lol: :lol: 

I might try the pepper thing. I could put it along the edge my yard at the street then down my driveway..
My other neighbor sprays something on her trashbags to keep the dogs out. I had to buy a big trashcan with flip lid to keep them from looking for a snack on trash night. I think she is spraying ammonia or bleach but that will kill my grass if i laced the border with that stuff..

About the webcam, thats a good idea, put it on motion sensing. I have one setup at my desk at work so I can see if the security guards or cleaning crew is messing around with my stuff at night. I am in I.T. so I have neat gadgets plus bass times and bassmaster mags laying around. Yup, I.T. geek who likes to bass fish..


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## Troutman3000 (May 6, 2010)

cyberflexx said:


> WhiteMoose said:
> 
> 
> > I am in I.T. so I have neat gadgets plus bass times and bassmaster mags laying around. Yup, I.T. geek who likes to bass fish..



Nothing wrong with that!


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## Brine (May 6, 2010)

I'd probably question the whole "put the poo on people's doorstep" tactic. The wrong person on the wrong day, and you end up in deeper doo-doo than what's collecting in the grass.


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## russ010 (May 6, 2010)

Brine said:


> I'd probably question the whole "put the poo on people's doorstep" tactic. The wrong person on the wrong day, and you end up in deeper doo-doo than what's collecting in the grass.



I'll deal with that when it happens... but I do go over and scoop the poop and toss it back in their yard - whether they are outside or not. I don't let my dog crap in their yard (well... I do now), but he's picky and only wants to go in the woods when I let him out of the fence. 

We're having a problem with coyotes and I can always tell when they have been through the woods beside my house because Kodiak pees and pees then goes straight to the water hose to refill


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## Pruitt1222 (May 7, 2010)

I hate "Irresponsible dog owners". I had these neighbors when I first moved here from my familys dairy farm, They would let there dogs and cats pee and poo in our front yard. Once or twice can be over looked, I run with our working lab to keep him in shape and honestly if its raining or snowing I aint gonna pick it up, It can wait and I am sure i have forgot a pile or two. But twice a day is crazy, For the record I never leashed a dog till I moved to the city but neigbors were far and few then. Our first year in this house our front yard had little bare spots all over it from urine, The talking to them or leaving it on the side walk didn't work at all. On late summer night I got a little buzzed and took a sprayer of salt and vinegar to there front yard while they were out. All fall,winter, and spring long they never crapped in our yard, The ladies wouldn't bring them out front cause I guess there yard was to muddy. Thanking about it now I would hate if somebody did that to me but I guess I might get the point. As far as burning a dogs rump, Go for it. It is the dogs owners fault but if he doin't care its up to you. In this town here if you can prove that the pet owner isn't picking up after its pet by photo or video they will send a dog catcher out to look at you images/video. If they can find the crap they fine the owner 100 bucks. I don't know if its working yet, they just put it into affect last fall.


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