What To Do When Neighbors Dog Poops In Your Yard? – Best Ways to Tackling It

What to do when neighbors dog poops in your yard? The feeling is all too familiar.

Waking up to a beautiful morning sunrise, putting on your running shoes for Your routine early morning run, and then suddenly, you step on a big pile of dog poop from your neighbor’s dog. 

In this article, we try to understand this behavior and provide steps on how to stop neighbor dog from pooping in my yard. 

The first thing you definitely would want to do when your neighbor’s dog poops in your yard, is to clean it up. After which, speaking to your neighbor about it should be the next action. 

Why Does My Neighbor’s Dog Poop In My Yard?

As annoying as seeing a pile of dog poop on your lawn is, you still can’t help but wonder what the dog has against you. 

Why don’t they simply keep pooping in their own yard? 

In all honesty, even though the dog looks like it has a bone to pick with you, chances are that it also poops in its owner’s yard too.

There are two main reasons why you keep waking up to a pile of dog poop in your yard regularly.

Potty Training

Training a dog to properly potty can be a very daunting task for a new dog owner. 

Depending on the dog’s breed, some dog breeds are clearly more intelligent than others and as a result, could be trained a lot faster than other dog breeds.   

It takes a lot of patience to train your dog on how to potty or the right way to potty.

You can try discussing with your neighbor to know if their dog is being potty trained or not. 

If they aren’t, you might be dealing with dog poop on your lawn for a long time. 

Marking Territories 

Dogs in general, are very territorial creatures. They have a compulsive need to mark any territory they believe is theirs in order to scare off other dogs.

One sure way they go about marking and claiming territories is with the use of their droppings and urine. 

If your neighbor’s dog makes a habit of regularly pooping in your yard, then it simply is it’s way of marking its territory.   

What To Do When Neighbors Dog Poops In Your Yard?

Now that you know why your Neighbor’s dog keeps pooping in your yard, the next step is to figure out how to stop them from pooping in your yard, or better still keep them off your yard for good. 

There really are only two things you can do in such situations. The first is to properly clean and get rid of the poop.

The next step would be to work on preventing your neighbor’s dog from pooping in your yard. 

Cleaning Up Your Neighbors Dog Poop

Even though you might feel cheated, it is always great to take the moral high road and clean out the dog poop from the yard by yourself. 

Dog poop is no fertilizer, simply ignoring it does not help you. 

To properly clean up the dog poop from your yard, you need a plastic bag. Take the plastic bag and cover the dog poop until it is trapped inside.

Once done you can then flip the inside out, with the poop properly trapped inside it.

Once done, you should dispose of the plastic bag in a proper manner. Wrap it tight and then throw it in a waste bin. 

Tip: Wash your hands to properly get rid of any droplets that might have escaped from the bag. 

Preventing Your Neighbors Dog From Pooping In Your Yard

Now that you have properly disposed of the dog’s poop, the next step is to prevent this ugly incident from happening again.

There are a couple of ways you can go about achieving this, you can try any of the following methods. 

Option #1: Place A Warning Sign In Front Of Your Yard

Your neighbor has to know that it is not okay to leave their dog unleashed when next to you.

One sure way to pass such a  message is with a sign. You can set a sign in front of your yard that reminds them to leash their dogs or clean up after them.

By doing this, you can send a subtle but effective message to your neighbor about what you can tolerate.

A respectable neighbor would be a lot more cautious in the future when walking their dogs next to your house. 

Option #2: Consider Installing A Security Camera

Before you go around pointing accusing fingers at your neighbor’s dog, you have to be sure they did in fact commit the crime. 

What better way to do this, than red-hot video evidence of them in the act? 

Now, this might seem like an overkill, but in some cases, having video evidence does help out a lot.

Consider installing an outdoor camera to provide full surveillance of your yard. For people who purposely let their dogs poop in other people’s yards, this might be the best method to stop such a habit. Why?

Well, no one wants to be caught on camera committing a terrible act. You can even put out a little sign letting them know your yard is being monitored. 

Tip: You don’t have to get a very expensive camera. A simple or basic camera setup should be enough.

Option #3: Talk To Your Neighbor

This works perfectly well when you have video evidence to back your claims.

If you notice that your neighbor’s dog has a habit of pooping in your yard, sometimes it helps to discuss it with your neighbor. 

Go over to their house, knock on their door and politely let them know what you have been noticing.

If you have a responsible neighbor, they would apologize, promise to be more watchful of their dog and even offer to help clean up the mess. 

Unfortunately, not all neighbors are responsible, and this is where the video evidence would be most helpful.

It is very important that you avoid being confrontational with your neighbor. If the problem persists you might need a higher authority to step in.  

Tip: When discussing with your neighbor it is important to read the room and mood. Some conversations can be kept for a much better time.   

Option #4: Build A Fence Around Your Yard

A  tall fence might be all you need to keep your neighbor’s dog off your yard. It should be sturdy and made from wood or brick.

If you do have a fence set up in your yard and still have issues with dog poop, then there must be a breach in the fence. 

Do a thorough check of the fence for any signs of a break-in or hole. If you notice any of the above issues, fix or upgrade the fence.

If your neighbor’s dog is a large breed dog, you do need to consider upgrading your fence to a taller fence, to keep them off. 

Option #5: Speak To Animal Control

In those ugly scenarios where you have an irresponsible neighbor who refuses to do anything about their dog pooping in your yard, a higher authority should step in.

Speak to animal control about the problems you are facing with your neighbor’s dog.

Your case would be a lot better if you do have video evidence to back up your claims. Before reporting your neighbor to Animal Control authorities, you definitely should inform them of your intentions.

This could scare them into finally cleaning up after their dog. 

Option #6: Use A Dog Deterrent

The dog is a highly sensitive animal. Its nose and ear senses are extremely heightened which makes them great hunting companions.

You can use this gift of nature to your own advantage. There are certain items you can use as a deterrent to keep your neighbor’s dog off your yard.

Some of these items could be;

A watering system or sprinkler that is activated by motion, some mothballs, and ultrasonic dog repellents. 

These items could be placed in your yard to scare dogs off.

Tip: You can also grow some dog-repellent plants like Lavender. Most dogs do not like the scent of the Lavender plant. 

Option #7: Talk To A Lawyer

This might seem a bit too extreme, but if every other thing fails, seeking legal advice might be a great route to take. 

Dog owners can be held liable for damages caused by their dogs when they trespass on a neighbor’s property. 

This method should only be used as a last resort. Before discussing with your lawyers, you can inform your neighbor of your decision to involve the law.

In most cases, this would likely cause them to behave properly. 

Read Next: How To Keep Squirrels From Chewing On My Deck?

Conclusion

By following the methods listed in this article, you should have a great idea of what to do when neighbors dog poops in your yard.

Dogs are loveable creatures, but nothing is more annoying than having to clean up after an animal that you personally do not own.

Thanks for reading.