Your Neighbor’s Dog Is Pooping in Your Yard? Here’s What to Do

It’s that time of day again. Your shoes are laced, and your pup is leashed uptight.

Off you go to take your dog for a relaxing afternoon walk.

As you open the front door and start down the stairs, you’re greeted by your neighbor’s dog pacing back and forth in your yard. You wave, “Hey, little buddy!”

But then buddy returns your greeting in an unexpected way: he squats down and goes poop right in your yard!

Gross. Why did he have to do that? And most importantly, how do you get him to stop?

In some cases, a simple conversation might be all it takes to get a neighbor’s dog to stop pooping in your yard. You can also use physical deterrents like barriers and scents to keep a dog off your lawn. If none of this works, legal action may be possible.

In this article, I will give you detailed tips on exactly how to stop your neighbor’s dog from pooping in your yard.

Nothing puts the damper on a walk like having to stop what you’re doing and pick up some other dog’s poop off your own yard. Of course, it’s hard to get mad at a dog for doing what dogs do. But it’s annoying, nonetheless.

Fortunately, there are easy ways that you can put a stop to Fido’s free-pooping ways.

Join me as I explore these helpful hints!

How to Stop Your Neighbor’s Dog from Pooping in Your Yard

Putting a stop to your neighbor’s dog pooping in your yard can be nuanced depending on the details of what’s happening.

To get to the bottom of things, it can be helpful to ask some questions, such as:

• Is this a recurring situation?
• Is it the same dog pooping in your yard every time?
• Do you know for sure who the dog/dogs belong to?
• Is the owner aware this is happening? And do they care?

Every situation is unique. And it can be a touchy subject to confront someone about something distasteful their precious pup is doing.

After assessing your circumstances, try applying these tips:

Talk to Your Neighbor

This could be all it takes to remedy the situation. In the case that you are sure exactly which dog is pooping in your yard and which neighbor they belong to, try approaching your neighbor.

Though this may be a bit uncomfortable for you both, this conversation doesn’t have to be hostile. No one likes to feel attacked, accused, or shamed, so it may help to approach the topic in a way that shows that you care about your neighbor’s pup and your neighbor too.

Here are a few examples of non-confrontational ways you may want to try to broach the topic:

“Has (insert dog’s name) been feeling okay lately? I wasn’t sure if there may be something wrong with his stomach. I’ve seen him going potty in my yard lately. Has anything changed with his health or diet recently?”

“I’ve noticed (dog’s name) has been wandering around my yard more than usual. Has anything changed with your schedule that makes it hard to walk him each day? I’d be happy to scoop him up and take him along when my pup and I go for our walks if you’d like sometimes!”

“Since there are so many dogs in the neighborhood, I’m thinking about asking if the neighborhood council would install dog poop bag stations. This could help keep the neighborhood clean. What do you think?”

These are just a few low-stakes ways of opening the door of conversation. This way, you can discover how aware your neighbor is of their dog’s pooping habits. It’s also a good way to gauge the degree to which they care about the topic.

Hopefully, they’ll get the hint and do whatever it takes to stop the pooping. If so, that’s a win!

Use Physical Barriers, Repellants, Etc.

So, you’ve taken the big step of having the conversation with your neighbor-great job!

But maybe your neighbor didn’t pick up what you were trying to lay down. Or maybe they did understand, and now they try to keep their pup out of your yard…most of the time. Or maybe they don’t care at all.

Perhaps your neighbor is actually super mean and intimidating, so you feel too chicken to even bring it up at all.

It’s okay! Depending on where you live and your neighbor’s temperament, it truly may not be safe to talk to them.

What do you do now?

Thankfully, you can totally take matters into your own hands. There are ways you can prevent your neighbor’s dog from even wanting to hang out and poop in your yard at all.

Some ways to deter them include:

• Building a barrier out of stones, fencing, greenery, etc. to keep them off your lawn
• Lining your yard with dog repellent scents like garlic, vinegar, citrus trees, or ammonia
• Installing ultrasonic repelling sound devices
• Hiding motion-activated sprinklers throughout your lawn

I suggest researching and experimenting with a few methods one at a time to see what works. Or, if you’re truly fed up, you can bring in the big guns: go gangbusters and try them all simultaneously!

Pursue Legal Action

You’ve hinted around to your neighbor. Maybe you’ve even told them bluntly that their dog is pooping in your yard, you don’t like it, and you need them to get it to stop. You’ve even tried some of the defensive tactics detailed above. But yet, it’s still happening.

Ugh!

You didn’t want it to get to this point. But there is always the option to see what kind of legal action you can pursue to get your neighbor’s dog to stop pooping in your yard.

Before you do this, make sure you have accurately narrowed down which dog is the offender and who their true owner is. How embarrassing would it be to accuse an innocent neighbor of having their pup use your yard as their own personal toilet!

Next, remind yourself that it is a valid desire to want this to stop. You pay your hard-earned money to live where you do. You deserve to feel happy and at peace in your home.

And understand that dog poop in your lawn isn’t just off-putting aesthetically; it can actually cause damage to your lawn and worse.

Dog poop can:

• Kill your grass
• Make your lawn stink
• Carry diseases that could potentially infect your own pup
• Ruin your shoes
• Cause injury to you or a visitor by slipping and falling in/on it

You may feel like you’re being dramatic. But if you don’t like this behavior and want it to stop, you’re justified!

So, what to do?

In some counties, you can call the sheriff’s office and ask for a citation to be issued that would fine the offending pup’s owner.

You can also lookup the laws on trespassing, which can vary state-to-state. Keyword searches on things like “unauthorized entry,” “damages”, and “pet waste” can give you an idea of how your area may deal with the issue at hand.

A Delicate Topic, Anyway You Slice It

Plain and simple, every dog’s gotta poop! But things can really get dicey the moment a dog starts to poop where they shouldn’t…like in your yard!

In an ideal world, all of this could be remedied with a simple neighborly conversation in an ideal world. Or maybe you could install some repellants, physical barriers, or other ways of keeping these pooping bandits at bay. Worst-case scenario, you can always get the law involved.

This is a tricky one, no doubt.

But with the right amount of tact, finesse, and action, you can live at peace: happy you, happy neighbors, and a clean, poop-free yard!