neighbor dog poop in my yard.....again.

I just looked out the front window to another neighbor's dog pooping in our front yard...our house had been empty for many years until we recently moved in and the dogs and cats in the neighborhood have claimed the yard for their own. I'm not into changing the dog owners ways...I just want to compost it and use the results on things we don't eat. I'm thinking about a compost area out front and a pile of leaves ready along with a shovel.
Longer term I always planned a picket fence out front...we can't do it anytime soon though so I need a solution in the meantime.
When we had a dog we had forty acres and rarely saw her deposits.

Does anyone have a similar problem? and any other solutions?

I have a lot of dog visitors out by the street and initially I had a big problem with people allowing their animal to poop there. One thing that contributed to it stopping was me staring in disbelief at anyone while their animal was relieving itself. I did not tell them to get lost, I just made my discomfort clear.

Another thing that has helped, I think, was spreading my own urine all over the borders of the yard. I did this to deter foxes and cats but I think it also has stopped the dogs interest. I've seen a few different dogs smell and not get inspired to leave anything behind.

Judith Browning wrote:Does anyone have a similar problem? and any other solutions?

My solution to dog poop on the lawn is to not pay attention to it. To not notice it. To step around it. I'd rather spend my time noticing the shape of the flowers on the tomato plants.

I grew up playing in cow pastures... So I never understand people's discomfort with dung on the lawn. Cow patties make amazing frisbees.

We have that problem much less since I planted some bulbs next to the sidewalk, even when the flowers aren't out. I think it communicates to dog owners that someone cares about the place (more than plain grass). Some neighbors put in planted borders along the sidewalk for, I suspect, the same reason, but our approach was quicker and cheaper.

Thanks everyone....I like the idea of pouring the pee bucket along the edge and planting some bulbs and other plants to edge, as solutions......might work well together. I should say that these aren't dogs on leashes...no owners in sight although I know all of the dogs by name and where they come from by now. It's really between us and the dogs, I think.
We've mostly ignored it until now and have the poopy shoes to show for it...I like to go barefoot along with our grandkids summer time so I'm hoping to have a small compost bin set up by then and maybe have discouraged some of them with a urine boundary.

I like to think of an ideal site design as a complete nutrient trap. That dog dung is incoming nutrients....a gift of the universe, so to speak. By all means collect and compost and use it! Any method safe enough for humanure would also work for dog manure. For myself, I use both for black soldier flies and long-term deep-burial compost......

Naturally, I think we would all welcome this a bit more if we knew the dog was eating a strictly organic diet. We should assume that that is not the case.

I think that in an urban environment ... what if there was a little fence that was one foot high and you had a bunch of openings for paths (no gate). The idea is that an owner isn't going to allow the dog to cross a fence. Nor is the owner going to allow the dog to poop on a path. Nor is the owner going to walk onto the property past a fence to allow the dog to poop.

That said: another possibility is that if your soil is really awful and you are not concerned about the persistent herbicides in the dog poop .... I would cover each poop with sawdust. Maybe even a mix of sawdust, home made compost and seed. Or just sawdust, dirt and seed. Or just sawdust and seed. Annual rye will germinate quickly, grow fast, and eat up the poop. You might even mix on some other seeds to make it more fun.

Growing up, we got a new neighbor...the Chief of Police.
Every day, he would walk his two boxers, who both shit on our front lawn.

My Siamese cat knew something was wrong, so sat on the front porch, waiting to find the culprit.
Along came the C.o.P. with his 2 dogs. When the first one squatted, the cat charged it and took a good swat at the testicles (with claws extended). I broke out laughing. We never saw them shit on our lawn again. In fact, the C.o.P began going the opposite direction each morning. LOL

paul wheaton wrote: .....cover each poop with sawdust. Maybe even a mix of sawdust, home made compost and seed. Or just sawdust, dirt and seed. Or just sawdust and seed. Annual rye will germinate quickly, grow fast, and eat up the poop. You might even mix on some other seeds.....

I like this idea also....might keep a bucket of sawdust/soil and seed mix on the front porch and see how polka dotted the yard becomes in the spring

I'm hoping in the end to change the dogs behavior...the owners (as is typical in this town) let the dogs out to do their business wherever they like...out of sight out of mind.

We like our neighbors and actually like the dogs just fine too....we just need to renegotiate our territory

Black pepper works wonders. Buy the cheapest ground black pepper you can find.


Option 1: Steep in warm water for about 1/2 hour. Strain and spray the "tea" on the areas you want to keep pooch free. I did not strain it, I just poured a line of tea with the ground pepper.

Option 2: Mix the ground pepper with a minute amount of vegetable oil to the consistency of lightly moist sawdust. Then sprinkle it around the area.

Rain will diminish the effect so re-apply as needed.