Poop Deck

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

HELP! This is a picture of my new neighbors deck - it is about 200 yards away from mine. They moved in last month and have 3 dogs - a Yorki, a Bischon and a very cute Polish something or another. Help me to come up with a way to tell her that she must clean up the poop every time, not once or twice a week!
It's still Spring but can you imagine what it will be like in the Summer, OMD. They pee on those fake grass patches but the poop as you can see is everywhere. This is the after a day it was cleaned up. I don't want a feud but what can I do, if she doesn't clean up I am going to have to turn her in. She will know it's me who's complaining as I am the only one close enough to see it.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Lisa, handle it thru your HOA, that way you can record complaint, this is really bad... so sorry, not fun to have to be confrontational.  But that is what the HOA is for. 

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Ugh! Yuck! I can't imagine how they can live like that. I think a gift of a pooper scooper is in order along with a note.

Kidding aside, I would lodge a complaint with the HOA if you have one with a photo.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

urgh that is bad. Worse than my situation. My upstairs neighbours dont clean up after their mini poodle - but they are the owners of the house, we just rent a suite downstairs, so we clean up after their dog twice a day when we clean up after ours (granted Coopers poos are much bigger than little Zorro's)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Here is my suggestion.  I would buy not only the cute poop bags,  I would buy medium trash bags and  a small trash can with a lid that seals (we have a metal one from the feed store)  to put the poop in.  I would knock on her door and tell her nicely that she probably has been so busy with the move that she hasn't had time to address the deck and the dogs.  I would just tell her that you thought you would be neighborly and give her a house warming gift.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Turn her in - this is beyond disgusting.  Is she allowed to have that many dogs in this condo?  3 seems like a lot.  For all she'll know it might have been a maintenance person that turned her in - she'll have no proof.  I feel sorry for you looking at this, smelling it soon but I feel sorrier for those dogs.  If she is too lazy to handle the poop and pee how often are they getting any exercise?  Very very sad.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Seriously and think, the dogs walk on the poop, they don't give a poop if they step in it...they then go right back into the front door - luckily for her they have laminate. Ugh.

OK - I think I will write a note first. If that doesn't change it I am going to call on the property manager...he can deal with it! She will know it's me but I don't really care to be friends with her anyway.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Ok, in this case Dogs that eat their own poo might be a good thing .................... ok, I apologize for that!  But this really is disgusting.  In FL where we lived the HOA's would not address this situation.  You had to call Animal Services for the city and then you had to give your name and address and the people could ask and would be told who turned them in.  We had all sorts of problems with people who had large dogs and did not pooper scoop their yards ..... imagine that in the FL sun ..... nasty!  I know what you mean though about not really wanting to create a problem with the neighbor.  We have a neighbor that just opens the door and lets their little dog out and he waunders the neighborhood pooing in everyones yards.  It is bad enough that he poos in my yard, but I'm more worried about his being hit by a car.  He is so little if you aren't watching you might not see him.  Lucy and Sophie go crazy when they see him in our yard out the window and I can always tell when he has been in the back yard because when I take L&S out they are on a tracking mission with his smells!  But, I don't want to start something so I just say nothing (except to my DH of course and I think he is a little tired of hearing it).

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

OMD you sound like me, I really didn't want the issue of disliking my neighbor but guess what I already dislike her. I am not taking the high road this time. She will know it's me who turned her in....we face the wetlands, there is no one else who can "enjoy" this mess but me. I tried to get the property manager to stop by with a decs and by-laws book for her and he could say something because he would have seen it but he said "you should be neighborly and just ask them to clean it up".

Here's the kicker, I am a board member! I think I am just going over there with the binder myself to give it to her and say "I am on the board and as such it is my duty to let you know your are breaking a rule, you need to clean up after the dogs right after they make their mess, sorry if this offends you but your deck is offensive"

How's that sound ladies?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

The board member approach is a good one. Politely confront her first and see if it is resolved.  I have faith in you... I know you can do it. 

We are all here waiting and supporting you.  Take us with you in your  heart when you go over.   We are an army of doodle owners!!

Let us know

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

How about if you tried this approach.....

"All of us with dogs try to be really conscious of obeying he condo rules, because we wouldn't want the Association to become more restrictive when it comes to pets.  Right now it's a real pet-friendly place to live, but if people aren't really good about cleaning up after their dogs, that could change.  I have noticed that you're not always cleaning up your deck, and with Summer coming that could become a real issue".

I have a neighbor who let her dogs bark like crazy on her deck, and I tried a similar approach.  My DH is on our Board, and I mentioned to her that the Association was just looking for any excuse to become more restrictive in their "pet rules".  It did help....it still happens once in a while but nowhere near as often as before.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Jane I am plagiarizing your comments and writing a letter - I think I like this approach the best. If I were to get it I would know there real reason but at least I sort of would be taking the high road. The fact that she has 3 dogs is a rule violation but I really don't care about that as long as she cleans up after them.

Thank you thank you thank you everyone for your comments.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I sure hope it works!