I have an adjoining side yard with my neighbor. Their side of the yard is almost always littered with dog feces everywhere from their two dogs. Nice middle ages couple with a high schooler daughter. Dogs have pink bandanas and sweaters etc and they are kept inside except for when they are let out for nature calls. It seems only the dad picks up the poo, and ladies do not, which he does only every few days.
My kitchen window above the kitchen sink and the dining room window have full view of all the dog turds in its full glory. Nasty but they were here before I moved in and they’ve been always doing this.
What I just can’t deal with is the smaller dog eats the larger dog’s skat and that just nauseates me especially when I’m preparing to eat. I don’t know whether the larger dog also eats the smaller dog’s caca… I haven’t seen it; I avoid looking as much as I can… but human mind is a funny thing… I don’t know whether my neighbors know about their indoor dogs dining on their own shit.
Tell them it bothers you, but don’t lecture them or you’ll come across as preachy. The father is out there several times a week as it is so the issue is already on his radar, just not to the degree it’s on yours. Once you bring it up I’d be willing to bet he’ll be too embarrassed to let it go more than a day or so.
Good fences make good neighbors. I’d put up a privacy fence or shrubbery.
I doubt that the neighbors will change their behavior anytime soon or without lots of resentment. I guess I’m not optimistic because I’ve seen it before. If they’re not out walking the dogs and cleaning up right away, they probably don’t and won’t view it as a problem.
In my city, you can’t leave dog poop even in your own yard for more than 48 hours. You might want to check to see if yours has such an ordinance- that would at least force them to pick it up more often.
I have a cousin whose dog eats his own poop, if given the opportunity (they stop him when they can). My response: gives a whole new meaning to the term “shit-eating grin”
Anyway, if you are on speaking terms with the neighbor, I would let them know. It could explain some odd illnesses by the smaller dog. And the side benefit is that they may be more diligent with their clean-up, so less smell for you to endure.
If the coprophagic pooch really bothers you, I think either the curtains or the privacy fencing/shrubbery are your best bet. Poop-eating in dogs is a hard habit to break, and it sounds like your neighbors are doing a fairly good job of cleaning up.
I suspect they know about their dog’s culinary habits, but you could always bring it up as cormac262 suggested and, if they seem amenable, mention that they could try a food additive like Forbid, although I don’t know how well those products work.
ETA: Bob Ducca has my favorite comment of the day.
Our neighbors used to walk their dog in our yard. It’s a spot we don’t normally keep our eyes on, but one day I happened to be in the basement and watched the dog - being held by a leash, take a dump right in front of the basement window. I tapped on the window and the dog was yanked away.
I went out the next to day to discover he’d been doing this for a long time. Poo in various stages of freshness was all over a 20 sf area. I got a glove, picked up every bit of it, and tossed it into their yard.
Yes, it was passive aggressive, but this was far enough up from the road that it could have been no other dog or neighbor doing it. It was right next to the house in our front yard.
At least let them know that their dog is eating it, so that they can take steps to stop it. We gave all three of our dogs Forbid (I think that’s what its called) and its designed to make poop taste yucky to dogs. Hilarious product, but it worked wonders, as my formerly poop-eating dog does so no more!
Edit: I didn’t see Sudden Kestral’s advice before I posted, so clearly a duplicate. What a great screenname by the way! Kestrals are beautiful!
Nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t let my dog poop on anyone’s lawn - she goes in the park, and I sure as hell have bags so it doesn’t stay long even there. Anyone deliberately letting their dog poop in the neighbor’s yard, and not cleaning it up, is an asshole. They are lucky you didn’t leave your present right at their front door.
As for the OP, I recommend curtains. I keep my dog from even sniffing other poop, from fear of disease, but any dog owner is inured to various disgusting habits. Eating is less disgusting than rolling in it, I gawr-an-tee.
Another vote for curtains and/or a privacy fence. Any approach that involves you complaining to your neighbors about the dogs eating each others’ shit is only going to make you look like a loon and not get the issue resolved.
Perhaps I should leave a gift wrapped box of Forbid in front of their front door?
I like leaving my windows cracked open as much as I can as well as blinds and curtains because I want good light in my house. I adjust my blinds angle certain way so ground is not visible but inevitably I have to change the angle during the day. Also I don’t get refreshing feeling from the breeze from that side as often there would be as many as 20 quite hefty turd piles scattered everywhere. The lawn looks like crap with all the yellow dead spots everywhere (it’s a good thing I don’t mow the lawn myself). What upsets me is why do I have this dilemma at all to begin with?
Just guessing, but maybe it’s the result of being raised in too sheltered of a home. Maybe a therapist can help to desensitize you so you don’t have a reaction, or teach you ways, possibly breathing techniques, to help mitigate your problem.
I used to live next door to someone who fed feral cats and let them shit in her yard. The smell was amazing. Perhaps you have never had to live around the constant smell of shit (add in buzzing flies if you like) but I do think you are very much too hard on the OP. I also think maybe your post is close to being a personal insult, which is not allowed here IIRC.
The OP doesn’t mention the smell though (which I agree would be reason to be bothered) but rather the sight and “idea”, which is less intrusive and perhaps something the OP could learn to deal with. It’s a shame that the neighbor’s yard isn’t kept tidy or sanitary, but the dilemma that is so upsetting is actually largely of the OPs making. If it’s clearly offensive (smell noticeable from the OP’s property etc) then the obvious answer is to say something calmly and face to face, asking the neighbor to clean more frequently. If it’s more this nebulous idea of it being there, then perhaps it isn’t worth the confrontation and it would be better to do as sitchensis suggests.
This is not an all consuming issue of mine; I would have posted a thread many months ago if it was. Just a minor irritant, however since I brought it up I’m letting you know how I feel about it. Why can’t seemingly civil normal folks living in a clean quite suburb can’t take care of things they’ve bought into? I prefer not to have headaches over something like dog poops with a neighbor living right next to me.