Growing up I never had a dog and I never had a front yard. No one on my street had a front yard. It's hard to have one when the side of your house is built into a hill. So I never learned the proper etiquette regarding a neighbors front lawn when it comes to one's dog and one's dog's needs. Namely, is it ok for your dog to pee in your neighbors yard? I always wonder about that. I usually encourage Theo to go in the shrubberies around the common areas , but sometimes he just likes a particular push in a neighbors yard and before I know it his leg is lifted.
Personally, I don't care if dogs pee in my yard. A Maltese peed there just a couple of days ago and I was a-ok with it. But as the recent passing of Prop. 8 shows, other people who live around me obviously think very differently from me. So help me out here. What is good front yard etiquette mean to you? Are dogs peeing in your yard a big no no?
5 comments:
Sully and I tend to stick to the public side of the sidewalk, aka the street side curb. If there is no sidewalk, it is generally safe to stay within 2-3 feet from the road, any trees there are tended by the city and if people plant things there, it is at their own risk since it's not really their property. In our last neighborhood, we had a terrible time with people "walking" their dogs by simply letting them off leash and walking behind them. Dogs would go in our front yard, side yard, back yard. It was horrible. Once I was in my back yard and I turned around and there was a pitbull staring at me. I knew who he belonged to but he wasn't wearing a collar so I couldn't just lead him home. I'm glad we don't have that problem now!
Ditto what jenna said.. If there is a sidewalk, I think it's etiquette for dogs to 'do their business' on the street side..which is usually the city's property. When I see dogs peeing in my property I get kind of ticked off :)
I only let Gibson nose around on the street side.
Hmm, yeah that's what I figured. That's why I flee the scene of the crime whenever Theo pees in a neighbors yard, hehe. It's very rare that he tries that though. Usually we stick to the public areas on our walk.
I should have also prefaced the conversation by saying that our "front yards" in my neighborhood are actually just planters about 5'x4' right by the sidewalk. It's just a little patch to plant some grass or a few bushes, maybe a palm tree if you're into that. It's not a place where anyone would actually hang out.
seems like you got some good advice; I know that the grass grown here tends to brown out when a dog does his business on it so homeowners are a bit touchy about dogs on their grass. I try to have Koda take care of business in our backyard and then we walk down by a park where there are lots of shrubs where he takes care of more business; such a delicate balancing act to meet his needs as well as keep people happy
betty
Betty, I hear you on keeping the grass green. Most front yards where I live are just wood chips, but some are grass.
It sounds like I had the right idea by trying to guide Theo to go in the common areas (which he doesn't with little complaint thankfully). Hehe. Thanks everyone!
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