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Dog walking etiquette

6K views 54 replies 29 participants last post by  marshies 
#1 ·
I feel frustrated and upset. Rocco likes to pee and poop when I walk him. I always keep him off people's actual yard. I allow him to go on the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street. When he poops, I always pick up his poop (I carry doggy poop bags). But when he pees, usually more like "marking", there is nothing I can do (I can't pick it up). So, I thought I was doing everything right. This morning, my neighbor yelled at me because Rocco peed on the palm tree that is in the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street. Now, I feel like I have to cross the street everytime I walk him so that he won't go in front of her house. Am I doing something wrong by allowing him to pee? I can't stop him from peeing or pooping if he needs to...
 
#36 ·
I walk dogs all day, every day, in LOTS of types of neighborhoods. Although most times these dogs are on a routine of eliminating in the beginning of each walk (of those who do go), that does not mean we don't have "accidents" along the way. I usually walk pretty fast & don't allow alot of sniffing. I always carry many bags & watch for "the signs". In all cases we try to make it to a "neutral" area. When I take a new dog out, I map out several good potty areas along the way. Eventually I have a potty place nearby if a dog gives me "the sign". There are accidents, however I try to keep most potty times where I prefer them to happen. All of this is done because I want the neighbors to feel I respect their property & show it by being responsible.
 
#37 ·
Mary Beth - I also use the Mutt Mitt! I love them. Super sturdy and easy clean up.

Hunter green - there are several dog owners that walk their dogs and never clean up. I see dog poop everywhere when I walk Rocco. But my neighbor was upset with Rocco peeing on her palm trees. The other dog owners don't pass in front of her house. It is kind of out of the way for them. I live on the corner of a two busy streets and her house is right next to mine going into the neighborhood.

Doggie dad - I always try to make him go in our back yard first. But he likes to mark and sometimes he has to poop a second time. I just have to limit the marking I guess.


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#39 · (Edited)
I personally don't feel comfortable with my dog peeing/pooping on anybody's property or even in dog park it maybe a bit extreme but I always let her out in backyard to do her business before I take her on a walk I just feel like its messed up when the front yard becomes a regular peeing spot for dogs even if its technically not their property. It's disgusting and I think it's also rude.My senior neighbor lives on fixed income and he just put new grass in his front yard it cost him over $1000.. after a few weeks he noticed yellow spots on his grass from dogs peeing on it. he has a dog himself but he is trained to pee kn designated area in backyard... the yellow dry grass is still there and its not even his fault.. so thats another reason i think people should control where their dogs pee...It's much harder when you have a male dog that's one of the reasons I chose a female dog. But that's just me... Other people don't care..


 
#42 ·
I normally take the dogs the same route every day so I definately don't want to piss anyone off. Even though they go potty in the yard for some reason Lakota likes to poop on our ride, I always pick up. As far as pee Apache & Lakota aren't as bad as Kiya. Kiya likes to sniff every where. While we are passing peoples property I keep her moving, I only let them sniff & pee in certain areas mostly wooded places, telephone poles or fire hydrants, not in front of peoples houses. Lots of people walk thier dogs around so I guess the smells are irrestistable at times.
Just avoid letting your dog stop by this persons house.
 
#43 ·
In established cities...that little area is usually "public" and so LEGALLY you can let your dog do whatever it wants there. But should we really choose our interactions with other people based on how the law would perceive it? In some less established suburbs, or brand new subdivisions that area is sometimes part of the person's property. When the city builds a curb or a sidewalk on that land they actually charge the property owner and its usually worth it because it increases the value of the house by increasing the value of the neighborhood. In some of those places the city will then also be in charge of fixing the sidewalk and the curb along the property, they will also charge the homeowner for those services (if they are done) and that is tax deductible as part of property tax.

So depending on where you live it actually might be that person's property. I wouldn't like it if someone was allowing their dog to do that on my property...like it was mentioned, some dogs kill the grass and there is nothing you can do about it except catch it in the act and then dump a whole bunch of water on that spot to dilute it. Keep your neighbor happy and don't allow your dog to do anything in that area, its not worth pissing him off over your dog being able to urinate on a tree 20 feet away from that one.
 
#45 ·
I got about half way through the article on dog urine, and was kind of offended by the use of slang in it.

Without any training, Cujo never pottied on walks. He always went in his area in the back yard. It was just his thing.
 
#50 ·
The area I live in doesn't have sidewalks, techically I do not own the first 15 or 20 feet off the road. So if for some reason they decided to widen the road & put sidewalks in I loose that property.
Dog urine definately kills trees. When I had my Dobbie, he killed a tree in my x-mother-in-laws backyard, we lived in her basement and every day he pee'd on that tree, it died.
 
#51 ·
I have both a boulevard it's called here (grass between sidewalk & street) and my backyard borders the alley. And I have to keep those areas maintained. Dog pee won't harm the tough old cottonwood tree on the boulevard nor the weeds in my front lawn, and I do let my dog mark in his front yard before I take him for a walk. But the neighbors who lived next to me when I first moved in had a prize winning lawn. Well, the first words they said to me when they saw I had a dog was "if you let your dog poop/pee in our yard or on the bouvelard or on the strip by the alley we will report you". They went on to say that neighbors on the corner had according to them, trained their lab to poop/pee in this owners's alley strip. It got really bad and they finally called the police. Though I understand their frustration, it made me feel very unwelcome, and I always avoided them after that. So I can understand the op's frustration and hurt.
 
#53 · (Edited)
My understanding is that here in the US there are two primary ways this works out. Either the homeowner owns the property all the way to the street and the public has a 'right of way' for a strip alongside the road OR alternatively that strip is actually owned by the public via the city, county, or other local governmental unit. The end result is the same - there is a strip of property running adjacent to the road that the public has the right to use in any manner that is not illegal. Usually there is an ordinance requiring the removal of solid waste a domestic animal leaves behind so it would be illegal to not pick that up. On the flip side, allowing your domestic animal to cross that 'right of way' line onto their private property is trespassing even if no damage is done. Killing plants (even weeds) on private property is damaging someone elses property, regardless of whether you or I place any value on those plants.

Etiquette is much more nuanced and can change based on different circumstances and even different localities.

I train my dogs to do their thing in a specific place in my backyard because I'd prefer not to carry their waste around, I don't like to stop and juggle leashes while cleaning up, and I appreciate having good relations with my neighbors. I can depart my home in 5 different directions and I use them all, diverging as much as possible as quickly as possible, in order to keep our walks different and interesting. This also helps spread the love around whenever they do need another bathroom stop. So it isn't focused on a favorite tree for example. I do prevent them from going on any landscaping on the public land simply out of courtesy. Sure the homeowner is taking their chances investing time and effort planting things there; but there are plenty of other places to go and I wouldn't want to have to dig through urine soaked dirt to split my bulbs for example. A simple "not there" tells my boys they can read the peemail but they can't reply.

I rarely get the stink eye from a property owner, but if I do I just smile and wave knowing I'm well within the law and and being more considerate then the average dog walker in my city. They nearly always just give an embarassed wave back. The only time anyone accosted me I gave a brief summary of the points above, explained that he was an unneighborly **** (this was because he wasn't listening), and then told him I would continue as I normally did unless he accosted me again. In which case I would have my dogs pee in front of his house for a week instead of in their backyard bathroom. I've never heard from him again although I've seen him peeking from the windows from time to time.

Now, the dog walking etiquette around meeting another dog walker on the sidewalk is much more complicated...

Sorry about the length. I debated this topic with a coworker and then returned to find my desk full of work that needed to be avoided!
 
#54 ·
Cujo never pottied, save in his back yard, but that doesn't mean he does not sniff. One day I was walking with him down the road in front of a used car lot. The lot has a maybe 12 foot long 12 inch wide strip of grass within high curbs. It is not pretty grass, just the ordinary weed I have been trying to kill for the last 11 years out at my place.

Anyhow, being within town, the weed did have to be maintained, but it still didn't look any fuller, greener, fresher, sharper than the weed at my house.

Well, anyhow, the fellow who either works there or owns the place saw us coming and came out and stationed himself near his strip of tundra. And me and Cujo are meandering along, sniffing here, sniffing there, and he says to me, "Don't let him go on my grass."

I looked at him like he was from Mars.

Cujo does not go on people's grass, but no one knows that, and I was ornery enough not to tell him. I just said, "Well ---, if he has to go ---," and I watched him start to boil, and I whipped a baggie out of my pocket and said, "I'll just have to pick it up."

He said, "Oh, well that's ok then, most people don't."

He was ok with it so long as I would have picked it up.

I kept baggies on me because my girls are not as particular about where they will drop a load, and no way will you get away with not picking it up at training classes. I also have walked the dog away from a pile at 2:30 in the AM, and then drove the car back to collect it.
 
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