Dog people, why does this happen?

It happened twice yesterday: someone curbed their dog in our yard while one of us was standing right there.

In the first instance, Phil was rounding the corner as a woman was letting her labrador whiz all over our potted rosemary. When he gave her a What the hell? look, she ducked and scurried off.

Then last night, as I was walking up my sidewalk post-errand, some hipster doofus couple curbed their pug in my nasturtiums. I walked over and said, smiling, "Good thing those nasturtiums are resilient, huh?" Again -- no eye contact, and the dog's owners scurried off silently.

I don't know what the etiquette for these situations is: Are we supposed to ignore these people letting their dogs use our potted plants as their toilets? Am I in the wrong for commenting on the effect dog piss has on plants? Is it unreasonable for me to expect dog-walkers to acknowledge the presence of the people whose yards they are watering?

What is the social contract for these situations? It's going to be a little while before I can build raised beds and paint "Please do not curb your dog" on the sides. I have to know how to handle the next instance where someone walks their dog over to another one of our edible plants and commands Fido to tinkle.

Comments

[B.Loppe]

Offer them some rosemary to take home with them. "Perhaps you'd like to season your meal tonight? No really, I insist!"

[Mr. Sobell]

And the pisser of it is -- yes, that's an intentional word choice -- we actually eat stuff we grow in that yard.

[H. Wren]

I guess it's never bothered me when dogs have peed in any yards that I've had. (I don't have a yard right now, so it's not an issue.) I've always placed plants close to the house, rather than out by the sidewalk, where there's only grass. Dog poop is another thing entirely, though -- clean it up, passersby!

[LisaK]

We're dog owners, but I don't have much advice to offer here. Our neighborhood has plenty of grass and bushes that are not on private land. We just, uh, direct Katie to the appropriate areas. It's not difficult.

You could put up a small sign -- "No dogs allowed -- this is an edible garden." But then, you'd be assuming they know what "edible" means. Maybe something more crude, like "I don't want to eat your dog's urine. Please void elsewhere."

[Ellen]

People are letting their dogs pee in your POTTED plants? That's insane. I think you're entirely in line to comment on the behavior if you catch them in the act. And I'm a dog owner, for what it's worth. I'm also a garden person, though, so maybe that makes me more sensitive.

A small sign probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Do you have a section of yard next to the sidewalk that isn't planted? If so, maybe wording it to suggest "cross the freaking sidewalk already, you inconsiderate morons," would help.

[drunken monkey]

There's a flower store around the corner from my place that has some planters outside, and they've got a sign to that effect: "Please don't let your dog relieve itself here."

[Kip]

I would absolutely confront anyone I saw letting their dog pee in my plants: "Hey! What's going on here?" Leave them to explain what their dog is doing and why it's OK.

That said, I would never put anything edible (or flowers I was going to use inside) in my front yard. Even if you put up a sign, people will either ignore it or deliberately disobey it -- I've seen people INSTRUCT their dogs to crap on lawns with signs on them, because they are annoyed at being told what to do.

Do you have a neighborhood association? I think that's the best place to bring this sort of thing up. Then it won't be just you, Lone Crank, but potentially a whole streetful of people who are willing to call these people on their outrageous behavior.

[foo]

Well, I dunno, I let my dog out for a few minutes before we go for a walk so he can do his business in our back yard. It doesn't always work that way, sometimes we get walking and he decides to go on someone's yard. I always carry a bag for the poo but I really can't do much for pee. I do not really see how I can control the dog's systems - as much as I would prefer him to go in our own back yard I have not been able to enforce my preference on the beast. I am prepared for a pick up but with, er, pee it's a bit different.

[Nancy]

I'm with you 100 percent on the issue, but am puzzled by your use of "curb your dog." The traditional instruction has always been "PLEASE curb your dog," which means "Make sure your dog does its business in the curb area, not on the sidewalk or the potted plants." When did "curb" take on this new meaning of "Go ahead and allow your animal to micturate or defecate wherever it wishes"?

[Vicki]

Unfortunately, if dogs have already used your plants as a public restroom, you are going to have trouble deterring this behavior in the future. When you are out somewhere and need to go, you look for a big sign that says "Restroom." Dogs do the same thing, except they use their noses. Where Spot went yesterday is where Fido will go today.

One thing you can try is sprinkling cayenne pepper around your plants. Most dogs will avoid the pepper.

[Lisa]

Vicki, thanks for the pepper hint. I will be using it!

Nancy, I may not be using "curb your dog" correctly. Never having had a dog, I am not familiar with the vocabulary surrounding their public elimination, nor with the etymology surrounding the phrase "curb your dog." I have seen signs in other people's yards directing "Don't curb your dog here," so I figured the usage was a widely-used euphemism for animal elimination.

Kip: fortunately -- and I say that for a wide variety of reasons -- we do NOT have a neighborhood association, so I am on my own here. Unfortunately, however, owing to the way my house is sited, the best morning sun is on the front and side yard. Hence my growing all sorts of edibles in containers. I had thought the containers would have been deterrent enough -- after all, what savage would think it's okay for anything to pee on a potted plant? -- but apparently not.

I am currently reviewing different how-tos for building raised beds, and will be doing that. I had been resistant to the idea of putting up any sort of fence in our tiny, tiny front yard, but will probably be doing something along those lines to present another obstacle to any animals on-leash.

To be honest: right now, I am seething with resentment over the fact that I do not have a dog, yet have to radically alter MY front and side yard's landscape to accomodate all the dog owners around. I find the idea that I can't use the best-sited part of my yard for edibles, just because other people can't be bothered to direct their dogs toward the gutter, to be pretty choice.

[ginger]

We put our edibles and pots behind fences or far up the steep bit of the driveway, because there is just no way that the dog owners in our neighborhood are going to refrain from letting Fido defecate, much less urinate on them. Cayenne is an expensive solution if you have a lot of exposed plants - we reserve it to deter cats, which see our vegetable garden as one big fluffy litterbox. (Coffee grounds seem to work a bit better, and floppy fencing that's irritating to climb works best of all, although the neighbors clearly disapprove and make cracks about deer. Until they stop letting their cats out, they can jam it, as far as I'm concerned.)

Also, curbing just means that there's crap to step in as you get in and out of the car, so it's not a vast improvement.

[Lisa]

Coffee grounds seem to work a bit better

And you can use them to enrich soil. Hmmmm.

I really can't emphasize this enough: we have a very tiny yard (both front and back), and the best-sited spots are in the front. Why should it be so freakin' unreasonable to expect to be able to grow what I'd like in my yard?

This whole thing makes me want to just stand in my tiny yard and shriek, "What is wrong with you people?" Phil keeps saying we should put up a hedge of some sort ("And line it with punji sticks," I add, muttering darkly) to discourage the people who blithely tramp through the planting beds and direct their dogs to whiz wherever they want. And that kills me, that I have to freakin' WALL OFF my yard, make it hostile to passersby and secede from the public avenue, becuase passersby can't extend a little courtesy in return.

Gahhhh!

[Shotrock]

I'd be tempted to have Phil follow the knee-biters home, and once they turn up their own front walk, he can open his fly and water THEIR plants. Point made.

[Cori]

"Why should it be so freakin' unreasonable to expect to be able to grow what I'd like in my yard?"

Because people are selfish, inconsiderate jerks. I can't believe that people actually let their dogs piss on potted plants - were they raised in a world ruled by dictatorial planters?

[drunken monkey]

It's not that hard to direct your dog elsewhere -- to a patch of plain grass, even, as opposed to a plant in a pot. Dogs take a minute to settle when they decide to go.

See, cats just pee in a box, even though their personalities are such that many would probably just LOVE to go in someone's rosemary for kicks, and that is one more reason why, though dogs are cute and all, I am a cat person.

[VanillaBean]

Our crazy neighbor lets her little dog run wild. We keep discovering poop on our lawn, so now my hussband gets out the shovel and flings the poop onto her driveway. We are planting a hedge too, but that is more because we don't want to deal with her crazy hoarding disease.

Honestly, if I discovered a stranger letting their pet void on a POTTED plant in my yard there would be obscenities spoken. Loudly. Or I'd take a picture.

[ginger]

Uh, not that I'm admitting this, VanillaBean, but it might possibly be that someone I know has a neighbor who throws cigarette butts into her yard, and it might also be that she now retaliates by spitting gum into the neighbor's bushes.

And trust me, Drunken Monkey, indoor-only cats pee in boxes, but indoor-outdoor and fully outdoor cats pee in my yard. (All of them, even the ones in Canada. No, not really, it just seems that way sometimes.) What I really don't understand is why, given all the goddamn cats scattering their excreta hither and yon, we still have moles. (And also, why I still like cats better than dogs.)

[Nancy]

Here's a humorous approach to the problem taken in Vancouver, BC (via Andy Nulman's "POW! Right Between the Eyes!" blog): http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/pow_right_between_the_eye/2007/01/worlds_best_pic.html

[Ricky]

The above site tells you about the behavior of dogs i have gone through the similar site which gives a very good description o behavior of dogs

”>Dog beds

[john victor]

I found a great orthopedic dog bed for my dog, Rosie. She is a 9 year old Labrador retriever

and has very bad arthritis. I was glad I found this bed for Rosie she sleeps so much more

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finally just gave up. I’m glad I found this store.
Dog Beds

[Lisa S.]

But, John Victor, does Rosie pee in the dog bed? Thus preventing her from watering my flowers?

Because otherwise, I'm just not interested.

[ginger]

Do you talk to the TV set, too? I do. "It's a nasty stress hormone, sure, but it keeps you from dying when you're being chased by big animals out on the veldt. Also, how's that lawsuit going?"

[tazzie123]

Do you have side walks? If you do wash them with vinegar it will get rid of the dogs FAST
Or go to a lawn care place and get a sign theat says they sprayed your lawn Toxic until next rain fall

[Liz]

Dog owners should either make their animals do their business, defecate and urinate, on their own property or in public gutter.

No one should ever allow a dog to go on someone else's property. It's not a matter of carrying a cute little plastic bag. Keep off other people's property. Period.

It's rude, it's thoughtless, it's gross.