AIBU about neighbours and dog poo.

[Cookingmonster]

Hello!
I live in London with my husband and 3 kids in a ground floor flat. We have two girls who live in the flat upstairs and between us we share the backyard (ie We own one half and the flat upstairs own the other but it is not fenced and we share it.)
They own a small dog. No problem until now. My oldest had a friend over and they were playing outside. They came back inside and I noticed they were a bit dirty. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I realised that it was dog poo...on their shoes, their legs and one had it on his arm.
I threw them both in the shower, washed their shoes then marched out to clean up the poo. There was 2 lots.
I am furious. I have a 21 month old who goes out there as well!
The dog has been living up there for about a year and goes away at a month at a time when the girls are busy. Only one other time have I had to clean up after the dog, and I didn't say anything because it was the first time!
So...AIBU to want the neighbours to ensure the dog does not ever poo in the garden?

Yabu to expect it never to use the garden YANBU to expect them to clean it up

I'd fence off half and tell them to keep their dog out of my half to be honest. You cannot expect them not to let the dog use the garden although you can expect them to clear up the mess.

I'd just speak to them about it - "if your dog poos in the back garden, please can you pick it up straightaway please? My children play out there and they were covered in it the other day"

Unless they are complete bastards, they'll look embarrassed and sort it.

Do they own or rent?

No of course you're NBU. You need to have clear rules about it. We have this issue with our neighbours and a shared drive. They do clear it up but in their own time, whereas we want them to (a) not let their dog do it there at all or at the very least (b) clear it up immediately after it's done it.

Talk to them, calmly, and ask that they don't let the dog poo in the garden. I have a dog and know that often it is impossible to totally clear it up from grass.

Do you rent? If so, are there already rules about the garden?

I don't share my garden, but I do have kids and a dog. I know when he needs to "go" and it's either on his morning walk, or after his tea, at which point he's either on another walk or in the garden, and I go and pick it up immediately. I have a "poo stick" system whereby I stick a stick in the ground where the poo was and this area is veto until I can give the grass a proper hose down and sanitise it. It's not difficult to predict when your dog does a poo.

However, if the dog is old and can't wait, if the dog isn't being walked, if it has no set routine, or if the owner is elderly / can't bend, etc, so many variables, then it's less easy. If the owner isn't in the garden with it, or it's very dark at night as an after-work night poo, he will obviously "miss" the poo, but that's no excuse in a shared property, he needs to check in the morning. I would check the deeds as to pet ownership and shared garden rules, and then have a word about it. You can get leaflets about the effects of dog poo on children from the childrens centre, or print them out online, and i'd have a friendly chat and present one. The risk of eye damage is real and unpleasant.

As a dog owner I do rely on my garden sometimes for the dog to poo in, but it's my garden and I clean it up immediately. In a shared garden your neighbour is being completely unreasonable to effectively curb your use of your garden by leaving this disgusting mess.

Have you spoken to the neighbour? Could they perhaps fence off a bit of their part of the garden and train their dog to only use that? If not there must be some health department - environmental health perhaps - in your local authority that could advise and help you.

I take it you both own your flats, otherwise the landlord or agent would be the next stop.

Perhaps it's time to fence it? That way you can be totally sure they've not missed any and your kids can play out without mess or risk of toxocariasis.

Thank you. I figured that I couldn't just hope the dog won't poo there again. I haven't talked to them yet. They are lovely and I just want to be calm and level headed when I do talk to them. (I did notice however) that I was being watched when I was cleaning it up!

We own our flat and the girls rent upstairs but I'm not sure how that would affect anything (except for asking the landlord to pay for the fence!!)

if its a one off I would niceky remind the girls to sciop the poop and leave it be.

if it happens again I would sort out a fence.

I would sort out the fence now, see if you could get the landlord to go halves, who knows what will happen in the future. Could you set a row of fast growing hedging too it would give privacy too.

Well if they rent they might not be allowed to have the dog there..

Yeah, just speak to them.