Not to want a stranger's dog to crap in our garden every day?

[sleeponeday]

So, in our new house we have a lovely local who lets their dog into our front garden every workday to take a crap between 6.30 and 8.30 am. They open the gate in order to do so - very quietly. It's absolute It was obviously going on for a while before we moved in (house was empty at least a couple of months prior) to judge by the amount of shit. Chilli powder on the stones (a local dog breeder suggested that this might stop the dog being willing to get into the garden at all, without harming them) isn't working, and nor are sleigh bells on the gate. Any suggestions on what we can do to deter this animal? And I do not mean the poor dog.

Don't think they were trying to break in - it wasn't the Yale, it was the mortice, which we only use when we go out. But it was def. tampered with - you couldn't insert the key to the turning bit as it had been jiggled round somehow. They may have been trying to lock us in to annoy us, but actually all it did was temporarily render the lock unusable - it's a good look, it can't be engaged either way properly without the key. Anyway, it's seemingly all at an end now and our poor neighbour is their current shit-deposit-station of choice.

Following with interest
Have an semi open front garden and some irresponsible dog owners that literally let their dogs roam the neighbourhood and our garden is a haven for them. Sad for the dogs but sick of the kids treading in it

A blend of chilli powder, ginger powder and chilli flakes, really thickly sprinkled - so it looks like light, settled snow - has worked for us. Don't buy the small spice bottles - you need a couple of large packets of each to fully cover the area. DH has also now piled up the recycling boxes in such a way they need to be moved to access most of the stoned bit from our path. It's just more hassle and pain for the dog than it is worth, I think, or at least that was the goal. Maybe worth a shot?

I used to watch a man walk his spaniel down my now MIL's street. I'd be having a smoke every night out of my (now) DH's bedroom window and I'd watch the man walk down the street that was mainly open gardens, stretching his arm out so the dog could get right into the gardens for a shite. I never understood how he thought that was remotely okay. The gardens were almost all extremely well cared for, beautifully manicured lawns. And instead of using the field that ran beside the street, the only grass he bothered with was innocent homeowner's gardens!
After I had been visiting my then BF for a while and was more comfortable I yelled at the man asking what the hell he thought he was doing and to get his damned dog off people's gardens. He said nothing but dragged his dog off. I never saw him do it again.

I truly can't believe just how cheeky some people are and I don't ever question posts like these because these CFNs actually exist in real life!

Glad you got it sorted OP but if your lock was damaged it might be worth your while to have cctv fitted no matter what. It's better to be safe than sorry. Dash and and CCTV are invaluable these days.