Dog wee. AIBU?

[SarahAndQuack]

We live in a house that's built straight against the pavement; the garden wraps round the side. On the pavement side of the fence, there's maybe a foot deep strip of earth before you get to the pavement. It's separated off with a little bit of flat edging. This runs in to the house that comes next on the street, and there the little strip has been all nicely planted up. (I am giving this much detail because I haven't a pen to hand to do a diagram, and I know how MN loves detail).

When we moved in our house was in a state and no one had done the garden for years, including the little strip in front of the fence. We rent, so don't know what the deeds say about whether the little strip belongs to us or the council.

My AIBU is: there's a lot of dog walkers who just let their dogs wee against the gate posts and all over the little strip of ground. When we first moved in I didn't know this and saw it was messy, so dug out the weeds and planted some spring bulbs. A while back I came out of my front door to find a woman waiting for her dog to finish pooing on the strip of ground; I obviously looked a bit disgusted and she said defensively that you can't help where dogs poo and picked it up.

This is grim, right?
Is the weeing also grim? Or do I just have to grin and bear it as one of the annoyances of living in a house that fronts the road?

I don't have dogs, never have, but I'd assume you try not to let your dog wee onto something that's fairly obviously being gardened?

I think the best you can hope for is that they will pick up their dog poo.
But the peeing most definitely will happen.

I would move my dog away from an area that looked as if it had been planted on, out of politeness but in all honesty sometimes its happened before I know it! If it's an area where they are used to going or other dogs go then they will be drawn to it I'm afraid.

It sounds like public land so really not a lot you can do. But I can appreciate it might be a bit annoying. If it makes you feel better, other wild animals are probably pissing there too 🙈

Plant a few spikey bushes there...

@Smellycat56 - totally understandable it'd sometimes happen before you knew! That's not an issue. What bugs me more is the assumption it's totally fine.

It's hard to know if it's public land, because, as I say, the next house along obviously presume it's part of their garden. No one lets their dogs wee/poo there.

@Aprilwasverywet - that's a totally practical idea I should have thought of! Thanks.

YABU

You can teach dogs to wee and poo outside, but you can't teach them not toilet where there's active gardening, unless it's a public park, or at home, or other subtle exceptions. My exceedingly well house trained dog once mistook the Paddington station concourse for a pavement and did a poo

Dogs wee on things, and it's totally normal. And tbh, once they've cocked their leg, there's very little you can do about it. Dog pop not being collected (if you're sure it's dog pop, not cat or fox poo) would be a legitimate complaint, but it doesn't appear that this is the case.

You can't do anything about it if it isn't your land, and it does sound like public land.

As long as they are clearing up poo then that is all that is legally required and all that is really possible to do. You can't pick up wee.

You have chosen to do gardening on this public land, but that doesn't give you any rights over it, although I do admit that it is very public spirited of you.

@Topseyt - I don't know if it's our land or not. The next house along clearly think it's part of their garden; we just don't know and assumed, since as renters we don't get the deeds.

I don't think I would hugely mind the weeing if it were accompanied by a casual 'oops, sorry about that!' from people rather than them just standing their waiting as the wee trickles into my garden (it's sloped so it does).

But I will try the prickly bushes and maybe the dogs themselves will just decide it doesn't look so welcoming!

(I did not know it was a legal requirement to pick up poo.)

What?
Of course you can pull your dog away from peoples fences and planted areas to stop them weeding and pooing there. If you say they started doing it before you noticed the dog is clearly not under your control.

Who the hell wants dog shit and wee next to their home and garden.

OP - find the spikiest bushes you can!