We bought a house on a corner lot as well. This is our third house in The Villages. Over the past years, we noticed that corner lots do take much of the brunt of the damage from dogs defecating and urinating. In anticipation of such things occurring on our new corner lot, we put two (one on the front and side streets) signs in English and Spanish to not come in the yard. This did not seem to do much, plus we had a "troll" report us to the developer about not having a permit for our small, well-designed signs. The developer wrote us a letter about the signs telling us we are in violation. I have written to the developer twice (with photos of the signs) about the signs twice about allowing the signs and reminding him that the dog park is only 3 blocks from our house. He has yet to respond one way or the other. Apparently anonymous trolls have much more influence than homeowners.
Why people can't walk the 3 blocks to the dog park is beyond me. The fact that some people feel they "have a right" to have their dogs poop in my yard and not their own reflects a lack of manners their lack of a proper upbringing. We invest thousands of dollars each year to keep our yard looking nice. We don't appreciate others disrespecting our property and turning it into their own private dog park.
Our present home is south of SR 44. We have noticed that a very large number of people do not keep their dogs on a leash when outside their homes. No, they do not have electric doggy fences in their yards. They all seem to think they are the "exception" to whatever rules of conduct, good manners, or safety (including the dog's safety from traffic) should be observed. The dogs are loose outside the dog park, around the mailboxes, and sometimes walking the neighborhoods. I like pets but some pet owners are irresponsible. In my long life, I have only been bitten by dogs whose owners told me that "their dogs didn't bite".
I have more constructive things to do than to peek out my window all day waiting for a dog to 'litter' my yard and run out to confront the dog's owner. Turning on a sprinkle during such an incident also seems childish. I am not a stranger to confrontation. While "constructive confrontation" can have positive results, too often I have seen pride or embarrassment of people in such a situation turn into a "destructive confrontation". I would prefer others to be respectful of other people's property. I would prefer to be friends with my neighbors. The neighbors I have met have all been friendly. I would like to keep it that way.
If we are to be "America's Friendliest Hometown", the developer and other "powers that be" should at least respond to homeowners in such situations and not give more weight to the opinions of anonymous trolls. The trolls need to find a hobby other than sticking their noses into other people's business. The developers or respective committees need to respond to correspondence from homeowners.
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