dog issues?
 

I was walking my terrier, Gus, today on Bailey Trail. He stopped to sniff at a telephone pole, and the guy who owns the house abutting the street opened his lanai door and yelled at me, "Would you move the dog along?" And then slammed his door shut before I could respond. The dog was just sniffing, maybe was going to mark the pole, but he wasn't doing anything else if you know what I mean. And I had bags to pick anything up, which were in my hand. So I guess my question is what am I supposed to do, does the guy's property go all the way to the sidewalk? Are we supposed to curb the dogs?

That fellow's going to have a heart attack if he's that uptight about a dog on the edge of the sidewalk and the lawn. Gus wasn't even fully on the lawn... and I suspect he was so interested in that place because many many other dogs have been too. Maybe he'll be like the troll under the bridge when people with dogs go by! :)

Then I was walking home after going to the mailbox, where I deposited one of Gus's well wrapped and knotted used bags. I ran into two neighbors and told them about the man in the lanai, and one of them said "did he see your bags? and where are they?" I told her I put the one in the trashcan at the pool. She said I can't do that. Is this a rule?

I think I'll stay inside now for the rest of the day, even though it's beautiful out. Not a great walk.

Prime Reason We Need A Dog Park Near 466A
 

Sorry about the property owner. In my experience I try to make sure my dog does his business in a common area but I dispose of all bags at my home. I have a 3 gallon container with a foot pedal lid opener that I have neatly hidden on the side of the house behind a shrub out of sight. I haven't searched the rules about disposal of waste bags and feel no need to as long as I dispose of them at my home. You'll see many vigorous discussions about pets in this forum. Maybe the property owner is worried about the 1 green spot that your dog can make in his yard. It's best to avoid him. This is just a prime example why we need a dog park in the south end of TV near 466A.

F16 where do you empty the 3 gallon container? I wish someone would invent a flushable bag, some sort of biodegradable paper.

We use a small bucket and scoop we bought at the Dollar store and flush the waste down the toilet. Works great for us. Years of pooper scooping experience and I prefer this method for TV. I love the idea of a biodegradable bag!

We do curb our girls, we want to be considerate neighbors.

I the answer is YES. You take your dog's stuff home and put in it your own garbage can. Why do you think anyone wants to smell your dog's poop? I do not care how well it is sealed. It will smell when the weather gets warm. For seven years I carted Bart's poop home. And he was a shepherd. You can do it also.

This might work.


http://uniquedistributors.com/doggiedooley1.html

dog issues
 

I get the dog poop, not a problem. I too have a metal container in my yard and do deposit 98 percent of his poop there. Seems like everyone is focusing on the depositing of the dog poop. Fine.

However, when I am walking my dog on a main street and he is sniffing the lawn on the main street, Bailey Trail, I think it's not too cool to be yelling at me to move my dog along. But I realize there are people who like dogs, and people who do not like dogs. And I am a responsible dog owner. I never leave anything behind, and make sure he's on a leash.

When we first moved here when we'd leave he'd bark. A neighbor told me he was barking. We took him with us when we'd leave for 2 months until he was acclimated to the new house and wouldn't bark when we left. So I'm feeling a little defensive with some of your responses.

Doggies are so much fun to have, but being responsible for their well being and care is a job.

Leaving their well bagged fecal matter in any waste container around here isn't a good idea because of the heat, as others have stated.

We moved here with our older dog who passed a few years ago and she used only our yard to do her business. She was very feeble so taking her for a walk was out of the question. I do understand why that man who yelled might have been upset....even though the land might not be his, he is responsible for the care of the lawn. I have a couple of neighbors who walk their pooches through the neighborhood and every once in a while, one of the doggies does wet on our grass. Problem is, once one marks, then another dog will do the same and pretty soon, you've got an area of dead grass.

I'm sorry you were yelled at. Some people are just grouchy. Maybe this person has been having problems with other dogs and you just happened to arrive at the wrong time.

There is usually a utility easment along the edge of the property. The homeowner still owns the property up to the road. The easment gives the utility companies right of access along the easment. It does not transfer ownership of the property to the utility companies.

The 3 gal container has a trash bag liner. The poop bags, whether they are your everyday grocery store type or the rolls of bags that are sold at pet stores, are tied off and thrown in the 3 gal container and emptied twice weekly.

WOW, we have dog pee nazis. Who'da thunk?

Maybe there are too many old people here.

Yoda.

:agree: Let me climb on my dog park soapbox. We absolutely need a dog park south of 466! I understand that the new Springdale Dog Park in the north/east corner of TV is extremely busy.

Two dogs are allowed per household. That can be a heck of a lot of dogs in each Village. If facilities aren't provided for walking the dogs, difficult situations are bound to occur.

Does this mean every time your dog has the urge, you are going to pack him off the dog park?

Here's a thought
 

Walk your dog in your own yard untill it does it's business. Then walk on the streets for exercise.

I understand the so called groughy man. I have a corner lot and it's amazing how many dog owners treat it like a public dog toilet. We don't suffer from green spots but brown/yellow. One pee spot attracts the next and then the next you see what I mean. I truely love dogs I have had a dog in my house since a young boy...It's the dog owners that are so difficult to train.

Ive always said bark collars should be fitted to the owner not the dog LOL.

Fences, Please!!

I absolutely agree. Just imagine if the "grouchy old man" went out to cut his lawn today and found himself stepping in doggy doo. I step in it every time I cut my lawn. It never fails. And yes the spots from the urine are also a pain. I am sure "grouchy old man" is upset from past experiences, not just from you.

Just realize that dog lovers love their dogs. Many non owners think they are a trouble.

I was at the AAC meeting two weeks ago and many people wanted to put recycle trash cans at the postal stations to recycle the junk mail. It was brought up that this was not feasible since dog doo would make it way into these containers just as it was making its way into the regular trash cans at the postal stations.

I think that eventually letting your dog crap on someone else's yard (even if you bag it ) will go the way of letting others smoke around you.

jeffy

That's exactly what crossed my mind.

I think its great you carry your baggy around and pick up your dog's poop. However, I do sympathize with the property owner here. We have people walking their dogs on our street, and they think nothing of letting their dogs pee and poop on our lawn. I mean, c'mon! Even if they pick up the poop, from my point of view its kind of disgusting having that on our lawn. And the pee burns the grass eventually. I'm not a dog owner, so maybe I'm biased. But I just think dog owners should let the dogs go in the road, or some public place, not in front of someone's house.

Just to add my 2 cents......the Springdale Dog Park is terrific.....lots of happy dogs, well cared for space, and for the most part lovely people.
South of 466 dog owners definitely need and deserve a park of there own.
We also have a dog poop trash can that is emptied twice weekly.
My gripe......folks who walk their dogs at the mail station and deposit the poop in the trash cans......disgustingly smelly on a hot Florida day. That's just rude...

Forgot to include the urine smell.

..And the dead plants and grass at the postal stations...........

When your dog does his duty in a certain spot,he and all other dogs will continue to use that same spot and ruin his property(grass).
I am a dog lover,but my question to you would be,why not let your dog do his business on your own lawn, and then take him for a walk.I have a neighbor who does exactly that,and I think that is great

Responsible dog owners is a group that got the ball rolling on the dog park in springdale.The group that is now working on getting dog parks south of 466 is responsible dog owners 2.We meet the third wednesday of the month @ Lake Miona rec center @ 7 p.m All are welcome and encouraged to attend these meetings .

not sure i want to jump in on this but using the theory put forward here every dog owner must have brown grass in their yard, that is not my case....gn

They Just don't get it.
 

barfLast year for the third time, I sat on the curb scraping down the lower two feet or so of my mail box pole to remove the rust and scale for painting back to black. And yes, I did it at the one of two times a day that a close neighbor comes by with his great dane. As if in a movie script, he comes by like clockwork and even stops to talk for a minute. I waited in hopes he would ask what I was doing, but since he did not ask, I slipped it into the conversation just what I was doing and added that I wish I could find out who's dog was using my mail box and yard as a toilet. I then said I can't do anything about the yellow dead grass, but I can revive my mail box post once in a while. Now that has been about five months ago and still to this day, he has to lean sideways going by my house in order to hold his dog in the middle of the street. The dog is like a horse and pulls on him hard trying to get to my mail box. Like I said, they just don't get it. Since he don't care if I have yellow spots on my grass or my mail box post turns to rust, why should I care. This did in fact work for me. I feel if I would have confronted him more direct, I would have been the jerk at least in his opinion.

I have read the argument that the county owns the first 8 feet of the property. Maybe so, and I would guess that most dogs in The Villages are small dogs; however, common sense should tell anyone above the age of reasoning that using the area in front of a neighbors home as a dog toilet is not the right thing to do.

Lou

Allow fences and solve the problem

Maybe allow a little sign that says in the friendliest way WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? :). Sold at town squares. I told my wife we missed an opportunity this holiday season when we could have integrated a message into the scene ;)

I hate to just say the same as others but I truly find in amazing that folks see no issue with their dogs in others yards, doing their business. I am also uncomfortable telling folks to knock it off, as they are neighbors and I have not figured out a way to suggest this without being perceived as a jerk.

I am a dog owner, love my dog, love other dogs, but would be very embarrassed if she veered off and quickly squatted while on a walk. In my area dogs are walked like kites with 15 - 30 feet of line, peeing, barking, etc.

None of this is the dogs fault, IMO there is a high percentage of dog owners that should own fish.....

:throwtomatoes:barfbarf

I don't think you would solve the problem. People like to walk their dogs so even with fenced yards the dogs would still be out there. I live in a CYV and even though we have fenced in courtyards a lot of the dog owners take their dogs out for walks.

Or maybe you mean build a fence right up to the curb so no dog can come into your yard?

If you allowed fences you would have a checker board of fenced/not fenced yards. And if people start to leave the dogs in the yards you would have a new problem, barking dogs.

I lived in a rental north of 466 for a while. We took the dog for a walk and let him do his business in what we thought was a common area. The second or third time we did this the owner came out and asked us not to let our dog on his property. He was nice about it and said most people thought it was a common area but in fact it was his and he maintained it. I started to pay attention to that corner and felt bad for the guy, he had a problem that will probably never go away.

Unfortunately it's difficult to tell a dog exactly where to do their business. Even when you think they're done they seem to be able to mark some more.

This is not a problem that is unique to TV. Maybe if dog owners were a little more respectful of others property and the property owner were a little more tolerant we could end this thread and move on to something more exiting, like how do I get the birds to stop flying over (and pooping on) my house?

FYI - You could buy a disposal container that gets burried in your yard. You put wastes into it and enzymes that are provided will decompose the wastes. These units come in various sizes, and are very discreet, with a lid which is flush with the ground. No odors, no unsightly mess.

Great idea but be careful before you dig to put one of these in the ground. We have underground electric, gas, cable, water, irrigation water, sprinkler systems, and phone lines.

:thumbup::agree:

eremite06.....Good point.Star and I go out to our back yard and she does her business there. Then we go around the neighborhood for a walk. I always carry an extra bag....you will find them in all my jacket pockets......just in case she makes an extra stop. She seldom does. I believe that is the polite way to have a dog visit the neighbors.

I have been reading TOTV for a few years now. We really love it and want to move there. I do have to say, posts like this one did tend to make me think twice. But after a few years, I have learned that it seems that people in The Villages hate dogs - but from little I have seen it is not true. Just a few sprinkled in here and there and I do notice quite a few dogs in the area when we have visited.

My mom is 80 years old. She adopted a sweet dog who was 10 at the time. Mom never had a dog before, and he is the thing that keeps her going. The dog is now 12, and mom tries to take him for very short walks. I don't care how long the dog has been in the yard, when he goes for a walk he wants to mark his area. As they say it is hard to teach a old dog new tricks and mom has a hard enough time remembering what she ate for dinner, let alone try to train a dog to piddle in a designated area.

Mom lives in a corner house with a stop sign, fire hydrant and trees. Almost every house in the neighborhood has a dog and they always stop to visit those wonderful doggie places. Her house looks just fine, and the lawn is green as are others in the neighborhood. If a brown spot is here or there, I doubt anyone would even notice.

The point is the neighbors don't scream at her when the dog marks a pole or tree. She has a bad heart, and it is the only exercise she gets. I can just imagine how the person who started the post must have felt when they were told to move on. Trust me, if someone yelled at my mom I would be very angry. She would be so embarrased and I am sure she would never walk her dog again.

Life is too short, and we should be enjoying the smell of the flowers, fresh cut grass, fresh baked bread....you get the picture. I know I will be beat up by this post, and I don't mind. I still have my mom around to enjoy, and her little dog too. And if her grass is brown because of other dogs who visit......well... I just have too much to be thankful for to worry about it....

Nicely stated.

dog issues
 

Interesting responses. I see the light about the pool mailbox trashcans. I haven't been here when it's hot and don't plan to be, at least for awhile, and will NEVER EVER deposit my bag in there again.

My question about the grouchy dude who yelled at me because my dog was sniffing around the box in his BACK yard, not his front yard, the yard backs up the very public Bailey Trail. I was just wondering if he owns the lawn right up to the sidewalk?

But the point is moot. I am now driving my dog to a community park in Wildwood, walking him to mine and his heart's content, all the while carrying my poop bags and picking up his poop.

He's loving the freedom, the grass and paths and so am I.

Thank you all for your feedback! :)

Yes, he does own the lawn right up to the sidewalk. There is an easment, which does not transfer the ownership of his property. It does give right of access to utility companies.

I feel sorry for people who worry they might get a brown spot in their yard.

How about dog poop on there shoes??

Very unpleasant, but not the end of the earth. We have all been through far worse than that I would guess, after the required five and one half decades to live here.

It is a great forum. We listen and we talk and we learn and we grow.