I'll let Robert retell it in his own words:
I am wondering if you can poll your readers. Last night I was sitting on my stoop and a woman with a large dog came walking along. She was deeply involved with her iphone....and was allowing her dog to walk slowly along the fences When they got to my house, she allowed the dog to sniff for a while and then the dog proceeded to urinate on the ivy edging of my garden.
I politely asked her if she could avoid allowing her dog to urinate on my ivy as the dog urine is killing it in sections. She ignored me and stayed buried in her iphone. I repeated myself and then she got angry...told me I had to be realistic....told me dogs needed to be free... I responded she was being un-neighborly and that there were plenty of nuetral places for her dog to do his business without killing my ivy. She started babbling about dogs needing to be free...I told her if she wanted to allow her dog to kill plants she should allow him to go in front of her own house.
Am I being unreasonable here?
Thanks. Robert from Union Street.
I have warned Robert that this will most probably generate quite a spirited discussion.
I'll add my two cents first. I am always pretty amazed that people let their dogs pee right against my fence and on my plants, especially when I am standing right in my front garden. I always try to catch the owner's eye to relay my displeasure, but shy away from direct confrontation. I am on Robert's side.
How about you?
Wheeeeeeeeee. This is going to be FUN! I'm with you and Robert and commend him for his quick thinking in telling the woman to have the dog pee in her yard.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course I meant Dave , not Robert. Humidity migraine brain today!!
ReplyDeleteGet your popcorn ready.
I have nothing nice to say about dog owners or people attached to their cellphones.
ReplyDeleteI'm completely on Robert's side. It drives me crazy that people don't teach their dogs to walk on the curb side of the sidewalk. There is no reason to let a dog pee on someone's fence or garden.
ReplyDeleteHowever, once had someone yell at me for letting our dog pee on a medium size tree. That seemed a bit extreme. It certainly wasn't going to hurt the tree and wasn't part of someone's garden.
I totally agree. Dogs shouldn't be urinating on plants, or stoops, or fences, or planters.
ReplyDeleteI have a dog, and I wouldn't dream of letting her pee or poop on peoples' fences, gardens, plants, trees, etc. If she were to gravitate to any of those spots, I would lead her away. People are supposed to curb their dogs, period. It's not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteThe Dog owner was out of line and an idiot. The Dogs "freedom" does not allow it to harm someones property ,in this case the ivy that was urinated on. Next time record the incident (video) and bring it up with the police. The dog owner is guilty of vandalism.
ReplyDeleteDog owners should also respect the sanitation guys by not allowing their stupid pet urinating on trash and recycle bags. This is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI am an owner of three dogs and I would never, ever let one of my dogs go to the bathroom on anyone's home or property. I will say that there are some owners who think that their dogs can go anywhere they want. I came out of my house one day and a woman actually had her dog inside my gate on my grass peeing. I asked her if she was crazy and she just replied. opps sorry!
ReplyDeleteI own a dog, and it's as simple as making the dog walk on the curb side of the street. Dog's should not "be free" which is why we have them on a leash. I try not to allow her to pee on any tree box/area that has clearly been maintained by an owner, but sometimes, if it's on the curb side of the sidewalk, it's hard to avoid. HOWEVER, if the dog never walks along the gate side of the sidewalk, your dog cannot pee on someone's gate. It's not difficult.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add I agree that dog's should not be going on trash cans and such! It's annoying. I say this as a dog owner, but I wish all dog owner's tried to be respectful because it makes the rest of us look like crap....
ReplyDeleteTree, Ivy, fence how about pee on your stoop!! Thats right, I have no shrubs or plants and my stoop is a urinal for bar goers and now dogs. Try a little Cheyanne powder along the ivy and see if that fixes the problem.It did for me and no more arguements with thick headed disrespectful dog owners.
ReplyDeleteI'm the guy the other day who actually thought a neighbor was saying "hi" to me. I responded "beautiful day, isn't it". Only then I realized they were on the cell phone, talking on a hands free device. Then they commented to the other end of the line, "This crazy person is talking to me". Well that made me feel great. Put your damn mobile device in your pocket, connect with your pet, the people and nature around you. I can't even drive/walk 1 block without someone in an intersection staring into their phone not realizing a car is about to clip them.
ReplyDeleteDog walking or not, let's be conscience of others around us while using our phones. To think a neighbor would actually be friendly and say hello!
Everyone is so quick to comment that they would NEVER let their pet wee here or there. But the truth is, you would if you are engrossed in your phone. Though sure, you would not let them do it when you are judiciously monitoring your canine companion instead of an iphone.
People. Enough of the Iphone zombie walking, talking and texting. Take the conversation to your living room and relevant to this case, stop the endless texting and app grazing.
Your dog might not care, but humans do.
I am totally in support and have had the same conversation with a man about taking his dog to pee on his garden. My junipers are routinely burned and more than once I have had to clean up poop. When the situation allows I plan to take a picture of the offending owners and dogs and at least post on my fence.
ReplyDeleteJust moments before I read this post I looked out the window and saw a woman allowing her dog to pee on the plastic bag of paper recycling I had just put on the curb. How rude, inconsiderate and disrespectful of the sanitation workers.
Don't know what kind of idyllic world you think New York is, but get over it. A dog peeing on a fence is the least of things you should worry your mind on in this city. A dog will urinate on a specific spot not to destroy your pansies to spite you, but to show dominance over another dog that has been there before. It is not as simple as keep your dog at the curb. Some dogs just will not do their business on concrete or in the street. By your rationale, people should be trained not to stand in the middle of the sidewalk outside of restaurants and bars while smoking, gabbing on phones and socializing. But they do. Also by your rationale, those of us with dogs in tow should be entitled to and commended for dragging these inconsiderate humans out of our way. And if you don't like poop bags in your garbage can, demand from the city trash receptacles on every other corner. I'm guessing most dog owners don't want to carry a bag of crap around until they get to a major street and find a trash receptacle. That's my two cents.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting on my stoop last week when someone let their very large dog unleash a torrent of urine ON THE STOOP! She never made any attempt to pull the dog away and I'm sitting inches from the mess not to mention it's my stoop that I will eventually have to re-do because of the caustic mess.
ReplyDeleteWe all know that the acidic urine ruins flowers and to the person who said it doesn't damage trees--think again. Look at the base of 'popular' lightposts and you will see they are rusted away from all the dog urine.
The law is to "Curb Your Dog" or a $250 fine, not to "Tree Pit your Dog."
Most dog owners I see seem to try to be respectful of home owners property, but those who don't, and who let their dogs do their business anywhere, give all dogs a bad name. All dog owners should be ambassadors for their pets, and act in respectful, responsible ways. I'm glad to get the cayenne pepper tip. Will try it today.
ReplyDeleteI too have an ivy covered tree pit that dog owners see as a dog urine/poop pit. These poor street trees, that also deserve to be "free" but are constrained to their urban space, suffer under the concentrated waste deposits from dogs.
ReplyDeleteDog owners have every right to believe that dogs should be "free" but once they make the decision to bring their dogs into the dense urban environment, those dogs too must live within the constraints of the urban environment--that is being curbed.
When I am off in the mountains, I too can pee where I choose, but must constrain myself here in the city. Freedom in the city is defined in very different ways, for people, trees, and dogs.
For 15 years I purchased a flat or two of flowers from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and planted them in the tree pit in front of my home for everyone to enjoy as they walked by. Only to have them all die a quick death after being trampled and urinated on by unconscientious dog owners who let their dog CLIMB OVER the tree pit fence, to do their business! No more. Now I just let it fill with dog excrement that no one picks up.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster who put in "two cents". Your assertions are so illogical I don't know where to begin.
ReplyDeleteEquating dog owners to bar patrons is asinine. It has nothing to do with the topic.
With regard to you discussion on dogs... The dog is on a leash? It will go where the owner lets it. You choose to let the dog pee on the fences in front op peoples homes. You could easily walk you dog on bond st or hicks st where there are no gardens to ruin.
In addiction you are acutely aware that finding bags of poo inn residential trash cans annoy people. Why does the city need to set out bins on every block for you? You can easily take the poo home and put it in you own cans. But you don't want it either.
Clearly, you want the benefits of pet ownership but expect others to share in your responsibilities. Why must I deal with dead flower gardens, poo and pee from YOUR dog. Because you choose to be lazy? Selfish?
Many people work hard to keep ther homes and gardens nice. You like walking down our quaint tree-lined blocks with pleasant front gardens? But you have no responsibity to refrain from destroying it. You are either narcissistic or stupid or both.
If you cannot be considerate of your neighbors and their property you should either move to a place where your dog has acres to roam and does not impinge on others or get rid of the dog.
I would like to point out that "curb your dog" does not mean a dog has to go only ON THE CURB. It means they must not allow their dog to go in a place that is annoying/in the way. Indeed, it's difficult to only allow dogs to use the physical curb as there are plenty of tree boxes in the way. Most tree boxes in the neighborhood are covered in trash, so I'm not sure how a dog can make it worse.
ReplyDeleteDefinition of "curb" used as a verb from Merriam "Webster: 1curb noun \ˈkərb\
ReplyDelete: a short border along the edge of a street that is usually made of stone or concrete
: something that controls or limits something else."
Something (a dog owner) that controls or limits something else (dog): from peeing and pooping where it should not...trees, flowers, gardens, stoops, ironwork, etc., that belong to other people who have to spend hard-earned money to repair/replace the damage inflicted upon them by careless dog owners.
I agree with Robert. I have a dog. I trained her when she was a puppy to go the curb literally step down curbside.
ReplyDeleteShe is ten years old and she still runs to curbside to do her business and I have what I need to clean up after her.
I'm a very long time resident so I care how our blocks look. Growing up dogs were "free to roam" and it was a disgusting mess. Irresponsible dog owners are pathetic.
As dog owners and gardeners, we completely agree with you Robert. We built a lovely (if I do say so myself) tree guard and planted flowers to beautify our rather ugly street. I am beyond disgusted by the dog owners who allow their dogs to pee on our tree guard or even worse allow their dogs to climb over the tree guard and pee and poop in our flowers. We spent a great deal of time and money on this project to teach our little one the importance of community involvement, pride in where you live, the joy of gardening, etc. We would never allow our dogs to damage someone else's flowers or property. Selfish, clueless, dog owners who make comments about dogs needing to be free need to move to the countryside with their dogs. I love all dogs, but I have had my fill of selfish dog owners.
ReplyDeleteLet's scold the rude dog owners who tie their dogs up and go into coffee shops while the dogs bark like crazy outside
ReplyDeleteNot only do these rude dog owners let there dogs pee all over the streets, it is a constant battle to keep them out of our park areas where our kids play. I have heard too many dog owners curse the lady in the park for politely asking them to take their dogs some place else.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone. This is Robert from Union St (or Dave as I am sometimes known on this blog).
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the validation from all of you with regard to my interaction with the dog walker. I want to especially thank the person wo responded to "two cents" for summing up how I feel about this issue.
I will continue to politely confront rude dog walkers. I am keeping a lookout for iPhone lady. I am tempted to snap her photo if I catch her again. I wonder if there is a neighborhood blog that would post a photo solely for the purposes of public shaming?
Katia, thanks for giving us a forum to air our grievances.
Regards,
Robert from Union St
This person is just wrong on dog behavior to begin with. Dogs are pack animals. As the owner, you're supposed to be the alpha and they're supposed to follow your rules, not the other way around. That's why "free" dogs have more behavior problems because the owners aren't taking charge.
ReplyDeleteI once scolded a cell phone engrossed dog walker for allowing their dog to urinate into a bike helmet that some one had locked up along with their bike. It's crazy how much dog poo I see on the streets yet i never see any one not clean up after their dogs whoch leads me to believe the ones who don't know it's wrong and wait until no one is looking. Truly rotten people with no respect for others.
ReplyDeleteThe "two cents" person is ridiculous and doesn't want to take responsibility for their dog. Everyone else has to petition the city for trash receptacles otherwise they will dump poop it into your trash bin??? How many times have I have found dog poop in my PAPER REYCLE BIN which was CLEARLY LABLED. Even when it is inside a bag it stinks up the receptacle and we have to disinfect it. If you don't want to be a responsible dog owner in the city don't get a dog. I'm tired of hearing from dog owners that because you live in the city you should put up with just about anything. To me it is just the opposite. If you live in the city you should be more aware of other people and their right to live peacefully without constantly having to put up with rude careless behavior. Also, the answer isn't to take your dog down to Bond Street or Hicks Street "where there are no gardens". People live on those streets too and they already look like dog dumping grounds.
ReplyDeleteIn our tree pit are small pebbles and a woman was letting her dog kick them which were hitting a parked car. That one took the cake.
ReplyDelete"CURB YOUR DOG" originates from the days when there was no "clean up after your dog" law and dogs were supposed to poop in the street so the sweeper machines could clean it up. It NEVER had anything to do with urinating. I've never seen so many dog hating comments. Dogs are wonderful companions and bring joy to many many people. I'm a respectful dog owner but the level of vitriol here is weird.
ReplyDeleteWhat "Curb your Dog" originally meant is irrelevant. We're talking about NOW and those dog owners who are careless and disrespectful.
ReplyDeletei agree that there is a lot of dog hate on this comment board. i'm a responsible dog owner, and most of us try to our best to make sure our dogs don't inconvenience our neighbors. I always clean up after my dog, even when i don't have a bag, I'll go find one and make sure to get the waste. and i never let my dog pee on anyone house/stoop/fence. but people who put up signs on trees along the sidewalk are getting a bit carried away. where are they supposed to go? male dogs need to pee up against something ... and a curb doesn't cut it. i try to respect these signs whenever i see them, but sometimes, if your dog is peeing before you can lead them away from the tree, its inhumane to yank them away. robert, i think you handled the situation well and were completely warranted. but please, people, ease up on the hate. you can train a dog all you want, but they'll never be perfect all the time.
ReplyDelete