For a dog owner, providing good care and security to the animal is only part of the responsibility that comes with the decision to keep a furry friend.
Proud pup owners also have to think about how their dog influences their social relationships with the humans around them.
And sometimes, as proven by a recent post on the “Am I the A**hole (AITA)” subReddit, those responsibilities go overlooked. \
Under the moniker Spencers_not_real, the Original Poster (OP) describe a spat they and their dog-owning neighbor recently got into.
OP’s title gave a good window in to where the drama led.
“AITA for throwing dog poop into my neighbors yard?”
But as the rest of the post illustrated, there was a dramatic lead up.
“OK so I live in a nice no outlet road with about 20 houses mainly older people and some younger people with kids.”
“I have one neighbor that let’s just call DD or Dog Dude who is a dog breeder that has like 10 golden retrievers.”
OP took a moment to list some grievances.
“He does crappy things like burn brush that smokes up the hole neighborhood, takes all his dogs on walks up and down the road without leashes…”
“…very poorly trains his dogs which leads to it taking like two minutes for him to round up his dogs so you can drive by…”
“…he lets his dogs just run at you making a lady fall to the ground one time and he doesn’t discipline them and he just says sorry…”
“…and finally he lets his dogs poop in the middle of the road and in other peoples yards just not in his.”
OP had eventually had enough.
“His dogs keep pooping in my yard and I keep asking him to stop letting them and he won’t.”
“One time he just let his dogs poop in my yard while I was doing stuff in it and when I confronted him he just said ‘cant help where they want to go. Just pick it up.’ “
OP heard those instructions loud and clear.
“Well one day I said enough is enough and when he let his dogs poop in my yard I went out there with a shovel and threw it back in his yard.”
“He came out of his house yelling at me asking why I threw poop in his yard and I told him to stop letting his dogs poop in my yard and I won’t do it again.”
“He called me an a**hole and went back into his house. I’m wondering if I really am an a**hole and took it to far. Please help me Reddit.”
Anonymous strangers weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Most Redditors were on OP’s side completely.
“NTA, you expressed your rightful desire to not pick up after his dogs, he ignored it and got some poop on his lawn as a result. Set up a neighbourhood doody duty and have all the neighbours do the same.”
“A lawn full of poop from 10 dogs will make him change his tune pretty quickly.” — BoredLifeGames
“NTA. You shouldn’t have to shovel his dogs’ waste, but given the circumstances, you made the right choice to relocate the poop to your neighbor’s yard.”
“If your neighbor doesn’t like it, he can just ‘pick it up.’ ” — MiaouMiaou27
“NTA. Next time don’t just sling in his yard, aim for the front door. How is he going to tell you to clean it up?! They’re his responsibility! Not gonna say what I want to say about people like him…” — ToHellwUsername
Some recommended that OP take further action.
“NTA. keep on doing this too. If you have to take videos of his dogs pooping in your yard. Are there local leash laws or laws about dog poop?” — lacitar
“DUDE SOOO NTA!! Why the fu** do people think its ok to ffs breed dogs and not tale any responsibility for it?? Also it the poor lady ok??😭”
“Mylord idk if you could but maybe call animal services orsomething cause that doesnt sound like a good/healthy/safe breeding situation to me…”
“Also he got what he deserved and if he does it again just do the same thing (hate to be that person but maybe get the neighbourhood to join you as I can imagine they’re not particularly thrilled about the whole situation either😂” — Angie_Toro_
“NTA and also check your local ordinances; there may be a limit of the number of dogs allowed in a single-dwelling residence. It appears this breeder (shudder coz it doesn’t sound like a responsible breeder) doesn’t even have adequate space for all the dogs he owns.”
“Keep shoveling the mess right back to his property, perhaps around his vehicle doors so he has to step over/in the poo as he gets/in out his car and his porch steps? <s>” — NCKALA
Others advised upping the ante.
“Nope. That dudes an asshole, you retaliated. I would have shit on his porch and put a fish fillet under his hubcap, maybe spiderwebbed all his car windows with porcelain from a used sparked plug.”
“But, I’m an a**hole. Returning his dogs sh** is the way to go.” — Abysix
“NTA. Aim for the windows” — abjectobsolescence
“NTA for throwing it back in his yard.”
“YTA for not leaving it in a nice steaming pile on his doorstep.” — DeeptiRK
“NTA and keep throwing the poop in his garden. I’d get the entire neighbourhood to do this too or put the point in front of his door or something.”
“Or film it and show it to the police if not picking up dog poop is illegal where you live.” — DitLaS
“The dogs provide ammunition… Pick up a special landscaping shovel from the hardware store.. one of those long skinny ones that looks like a hybrid between a hockey stick and a shovel.”
“When you find poop in your yard, use your new shovel and fling it at his house hard. Bonus points if you can get it to stick it to his house or on his car.”
“You’re just returning what is his so he can clean it up.” — Tac0Band1t0
So if the Reddit comments were any indication at all, we can expect OP’s neighbor to see more poop in his yard in the days and weeks to come.
That is, until he begins to pick it up on his own.