A neighborhood can be like a second family or complete strangers. Either situation can be good or bad depending on how that relationship develops.
Redditor thatindogal recently moved and is trying to establish a positive relationship with her new neighbors. The original poster (OP) found that sometimes things don’t work out how you think.
She went to the “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) subReddit to ask:
“AITA for throwing dog sh*t over my neighbours fence?”
It’s a bit of a story:
“I recently moved into my first house and have put a lot of effort in making our place feel like a forever home. My husband works full time and I am a stay at home mum with twins.”
“When we first moved in, our neighbours introduced themselves over the fence and they were very friendly which was pleasing. It’s a comforting feeling that you know conflict won’t arise – or so I thought.”
“Now the issue is the neighbours have two jack Russell’s and I’m not sure if it is specifically the breed, but they love to dig. They have been burrowing the dirt that sits under the fence and regularly dig so far that they have made a tunnel from the neighbours house to mine.”
“I didn’t notice the holes at first as they are quite hard to see from the porch as our garden is quite big and they are located at the back. However I came home two days ago to see the dogs in my backyard and immediately knew something was up.”
“They destroyed my expensive plants and shat all over my freshly mowed lawn.”
“I shooed the dogs back into the hole and filled them back up with dirt. No biggie I thought, I will just implement a patch of huge, heavy rocks across the base of the fence so they can’t dig anymore.”
“I knocked on the neighbours door and informed them of the situation and asked respectfully if they could do the same so this issue wouldn’t happen again. They thanked me for not making a big deal out of it but not once did they offer anything for the damage done.”
In a different world, this would have been the end of the situation.
“Anyways, I was out running errands today and came home to see that the dogs once again had burrowed holes and my stone strategy didn’t work. I also noticed the neighbours didn’t make an effort on their side of the fence to stop this from happening.”
“After shooing the dogs back into the holes and filling them up once again i knocked on my neighbours doors again to let them know they escaped and they just shrugged and said ‘they’re dogs what do you want us to do about it’. ‘They are going to dig whether you like it or not’.”
“I went home, doggie bagged the dog sh*t and chucked it over the fence . I think there were about 5 bags of dog sh*t in total.”
“The neighbours were furious and told my husband when he was pulling up into the driveway that I am rude, and disgusting for throwing dog sh*t.”
“My husband sat me down and told me I just can’t be throwing dog sh*t when I’m mad. He thinks I should apologise as he doesn’t want drama with our new neighbours.”
“I think I might be an asshole for throwing the dog sh*t but I can’t help feel a little disrespected the neighbours couldn’t come up with a reasonable solution. AITA?”
On the AITA board, people explain their stories and are judged for what they did.
This is done with one of the following comments:
- NTA – Not the A**hole
- YTA – You’re the A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everybody Sucks Here
OP did her best to resolve the situation quietly with the neighbor. Her actions only escalated when the neighbor did nothing.
It was determined that OP was NTA.
“NTA – they are aware of the issue and (a) doing nothing to prevent it from continuing, and (b) it’s their job to clean up after their dogs, not yours.”
“They should be thanking you for bagging the dog sh*t before throwing it over to their lawn, you did most of their work for them.” – sra19
“NTA. Next time call animal control. It might be more important to the neighbors if it costs them money to get their nuisances from the pound.” – fbombmom_
“Really? A grown adult throwing dog poo over a fence?”
“Everyone knows you need to put it in a paper bag on their front porch, light it on fire and ring the door bell before you run.” – CorgiManDan
“NTA”
“They’re ignoring the damage that their animals are doing to your property and endangering their lives. What would happen if you had snail bait or something down? Or they dug under a fence towards the road?”
“Your husband is an AH as well though, that’s for sure.”
“Others have suggested other ideas, but honestly I’d get some metal roof sheeting or something like and sink it along your fence line so that you have a physical barrier.” – kittenwolfmage
The situation was so relatable people started sharing their own stories.
“I had an uncle whose neighbor let his dogs out to poop , and they usually ended up in my uncles yard. My uncle asked the guy to watch his dogs better.”
“One winter he kept finding dog poop in the snow in his yard. So, everytime he found poop, he’d take his snow shovel, scoop it up and throw it on the guys roof. In the spring when the snow melted, he went to find out what was blocking his gutters.”
“He couldn’t figure out how pounds of dog poop ended up on his roof.” – crc8983
“My sister recently freaked out because her dog escaped the fully fenced yard. Turns out that her dog had gone to say hello to the neighbours dogs she was friends with in the 5 minutes my sister had ducked inside for something.”
“Sister apologised profusely for her dog getting into their yard, but her neighbours laughed and just asked if she wanted them to walk her dog again that day (neighbours offered to take her dog with them on days my sister works late). The fence was fixed within 12 hours” – Aesient
“NTA! To be honest I admire you for that because I haven’t had the balls to do it yet! My neighbors let their dog out into the neighborhood to go potty and because I’m the house right next door he chooses my lawn to go poop!”
“I am always so tempted to throw it into their driveway (without bags and using a shovel because I’m not down for poopy hands). There’s also been several times where I’ve almost reversed into their dog and because it’s a chihuahua I couldn’t see it if it weren’t for my back up camera.”
“You’re motivating me to take a stand!!!! I guess you could say, sh*ts about to hit the fan..” – PastaPapaEJ
OP eventually came back to give a little update. She explained why she couldn’t do certain suggestions and also announced her husband is on her side.
It’s not quite the positive resolution one might ask for, but it’s still a positive step.
“UPDATE***”
“Holy sh*t I wasn’t expecting so many responses! Thank you all for the tips, I appreciate it.”
“We don’t have animal control here in Australia, so that option is off the list, however we have councils that we can report nuisances too so that will be my next step!”
“My hubby and I talked through this last night and he apologised for not sticking up for me and now thinks I was reasonable. There was a little miscommunication involved as he thought this was a one time occurrence and my first reaction was to go launching dog sh*t.”
“Guns also aren’t legal down under so threats involving that won’t be very believable. My twin boys though have a nerf gun and I have placed this aside on my counter- will be doggy bagging the sh*s in the meantime and shooting them across the fence with the toy gun until my hubby fixes up the fence with your tips.”
“Thank you strangers!”
PLACEHOLDER