Prior to moving to Troy, every afternoon when she came home from work, my across the street neighbor would let her dogs out of the house. They would make a beeline for my front yard and deposit their digested meals.

Several times I asked her “please do not allow your 3 dogs to come into my yard and mess on my grass.”

My requests made no impressions on her whatsoever.

I finally told her that I would “return your dogs’ deposits to you with no penalty for early withdrawal.”

It made no impression on her whatsoever.

We lived in the same house for nearly 18 years. Not once in 14 years did my Yellow Lab get loose from our back yard. If “Jennie” even WAS out of her fenced back yard, it was on a leash with one of us. I told my neighbor that “when we walk Jennie, we never allow her to even sniff the grass on another’s yard.”

It made no impression on her whatsoever.

Then I realized after cleaning up the messes in my front yard for perhaps the 30th time, and over the course of perhaps 6 months, that “this mess does not even belong to me!”

Around evening time and dusk the next night, I decided to do what I have told my neighbor I would indeed do. I shoveled up as usual the mess in my front yard. Instead of bagging, I left all 3 messes on my neighbor’s front stoop, unbagged.

My neighbor came out the next morning for her newspaper in bare feet and onto her stoop and started to scream. (I just happened to be going to work at that same time.) She started to jump around the stoop while still screaming. I’m thinking that perhaps the jumping made matters worse for her feet.

As I was getting into my car to go to work, I greeted her with a hearty “good morning!”

I had the distinct feeling that I made a lasting impression on her!

Now that I am in Troy, I see dog walkers, and people walkers allowing their dogs to run onto lawns and letting them make their deposits. One man actually had an extender leashing STANDING on my lawn himself so Fido could find his “spot”.

The next time I see someone allowing their dog to mess on my lawn, I will follow them home to see where they live and re-deposit the remains on their stoop.

I think that will make an impression!

Barbara A Smith

Troy