DEAR ERIC: We have a good relationship with our neighbors. They’re friendly and mutually available for the proverbial cup of sugar, look out for each other’s properties, always share a wave and a smile, but we do not socialize together so there is no pressure to make the relationship more or less than it is.
The neighbors have a fenced-off yard and multiple dogs. Our property is not fenced, and we have no animals. For some reason, when the dogs need to do their business, the neighbors bring the dogs on leashes to our front yard. Their door is near our yard, but they have to walk through their own yard to reach ours. The neighbors clean up the solid messes, but we can’t figure out how our yard became the designated litter box. The dogs are not friendly, so they spend no other time on our property and would have no reason to be more comfortable here.
It seems simultaneously necessary and frivolous to bring this up at the risk of upsetting the Goldilocks relationship we’re grateful for.
What would you do? Ask why? Request to stop? Close the curtains and meditate?
– Perplexed, Not Pissed
DEAR PERPLEXED: It’s very peculiar that you’ve been designated the answering service for when nature calls. But one of the benefits of this Goldilocks relationship may be that it’s low stakes and convivial enough to withstand a small request. Honestly, it seems like more work to leash the dogs and take them out than for your neighbors to let them go in a spot in their own yard.
The suspicious Gladys Kravitz in me thinks that they know that pet waste residue can make for an unpleasant yard experience sometimes and are purposefully offloading that experience to you. But let’s just assume the best – maybe it hasn’t occurred to them. So, ask them to find another place where the dogs can relieve themselves. This could prompt an explanation from them – which you can choose to accept or not – but ideally, they’ll set up a home office for the dogs to do their business.
(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)
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