How about nicely asking them if they wouldn't mind walking their dog somewhere besides your area of the townhouse? Do you mean they are walking in your area of the yard? Or are coming right up to your door and letting their dog go? Tell them not to.

I guess I don't see the problem here, since you say they are wonderful neighbors. I assume that means you know them somewhat and get along. So ask them to please stop. Then again, if they are deliberately and purposely bringing their dog over to defecate outside your door, then they are not "wonderful." Or perhaps they are just of extremely low intelligence.

If you didn't know them, then I'd say to either write a nice note or have the landlord deal with it. I just don't see how they can be wonderful if they are intentionally and willfully letting their dog do his thing right outside your door.

ask them sooner, not later, so you don't keep stewing and getting mad (being mad means it's harder to ask in a friendly, noncondemning way).

Keep your request short--the more you try to explain how reasonable it is, the LESS reasonable it sounds. Or, the more it sounds like a lecture.

I also vote for the face-to-face--then you can let your generally good opinion of them show in your smile. A note often comes across as "I don't want to confront you."

I think it's OK to make it a special trip--and not wait for them to cross paths w/ you naturally. Just walk over there tonight, knock on their door, pet the doggie (bcs he'll com eto the door to say hello, right?), tell them you've had your shoes ruined by stepping in their dog's poop, and you've noticed that he gets brought over to that area, and ask them please not to do it again.

Listen to whatever they say (hopefully it won't be "F off"), and say, "I appreciate your help. See you around. Bye, doggie!" and leave.

Well I'll officially call them "not-wonderful" neighbors now. My landlady thinks that since we live in such a nice area we aren't gonna leave, so she won't fix anything. There's a hole in my screened-in porch and my dog has been guilty of getting out a few times. The "wonderful" neighbors decided to call the humane society to pick up my dog b/c it was out and it had "bad" living conditions (I can't house-train her so she lives on my very large back porch where she has plenty of fresh food, air, water, room to lay down.) I volunteer at the humane society. I don't want them to think I'm an animal abuser. I am in fact the most soft-hearted person I know and I've been crying an hour over this. So anyway, I don't understand why the newly-deemed neighbors from hell didn't just talk to me about this stuff. My lease goes up in June....hope I can stick it out til then...

can YOU fix your screened-in porch? That would cut down on the escape risk, and leave you less vulnerable to a call like this.

try to stop being upset--those people don't live inside the walls of your home; don't let them have this sort of affect on your emotions.

And now you don't have to be nice; you can just be direct and straightforward. Don't be nasty--no sense escalating things. But there's no need to try to be friendly, either.

Another reason you NEED to fix that porch, even if it costs *you* money, is that then you can truly say to your landlady, "these guys' dog poop is on my lawn, and I know it's not MY dog, because she's inside unless I take her out."

the DOG is not the problem, it's the neighbor's boyfriend.

Ask them to take the dog elsewhere.

As for the screened porch - "My landlady thinks that since we live in such a nice area we aren't gonna leave, so she won't fix anything." - well the laws in your state probably do not agree with her. She HAS to fix things, or you can move out (with appropriate nitice) or you can have them fixed (again with appropriate noitice) and bill her for the repairs.

With West Nile fever, and a few other nasties, being known to be in Mississippi, holes in screens are probably among the things that "affect health" that a landlord MUST fix.

Sec. 89-8-23. Obligations of landlord

(1) A landlord shall at all times during the tenancy:

(a) Comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety;

(b) Maintain the dwelling unit, its plumbing, heating and/or cooling system, in substantially the same condition as at the inception of the lease, reasonable wear and tear excluded, unless the dwelling unit, its plumbing, heating and/or cooling system is damaged or impaired as a result of the deliberate or negligent actions of the tenant.

(2) No duty on the part of the landlord shall arise under this section in connection with a defect which is caused by the deliberate or negligent act of the tenant or persons on the premises with the tenant's permission.

(3) Subject to the provisions of Section 89-8-5, the landlord and tenant may agree in writing that the tenant perform some or all of the landlord's duties under this section, but only if the transaction is entered into in good faith.

(4) No duty on the part of the landlord shall arise under this section in connection with a defect which is caused by the tenant's affirmative act or failure to comply with his obligations under Section 89-8-25.

Here is a link that might be useful: Missippi landlord-tanant laws