Is it ever okay to let your dog answer the call of nature on your neighbour’s lawn?

In a suburban neighbourhood filled with sprawling lawns and friendly faces, a canine controversy has emerged, leaving residents questioning the age-old dilemma – is it ever acceptable to let your furry friend answer nature’s call on someone else’s front yard?

The debate was sparked when one dog owner found themselves in the crosshairs of a disgruntled neighbour after their four-legged companion enjoyed an impromptu toilet break on their front lawn during their daily walk.

Unsure of the unwritten rules of doggy decorum, the owner turned to the vast realms of the internet to seek guidance.

Describing the situation, the owner explained, “I live in a suburban residential neighborhood where people’s front yards are big and grassy.”

“I like to walk my dogs most days. I walk on the left side of the street on the pavement and let my dogs walk in the grass to the left of me but don’t let them go more than like a foot into people’s yards unless we are getting out of the way for cars,” they continued.

“My dogs will occasionally pee or poop on neighbor’s grass while walking (and of course I always pick up the poop.) An old man yelled at me and told me I was very wrong for letting my dogs do this.”

Many users were quick to throw the owner in the doghouse with a flurry of condemnation in response.

“Be a better neighbor. Don’t let your dog do its business on someone else’s property. It’s rude,” one user said.

“Keep your mutt off of other people’s property.”

“That’s their property. You wouldn’t like it if they come and took a dump in your private property,” commented another.

Despite the digital dogpile of criticism, some defend the right for dogs to heed nature’s call on foreign turf.

“If you live in a residential neighborhood, like you said, I think it should be expected that living in a society and a residential neighborhood, dogs will do that. If they don’t want it then they should put up a sign or fence off the yard,” one person said in support.

“As long as you are picking up the poop. Screw all these dog haters.”

“I have a lawn and as long as you pick it up I don’t care,” commented another.

“I have a dog in a similar neighborhood — she won’t pee or poop on pavement, so she does it on the edges of people’s yards and I clean it up. Two of my neighbors (out of a large neighborhood over the span of 10 years) have said they don’t like dogs on their lawn, which is their right, so I remember those houses and avoid them.”

Is it ever okay to let your dog go to the bathroom on your neighbour’s lawn? The answer, it seems, is as varied as the breeds themselves.