Bad dogs!

When we first moved in, we noticed there was a pair of dogs occasionally in the back yard, early in the morning. We even saw their owner watching them as they roamed around, unleashed. After a while I got fed up with it, and resolved to start calling animal control if I saw it again. But I didn't see them for a long time after that decision.

Until this morning. Woke up, walked over to turn off my alarm, and there one of the dogs was, right outside our family room/kitchen/bedroom windows! Then it went off into the backyard and squatted down. Wonderful. Figuring that the owner was nearby, I strapped on my Tevas and went out front to find him. And there he was, in front of our neighbor's house.

I asked, very nicely, "can you please keep your dogs out of my yard? They've been leaving 'stuff' and we're trying to get the yard cleaned up for our nephews." His response was half-assed, at best: "well, usually by the time I get here they've already done it."

During the whole conversation, his German Sheperd was roaming around in front of me, and even came up on the front porch! The other dog, which looked to be a mix of Rottweiller and Greyhound, was alternately walking around and standing in the garden by the driveway, barking at me. Very aggressive, and isn't fixed either. I didn't let that dog out of my sight until I had the door closed behind me.

I was going to wait till the second incident to call animal control/code enforcement about it, but given his disinterest in keeping the dogs out of the yard, I'll call today. I know the village has a leash law, and there's gotta be something about not cleaning up after your animals.