Neighbor demands couple stop walking their puppy near shared grass, escalates to threats and when they refuse, forcing them to get management involved: ‘That was the last straw for us and now we are working with the apartment company’

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Oct 5, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Dog-friendly neighborhood meets one-woman committee on personal space violations. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10560986368
    via New Africa/Brett Sayles

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The best part of community living must Surely be the surprise rulemaker who decides which common area gets to be the official puppy exclusion zone for no actual reason. Navigating apartment life then requires a special map, updated each week, keeping up with wherever the neighbor’s newest grievance lands. Not satisfied with “no peeing on the grass,” the complaints expand into every zone within barking distance, all monitored for compliance by someone with an impressive dedication to complaint filing. 

  • My partner and I moved to a new apartment last summer. We really wanted a bigger apartment in preparation for getting a dog.
    via Skutsies

  • Get a new puppy, start the classic apartment tour, and immediately downstairs neighbor transforms everyday grass and public plants into a fenced kingdom guarded by her list of escalating demands. Apparently, ownership extends past her terrace and territory now includes any blade of grass within ten dog sniffs of her window.

  • The whole area is really dog-friendly too; I think around 1/4 of all apartments in the neighbourhood has a pet.
    via Skutsies
  • Then finally in June of this year we could pick up our little guy. The problem started almost immediately.
    via Skutsies
  • Cheezburger Image 10560988928
    via Skutsies

    The real and incredibly handsome pup

  • Before we have had our puppy in 24 hours, our downstairs neighbour had complained and made insane demands twice.
    via Skutsies
  • She has a terrace surrounded by a fence and on the outside of that fence there are some plants.
    via Skutsies
  • These are not her plants, her plants are inside the fence, but she demanded that we could not let our dog sniff the plants anyway.
    via Skutsies
  • Cheezburger Image 10560987392
    via New Africa

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Whatever, that route was not annoying to walk anyway so we just stopped going that way.
    via Skutsies
  • We live on the second floor, while she lives on the ground floor and her apartment is a "corner" apartment, so there is grass around three of the four sides to her apartment.
    via Skutsies
  • Let me be clear the grass is part of the common area for the apartment conplex.
    via Skutsies
  • It is NOT her grass, it is just by her apartment. The staircase to our apartment ends right by her window and some of this grass.
    via Skutsies
  • Puppies have tiny bladders, so sometimes when we are out walking, he pees right away by this piece of grass.
    via Skutsies
  • She has demanded that we stop him from peeing near her apartment, including the grass by our staircase.
    via Skutsies
  • Cheezburger Image 10560992256
    via Skutsies

    The real and incredibly handsome pu

  • We said no. She then demanded that we stop him from peeing on the grass near the parking lot.
    via Skutsies
  • We said no again. At this point her demands included most of the immediate grass around our apartment building.
    via Skutsies
  • Since we weren't willing to be her doormats, she has escalated. She now yells at us whenever she sees us walking our dog.
    via Skutsies

  • Most apartment drama peaks at noise complaints or lost packages. This one gets the police involved after threats to a dog’s safety rack up too quickly. Management naturally sides with reason, dismissing the homemade regulations and leaving the would-be enforcer in a spiral of creative retaliation.

     

  • She has threatened to pee by our door to see how we like it, or to get dog and put it on the staircase, which is honestly unhinged behaviour.
    via Skutsies
  • Cheezburger Image 10560987136
    via Brett Sayles

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • She has threatened to complain about us to the company that owns the apartment building. After so many times where she had screamed at us, we became less confident that we were in the right.
    via Skutsies
  • So we wrote the company ourselves and asked. They literally said no and that her demands were unfounded and insane.
    via Skutsies
  • We don't know whether she ended up complaining or not, since if she did, the complaint never got to us, meaning they told her the same thing.
    via Skutsies
  • We think she did complain, but since they didn't agree with her either, then she escalated her behaviour again.
    via Skutsies
  • Two days ago she threatened to kick our dog if she saw him again. That was the last straw for us and now we are working with the apartment company and the police to hopefully get her to stop her harassment of us.
    via Skutsies
  • But seriously... she just takes so much joy out of walking our puppy, but luckily he's the cutest little thing.
    via Skutsies

  • Through it all, the puppy remains blissfully unaware, just happy to explore whatever grass is legal today. Having a dog is about unconditional love, unless a neighbor insists that love comes with a GPS map of unauthorized pee zones and a list of infractions for every walk.

  • Old-Assistance-2017 Let your property manager know she has been making threats which have now escalated to physical ones.
    via Old-Assistance-2017
  • OP Skutsies We are in contact with them and have requested a meeting to hopefully get somewhere. Thank you for your advice.
    via Skutsies
  • arsooetica028 Threatening to kick a puppy is more than unhinged! Next time you go out casually have a phone recording (pretend you're Face Timing or something). That way if she threatens violence again you have it on tape for the cops.
    via arsooetica028
  • OP Skutsies That's the plan. Thank you for the advice.
    via Skutsies
  • Waste-Job-3307 Sadly, there are too many people that s k the joy out of life and the little things, like walking our dogs. Hope she gets fined, and evicted.
    via Waste-Job-3307
  • OP Skutsies Honestly we just want her to leave us alone, but an eviction wouldn't be bad either. I'm nervous every time I walk him now. Like my partner is way more intimidating than me, so if she's going to do something, it will be when I walk him.
    via Skutsies
  • Ravensong42 I am so sorry you have to deal with this. Please try to get recordings of her threats. it's your best bet to get somewhere.
    via Ravensong42
  • OP Skutsies Yep, without evidence the police and apartment company cannot do anything. So now every time we walk out the door, our phones are set to record audio. We are also trying to contact other people we know have witnessed one of these situations. Thank you for your advice and kind words.
    via Skutsies
  • kdsaslep I don't understand people like this. Always angry.
    via kdsaslep
  • OP Skutsies Yeah, it seems she's just a angry old lady. We have lived here for a year now and have only seen her have visitors twice. She doesn't seem to have a lot going on honestly. Probably why she's so angry.
    via Skutsies
  • Bibliovoria She's being really awful about it, definitely, and screaming at you is never okay (and I can only imagine what your puppy must think of that!). But I can also see why it might frustrate her -- if she can't open her windows without smelling dog pee, repeatedly applied to grass just a few feet away, that would s k. Of course, if it's far enough away from her windows that the scent isn't an issue, that's a different matter.
    via Bibliovoria
  • OP Skutsies I totally get your point. However our puppy has peed multiple times inside by accident if we weren't quick enough to get shoes on, so we would know his pee smell lol. We have tried to smell the grass after he peed to know whether she had a point or not, and we couldn't smell anything. She's more mad about the thought of it than anything.
    via Skutsies
  • commonly speaking It's hard to tell with these pictures but is he a Cardi?! I just got done dogsitting a friend's Cardis and I think that will be my next dog!
    via commonlyspeaking
  • OP Skutsies You got it! It's a great breed, but you have to accept that they are really stubborn and will herd you around the home, lol.
    via Skutsies
  • commonly speaking I used to have Border Collies (total of 5) but I've kind of aged out. I need something smart but less intense and I've known many Cardis and really like them.
    via commonly speaking
  • OP Skutsies Haha then I think a cardigan is a great choice for you! Wishing you (and your future dog) all the best!
    via Skutsies
  • Public_Road_6426 \ahem\ It appears you've missed paying the puppy tax, especially with the "cutest little thing" description. We demand pictures! :)
    via Public_Road_6426

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wholesome hoa dogs neighbors cute dogs adorable heartwarming puppy neighborhood dog memes neighborhood-drama bad neighbors cute petty revenge terrible neighbors doggos doggo pay back noise noisy loud hilarious dogs payback animals parking entitled people apartment
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