Dear Labby,
We rented a very nice condo for a weekend vacation. While having a dinner party, the kids left the door open. Two cute Dachshunds invited themselves in and then crapped on the linoleum. I just cleaned up the present and threw it out. Should I have gone out of my way to let the neighbors know that their dogs defamed our kitchen? Should I have knocked on their door and asked them to come remove the surprise?
Signed:
Dogs Odorous Offering Didn’t Really Overjoy Party-goers. Indict Neighbors?
You did the right thing. While not pleasant, and arguably not your responsibility, D.O.O. D.R.O.P. I.N., picking up a bit of Doxie poop is just not that big a deal. Why potentially ruin a dinner party by startin’ sumpin’ with the neighbors? Your actions showed you’re a good sport and you came away with an amusing little anecdote for your next party.
If you had happened to have seen the neighbors the following day and wanted to let them know about the rogue poopers, it wouldn’t have been out of line to say something light, a la, “Still working on the housetraining, eh?” But seeing as how the whole incident cost you nothing more than a couple of paper towels, why bother. (Even by dog poop standards, you were pretty lucky. Thank goodness it wasn’t a pair of St. Bernards, right?)
The exception: If your neighbors’ door had indeed been closed and the dogs were running around the condo’s community hallways (or outside?) with no one supervising and no way to get back in, you should definitely have alerted them that the dogs were loose. That’s a safety hazard for the pups – and irresponsibility on the part of the owners.
