October 15, 2026 at 1:46 pm

She Put Up a “Clean Up After Your Dog” Sign—Until a Neighbor Started Pelting Her Front Door With Apples Every Day

by Mila Cardozo

Half-eaten apple on the grass

Unsplash

A small neighborhood disagreement can blow out of proportion when someone decides that a simple request is a personal attack.

In one townhome community, residents were tired of people leaving dog waste behind, so someone put up a small sign asking dog owners to clean up after their dogs.

That’s reasonable and should also be common sense.

But one neighbor took the sign very personally and is currently throwing apples at their front door.

What would you do in this situation?

Read the full story below.

Neighbor keeps throwing apples at our house over a “pick up after your dog” sign

We live in a townhome in a mixed-use community where a lot of people don’t pick up after their dogs, so we put up a small sign.

For the past month, a guy from the apartments in the same community has been throwing half-eaten apples at our front door from the road while walking his dog, five times so far, around 6 AM.

It’s on camera, and the HOA traced his route on their cameras.

We recognized him from his face and his dog.

They confronted the neighbor.

Last Friday we ran into him and asked him to stop.

His attitude was “who do you think you are, putting that sign up?”

When I mentioned the police, he said go ahead and that he’d throw five more. His partner said we’re the problem for recording them.

The police came, confirmed our cameras are fine, but said it’s a gray area since it’s from a public road with no damage, and to call right away if it happens again. We took the sign down.

He really has nothing better to do.

Now he flips off our camera every morning and tosses one in the common area next to our lot.

We moved to the U.S. recently, so I’m not sure what’s normal here.

Where I’m from this would be infuriating, but I’m trying to be careful. Do people just let this go since it’s only apples, or is there a smarter way to handle it?

Put up a “Stop behaving like an ape” sign.

What did Reddit think?

A reader shares their thoughts.

Screenshot 1 a1b3cf She Put Up a Clean Up After Your Dog Sign—Until a Neighbor Started Pelting Her Front Door With Apples Every Day

Another suggestion.

Screenshot 2 971bcf She Put Up a Clean Up After Your Dog Sign—Until a Neighbor Started Pelting Her Front Door With Apples Every Day

Yup.

Screenshot 3 5d4d63 She Put Up a Clean Up After Your Dog Sign—Until a Neighbor Started Pelting Her Front Door With Apples Every Day

Someone suggests escalating it.

Screenshot 4 766baf She Put Up a Clean Up After Your Dog Sign—Until a Neighbor Started Pelting Her Front Door With Apples Every Day

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about neighborhood kids who built a master forest fort, only to find it looted by the bigger kids on the block.

Another reader chimes in.

Screenshot 5 454398 She Put Up a Clean Up After Your Dog Sign—Until a Neighbor Started Pelting Her Front Door With Apples Every Day

I think people like this end up causing situations to escalate for no reason other than their ego.

Imagine being mad that someone asked a perfectly reasonable thing like picking up after their dog.

Also, being offended doesn’t automatically give someone the right to harass others.

Enjoyed this story?

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