Neighbor's Dogs

[craftymissbeth]

My backyard and the neighbor's yard share part of the fence. She has four large dogs (they're beautiful, maybe Australian Sheperds?) that are just mean... darn near vicious. They bark constantly when we are back there... pacing the fence and barking. I could handle that. But one day I decided to "introduce" myself to the dogs hoping that they would back off a bit. I talked gently and quietly to them and slowly raised the back of my hand to the chain link fence. If I had been able to get my hand to the fence I'm convinced they would have ripped it from my body! They just went berzerk!

I'm so incredibly tired of having to keep the kids far from that part of the fence... in fact, we were planning on putting a toddler area near it. Nope, not now. A new fence just isn't in the budget unfortunately, either.

On top of all that the neighbor has installed an electric wire on her side... Very, very close to the fence itself. There are all kinds of thick woody vines growing along the fence and they get very dru in the fall/winter. She never warned us about the electric wire... my concern is that the chain link fence could become electrified should the electric wire touch it (it doesn't look to have been professionally installed) or the woody stuff could catch fire.


Is there anyting I can do? I tried talking to her about it, but she just went on and on about her poor rescue dogs being abused when they were puppies. Now, I love rescue animals... but I don't care about their sob story when they are clearly dangerous and pose a risk to my family and business. Should one bite a dck I could potentially be sued.


I sent a message to her landlord, but I'm not sure if that will go anywhere. They're good friends.

[craftymissbeth]

Oh and I've had to start walking the dck's to a nearby park twice daily because they sit back there with their hands over their ears.

[Willow]

Sounds like barrier frustration. They may or may not actually be vicious, if they're shepherd's of any kind they're likely underworked and bored to death. Huge personal pet peeve of mine when people get working breeds and then just stick them in the backyard. Hello neurotic nutballs......


If I were you I'd shoot her and the landlord a certified letter detailing your concerns about the potential for electrocution, fire and liability on both your parts. Check with your local municipalities if having a hotwired fence is even allowed by law in a neighborhood like that (my guess would be it is NOT). And then if I were you I'd surf craigslist for cheap lumber. Big shhets of plywood to line that section so the dogs can't nip through the fence might be ugly but it'll keep everyone safe and send the rest of your neighbors the message that there is an obvious danger/concern there.

If they bark to high heaven call and report the disturbance to animal control or law enforcement. Most put a cap on nuisance barking of a half hour. I would call every single day it becomes an issue for you so it FINALLY becomes an issue for her too. The pestering and potential fines may get her to bring the dogs in and/or move altogether.

[Scout]

There may be nothing you can do but, stay away from that fence. Is there a city ordinance that prohibits a certain amount of pets? You could possibly look into that. Good Luck! I am scared of large dogs because a German Shepard bit me in the face when I was little. I did nothing different than the other kids that walked right by him while he was eating his bone but, he went after me. 8 stitches.

[craftymissbeth]

Sounds like barrier frustration. They may or may not actually be vicious, if they're shepherd's of any kind they're likely underworked and bored to death. Huge personal pet peeve of mine when people get working breeds and then just stick them in the backyard. Hello neurotic nutballs......


If I were you I'd shoot her a certified letter detailing your concerns about the potential for electrocution, fire and liability on both your parts. Check with your local municipalities if having a hotwired fence is even allowed by law in a neighborhood like that (my guess would be it is NOT). And then if I were you I'd surf craigslist for cheap lumber. Big shhets of plywood to line that section so the dogs can't nip through the fence might be ugly but it'll keep everyone safe and send the rest of your neighbors the message that there is an obvious danger/concern there.

If they bark to high heaven call and report the disturbance to animal control or law enforcement. Most put a cap on nuisance barking of a half hour. I would call every single day it becomes an issue for her. The pestering and potential fines may get her to bring the dogs in and/or move altogether.

You're right, those poor dogs are in her backyard 24/7 regardless of weather. One of them is of particular concernto me.. I believe wholeheartedly that he WILL bite if given the chance.

I never thought of just sticking a make shift plywood fence up. I'll run that by DH and see if he'll help.

Another neighbor who shares part of her fence called animal control daily for several weeks. Each time she received a ticket. She didn't care and she told me that she knew he was bothering her dogs to get them riled up .

[preschoolteacher]

Ugh, how frustrating.

I'd start with being upfront with your neighbor. "Sally, your dogs are beautiful, and I know you work hard to take care of them. However, I have some daycare kids who are afraid of dogs, and it has gotten to the point that we can't go outside because they are so afraid of the dogs' barking. I'm very worried because licensing says I must take them outside XXX minutes a day. I was wondering if we could work out something that's good for the dogs and for the daycare kids."

What if you told her your schedule--"We go outside from 10 AM to 11 AM and from 2 PM to 3 PM every day" and ask if she would keep her dogs inside or on the other side of her yard during that time.

She might have put the electric wire up because she realizes that her dogs plus your daycare kids = disaster. I'd take that as a good sign! At least she recognizes the problem and tried something, although it doesn't sound like a good choice.

I'd talk to her and then go out of my way to be extremely nice. Waving, smiling, stopping to briefly chat if I saw her outside. People are more inclined to help others who treat them well. If she takes a step towards fixing the situation, I'd acknowledge and thank her for it. Ya know, positive reinforcement, you should be good at that since you're a dc provider!

I don't think there is much you can legally do, so dealing with the situation as nicely and straightforwardly as possible would be the first step. After that, if all else fails....

There has to be an ordinance or code about the use of an electric fence. I would start there and do some research. I'm not sure if you live in the city or the country, but in my city there are very strict rules about what neighbors can do because we all live practically on top of each other.

Unless the dog hurts someone, I don't think you can do anything about it. I would hope it never came to that!

Noise ordinance? Barking dogs all day would apply. I know a certain family member of mine is probably a lot like your neighbor... and he has gotten the cops called on him before because his dogs barked non-stop. Although if this is happening in the day and not the night, it might not be an issue.

[preschoolteacher]

Oh, the plywood is SUCH a good idea! You could even paint it with chalkboard paint and have a giant chalkboard wall back there. Or maybe if you didn't want to encourage the kids to go near it (chalkboards would be a bad idea in that case), you could just paint them to they weren't so ugly.

[Willow]

You're right, those poor dogs are in her backyard 24/7 regardless of weather. One of them is of particular concernto me.. I believe wholeheartedly that he WILL bite if given the chance.

I never thought of just sticking a make shift plywood fence up. I'll run that by DH and see if he'll help.

Another neighbor who shares part of her fence called animal control daily for several weeks. Each time she received a ticket. She didn't care and she told me that she knew he was bothering her dogs to get them riled up .

There's your answer. It won't matter if she doesn't mind the fines, eventually animal control will get fed up with making visits and make her change what she's doing under threat of larger fines, court dates and even losing them entirely.


I highly doubt the hotwire is there to protect the children because the woman cares. If they are AS's they are jumpers and runners. Guaranteed it doesn't take much for them to hop that fence and when they do getting them back is probably one heck of a task.

[craftymissbeth]

I spoke to her two days ago when she called me out for yelling at the dogs to shut up while I did yard work .

I was nice, but told her straight out that I worry about her dogs and that I see them as a liability.

I now vaguely remember her mentioning the idea of putting up the electric wire, but only on the section that connects to the other guys yard. And the intention was to keep him and his kids out... she does not believe that her dogs are an issue.

To me that's irresponsible and super dangerous.

[Margarete]

Maybe try something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Dazer-II-Ultrasonic-Deterrent/dp/B000IBRI2Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376667190&sr=8-1&keywords=dog+dazer

At the price point it's worth trying. There may be others with a longer range, I think there are others that 'hear' dog barking and automatically switch on that you can set up near the fence line.
... and check limits on animals. In our city we have a 3 dog limit.

[Meeko]

It should HER that makes any changes....but if you go the plywood route, you could paint some simple, cute murals. It would block the dogs and add some whimsie to your yard.

And she'd have to put up with ugly plywood on her side ::::

[Sugar Magnolia]

I get what you all are saying about being nice but seems like she tried that.
This woman is causing you to not be able to "enjoy your property" and I would threaten her landlord with a lawsuit.
Have you spoken to Animal Control directly? Outside 24/7/365 sounds like.abuse.
Have the police come to judge the possibility of noise ordinance violations.
I advocate "being nice" whenever possible, but the potential for a serious mauling and losing.clients is where nice flies out the window for me. Big dogs can KILL SMALL CHILDREN.
Honestly, I would do every thing in my power to make this lady miserable.

[craftymissbeth]

I get what you all are saying about being nice but seems like she tried that.
This woman is causing you to not be able to "enjoy your property" and I would threaten her landlord with a lawsuit.
Have you spoken to Animal Control directly? Outside 24/7/365 sounds like.abuse.
Have the police come to judge the possibility of noise ordinance violations.
I advocate "being nice" whenever possible, but the potential for a serious mauling and losing.clients is where nice flies out the window for me. Big dogs can KILL SMALL CHILDREN.
Honestly, I would do every thing in my power to make this lady miserable.

I sent the landlord a message on FB and she seems more than willing to help me out in any way. The backyard is ok-sized, but there is no longer any grass. The dogs are out there so much that the yard is literally just dirt/mud.

Ugh, I hate to cause problems for this lady. In every other way she seems nice.

Just out of curiosity is there no way to train dogs like this to calm the h-e-double-hockey-sticks down? I know there is NO way she's going to start exercising them (although she once told me that they are all obedience and agility trained and she puts them in competitions :confused: how on Earth they are able to behave is beyond me). She's a middle aged single woman who doesn't seem to be in the greatest of health.


Anyway, thank you everyone for your advice! :hug:

[itlw8]

call your city and describe what you told us. the barking the electric fence to keep the neighbors out, Be sure to mention the preschoolers and the dogs demeaner when you get near the fence. ASK them if there are any ordinances that cover these problems. Then when you have the information document the problem and keep reporting the problem to the police. Until they have complaints they will do nothing. here if you have more than one litter you are an unlicensed breeder and the neighbors have won that way. Bark too much more that 15 minutes it is a warning then a fine. Yes call the landlord. they may be friends but it HIS insurance that will be charged when a child is bit or hurt on the electric fence. (ARE YOU SURE IT IS AN ELECTRIC FENCE and not a shock color and wire for the dog?) That would be allowed. Let him know if a child is hurt by the dogs or fence the parents will likely sue HIM and HER because it is a known problem.

[craftymissbeth]

call your city and describe what you told us. the barking the electric fence to keep the neighbors out, Be sure to mention the preschoolers and the dogs demeaner when you get near the fence. ASK them if there are any ordinances that cover these problems. Then when you have the information document the problem and keep reporting the problem to the police. Until they have complaints they will do nothing. here if you have more than one litter you are an unlicensed breeder and the neighbors have won that way. Bark too much more that 15 minutes it is a warning then a fine. Yes call the landlord. they may be friends but it HIS insurance that will be charged when a child is bit or hurt on the electric fence. (ARE YOU SURE IT IS AN ELECTRIC FENCE and not a shock color and wire for the dog?) That would be allowed. Let him know if a child is hurt by the dogs or fence the parents will likely sue HIM and HER because it is a known problem.

Good point about the fence.. none of the dogs even wear collars

All I know is that I remember her telling me that she was thinking about installing an electric fence so that our other neighbor and his kids would stop getting her dogs riled up and then calling the police.

She was dead serious, but I didn't take her seriously. I didn't realize that she even did it until the other day when I was doing yard work near the fence and saw the wire about 2-3 inches from the fence on her side. At the end of the fence it was plugged into an extension cord. :confused: