1. Redirect. One or more dogs lives behind my niece's house. Early on, when those dogs made noises, the larger ("Nellie") of her two dogs would bark. All the barking made for pretty unpleasant time. My niece's family was able to redirect their dogs energy. They taught her to play with toy rather than bark back. There were many treats involved initially ... now they just make sure she has an available toy. She'll usually keep the toy in her mouth until her urge to react has diminished. Since Nellie has mostly stopped her barking, the neighbors dogs rarely bark. When they do, it is for shorter durations.
2. Fencing. I don't have a good picture of what you describe as your neighbors "poorly fenced yard." Is this a fence that runs along the property line separating the two lots (yours and your neighbor's)? If that is the case, then your HOA or city codes likely give you the right to shore up problem areas on your side of the fence. When my late Katy was little, we had to add some protection in areas of our perimeter fence/gates. Home Depot had several options to choose from. We used a roll of durable plastic that had holes in it. It was probably three feet tall and came in desert friendly colors. We added that to the lower part of some wrought iron gates--making sure to drop it down far enough that the little rascal couldn't wiggle out.
Hope my descriptions make sense. Would either of these approaches work for you? |