Unchained and Untrained - other dogs in your yard -long story!!
 

I am so frustrated lately with my neighbors accross the streets irresponsibility towards letting their dogs outside. So my question to you guys is are any of you in the situation I am going to explain below and how do you deal with it without being rude?

So my neighbors have two dogs and I have two dogs. Their dogs are Tickles and Mutley, Tickles is probably around 25 or 30 pounds and Mutley is over a hundred. My two dogs Oliver (my yorkie 9-10ish pounds) and George who's over a hundred too. Well my neighbors are constantly letting their dogs run free around the yard and when my dogs are out the neighbors dogs are in my yard. They do their business in my yard and the neighbors try to clean most of it up as best as they can I believe but they are still leaving constant droppings in my front yard (which is supposted to be droppings free for a play area).

Also my other concern is right now we live on a dead end street, I dont want Oliver or George thinking that its alright for them to cross the street whenever they feel like it. I dont want them picking up this bad habit. Someday our street will connect and end up going through, once the population grows a little more.

My last concern is Oliver and Mutley. Mutley is not a nice dog, he has gone after Oliver a couple of times and we have had to pick up Oliver and run in the house. When my mother went over to the neighbors house to simply tell them what happened and asked them to prevent this from happing again to put Mutley on a stronger chain all my neighbor said was "well when it rains it pours" and slammed the door in my moms face.

So what do you do? call the cops or take it to them directly? and what do you say to them in order to be kind but get your point across as well? Im not sure how well they are going to take listening to any of my family members because of what happened the last time.

Advice Pleaseeeee

That is a tough call.:( You stand to risk really making your neighbors mad, or putting the welfare of your own dogs at risk. I would do what it took to make sure MY dogs were safe and if the neighbor's got mad, oh well. I would ask them directly first and let them know you intend to call the police/animal control if they can't fix the problem. Try to catch the event either with pictures or on video to back your claims. You never know when you may need them.
Good luck.:)

The whole picture thing is a really good point. I just dont know if they are going to be willing to listen to me if/when i do talk to them. But i suppose if I do make it a point to let them know I will be calling the police then maybe they will think more about putting their dogs on chains.

I would try talking to the neighbors first to give them the opportunity, maybe you could explain that their dog is out running lose and they may get hit or the dog warden could pick them up for running loose because there is a leash law and you just thought they'd like to know so nothing happens to them....if that doesn't work the next time I would hold them in the garage or hold on to them and call the dog warden, there is a state leash law and that is why it is in place...I believe the first offense is $25-$100 and the second offense is $50- $200..that should get their attention...your not being rude, they are....

They really don't seem to be very concerned with how it affects anyone else, so I wouldn't really expect an huge amount of cooperation, but it's worth a try. The least you can do is mention it to them first. Then at least you can say that you warned them.:)

thats what my dad thought when we were trying to think of ways to make this stop. Tell them then if it doesnt stop hold them and call the police or animal control.

exactly what i was thinking. thanks for the advice.

That is a tough situation. I would attempt to talk to them first. I know the police around here rarely fine for situations like that even though it is the law because it's hard to prove and involved time consuming investigations (not that I agree with this lack of concern).

Is there anyway you can fence your yard to keep the other dogs out?

i dont know if we can put up a fence, i think that is allowed but its got to be a certain type of fence. I never thought about a fence though, that is a good idea.

Yeah, I hate that you would *have* to do that based on someone else's irresponsibility. But it may just be worth less of a headache for you guys. I know that at our local park off leash dogs have harassed us and our dogs on walks and it never gets much attention from the police besides a warning.

But by all means I would also contact your animal control in your area to see how they handle it. It's a sanitary issue if there are dogs going in your yard that they aren't cleaning up and since they've shown aggression in the past it's a safety issue too!

I hope they can help you or your neighbors "get with it" :)

Yeah a fence might just be the answer to keep these rude peoples dogs away.

lol i hope they can get with it too. Were you the person that put that post up about the dogs that were bugging you in the dog parks? I remember that... did they end up doing anything about it (if that was your post)? the fence is a great idea though... thanks :)

could be... i never thought about a fence until today.

I agree with the poster who said to take pictures/video of the other dogs in your yard, and the droppings they leave behind. Obviously a 100 lb. dog makes much bigger piles o' poo than a 10 lb. yorkie!

After you have some "evidence" (just in case you need it), I would try and talk to your neighbors when they're outside. They may not realize their dogs are bothering you, or even that they are going potty in your yard. I would also document each time you see the dogs in your yard, the time/date, what they did, where your dogs were, etc, as well as any communication you have with the neighbor. Just in case, you have all the documentation and the photos. If all else fails, report it to the cops-but to keep relations between neighbors on good terms, I'd try and work it out myself first.

Yes that was me! I've basically stopped going to the park which I hate, but by the time the police would come, the people would be gone or would wait until the cops left and unleash their dogs again.

I got tired of confronting people about their bad behavior and just gave up. I'll drive by first to see if there are any off leash dogs, and I try to go at off hours. It just makes me so upset that people are soooo inconsiderate when it comes to their pets.

I really hope your neighbors will be better with their responsibilities as pet owners!

Check with your local township in regards to leash laws. You can actually call the police and have the owner ticketed for not having the dog on a leash. One way to prove is to video tape your neighbor dogs or just call when it happens. But, your neighbor will probably retaliate when your dogs are out off the leash. And you can always reply back to them, "When it rains, sometimes its followed by lightening." ;)