How to stop next doors dog digging under our fence?

[Mytwistedimagination]

First off, I don't dislike dogs :).
But I do dislike my ndn's dogs! They have three or four (not sure if one visits) and one in particular is a little bugger. Sustained barking at any little noise from my side of the fence, even the sound of watering the plants. It has dug through and got into my garden twice, and can't be caught without the owner chasing it round. I've got some plastic anti dig board at the small gap along the bottom of the fence, but it just digs under it. The two original escape holes have been blocked off by the NDP, but there's another two holes being dug which I've mentioned, and despite saying they'll block them off, they've done nothing. At the moment I've got large plastic toy boxes covering what I can on my side, but the damn dog just digs further along, and has already dug away a huge part of my flower bed.
Is there anything I can put down which will deter the dog from digging? I tried pepper but it had no effect :). Any barrier gets dug around or under. Ndn isn't interested.
Any good ideas?

[fuzzyfozzy]

I'd be tempted to advise them that your gate isn't working properly so there's a good chance of their dog getting out.

[AcrossthePond55]

We had a dog (Beagle/Fox Terrier mix) who used to dig out under our gate. Dad ended up digging a trench under the gate and buried a row consisting of two bricks standing end to end one on top of each other. It made a 16" barrier under the gate.

Worked great until the dog learnt how to climb the gate crossbar support!

[SofiaAmes]

Tell the neighbor that you've just sprayed poison for rodents or something along those lines....Maybe they will take the escapes more seriously. I am in the USA...we would report something like that to Animal Control...do you have the equivalent.

[Ylvamoon]

Out in a "rabbit fence" .

[SpanielsAreNuts]

Sink mesh straight down under fence - it's a rabbit proofing way to fence.

Or report to council.

[BiteyShark]

We had to extend next door neighbours fence as it was clearly not going to be dog digging proof. I used chicken type wire fence and buried it as far as I could into the ground.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

A terrier by any chance? Ultimately this isn't your responsibility, and your NDNs don't sound like great dog owners.

If it was your dog I would be suggesting a 30cm grill of chicken wire around the edge of your garden, or digging in some chicken wire under the fence, which is what we used to do to stop foxes digging their way into chicken runs. However, as you've already been more than patient I'm minded to suggest calling the dog warden

[Mytwistedimagination]

What would a dog warden or the council do? Can they enforce anything?
Sounds as if my only option is going to involve a lot of work! It's an awkward position as well, the fence is along a narrow raised bed, about my shoulder height, as our garden is lower than theirs. I'd have to balance on a ladder while ducking under the overhang of the deck roof. Not going to be easy. I was hoping for something I could put down which would be unpleasant for the dog to dig in and put it off?
I'm not sure what kind of a dog it is. It had a funny French (?) name. Was told it was a show dog, but it's behaviour is appalling - I always thought show dogs were well trained!

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

I grew up with a dog that had won enough competitions to go to Crufts (but was sold by his breeder as an 18 month old). Lovely temperament, but crap recall and a distinct tendency to piss on anything you left on the floor - after he died it was years before I could bear to put my handbag on the floor in the house! Anyway, show dogs are show dogs because they have a particular body shape and can trot around a ring nicely, rather than anything else (or compete in agility / flyball / whatever, if it's that sort of competition).

Anyway, the dog warden / council could come around and have a word, if you think the neighbours would be responsive to such a thing. Not sure what their ultimate enforcement options are (I've never looked into it) but it's worth a go. You could also simply take the dog to the council pound (via dog warden) every time it escapes - they'll get it back if they have microchipped in accordance with the law, but it's a pain in the arse and there are fees to pay.

[Joboy]

Whose Fence is it . It might not even be the dog. It might just be using the holes.
Wild life dig holes .

[Mytwistedimagination]

It's a shared fence, and it's def that dog- the holes are so big I can see it's paws scrabbling away and it's snout when it sticks it through! You think I'd have noticed four massive holes if they'd been there previously!
Good idea about taking it to the pound, but when it escaped into our garden I couldn't catch it, as it kept dancing out of reach.

[AlonsoTigerHeart]

I'd tell them if it digs in I'd let it out into the street.

[Mytwistedimagination]

That's the thing which convinced me they don't give a monkeys about being good neighbours! They blocked the holes which went into our front garden, which is open to the street, but not the ones into the back garden. (The houses are offset, and their back garden runs along the side of our house. ) The back garden is enclosed, no way through except through the garage or house, so it would be completely safe there. Maybe I'll have to start leaving the garage open...!

[Joboy]

If you are in .uk it won't be a shared fence look at your deeds .

[Mytwistedimagination]

joboy it's a shared fence. I'm not in the UK

[Dottierichardson]

mytwisted I hope you will not listen to posters who recommend taking the dog to the pound - it's not clear which country you are in but many/most have pounds that are appalling places and have 'kill' policies. You say you are a dog lover, would you really want to be responsible for this dog potentially being killed?! Even if dogs chipped many places not well run and dogs can be mis-classified.

In addition in most countries dogs are property, so the minute you pick up the dog and take it indoors, let alone to the pound you have stolen it and if you drop it off somewhere you have 'dumped' stolen goods.


On dog wardens if you don't/won't say where you are, then not possible to advise what they can/can't do as obviously laws vary.


If fence shared and it bothers you, personally, I would get it fixed myself. Do you really want to start up a war with your neighbour? If I was your neighbour and you took my dog to a pound I would be beyond angry. Although agree irresponsible, we paid for a fence on non-shared side as our neighbour couldn't be arsed to have a decent one, as we wouldn't want our dogs to be loose.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Just to be clear I wouldn't have suggested a council pound if I knew the OP wasn't in the UK - here they get 7 days in the pound, while the warden tries to trace the owner, and if the owner can't be traced they almost always go onto third party rescue centres for rehoming.

It's a very different situation in many other countries!

[Dottierichardson]

Avocados know you wouldn't have, your posts on this forum are amongst the sanest, most dog-friendly of any I've read and your advice similar. It wasn't clear until later that the OP not in the UK. Also if not in UK dog may not be chipped so even more risk of being lost in the system.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Thank you @Dottie - that's a lovely thing to say!

[Wornoutbear]

Sounds silly, but I put curry powder down and that stopped cats, so is it worth a go with dogs. Downside is your garden smells like a take away, but it might be worth a go to get it used to the idea of not digging?

[CatOwned]

Like PP says, a show dog will fit the breed standard to a T. Right size, proportion, colour, nose and ear shape, etc. It should also include temperament, but you know how some breeders are.

Something that concerns me is that sometimes, when buying a "show dog", not only you pay more (fair) but you get breeding rights. Seeing how inconsiderate your NDNs are, I'd be worried they start breeding for profit.

[Mytwistedimagination]

cat I already knows she breeds the dog. She told me in the one conversation I've managed to have with her, in which she promised to close up the holes. This was over a month ago now, and she's done bugger all.
I don't mind where I'm living at all. It's Australia. I know all pets are registered and chipped (or should be), so I would also assume a pound would check that first, not that I ever considered it, as I mentioned, I can't catch the bloody thing. Last time it got into the garden it ran round terrorizing the cat, who I had to rescue and put indoors.
Also as to the shared fence. Yes, I could go to the massive trouble and expense of digging down and attaching a barrier of some sort into the ground, but I was looking for an easier option! There is already a barrier which used to reach the ground, no gaps, which the bloody thing dug up. She also rents, so I can't go round making big changes (unless only on my side).
Thanks for the curry powder idea :) I found some dog repellant crystals in the pest section the other day, which I'm trying right now. If it doesn't work I'll try the curry powder, which will be a lot cheaper!!

[Dottierichardson]

OP there is a Western Australia Rangers Association that seems to be the equivalent of U.K. dog warden service, even if you're not in their area might be worth asking them for legal advice.

If your neighbour rents then do you know or can you find out who the landlord is? As they are the ones responsible for maintaining the fencing, perhaps telling your neighbour you will be raising the issue with the landlord may get more results.

[Branleuse]

leave your gate open

[AgathaF]

As she rents, can you contact the landlord or letting agent? Her dog is damaging the boundary fencing by the sounds of it, I'm sure the landlord wouldn't be happy about that, so perhaps he could make her control the animal.