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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it's not me that needs to dog proof my garden?

73 replies

TheCarrotsDontWork · 06/03/2015 23:52

Next-door neighbour's dog keeps darting through the hedge when it hears my dog in the garden.

Neighbour thinks it's my problem and I should put up a fence if I'm bothered.

My dog is always supervised in the garden and has never gone through the hedge.

AIBU to think that she needs to put up the fence if she can't keep her dog in, not me?

OP posts:
TouchPauseEngage · 07/03/2015 08:50

We had a hedge as one boundry when we moved in. It's not secure enough to keep my dog in so I got some 60cm green wire fencing (the stuff that comes in a roll from the garden center) and banged in a few wooden stakes to attach it. The hedge had grown through it in a few weeks. as it's something that can be sorted out for £20 I'd just do it and save yourself the trouble.

EponasWildDaughter · 07/03/2015 10:38

The thing is, all these post saying 'just' put up a fence to keep neighbors dog out - depending on the length of the garden that could cost hundreds of pounds. Why should a person be expected to pay out on account of another peoples pet? There is no legal requirement to mark your boundary with anything. Let alone a dog proof fence.

If your neighbor bought a load of monkeys which they let out into the garden every day, which got out over the fences and caused havoc, would the neighbors be expected to 'just' put up monkey proof fencing? No! Of course not. What's the difference because it's a dog? None. It's the animals owner who has the responsibility to keep the animal confined to their own property.

Original poster
TheCarrotsDontWork · 07/03/2015 10:47

Eponas - that's what I feel too. The expense and the difficulty - because there is a hedge there, so where would the fence go? On my side of the hedge, reducing my garden? I think it should be the animal owner's responsibility to keep their dog in their garden. If the neighbour doesn't want to put up a fence, then she should do what I do and stay out there with her dog. I have also found her dog in the road twice before now and brought it in for her - which she didn't even say thank you for.

OP posts:
SunshineAndShadows · 07/03/2015 10:48

Its the dog owners responsibility to keep their dog under control (I'm a dog owner)

Perhaps report to the dog warden when the dog enters your garden and ask them to speak to your neighbour

quietbatperson · 07/03/2015 11:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CiderwithBuda · 07/03/2015 11:17

Well yes it is her responsibility but it doesn't seem to bother her so I would just do it.

We put secondary fencing in all around our garden on our side of the hedges to ensure our dogs didn't get out. Garden is half an acre so a lot of fencing.

Cue ring on the intercom (big garden, long driveway and electric wooden gates to keep the dogs in) second day they were out on their own and a man asking if we owned two big dogs as they were in his kitchen! Blush. Bloody fencing company had just laid the fencing on top of loose soil so they dug their way out.

We now have railway sleepers infront of the fencing and the fencing is attached to them.

PeterGriffinsPenisBeaker · 07/03/2015 11:23

I'd open the garden gate and let the dog out every single time the dog gets into your garden. Ungrateful cowbag might take the hint then...

SoupDragon · 07/03/2015 11:29

TBH, I would fix it so that my dog couldn't escape. You say that your dog is "always"p supervised" and has "never gone through the hedge" but it doesn't take much for a dog to sneak out or suddenly discover that they can get through a hedge or fence.

SoupDoggyDogg is always on a long line in the garden because the boundaries which are not mine are impossible to maintain. That doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally manage to escape and romp through the neighbourhood for hours.

OddBoots · 07/03/2015 11:59

If you do have another gate I agree that you should open it if their dog goes in your garden, I'd warn them before you do it that you intend to though.

Iwouldratherbemuckingout · 07/03/2015 12:03

I'm just agog at the posters who think its ok to hurt (barbed wire), poison (chocolate) or endanger (let on road) an animal.

Yes, its the dog owners responsibiity.

littlemslazybones · 07/03/2015 12:11

If you had a solution to this hedge problem would you still have to supervise your dog in your back garden? Because Touch's solution sounds like a good idea and would be a bonus for you too.

letscookbreakfast · 07/03/2015 12:18

I agree Iwouldratherbemuckingout but sadly you see it in every dog thread. I think that some users genuinely don't think before posting.

OP it is your neighbours responsibility.

RoadRunnersMate · 07/03/2015 12:47

I dont agree with posts suggesting you harm the dog or let it loose. Disgusting Just because you dont like an animal doesnt mean you should harm them.

I would do as someone suggested above and put a couple wooden post in and tack chicken wire type stuff where the dog can get in.

Also theres always potential that your dog can get spooked while in the garden and run off so think of it as a safety precaution for your dog.

Original poster
TheCarrotsDontWork · 07/03/2015 13:29

Our dog is an assistance dog for my husband who is disabled, so has different "rules" to pet dogs, and garden time will always be supervised. Our garden is stamp-sized, and not really a recreational space for him - he has regular outings to more suitable space.

Neither husband or I are able to put up a fence ourselves, we would have to pay to have it done. We'd also have to negotiate with the neighbour over doing it - she has been a PITA before about works on the shared wall of our house (semi-detached). I don't see an easy solution to this, I think I am just blowing off steam here.

OP posts:
IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKahleesi · 07/03/2015 13:35

YANBU

and I agree that you should call the local councils dog warden and report the dog being in your garden every time it happens, bet that'll soon stop it!

Oldraver · 07/03/2015 14:16

Just let the dog out of your garden, everytime...you have tried reasonable with her and she hasn't responded. Dozy mare

EponasWildDaughter · 07/03/2015 15:41

Give the dog warden a call OP. Or email them. You'll find the address if you have a poke around your councils web site. At the very least you could get some advice re: law.

Ours responded very quickly and effectively and went round to the escapy dogs house on the next working day. For a word. And it worked. Shortly after that a note appeared in the village mag. asking dog owners to control their pets. I think part of the reason the council are pretty hot about dog control at the moment are all the dreadfully sad stories in the news lately involving dogs.

Can the neighbors dog get any further than your garden? Or are your other boundaries secure? I was thinking along the lines of you asking to remain anonymous when it comes to the dog warden, if you don't want unpleasantness. If this dog can get into other gardens it may have been someone else who reported her, you see :)

Isithappening · 07/03/2015 15:51

We had this problem with a neighbour. The hedge was fine as a boundary until she moved in with her 4 wild dogs who wrecked the hedge and then kept coming through the newly created gaps int he hedge into our garden. I asked the neighbour politely several times to keep her dogs out of my garden and she said 'I can't help it, there isn't anything I can do about it'. She refused point blank to build a fence. It got to the point where the dogs were in my garden every day sometimes twice or more times a day. I ended up calling the dog warden. The dog warden said I was legally entitled to trap the digs in my garden and phone the dog warden who would take the dogs away and fine the dog owner and charge them to get their dogs back. I didn't want to trap the dogs, I just with them out of my garden.
I ended up having to find £500 (which wasn't easy to find) to out up a fence myself. I console myself with the fact that not only have I solved the dog in my garden problem but the fence also prevents me from seeing the piles of dog shit in her filthy garden.

TiggyD · 07/03/2015 17:02

OP, why not put a nice stake (Wooden not meat) in the garden, just right for an itchy dog to rub against to get rid of any itches it might have. Maybe just next to a hole in a hedge or something. And to stop thieves from stealing it why not paint it with non drying anti burglar paint?

RoadRunnersMate · 07/03/2015 18:25

Buy some cheap fun snaps hopefully your dog isn't scared of them but could make the other dog leave your garden. Whe you chuck Them.
They are tiny bits of stuff wrapped in paper that make a snap sound when hit with force. Some animals are scared of them.

Usually can buy them in pound shops or ali's cave type shops.

jerryfudd · 07/03/2015 18:46

I wouldn't want to hurt a dog but no way would I be putting up with somebody else's dog in my garden. I would give her one more opportunity and tell her she needs to secure her dog as your garden gate will no longer be secure. If it gets hurt because she failed to secure it she only has herself to blame

paxtecum · 07/03/2015 18:55

Can you put chicken wire in the gaps where the dog is getting through?
That would be a cheap solution.

stiffstink · 07/03/2015 18:59

I can't understand why people are suggesting letting the dog out intentionally into the road?!

Have any of you ever hit a dog in a car? I nearly did and it was devastating. If I had killed it I don't know what I would have felt. But on MN its ok for a person to intentionally /recklessly let at a dog get loose knowing it could get into traffic?! A car would kill a dog but a dog could kill a swerving cyclist/biker!

Be more assertive with the neighbour OP but don't hurt the bloody dog!

AliceLidl · 07/03/2015 19:05

Please don't do any of the suggestions that would harm or endanger the neighbours dog.

I can't believe people are seriously advocating barbed wire, chocolate to poison it, or leaving it loose on a road.

Your neighbour is being unreasonable but that's no reason for people to encourage you to harm her pet. It's not the dog's fault it belongs to a feckless arse.

Andrewofgg · 07/03/2015 19:09

AliceLidl Would you fell differently if the OP wrote to the neighbour saying that she was going to put up some barbed wire a few days later so she might want to control her dog and keep it away from the hedge?

If she did that it would be the neighbour's responsibility, wouldn't it?

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