SHould I report neighbours dog for this?

[tundrah]

On sunday my little boy (2) sneaked in to the neighbours garden. The neighbour let his 5 dogs out and they surrounded my boy barking, snapping and snarling at him. The dogs are not very well trained but usually the neighbour would call them back. This time he made no attempt to call them back, I had to grab my boy who was bawling and shaking like a leaf. The neighbour jsut gave me a foul look.

I am constantly telling my boy not to go in there, he is well aware he shouldn't. THE only good thing is he might not try to get in There again. I am absolutely livid that the neighbour seemed to be letting his dogs scare my child like that!

Should I report it?

there is more to the story, too. We are farmers and our fields surround these neighbours, I have also had 3 sheep killed and 7 aborted since these neighbours moved in. I have reported the worrying to the police (you should always do that) but I don't know for certain it was them. Judging by Sunday I have suspicions now that it was them.

And I don't think it is an either-or situation - I believe it is possible for the OP to be u reasonable for not keeping her eye on the boy, AND for the neighbour to be unreasonable for not calling the dogs off, and for not maintaining his boundaries (if a 2-year-old can get in, the dogs can get out and maybe worry stock or get run over/lost).

read 2 pages and it's an mn pile on. The man should have called the dogs back from your 2 year old ,op. Wonder if he's getting geared up because his dogs may have killed your sheep. Is it possible to have ctv that could capture what is going on?

I'm just waiting for op to come back and say
"well we live on a farm so dc is free range "

As most posters have already said the neighbour is a prize arse.

But the op is quite irresponsible. It's not like keeping an eye on dc in a shopping centre. Because she knew he bolts, and he's only 2 and there is live stock about also said livestock was a bull. She also knew he has a thing for going into the neighbours garden were barky dogs live. Under all those circumstances you would be extra vigilant,

That's horrible hope your little one is okay now. Can you put any sort of fence to stop him going into the garden?

Sunshine - the OP said that the boundary isn't between her land and the man's garden - it's between his garden and a forestry track - so the boundary will be either his responsibility or the Forestry Commission's.

If the neighbour's dogs are getting out and worrying local livestock, he should fix the gaps in his fence - regardless of whether small boys can get in through them.

I cant believe you took your bolting 2 year old unrestrained while you moved a bull

Once again, NO-ONE thinks the man was acting ina good way. He should have called the dogs away. yes.

the problem is the OP not taking ANY responsibility for her or her child's actions.

most people would have written a post on here about the same thing ina completely different way.

would have gone something a bit like this:

"I'm so upset with myself, my little boy got into a neighbour's garden, I turned my back for one second and he bolted. I feel awful, because the neighbour's dogs were let out and they surrounded him and barked at him before I could get to him. I was so scared, we both were. I feel just awful that my boy was in such danger. My boy is safe now, but I'm worried about what might happen with the dogs again. I am going to look at maybe putting him reins/buggy/sling from now on near the man's property. can't have him bolting again! I think the owner set the dogs on purpose, and he didn't call them away. Do you have any advice about how to deal with the man and his dogs? I feel thy're quite dangerous, and he was irresponsible for not calling them off"

Bloody hell OP you've had a tough time on here.

I have a 3 year old DS. About a year ago (so when he was 2) we were walking home and he suddenly bolted across the road infront of us. He'd never done anything like that before and knew he shouldn't have been doing it. My heart nearly jumped out of my throat. Thank god there were no cars coming and I shouted so much out of fear he never done it again.

The point I'm trying to make is yes, I should have been holding his hand. I should have anticipated something like that and been in control of the situation. But sometimes stuff like that happens because 2 year olds are unpredictable and don't understand road danger/trespassing laws. Show me parent of a two year old to me who claims to have NEVER dropped the ball and I will show you a bullshitter.

It was my fault for allowing that incident to happen. But if a car had been approaching the road and they'd deliberately sped up to scare my child that would be a fucking shitty and cruel thing to do.

I do agree with your last post, 00100001 - though I have seen some posters either suggesting that the man didn't do what the OP said he did, or minimising it - ie. the dogs were well trained because they only barked at the boy - and posts saying it was completely the OP's fault and therefore the neighbour was not unreasonable.

"Seems you are unreasonable, not the neighbour" - definiteissues.

Motheroffourdragons - the dogs didn't bite the boy - but they did terrify him - he wasn't to know they were not going to bite him - the neighbour should have called his dogs off.

Yes, the OP is responsible for her son - but the neighbour is responsible for his dogs, even if all they are going to do is surround a two-year-old and bark/growl at him.

OP, your son wasn't hurt by the dogs, was he? So your son trespassed and the property owners' dogs barked at him. All of this is your perception and I think the police will probably talk some sense into you, so you should do. As are the attacks on your sheep - seriously, if they are happening that often since the neighbours moved in, sit out one or two nights and catch them at it. Otherwise it could be any dogs.

To prevent it happening again, fence the boundary and take a bit more responsibility for your son - I have visions of him wandering around under the wheels of a reversing heavy vehicle or into a slurry pit.

questioning the difference is you seem to have learned from your experience of bolting. The OP doesn't seem to have done this, from what she has written.

geniius you are right, the man was at fault too

Elke - are you seriously saying that it was OK that five dogs surrounded a two-year-old, barking and growling at him and terrifying him? Whilst the dogs' owner stood and watched? Just as long as they didn't bite him.

I see stories on here of children who become afraid of dogs after being accidentally knocked over by a dog - how much more damage might this incident have done?

questioning, furthermore, you said this: He'd never done anything like that before

The OP has said that her boy had done this several times before. So she knew it was a risk and didn't take necessary precaution.

Yes, the man was at fault, I said so myself, but instead of examining what she could have done or now do to prevent / control / deal with this situation, she wants to report him for having dangerous dogs (who barked at the child - a stranger, essentially - on their OWN property, but didn't bite or attack). Very U.

YABU 2 year olds will run off and will not be reliable at following rules on outside boundaries.
You have to watch them constantly in this situation, if you can't you need a restraint or boundary of some sort.

I'm not saying my 2 yr old has never been out of my sight or never dropped the ball, but really your boy should not have been there.

You should address the sheep issue, of course.

TenForward but OP also stated than on previous occasions said neighbour has said 'it's ok' or something along those lines and held her sons hand etc. So she must have felt the risk of her 2 year olds having dogs released to terrify him was pretty low.

questioning yeah, the neighbour did that once (kid has been in their garden more than once), and it wasn't clear if they were being polite or genuinely didn't mind. Regardless, I would not allow my child to randomly slip off into other people's private property whether they said it was 'ok' (once) or not.

Also, whether the dogs were 'released' or not is irrelevant - it's THEIR garden, they could have been out in it anyway. OP had no way of knowing if the dogs would be in or out before she set out on her free-range bull-wandering expedition (without a harness for the child) and let her kid dart / sneak into someone's private property.

SDTG Elke - are you seriously saying that it was OK that five dogs surrounded a two-year-old, barking and growling at him and terrifying him? Whilst the dogs' owner stood and watched? Just as long as they didn't bite him

Why are you asking me a question with the answer you want contained in it?

I don't believe the OP. I think she is possibly one of those farming types who doesn't like incomers and has assumed that he is responsible for the sheep attacks. She knows the neighbour has five dogs, which obviously with it being his home, are quite likely to be in the garden or let out into the garden. The dogs barked. Unless the neighbour is an evil mastermind at terrifying young children who happen to wander into his garden (which from past incidents he seems not to be), I find the rest a bit far-fetched. Its entirely possible that the neighbour was exercising the dogs in another part of his own garden, and that they ran over to where the boy was and, being dogs, barked to alert him to the intruder.

Are you suggesting that the neighbour shouldn't let his dogs out in his own garden, just in case the OP's son should trespass in it?

And to be honest, if the OP's dogs stayed in his garden and didn't follow the boy or her, and they are exercised regularly in the garden, it makes the possibility that the sheep attacks are carried out by other dogs seem more likely.

Well if a 2 year old can slip between the hedge and fence that easily then the dogs can walk out through the same spot easily.
I would report this indecent and also the sheep injuries, I'd also shoot any dogs worrying my sheep.

No - I am suggesting that, when his dogs are surrounding a child and barking at them, he should call them off. That is what I have said all along.

Of course you don't believe the OP - if you did, you would have to accept that the man was unreasonable not to call the dogs off.

But you accept her version of the events leading up to the incident with the dogs - that her son ran off and climbed through a gap in the fence - or is that a lie too? Is it a lie that he has bolted before, or that he has been in the neighbour's garden before? Or is it just anything that paints the neighbour in a bad light that is a lie?

And how on earth do you know the dogs are exercised regularly in the garden? Based on this one story - that you don't entirely believe anyway? Where does the OP say that the man was already in the garden with his dogs?

"SDTG - you are correct the dog owner is responsible for his dogs but that does not absolve the parent who has the ultimate responsibility for his/her child."

I agree with you, Motheroffourdragons, and I don't think I have said that it does absolve her - I have said that she was responsible for letting him run off and get into the garden.

And Elke - the OP has said that the boundary is between the neighbour's garden and a forestry track - so not her responsibility to maintain.

As Squinkies says - if a child can get in, the dogs can get out - I think this man should be making sure that, if nothing else, his dogs are safe - if they get out and worry sheep, they could be shot, or they could get run over.