Neighbours dogs in my garden

[DanHumphreyIsA]

In the past 2 days 2 large dogs have been crawling through a gap in the fence in my garden.
The gardens are back to back and there is a long row of houses on each side, so I have no idea whose dogs they are.
The back of my garden has hedges and a tree, and the gap in the fence is in a corner, so hard to get to to patch it up. Have managed to get some wood nailed across it in past, but the dogs have managed to break this off.
There's a small alleyway between the gardens that back onto eachother, so the dogs could be from any house, not just the one at the back of mine if that makes sense.

I have no way of knowing if these dogs would bite or chase me so I've just grabbed the cats and gone in to the house and waited for them to leave themselves. They've also had 2 massive shits in the garden!
My nan lives me, she's partially sighted and has mobility issues so if she's in the garden and they come in she would struggle to get away in case they are aggressive (not a dog hater in any way! But I would rather err on the side of caution with 2 large stray dogs)

I dont really want to knock on every house on my street and the one behind (Around 40 houses atleast) and explain myself each time, to figure out where they're coming from. But tbh if the owners haven't stopped them I doubt they'd care if I told them anyway. I've also never seen anyone walking two dogs so I couldn't try and 'spot' them that way.

Woud it BU to ring RSPCA? Or someone else? I'm not sure on dog laws and how they're enforced but I'm pretty sure that dog owners need to keep their own gardens secured?

You could possibly ring your local dog warden as they are unknown strays as far as you're concerned and if they're still in your garden they might come and collect.

crawling through a gap in the fence in my garden.

Who owns the fence? Who is responsible for its upkeep?

The easiest solution is for you to secure your garden so the dogs can't get in. You can easily put up a fence in front of your trees and bushes, straight along. It may cost you money and be a pain, but it will be the quickest way to stop this happening.

www.cfba.co.uk/dog-laws.html

Do you know who is responsible for that particular fence. Check your deeds, if it's you. I would get it properly secured even if it means paying a handyman/woman to sort it.

My next step would be to try and ask around the neighbours or drop notes in doors(?)

Can you patch fence from alleyway side so the dogs can't push it?

Call the dog warden the next time they are in the garden and they will be collected.

The dogs shouldn't be roaming free. You can call a dog warden but you would need to secure the dogs.
Your fence? If so get it fixed.

This type of thread really requires a diagram for maximum impact.

Can you catch the dogs , attach a note to their collar and push them back out the gap?
Note to read "keep your bloody dogs under control and out of my garden"

What's the attraction in your garden that makes them break the repair to get in again? Do you feed the birds (surplus food for the dogs to pinch) or have small animals like rabbits or guinea-pigs that they might be attracted to.?Trouble is, they've been in before, they'll want to come back.

Can you get a photo of them? Can you see if they have collars at all?

I've had NDN dogs in my garden (and one had a manking big shit too ) chasing it out was one of the most nerve wracking things !

YY to get the fence as secure as possible with whatever you have , then find out who owns it.

To answer few questions:
I dont have access to the alleyway, I think it's used for only certain houses that dont have an alleyway at the side to take the bins out if that makes sense? Its all terraced houses, sorry should have mentioned that in OP.

It would be a bit awkward to fence around the trees etc, as the back of the garden goes 'uphill', and there are 4 trees, so I'd have to basically fence off around 2m2 of the entire garden.

It's a HA property, the garden is our responsibility in the tenancy agreement, however we are moving out in the next month so I dont really want to pay out, which is why we temporarily patched it up with wood but they managed to break through.

I think I will try the dog wardens if it happens again.

Thanks all

Can you get at the hole in the fence from the other side? Would that be an easier way to fix it?

I think you can call the dog warden, but i think the dogs can end up PTS if not claimed - I would be reluctant to call them for that reason. Do you have a local facebook page? Ours seems to be full of lost dogs with a fairly high success rate of finding owners.

I'm not really sure what has attracted them, we dont feed birds but do have cats that spend some time in the garden.
Or they could have just heard us talking and wanted to come over and say hello
My only concern about approaching them is if they are nervous dogs, they could retaliate when approached, Ive never had dogs so don't know much about behaviours. One of them does have a collar however.

It actually happened once 2 years ago thinking about it, not sure if its the same dogs, but I just spoke to them like I would to my cats, and told them to 'go home' in a baby voice through the window and they just sat and whined at me

I'd call the dog warden personally. What if they get out onto the road and have or cause an accident or even worse. I don't know much about dogs but I assume wagging tail means friendly. Stiff tail is aggresive and down tail is scared. I would also try to block up the hole with some chicken wire and metal stakes. Some cheap stuff from b&q.
Photo of hole so we can advise better?

Yes, if you're moving out in a couple of months, there's no point in putting yo a fence. Have you got anything you could use to block uo the hall? Plant pots, garden chairs etc?

"My only concern about approaching them is if they are nervous dogs, they could retaliate when approached"

Dogs have the same sort of stiff look that cats get when they're unhappy/stressed and they do a very similar stare if they're about to attack as cats do either for similar reasons or when they stalk wee beasties.

A friendly dog will look loose, tail either behind them but not stiff or wagging, ears a bit mobile like tails, not up and stiff but not pinned down either.

Slightly smiley mouths are pretty much a smile, a proper lip curl to show just teeth is a threat.

If they bounce down with their front legs on the ground and bum in the air, that's a play bow and a dog going, yay, let's play...(some not dog people get a bit startled by that one)

Basically the weird ones that cats don't do are usually positive, the negative ones shouldn't be totally unfamiliar if you have cats.

Yes think a photo is needed to clarify, I'll try and get one up later. The fence itself isnt broken its just the way its built, it doesnt align with the back of the garden so leaves a gap.
Thanks all

I still think your best bet (i.e. least expensive and minimum effort) is nailing a bit of wood over the hole from the outside. I know you don't have use of the alleyway, but can you physically get into it? Or if there is a locked gate can you ask a neighbour to let you in for 5 mins? Do the bins that get put out from the alleyway have numbers or anything on so you can tell what neighbours use it?