AIBU to be angry to be Trespassed by a dog

[anniblue]

First time poster in this name.
See diagram (I don't need reminding!)

We live in house (1) on the end of a cul de sac, intentionally bought due to having noone pass the door given the closeness of front door (2) to the road.
When we viewed in February, checked with agent and developer there was no intention to provide access through the hedge and confirmed as negative.

Before moving in it appears dog walkers have forced a gap in the hedge (3) due to the crap (middle - 4) fence at knee height by the hedge. The fences by the houses are 6ft and great. Understandable to an extent but bloody frustrating as nothing I can do as it's not my land to adjust the fence and the developer seems feckless! We've been tolerant, but in the last week a dog has forced way into our home when we've been trying to go out, and today same dog jumped at the handle and managed to open the door and get in due to a feckless owner being the wrong side of the hedge and dog off lead.

Dog got in, scared the crap out of 2yo, was pushed away by me (also scared crapless) and after what felt like a lifetime, retrieved by owner (end house of the cul-de-sac) who didn't even acknowledge, just walked off.

Maybe I should have the door locked and bolted to prevent, maybe I should spread chilli oil over the (MY) pavement outside to irritate the dogs when they sh*t there and the door to minimise this happening again.

AIBU to report a dog out of control, and put the dogcrap through neighbour's letterbox?

Also to note, I know it's not dangerous necessarily, but it's clearly not under control which is still an offence!

If I had a 2 year old, I would be keeping the door locked. That does sound frustrating but not really a lot you can do about it by what you’ve said.

Lock the door? I'd have it locked anyway with a toddler tbh. Not much else you can do but speak to the owner and tell them it's not on

You can report the dog to the police for being out of control, a dog should not be entering a property. The police won;t do anything but it might make you feel better! What fencing can you put around your property?

2 year old in arms, door not locked as putting recycling out (same way same dog pushed in last time, but different time of day)
Door is usually locked with keys in the downstairs bathroom so big kids can still use door but keys off show.

Why don’t you have the door locked anyway?

You could check your council by laws and see if dogs need to be on leads on the street. If so (and they aren’t) you could then inform the dog warden and ask them to pop by. Our huge city has only one dog warden but when dog fouling and digs off leads became an issue in our local park they sent him down and issued some fixed penalty notices (I believe they were looking to target a wider drug use problem tbh)

Why didn't you speak to the owner?

You really need to keep the door locked anyway. I've never understood how people can leave their doors unlocked.

But yeah, its obviously wrong that they're letting their dogs do that.

@inquietant

You can report the dog to the police for being out of control, a dog should not be entering a property. The police won;t do anything but it might make you feel better! What fencing can you put around your property?

Indeed, police report would go nowhere as no crime, dog warden for civil enforcement.

Yabu to have your door unlocked especially with a small child but generally for security reasons.

If it is the same owner/dog that entered your home twice, I would be having a word. Dogs don’t understand that peoples houses are not theirs to enter and sometimes do things that take their owners by surprise. They should have apologised though, most owners would be mortified.

Are owners not picking up their dogs poo or do you mean they crap near your house and owners pick it up but you still don’t like it. If the former yanbu to be pissed off but not so if the latter.

I understand you thought you had bought a house that wasn’t on a through route for dog walkers and why you would be unhappy about the gap in the hedge. Sadly I am not sure there is much you can do about it.
In what way have you been ‘very tolerant’? What is at no 5 on your diagram?

Also I don’t keep my front door locked and would expect to be able to potter about outside my house with the door open (washing car/gardening for instance) without anyone/thing entering my home?! Where do pp’s live?!

Dealing with scared baby and my own fear far more important. Will be visiting owner once I'm less volatile.

Cant really tell from the diagram, can you put a fence up around your property?

The fence seems irrelevant.. where I am the front doors open direct onto the pavement and I still wouldn't expect to have someone's dog entering my house not once but twice!
The dog owner sounds irresponsible. Maybe report to the police as this sounds like a safety issue. Also if it's him responsible for the fouling, take a photo and report to council so he will get fined. If you are brave you could return the poop to him as well.
Can you fence off the front edge of your property to provide a bit of a barrier?
Why are people going on about keeping the door locked? Surely it's normal to keep the door unlocked during the day especially if going in and out etc?

(5) is 6ft fence.
Indeed there is little I can do about the gap, as I say, not my land.
Very tolerant of dog crap (very much on my land and in front of my front door) and some ongoing ASB due to local kids loving the proximity of my door to a great hidey escape hedge, another story not really relevant here.

It shouldn’t be the responsibility of the op to keep their door locked! It is completely unacceptable for a dog to enter your property and you should absolutely have words with the owner.
You could try planting fast growing trees to try and block the gap and have another word with the builder/council and explain what is happening.

Maybe I’m being a bit dense here, but, why not just put a sturdy fence infront of the shoddy developers fence?
You’d lose a little land but hopefully not a lot and you wouldn’t be encroaching on their land then?
Is that possible?
In the meantime I’d keep the door locked yes.

Not really enough pavement space in front.

Am gobsmacked at some of the replies here. It is absolutely not normal or expected that someone else's dog would even attempt to enter your house. You shouldn't have to keep your door locked to keep out other people's pets. It's astonishing, I've never heard of anything like it. Report report report, what a twat of an owner.

@Swaddlemeinplants

Maybe I’m being a bit dense here, but, why not just put a sturdy fence infront of the shoddy developers fence? You’d lose a little land but hopefully not a lot and you wouldn’t be encroaching on their land then? Is that possible? In the meantime I’d keep the door locked yes.

Land at the end of cul-de-sac is not mine, the gap is just off my land. No it enough space outside my property on my land to place a fence.

Dogs don’t understand that peoples houses are not theirs to enter and sometimes do things that take their owners by surprise.

Hmm. Does it still count as a surprise the second time? If dogs are not properly trained they should be on a lead. Dog owners are responsible for what their dog does, however "surprising" they find it.

As previous posters have said, start with talking to the owner? Then come back and report! Good diagram though!

I cannot believe the cheek of the dog owner. If that was my dog I would’ve been utterly mortified and very apologetic.

It’s your responsibility as an owner to keep your dog under control and they want to be very careful as farmers shoot dogs who are uncontrolled in livestock fields.

As previous posters have said, start with talking to the owner? Then come back and report!

Will be doing once less volatile. Not optimistic though, didn't go well last time.