Scared my dogs will hurt next doors dog

[Alittlebitfat25]

I have four golden Labradors who are all family, as in we have the mum who is 12 and dad who is 10 and two of their puppies who are now 9 years old.

One of the puppies had an incident with a small dog when he was only a year old and was bitten on his leg during a training class and ever since then he is extremely aggressive when it comes to small dogs. When he goes out for his walk, he has a muzzle and we walk him early in the morning and late at night to avoid other dogs and of course he is on a lead so can be restrained.
Our next door neighbors moved in around a year ago and unfortunately for us have a Jack Russel who is very barky and snappy. The fence is also falling apart making it easy for the dogs to get through and it is there side of the fence as in they are responsible for it and we do not have the money to offer to replace it. Its also worth noting he is a builder so could easily install new fence panels. We have dropped multiple letters to the house, spoke to them when we have managed to catch them and basically begged them to mend the fence and warned them repeatedly what would happen if the dogs got through. It makes it worst that we have four because of obviously the pack mentality and if one started attacking they all probably would.
The obvious solution is to muzzle the aggressive one in the garden but as summer is here it doesn't feel very fair at all and it would mean muzzling all of them in this heat. Is there anything we can do to almost force them to mend the fence? I am terrified the poor little dog is going to get hurt.

Unfortunately I’m pretty sure the law requires you to fence your dog in. Can you put up some chain link and/or screening - bamboo or mesh?

Can’t you mend the fence?
I mean it might be their official boundary, but they don’t have to pay or have any fence if they choose.
so just add a proper fence, that’s safe 30cm in on your side

I have thought about that, chicken wire or something of the sort but I have doubt he would just chew through it. Maybe it would be a solution to slow him down though giving us a chance to grab him.

@Caspianberg we would do that but we cant afford to replace their whole fence at the moment. The whole thing is basically buggered with holes and such and is easily knocked down. The garden is very long and it is about 10 fence panels plus installation.

Clearly you need to sort this out. It's hardly your neighbours problem you have an aggressive dog.

Even though it's their fence it's your responsibility to secure your dogs. If their fence isn't up to your requirements then you need to sort that.

I think you need to sort this out, rope in some friends and DIY the fence, it only needs some posts knocked in and a roll of stiff wire nailled on..often you can buy second hand posts on ebay or find on freecycle.
Your dogs are your responsibility and you seem to be making excuses for what is essentially a fairly simple task..

Your aggressive dog, your responsibility to ensure that the other dog is safe

You need decent fencing. You’ll have to find the money

Sorry but you can't have an aggressive dog out in the garden when you know yourself there is a chance he could maim or kill another dog. You need to secure your dog.

You are responsible for ensuring your dog is secure, this could include putting your own fence on your side if necessary, or chaining your dog at the other side of the garden. If their dog isn't coming into your garden it is not their problem.. If nothing else can't you just block gaps from your side?
I'm not being mean, I have a horrible reactive dog, she doesn't like other dogs, children etc etc but I make sure she can't be put in the position of being the aggressor as I adore her and don't want to risk losing her.

Unfortunately for you they have a Jack Russell? They can have whatever pet they want, its your responsibility to make sure your aggressive dog is kept under control. Maybe they cant afford to replace the fence either.

Yes but if you can’t afford to add a secure fence, then it is simply up to you to make sure the dogs are never let out out in the garden without being with you on a lead.

it’s your neighbours fence. Ifs it’s broken, he can choose to take down completely and not add anything back up or a low Pickett fence or just a few shrubs. If he did that you. Wouldn’t be able to let your dogs out at all either off leash.

So you need to take out a loan to buy a secure fence on your side or not let the dogs in the garden. What if a toddler was in there playing and your loose aggressive dog got them?

well you’ll bloody need to find the money! It’s YOUR dog that’s aggressive

We have three dogs. One is a killer and has a high prey drive.

They are never left unattended in the garden and the perimeters of the garden/land are secured by fencing we have had erected in addition to neighbours own fencing.

The dogs are our responsibility and we don't want them escaping/harmed/stolen just as much as we don't want another dog entering and being hurt by ours or hurting ours.

Sorry you don't want to hear this but if you care for your dogs not being harmed by others or your particular dog harming others then you need to secure your garden.

Just as people say they can't afford vet bills or jinsurance, saying you can't afford to secure your garden is being an irresponsible owner.

Find a way to finance to secure your garden.

This is your problem. When my neighbour bought a tiny breed puppy, I double checked all fencing and ensured there were no holes, my dog would have killed it had it got into my garden. The neighbour also put chicken wire up, but as it was my dog that was aggressive, it was my responsibility to secure the fencing.

If you can’t afford to fence your garden adequately for 4 labradors then you need to be in the garden supervising at all times , totally irresponsible to be keeping a dangerous dog and insinuate that the onus is on your neighbour to keep your dog out of his garden .

As above, it's your responsibility to secure your dogs even if you weren't on notice they can be aggressive.
Especially if you've alerted the neighbours in writing.
Source some chain link (that they can't chew through) and fix it inside your boundaries.
Even if it goes on a cc it will be cheaper than vet bills or worse.
YABU but I hope you can find something second hand and DIY that's suitable, you're doing the right thing trying to avoid it.

As my daughter would say to me 'sounds like a you problem'.

You can afford 4 dogs. Either secure them or get rid. It's not the neighbour's responsibility to make sure your dog doesn't get into their garden. It's only their responsibility to make sure their dog doesn't come into yours. You cannot force them to fix a fence.

Because your dog is going to be the one escaping and causing injury to the small dog, you are responsible for securing your garden. that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to pay for it - you need to speak to the neighbours, tell them you are very worried about the fence and safety and see if they are willing to replace their fence. If not, you will need to erect something on your land that stops your dogs escaping and attacking.

It isn't unfortunate for you that they have a JR at THEIR house,

it's unfortunate for you, that you have an aggressive dog that in 8 years you haven't trained. Now it's YOUR responsibility to ensure it cannot attack another dog or child.

you either get a loan & install proper safe fencing or the dog never goes out without you taking it on a lead.

Maybe they can't afford to fix the fence either? You've said that you can't afford it, but seen to automatically assume they can.

Get your own fence. It's you that needs one, not them. Even if none of your dogs were aggressive you should have secured your garden before leaving 4 large labradors alone in it especially if you think there a danger of them attacking as a pack. That is just a crazy risk to take. It is not your neighbour's responsibility to secure your dogs just because their property has a fence.

Yabu, we have a small dog who was able to squeeze through gaps our previous large dog couldn't. We replaced one fence but can't stretch to the other at the moment.

Dh found several panels on freecycle/free on market place, took the worst one apart to fill gaps in the rest and attached them to the fence that's already there. It doesn't look pretty but it does the job, and we can now replace those with a new fence at our leisure.

You need to sort the issue, not put your problem onto someone else to solve.