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.

You need to muzzle him when he is outside. Or install your own fencing.

Also, part of our garden isn't secure so we don't let our small dog go into that part. He would do nothing other than get himself run over if he escaped from our garden. Large dogs that would attack are much more of a concern. So much could go so very wrong.

Regardless of who owns the fence, or whether the neighbour CAN mend it if they choose too, it is your responsibility. I appreciate it doesn't seem fair, but neither does loosing a little dog to a mauling or god forbid a child! You must, by law, be in control of your dogs at all times. It's a stinker owning a dog aggressive dog and a huge responsibility. If your dog attacks the dog, it's highly likely that the dog will be killed and anyone trying to intervene (even the you), be badly bitten, as in A&E treatment required and subsequent Insurance claims. It doesn't matter in law, that the little dog barks or that your dog got bit many years ago. You are in control of a dangerous dog.
I can speak from experience, as we have a dog reactive dog. Her breed is prone to it and we take EVERY possible step to keep her away from danger. Because I don't want to loose her or feel damned forever with guilt, if she killed another dog. We keep big dogs that could cause alarm to others and our garden is like fortknox. Every boundary, regardless of who owns it is secure. We walk the boundary daily. We recently had a new neighbour move in, who allows her child to 'bark' and smash sticks on our fencing to tease the dogs. Again, we have double secured their boundary, because you can't teach pork, who see no wrong!
I must say, that having your dog muzzled will not prevent him from killing another dog, I won't go into detail, but it is highly likely an attack would be successful. Training would help you have a few tools other than relying on barrier muzzles.
You have no option but to secure your boundary. Now. Chicken wire will not hold back a dog in attack mode. A Labrador could clear a 6ft fence panel if he had the will. You need kennel panels to be 100% secure. Or a secure smaller area in your garden. A court case will be far more expensive than fencing! You need to act to keep your dog safe, and the other dogs as they too would be taken by the Police if there is an attack. Especially after the terrible 'dog' news we keep reading these days.

You need to find a way to afford fencing your dogs in, just like you have to take them to the vets and feed them, it’s your responsibility, until then don’t leave your dog out there unattended.

I have a Labrador who’s now too old for all that stuff but exactly the same thing happened to her as a puppy, and then she went onto hating small dogs. This obviously isn’t the point of the post re fencing, but it’s an issue that isn’t too horrendous to treat in Labradors. Basically your dog is fearful of another dog being aggressive, and he’s getting in first. What a dog trainer told me is that if you introduce something positive around small dogs then there will be a positive association. I was told to treat my dog whenever a small dog was spotted. Soon she was not bothered about dogs, she’d just get a treat instead. It’s really helped.

A correctly fitted muzzle (they should be able to hold a tennis ball in their mouth whilst wearing one) will be fine, even in the summer. They will be able to pant and drink if it’s the right size.

pack mentality- don’t think this really happens. If your muzzled dog manages to grab the terrier and it squeaks the others may slip into predatory drift. But at their age I doubt it.

Put up temporary fencing on your side of the border. Keep a record of all the letters you’ve sent warnings of. Maybe even see if your pet or home insurance has legal cover to help deal with this issue.

You have an aggressive dog... and refuse to fix the gate. You sound awful!!! Fix the damn gate. Get some free wood online or chicken gauze or anything really if you fear for the safety of the other dog

Youd dog sounds like he could use a different owner. My God.

Four labs trying to attack a much smaller dog will still potentially kill that smaller dog even with a muzzle on.

This is absolutely YOUR problem, not your neighbours - legally it is your responsibility to keep your animals in, on your property!

I really can't believe you've been harrassing your new neighbour to replace a fence because your dogs are aggressive and may break out and injure or kill their dog... thats next level CF it really is!

Christ Almighty.

You own a dangerous dog, sort the bloody fence out. Muzzle your bloody mutt, your problem, your responsibility.

Imagine sending note in to the neighbours..." PLEASE PLEASE pay to get the fence fixed because my dog is dangerous and aggressive and will go next door and kill yours"

You need to do some serious training with a company that specialises in this behaviour.

Don't let the dogs into the garden unsupervised.

If they bark or are otherwise poorly behaved in The garden then they only go out there on a lead.

As everyone else has said, this is your issue. If you don't secure your fence and your dog attacks their, legally you will be in trouble. Don't harass them about their dog when it's yours that's the issue.

Your responsibility. Either you need to find the money yo fix the fence/build a new one or don't allow your dog, unattended, in the garden. Pretty simple really

You do realise they dont have to have a fence at all legally unless its in a covenant-had this with my nighbour at the back i cant afford to fix it but theyve complained about it i told them to get their own fence as i dont legally have to have one

The warm weather shouldn't stop you using a muzzle. A properly fitted Baskerville muzzle will still allow a dog to eat, drink and pant normally.

But can you not just put the aggressive dog on a tether when he's outside unattended so he can't get to the fence? We had to do this with our beagle to stop him jumping the wall into next doors garden. You can use a tent peg and then use a long metal chain/tether lead to stop the dog from getting anywhere near the fence line.

The neighbours' are under no obligation to fix the fence so you need to make sure your dog is kept well away from theirs - if you can't afford to put your own fencing up, then a tether/muzzle is your only option, or keep the dog on the lead all the time.

You need to fix the fence. You.

Also, 4 labradors. Thats unreasonable unless you are completely rural. And yes, if you can afford them you can afford to sort your fence.

This is very odd as it’s written like their responsibility. It’s not you’ve no entitlement to a fence.

you have an aggressive dog. You need to fence your garden. Not make if someone else’s problem. It’s not your neighbours job it’s yours.

you need to do something now, take a loan out, use credit, and secure your garden for your dogs. I don’t know of any responsible dog owner who doesn’t secure their own garden.

I disagree with this a bit. Why are four labradors unreasonable unless you're rural. Four well-behaved dogs (which granted these are not) shouldn't be a menace to any neighbours.

I’d ask for this to be moved to The Doghouse @Alittlebitfat25, AIBU is full of dog haters and people who think dog reactive = will automatically kill a child.

You do need to secure your own dog though, as the onus is on you to ensure your dog can’t escape your boundary. Could you look on Freecycle for some suitable fencing?

Its your dog, so you have a legal obligation to secure your animals.

If the dog is being put out into the garden and you cant afford to build a fence you need to build a secure roofed pen to keep your dog secured.
A healthy JR has the ability to cause serious damage to your dog(s) in a fight. The breed was refined to go up against badgers and foxes to so don't think that is would be a one way fight.

@JustTheOneSwan FYI chain link will only work until the dog figures out it can pull a single strand and re-tension the links to create a dog sized hole.

I’d say it’s the opposite- replies from dog lovers who don’t think it’s reasonable for their dog to be put at risk because next door insist it’s not their responsibility to control their dangerous dog

I'm struggling to understand why you believe YOUR aggressive dog is the neighbour's responsibility?

I have dogs. Both Labradors. I know what they cost a month in food.

If you can afford to keep 4 dogs, you can afford to put up a basic fence. Legally, they don't have to do anything. You are responsible for securing your dog and you are liable for your dogs behaviour. If they got through the fence, you would be responsible for the vets bills, the cost of a new fence and possibly prosecuted. The dogs would be put down.

What's cheaper? All of that? Or a fence?

Don't keep animals you can't afford and can't control.

I have dogs. No one is hating on dogs. The bottom line is she needs to secure her garden, it’s dog ownership 1.01. Dog ownership for dummies. this is the basics. And she needs to do it for her own dogs sake. If she can’t provide adequate and secure space for her dogs she shouldn’t have them, it’s irresponsible.

If your aggressive dog (and actually, it is almost irrelevant whether it is aggressive or not) can get out of your property, and if your dogs are likely to become a VERY DANGEROUS aggressive pack, then it is absolutely your responsibility to ensure that they are secured and safe. How you do that is your problem not your neighbours. Dogs, even the most intelligent of them, don't act according to human rationales - they might have a fear reaction to small dogs, but they could equally attack a child or an adult, especially when the pack behaviour kicks in. You have no idea what could happen, either because they get out, or because something/someone gets in. Even if an attack happened on your property, you would very likely be liable.

And I say that a someone who has always lived with dogs, and highly intelligent well-trained working dogs without any aggressive tendencies - it is my responsibility to ensure both that my dog is safe and that others are safe from my dog.

You have 4 Labradors and you can't afford to fence your garden?

I have dogs. I love dogs. But this isn't a dog issue, it's a being responsible issue.