To want to maim my neighbour's dog

[greyskythinker]

Every time we open our back door or go into our garden, our neighbour's dog goes mental; starts barking, growling and snarling through the hedge.

This has been going on for 2 years, and I am at the end of my tether!The dog is so aggressive, my 2.5DD starts to cry every time we are in the garden, my cleaner refuses to go out the back door, and my PIL refuse to come round to eat al fresco during the summer.

We hardly know the neighbours behind us, but having spoken to them about an unrelated matter when we moved in 4 years ago, I know that it would be impossible to have a constructive discussion with them (husband is a smartarse).

We have complained to the council, but they have not been much use.

The owners know the dog is harassing us, as they will occasionally call the dog back in, only to let it out again 30 seconds later!

Short of murdering the dog (don't think I haven't thought about it - sorry dog lovers), what can I do?

YABU to want to maim the dog - it's not his/ her fault it has shit for brains owners.

Write them a 'friendly' letter explaining how the behaviour of their dog is affecting your quality of life and ask if there is any way they could think about behaviour conditioning/ boundary training their dog so your presence in your own garden doesn't threaten the dog.

You could then contact the noise pollution/ environmental dept of your local council with dates, times and copies of the letter.

On the other hand you could hose the darn thing with cold water every time it's snarling at you through the hedge

Sounds miserable and you definitely need to sort the situation, but don't blame the poor dog.

pound of sausages box of rat poison, end of problem

You are right, I can't blame the dog, but it is soooo frustrating. Actually, we have used the hose once or twice , and have also tried ultrasonic devices - neither of which work.

The dog's owner had a go at my sister last year when she told the dog to 'shhh' (dog had been barking at the kids for 30 minutes). The woman shouted through the hedge 'Don't tell the dog to shut-up, it's in its own garden and it is not doing anything wrong.'

I was mortified, and my sister replied that the dog was scaring the children. I really don't want to get into a situation where we are conducting any sort of conversation through the hedge.

ouch this is familiar.

Are you able to put a good 6ft fence between you and your neighbours? Thats what we had to do .

Our new neighbours moved in and within a couple of days she told dh that if her dog ever met our dog that it would kill it!!!
erm.....right.

Dh answered if their dog came over the fence into ours dh would kill it anyways as we have very young children.
I mean fgs how ridiculous

i agree with squimlet, put up a fence, just for piece of mind that the dog can't get in.

i know how terrifying barking dogs are to small children because when i was small we lived next to people who owned what i thought were polar bears, which would stand on their hind legs and bark at us over the chain link fence, we were too scared to go in the garden without mum.

years later i learned the dogs were irish wolfhounds, not polar bears

I would keep a written record of the barking and incidences then when you have 2 weeks worth try sending to the council again.

We actually have a 10 foot wall between us and the rear neighbours, but there is a small bit at the end which is just high privet hedge - this is the bit the dog barks through. I suppose we could always extend the wall - although it seems so extreme and costly when I think it is the neighbours' responsibility to sort out their dog

I will start keeping records though

A noisy dog is classed as a noise nuisance. I would contact the Environmental Health at your local council.

I agree that you shouldnt have to spend money to sort out a problem of their making - but if it improves your quality of life then maybe its worth it. If the dog carries on barking, that's a separate issue- its noise pollution. It may be their garden, but the noise can be heard in yours, and presumably in other neighbouring gardens too. Get the council onto them.

It sounds as though the dog is reacting to being able to see you through that bit of privet, so block it up with a fence panel.
I know it is not your responsibility but it sounds as if the neighbour is not going to do much...

What sort of dog is it?

Fence it off or extend the wall.
A neighbour of ours had a huge tree in his garden (well, a bit of land at the back of his shed) that was leaning into our garden. we asked if we could cut it down and we paid for it.

We had a similar problem in our last house. The next door but one neighbours had a dog (very large and seemingly aggressive) that was always outside howling, and often leapt the walls, into our garden and beyond.
It meant I was always edgy when out in the garden as he could have leapt over the fence anytime. We also had to keep the back door closed even on hot days as he tried to come in a few times.
We had words with them but they told us he was too much to manage if they kept him indoors, so we just gave up. Fortunately we moved soon after.

I think some people are not responsible enough to have dogs, there should be stricter laws.

And yes, I blamed the owners, it was in no way the dogs fault.

Have you seen the shakey bottles they use on dog borstal?

Put some stones in a plastic bottle, stand as close as you can to the dog when it's barking and shake the bottle hard in a downwards motion, whenever it barks.

If your neighbour says anything then the response is 'and I am in my garden, practising on my home made musical instrument, I have just as much right to do that as your dog has to bark in his garden'

Dogs generally hate this noise and eventually the dog should associate barking at the privet with being scared and stop.

Alternatively, get a bigger dog.......

Can I just say regarding the rattle bottle (and I personally wouldn't use any training method on someone else's dog - regardless of whether I had an excuse about what I was doing).

You shouldn't really use this method unless under the direction of a trainer, but if you are going to do it then you need to make sure that the INSTANT the dog barks you shake the bottle. This kind of technique only works if it is administered exactly as the bad behavour happens (i.e no point shaking the bottle between barks).

I, personally, wouldn't got down this route - but if you do, then it needs to be done right.

Actually - scratch that, I'm going to say please don't use this method at all. Without knowing how the dog reacts to noises you may make the situation worse (trainers do actually make an assessment of dogs before recommending specific training methods).

bang - I would generally agree with you but in this instance the dog's owners are not prepared to do anything and I did say (I think) as soon as the dog barks, to shake it once in a downwards motion. I have been training dogs for years and have never had this not work - it does depend on the breed somewhat I admit but I, personally, would give it a go..

It is unacceptable and unreasonable for children to be afraid to venture into their own garden and a responsible dog owner would address this issue.
They haven't, and this may work - you will know instantly whether it is effective and if it does not quieten the dog on the first couple of attempts then leave it.

Message withdrawn

Wisteria - would this bottle rattle thing work with my two dogs? they are well behaved apart from whne we go for walks they bark and attempt ot take on every other dog which is embarrassing trying to keep them under control whist they are barking, heckles up and straining against the lead on their back legs? they are boxers. apart from that and jumping on the sofa at the window and barking at everyone who walks past though that is normal behaviour?

Bethoo - it really depends on how old they are and I am not going against Bang's points here as she is right as well - have you considered taking them to a professional trainer?

Boxers are so strong that when they are determined to do something it can be very difficult to restrain them.

If it isn't possibe to pay for professional help then I suggest the following:

With any kind of reconditioning it is imperative that you use the technique as soon as the thought has crossed the dogs' mind IYSWIM - so, you know your dogs and can predict when they will react. As soon as they look at another dog and you feel that they will bark or pull towards them you use the bottle, once, along with a firm 'NO!' loudly - but not too close to their ears and refocus their attention - the idea is that you keep them interested in you as opposed to the quarry. A happy, playful tone in your own voice when they respond to you and they should learn fairly quickly that it is more rewarding to interact with you.

Plenty of positive reinforcement and treats are important as well so that, pleasing you gives them a reward.

greyskythinker - try to socialise your children with friendly dogs so that they don't grow up with an irrational fear of our 4 legged friend - they will then learn that your neighbour's dog is a 'naughty' dog and not all dogs are like this.

I think the dog is some sort of long haired daschund?? It has short legs a long body and long floppy ears, but despite its size, it has a huge bark - it sounds like Cujo (sp?) trying to get through the hedge at us.

The bottle trick sounds good, I will give it a try and see, but I take your point bang that it could make the situation worse. What about Dittany's suggestion of trying to bribe the dog? Do you think that could work?