To be getting annoyed with the child next door?

[YayGlitter]

My dog is a registered therapy dog, working with children and young people. Because of this he has to be very well trained and I have to be very consistent with him. Child next door, who is 10 or 11, repeatedly feeds him and throws toys over for him. I have asked her to stop. I have also asked her mum to talk to her about it. Child ignored me, mum rolled her eyes and said "lighten up, it's just a dog"

I have explained the food is because he is clicker trained and isn't allowed people food (he does lunch duty, it's important he knows not to just take food in case he steals or they offer something dogs shouldn't have) and the toys is because he is only allowed dog toys out of his toybox (to stop him running off with a childs toy).

She also keeps opening the gate and inviting him into her garden, there's a communal path so I'm not allowed to lock the gate, its bolted so the dog can't open it but the child can reach over and unbolt it.

I've just had to stick my fingers in his mouth to remove the little squishy foam ball she'd thrown for him coz daft dog tried to swallow it and was choking. It's the same foam ball I have already given back to her twice and told her he is not allowed.

Unfortunately I think educating the child is the only way to take this forward. Invite her over and explain some of the activities your dog is involved in. Show her how the training is designed to ensure he can carry out the activities safely, both for him and other people. Ask her if she would like to help you to write a booklet or design a poster to explain the training for people of her own age. It might be that engaging her with what your dog is doing will help her to realise what an important job he does and how she can help by understanding how important it is that his training is not confused by toys and food that he isn’t allowed.

I know this is a pain and will involve some heavy lifting from you, but at least if you try to educate her there is a chance it will sink in. If it doesn’t of course then you are back to square one. Good luck, he sounds like a lovely dog.

cheap option - Put 2 extra bolt on the gate but at the bottom and middle so even if ( best child ) opens the top bolt she can’t undo the other ones

Expensive option refence your garden so that you have your own boundary and not shared with idiots

No.

Pandering to these arseholes will just embolden them.

So there’d be an unfenced strip right up by your house and then a sort of fenced paddock?

Need diagram.

🙂

Start chucking food for the kid over the fence? Cooked burgers, fish fingers, meatballs. Throw a few ‘toys’ too - recorder, vevozala, dildo, bits of Lego. After all, it’s just a kid ….

I'd be dumping any food waste I had into her garden. The can dump food into your garden for their dog then so can you dump food etc into theirs...

Re the choking and your previous polite request: I think you can start really shouting now. Let them have it with both barrels.

I would supervise the dog outside for now until you find a more permanent solution.

Also, be the nightmare neighbours for them.

Throw random stuff over their fence, blast your music at 6am on a Sunday, make a load of noise in the garden at 11pm on a school night.

Until they stop, just bite back.

I think being as bad as they are does not help the dog. Some of us are just basically decent people and don’t want t to lower our standards to gutter level.

I’d get some leaflets on the work your dog does, drop them off to the Mum and say you’ve got these to explain why it’s important her daughter doesn’t feed the dog or throws toys over. Say he isn’t a pet, and that you understand children like dogs, but this is messing with the training, which in turn could be a problem.

If she continues to be a pain then I’d look at fences. In the meantime I absolutely wouldn’t be throwing toys back to her (and would look at watering your garden with a sprinkler close to the fence 😉🤣)

I could add a fence and a lockable gate where the blue line is.

You shouldn't have to spend the money. I like the idea of adding locks to the communal gate and giving the parents the keys. Make it cumbersome. Also a latch that the girl can't reach. Though I suppose that wouldn't stop her throwing things over.

Do set up some cheap webcams with audio and let the parents know that you have done so, and that they will be held responsible for any veterinary bills incurred by the girl's activity. Give them examples of potential cost for ingestion of unsuitable materials, poisoning, surgery, etc.

Yeah it might have to come to that. I work with kids 6 days a week though, I don't really want to spend my day off educating her.

Haha, I love it, I could throw red bull, lots of sugary sweets, pots of slime, annoying noisy toys... all the things I wouldn't give my children at her age.

@YayGlitter Yes. I would put a fence there but would you be able to see your garden from your house windows? Shane if it cancels your view but it’s a solution.

Yes to the fence plus gifts for the kid of slime, make up, hair dye, sweets etc.

Definitely do a fence if you want to spend the money. I would also keep any balls etc that are thrown over, don’t engage with the child or mum.

It is your dog and it is your responsibility to train it to ignore neighbours. If the dog is not well trained enough to ignore child (and associated food, toys) then you need to keep dog in or stay in garden with it. I have no idea why you would expect your neighbour to collaborate with you in your dog training, it isn't going to happen.

This is what I was going to suggest.

I have a huge greyhound with back legs like a kangaroo, so I can never let her out in the garden alone, due to her springing up over the 6ft fences.

Who is your dog registered with just out of interest?

Bizarre that you keep giving the ball back. If she’s given it to your dog it goes in the bin. And absolutely build that fence. As you’ve asked nicely I’d start being unpleasant to the kid, she’s old enough to no better and her mum sounds like an idiot.

What utter and complete bullshit.

The child is throwing food and toys onto OP’s property.

Parents, supervise your kids. The neighbours don’t want to be pestered by your little darlings.

I'm not asking them to help me train him, I'm asking them to leave my dog alone when hes in my garden. They still have to be reminded to leave him alone even when I am out there.

I can't train him to ignore children because his job is interacting with children, he is trained enough that he won't interact with the neighbours until they call him over or take food/toys that are just left on the floor but when the child is stood there saying his name and offering him treats/throwing toys to him and calling him a good boy he can't see the difference between that and the children he works with.

He's registered with PAWS.