Neighbours dog

[Slowdownyouredoingfine]

We have young children and an 8 month old cat. He (the cat) has free rein to go in/outside in the daytime and is kept in from about 9pm. The kids are also in and out in the daytime.

Next door neighbour who lives alone has a large dog, dog has always barked over the fence at us but she has recently told us the dog is aggressive and will attack cats and also men as she doesn’t like them. (Told us a story of dog attacking her adult son)

Owner is so worried about it attacking something/one that she wont take the dog outside her house/garden. If my kids are playing in the garden and she lets the dog out it will bark constantly until owner drags it inside (takes ages.)

I’m so worried this dog is going to end up over our fence one day, or our cat will go in their garden and end up mauled to death.

What can I do? Neighbour is a nice lady and I’m sure would be fine if I spoke to her about my concerns but realistically what can she do? I can’t ask her to rehome her pet, I can’t stop my cat venturing in their garden…(can I?) I’m just a bit pissed off that I’m having to worry about the unpredictably of this animal to be honest!

Any advice?

OP is worried about that. Not the owner.
And you can't have a dog destroyed because you are "worried"

How casual some people are about a living creature. You just destroy it. How awful.

If OP's fear for her children is based in reality, and not just an unfounded fear, then she should take action immediately on it. If the dog is well contained but just intimidating, it's better if she or the owner do something to shield them from view.

A dead dog or a dead child? I know what choice I’d make.

According to the rspca, dogs can be trained to accept a muzzle very happily, but this woman unfortunately hasn’t even managed to socialise an eminently trainable breed of dog. She hasn’t trained it at alll. It attacks her family members in her own home and she cannot take it out on a walk because she’s too scared of what it might do. That is not a happy life for a dog. Nor is it the dogs fault, it’s entirely the owners responsibility. Sadly if it does end up attacking someone seriously then it is still the owner’s responsibility but the dog will likely bear the brunt and end up being put to sleep which could and should be avoided with appropriate training. It is the owner who is always responsible.

We don't even know if the dog has any real possibility of getting into OP's yard.

Dog needs training at least. I wouldn't hesitate to take swift action if the dog is an actual threat, vs. I'm just intimidated by it but it will stay behind the fence.

I would be putting up a higher fence if I had any concerns re my dc.

Has the dog actually tried to get into her garden though? Or is this her anxiety at play?

Look at protect a pet, it's fencing specifically made so your cat can't get out but they can play in the garden.

And thank fuck. I wonder how many Karens would go around getting dogs put down bc they dared to exist around their annoying kids.

Are you saying this woman has a German shepherd dog and doesn't walk it? That's a recipe for disaster, that dog needs walked at pace for around 2 hours a day and time off lead doing training in an enclosed yard. It's mental health will be fucked if it's kept in a house and garden full time

You do realise that you can't just keep a record of a barking or even an aggressive dog and then get a crt order to have it destroyed
You do realise that a judge would laugh you out of crt

Agreed. They’re highly intelligent dogs who need activity and stimulation.