Trouble with mine AND next doors dog

[Oldmamabear]

So...ive got new neighbour's and they have a dog. So do I. The fences are high and secure so they can't see each other, only smell each other through fence. My dog is not a barker. Their dog is and has barked and growled at fence which took my dog by surprise and he followed suit and growled and barked back. I told him off and brought him back indoors as they were scratching at the fence trying to get to one another. Next time I could hear their dog I distracted my dog with balls and games and kept chasing him away from fence. This works most of the time but if I go indoors to get a drink or let him have a little run out there on his own the other dog kicks off and he responds. Its nearly always me bringing my dog in and telling him off. I dont hear them telling their dog off. Now they have put a note through door asking if I can only let my dog in the garden if im out there with him. I have frequently brought my dog in when their dog is kicking off at mine but they rarely tell their dog off or take him in. Ive already stopped leaving patio door open for him to wander in and out. I always bring him in if they start at each other thru fence. Im not now only letting him out when I can be out there too. Its not practical. What would you do? Its making me anxious and angry.

Drop a note back when their Fido goes in their garden they can supervise him, and you will supervise your Rover...bet they don't.. they just want to chuck him out in the garden, but blame you for the noise.

Bloody cheek! I'd post the note back through their door with one word on it: "NO."

I wouldn't tell your dog off, he's only defending himself. You don't want to be adding to the excitement of the occasion either so I'd just call him inside in a calm but bored tone of voice. The less reaction he sees from you, the better

Just get rid of the dogs, clearly more trouble than they’re worth.

What are the respective breeds? Do you think you could introduce the dogs to each other , off -site, before walking them home together? Clearly not an option if either is very reactive.

We had similar when we moved - next door had a yappy little dog and he was obviously stressed by my labs living next door, but once we introduced them they were perfectly fine and the barking stopped.

I'd ignore the note and carry on as you have been doing. They sound lazy for not training their dog and then leaving a note rather than trying to have a conversation with you.

My neighbour's dog is a bit like your neighbour's. They've had it from a puppy and never bothered to not train it to jump, bark at chew at the boundary fence. My old dog never used to react to it, but he passed away last year. I now have two younger dogs and they will respond when their's start barking, but they have been trained not to go out and just start barking at nothing. I fetch them in whenever they start being noisy, but obviously it makes their dog go even more nuts which I don't think they're happy about.

Wow you sound delightful.

I feel more sorry for the rest of the neighbours, hearing two yappy dogs barking at each other.

You either need to drop a note back or speak to them.

Explain you are happy to supervise your dog and ask they do the same so not to upset the other neighbours.

Don't ignore otherwise by the summer it will be unbearable and you won't be able to enjoy your garden.

Thank you all for comments. I dont think im being unreasonable so I think I will carry on as I am and try to train my dog more in terms of ignoring it and maybe put some additional pots against fence to stop them getting at fence. Its just annoying isant it?

You don’t train a dog by ignoring it!
Your dog is barking. Don’t let it out unsupervised. Your neighbours should do the same but you can’t control what they do.

I meant in terms of training my dog to ignore the other one. I didn't mean training my dog by ignoring him....

Sorry. I misunderstood that completely! I had a barker. To start with I couldn’t have her in the garden off lead. We did eventually get to the stage where she could go out alone. But not for very long at a time.

Just go knock the door and say that it cuts both ways and they equally need to supervise their dog .

Barking dogs are a nuisance I feel more sorry for the other folk in the street having to listen to barking dogs. But one dog barking does tend to set another dog off. But do what you like in your own garden.

I don’t think you can ignore it, they obviously think they’re in the right (doesn’t sound like they are, and strange to address it via a note rather than a knock on the door). If I was you I’d knock and be super polite but not submissive. Happy to supervise but will expect the same from you. I have nice but hellish neighbours, and talking to them is mildly useful. Every house in the vicinity has a dog where I am so we all accept that barking dogs do set the others off, but there are limits.

I agree - currently listening to the irritants around me set each other off. The noise really puts me on edge. The problem is these days so many people have dogs and nobody stops to think about whether their living situation is such that it isn’t antisocial and you end up with situations like these. BOTH dogs sound like a pita and BOTH neighbours should be making efforts to reduce the impact on the rest of the street rather than arguing about who should bring their dog in first or how the dogs should be supervised.

Leaving your door open is awful- I know you’ve enjoyed it, but it doesn’t work when they fence run. Next door do, which means as soon as mine goes out they pop up. He only gets to use the garden when they are away. Inevitably they will occasionally be out at the same time, but don’t let one dominate both gardens.

They need to meet each other and be able to interact so they aren’t the unknown or a threat to each other.

I feel the same about kids and people that have too many cars 🤷‍♀️

OP is asking for advice on a specific problem, not general views about dogs. Start your own thread.

Pop a note back saying "I will if you will"?

Had / have same problem
luckily neighbour has been more reasonable & put planters against the fence to create a barrier. Luckily mine ignores them but it doesn’t stop them completely losing their shit. Unfortunately their dogs have trashed my fence & it’s on the spring replace list …..
But yes - it is a conversation rather than notes you have just as much right to enjoy your garden as they do

I was just thinking this! It would o drive me mad

This!

@Lazydomestic don’t bother replacing it as they will just trash the new one . Our neighbours dog has chewed great chunks out of our fence originally to get at our dog but now the dog has died it still goes berserk at the fence if a human goes outside . We have just reinforced our side with various plants in huge pots . About 3 yrs ago NDN asked my husband if we had plans to do the fence and we told him we had no intention of doing so whilst they still have the dog .

No neighbour's are listening to the dogs barking as the minute it starts I distract my dog or bring him in because I dont want to listen to it. The point of the post is that it does not seem fair that its only me keeping the peace