Neighbours teasing my reactive dog

[DontTeaseMyDog]

My dogs been digging holes in the garden a lot the last few weeks, very specifically near the fence.

Just caught my neighbours banging on the fence and shaking it - which was making her bark and dig. She's very reactive.

I shouted out 'Oi, behave' and called my dog inside.

I went back out there to smoke maybe 20 minutes afterwards and caught the guy standing on something looking over the fence, he ducked down the moment I made eye contact.

I'm so fucked off, I've been wondering why despite all the training she's been going a bit ape shit lately, thought maybe it's the weather.

Why purposely tease a dog to make her bark??

I'm going to look for outdoor camera to put up to watch my fence area. Any recommendations that don't cost a bomb?

I don't get why someone would do this. I'm not unreasonable to get cameras that will clearly see into their garden, if I have to?

I'd get the little shits through the fence with the pressure washer. They're like cats. Spray the little buggers, they'll soon learn.

It's 6ft full panels fences there is no gaps. And it's a fully grown man :(

My dog has a very big loud strong bark, idk why you'd want to hear it, on purpose.

Plus I spent alot of money on that fence and I'm pissed off watching it be shaken.

Did it go...man banged fence first, dog then barked. Or, dog barking, man banged fence in response?

I’d say your dog can’t be out in the yard unsupervised. For its own safety, and so neighbours can’t accuse it of anything.

Oi knob head stop annoying my ddog.
Sprinklers at the fence. Cctv with signage Smile You Are On Cctv
Report him to the non emergency police..

He absolutely did it first. Then was doing it louder / stronger when my dog barked back.

I actually took a video of it. My dog has a great recall, yes she does bark, yes it's annoying, yes shes called in every single time - she is new to us, and she is a rescue so she is under training and I don't let her sit outside and bark.

My dog will bark at neighbours shouting, cars/dogs/people passing, birds on the fence.

So he’s only allowed free access to the garden when he’s supervised.

The behaviours are too self-rewarding otherwise.

I’d suggest the same for your dog as the neighbour is less likely to tease him if you’re there and your dog won’t be feeling stress and practicing the behaviour.

He is quite literally out in the garden right now whistling and calling her name.

She is indoors next to me. But my back door is open and I can hear him clear as day, what a joke

Unfortunately, your neighbour is a knob.

It’s not their fault you have a badly trained animal which is digging holes near/under their fence. They are trying to deter its behaviour - which is what you should be doing.

Have you considered/tried explaining that she is a rescue dog and asking him not to wind her up? Maybe he thinks she's trying to dig through to his garden and he wants to stop her? Can you temporarily block off that side of the garden so she can't get near the fence between your property and his?

This gives me a bad feeling, OP. I think he may have issues. Do you think it's likely he might chuck poison over the fence? If so, you might need to muzzle train your dog for peace of mind.

If I were in this situation I would film him winding her up and send the video out to as many dog trainers as possible. Let him get some publicity. He sounds like a wrongun.

If he’s in the adjoining semi I’d be tempted to record the dog barking, play it next to the wall you share and go out for a while. See how he enjoys hearing it.

They would have no way of knowing she is digging, I'll upload a photo in a minute.

And my badly trained animal, is not badly trained, she's just not trained at all. Thanks though. Shes nearly 3, was bred and found as a stray, and lived her 'learning' life in 2 rescues for 1.5 years before I got her.

Speaking to the neighbours, he won't speak to me. He never has, I think it may be culture ? His wife speaks to me and my daughter but her english isn't great. He won't speak to me at all and never has, only my ex or my sons, never me or my daughter.

Did you read the OPs last message which said the dog was indoors but the neighbour is whistling and shouting her name ? So it is clear the neighbour is teasing the dog.

Their fence? I don't recall them spending a penny on it. I did though.

As soon as you've trained your dog to ignore the neighbour, they'll get bored and stop doing it. Should only take a day or two.

THis is fixable and it will REALLY piss off your neighbour.

Supervise every trip out - pair every and any noise from anywhere (to start with) with you saying 'ooh noisies' or some other more or less inflammatory word, and doling out some high value treats.

Don't wait to see if she barks, this is not conditional on not barking, we're aiming to pair the sound and the marker word with high value treats so she starts to feel good about them AND this is paired with looking to you (later thats handy for giving an instruction).

If you are super consistent with this, it won't be long before she ignores the twat next door and anything else going on out there, and you can start to refine what you reward for, so all the loudest noises, not the really distant quiet stuff...

You can also start to mix in some 'heres an opportunity to earn it' cues alongside the 'free treat for a noise' stuff - keep the ratio of freebies to no treat/earn the treat pretty high and gradually work your way down.

Within a few weeks you should have a much quieter dog though given her history and the existance of a twat next door I'd expect to continue doing this throughout the summer, just to be sure.

And get her a sandpit to dig in and redirect her to that if digging is her thing.

Your neighbour will discover you're always supervising and that will curtail his behaviour somewhat. if he cottons on that each time he makes a noise your dog gets a treat, that might also stop him or at least, piss him off.

So the man next door is a sexist who is goading the dog. Are you the only adult there? Write a note to his wife. Do they rent or own?

A sand pit is a fantastic idea actually, I will go buy sand tomorrow to fill up the kids old one. She will love that.

I'm not saying he's sexist, he's just never spoken to me. He will nod his head, smile, but never speak. I always assumed it was a respectful thing and its never really bothered me at all. I am the only adult in the house yeah. They are housing association and have lived there maybe 3/4 years. Never had an issue until now

OP. I feel for you. I have a street dog. She’s had a dreadful life. She’s very reactive to other dogs and we are training her to get past them without going ballistic. We hired a dog trainer, he watched her in action and showed us what we need to do. We are six months in, she’s doing well, except……,.

There are dogs next door who have never had a minutes training in their life. They don’t get walked, they spend their days shut in the kitchen and when there are people in the dogs are ignored. They are both highly reactive. They enjoy barking, howling and running up
and down their side of the fence just to wind my dog up. I call my dog in, the neighbours let their dogs carry on, endlessly. I’ve tried to talk to them about this but they don’t care. I feel
like I’m losing the battle and my poor dog gets called in and can’t enjoy her garden time. I wish someone would take these dogs away….

Some people genuinely do not know how to behave around animals. I would go to his house, knock on door and demand to speak to him and his family. Introduce the dog to them (giving dogs treats) and explain simply that by calling the dog and banging on the fence it causes the dog distress.

Then EVERY time he does it, I would take the dog around for a chat until he gets fed up answering the door.

Do you think he might be trying to make her react so he could report you to the HA or council for noise disturbance?

He’s whistling and shout it and then bangs in the fence sounds like he wants to interact. It rather than piss u off

Sand might be messy. My trainer suggested a paddling pool with balls. I haven't got one. I did get a paddling pool for dogs last year. You attached a hose and sprays went to the pool. Dog lived it but literally just drank the fountains. Your neighbour sounds like a pain. I think that I'd speak to him, especially as he doesn't want to talk to you!