My new NDN has three dogs. Help?!

[Gila15]

As per the title, we moved in a few months ago. We’re a couple with one small dog, and next door is also a couple with 3 large dogs.

They have no control over the dogs at all. One in particular, can scale the fence and jump into our garden, 🤷🏻‍♀️ which he does on a regular basis. One of them is trying to dig a hole under the shared fence. They all bark constantly.

I’ve approached them and asked if they could do something about it, and the response was that the dogs are young and will settle down.

About 20 mins ago, one of their dogs got into our garden, came into the house as the back door was open, and ran amok barking, jumping and dragging dirt all over our new carpets. I was genuinely scared as was my small dog. 😞

I’m now sitting with the doors and windows closed, when I would like to be sitting in my garden.

What the hell can I do? I’m so pissed off.

Your neighbour's are knows.

I had a similar issue, my ndn had 3 dogs, 2 spaniels and a German shepherd. 1 of their spanielsnis viscous. They continually broke through the fence and attacked my dog. They also snapped at my dd.

The first couple of times I went next door and politely asked them to secure their garden (dogs had attacked the 6ft high fence and broken holes in it) and they did nothing. When theirbdognsnapped at my dd I went ballistic and told them either they dealt with it or I would call the police.

If they refuse to deal with it then call the police.

As others have said, it is illegal to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control. Read the section here from the CPS. Maybe print it out and take it round. Repeatedly escaping is classed as dangerously out of control.

www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance/dangerous-dog-offences#_a03

I would add spikes that deterre cats / birds to the top of the fence. My rhodesian ridgebacks jump over 6ft fences but they scrabble over the top part. Only took them tk try it once with the spikes and then they never did it again. Didn't even break their skin or paw pads just freaked them out

Two big dogs came into my garden and killed my cat in a particularly nasty way. Dogs aren't all big softies, especially when they are young, bored and there is more than one of them. For the sake of your own dog's safety, you might need to get a bit tougher on your neighbours.

Trellises do count as increasing the height of a fence, but they’ve still got to be over a certain height (I think 2m in a back garden?) before it’s high enough to technically need planning permission.

But of course the council’s only going to tell you to take it down if someone complains, and a trellis would be easy enough to remove if it did come to that.

Are you aware of shock collars? Just make sure that you get the correct size for the neighbours. I would guess a size 18 for the husband and something smaller for the wife 😉

Speak to your neighbours calmly stating they need to take measures to stop their dog(s) entering your garden and they are welcome to either attach trellis to the fence or put a wire fence inside the wooden fence to achieve it, whichever they prefer, until that time please can they supervise their dogs when in the garden and prevent them from climbing over. I had a fence climbing dog, we had to increase to 7ft tall to keep him in, we used wire trellis on top of the 5ft existing fence though he still snuck out a few times over the 6ft back fence, though to see the neighbours lady dog!

What a nightmare! Did you buy the house? I think you’d have grounds to go back to the agents and say there’s an unresolved neighbour dispute they didn’t declare.

If you are renting, your landlord bears some responsibility.

I know you don’t want the relationship with neighbours to break down, of course you don’t, but they have created this, it’s not you. I love dogs too but this is intolerable and you need to set clear boundaries now so it doesn’t continue.

Can you put the hose on the dog each time so it associates going over the fence with being jetted.

Do they even have permission to keep 3 dogs? Perhaps check whether there are restricted covenants dictating the number of dogs allowed in each home, it's often limited to two. If there is still building work going on in the development then the builder may be able to help as they'll want to avoid anything that is putting off potential buyers. Otherwise, contact the council regarding an asbo. In the meantime don't worry about attaching trellis, if you're breaking any rules then so are they. You can explain why it was necessary.

You need to be clear to your neighbours that this can't continue. Basically they don't see this as a real problem yet, and they need this to change to motivate them to behave reasonably. That probably means involving some external authority like the council, or presenting them with a bill for cleaning your carpets. Good luck.

I wouldn’t settle for that. They need to train their dogs reporting them will probably be the only way to wake them up.

God I would absolutely lose my rag at this. They don't sound the type who will respond to polite requests so I would march the dog back round, tell them firmly that if it happens again you will call the council and the dog warden and, failing that, the police to report a dangerously out of control dog. Do not give them an inch.

I've been a noise and asb officer in the local authority for nearly 10 years. We would absolutely investigate something like this and take action if it persisted. They should control their dogs, being young dogs is not an excuse!

Your NDN should be going to the expense and trouble if putting the trellis up! And also some wire netting to stop the dogs dogging underneath.

Complain to them every single time the dog gets in your garden.tell them you're keeping a log as you're worried about your dog/safety of their dog/visiting children (even if there aren't any)/ anything else you can think of..get them thinking of all the possible hazards and trouble they could get into! Think plant the seeds of these potential dangers in a concerned manner rather than getting angry... at this stage. Save the anger for next stage!

How are the dogs getting back into their own garden once they've escaped into yours? Do you bring them round to the owners or do they just jump back and forth as they like? I'd be putting a lease on them and marching them back through the front door to your NDN's front door to explain what's happened and how it's affecting you. Then document that you've done it and their response. If you have to do this several times, I'm sure you've more than enough justification (to yourself and to any authorities your approaching) for having some sort of order placed on the couple. Good luck. How old are the dogs and is there evidence they are being trained in any way?

Can you film it all as proof

What happened after the dog came into your house? Did it go home by itself?

I think that you need to go round to their house tomorrow after work and explain exactly what happened today. If their dog had been scared and turned aggressive, you and/or your dog could've been seriously hurt, and they'd be looking at criminal charges.

You don't need to be nasty, just state what happened and how serious it could be next time. Aside from the harm to other people, they need to look after their poor dogs properly or the dogs will be taken away from them and possibly even destroyed. It will be their fault if this happens.

I'm sorry to read that about your cat💐
I agree with what you've said - the OP needs to take this more seriously before this escalates into a situation that's more than just annoying, it's a safety issue.

They sound like absolute idiots. Imagine if you weren't a nice, decent person. I'd be worried as hell if I had no control over my dog and he was annoying a neighbour, I'd be worried they'd poison him or let him loose further. How can they settle knowing their dog isn't safe and secure?! Does it just go back into its own yard afterwards or is the whole neighbourhood like one massive leapy maze for it? You have my sympathy, how the hell are you ever meant to relax and your little dog, too... 😔 I despise bad owners and inconsiderate, ignorant, stupid neighbours.

You'll get to the stage where you'll be happy to see them loose on the street. I'm a serial loose dog picker upper but lived next to similar - border collies who barked just to hear the sounds of their own voices. Over the years I grew to despise them. Despite being happy to pick up dogs and reunite them with their owners (I sat with one storm scared dog for an hour while I waited for their owner to gome home), I would not have turned around for those mongrels if I saw them loose.

Do you have video footage? You need to put you and your dog first.

They’re not exactly going to be reporting you for adding trellis so I would crack on with it.

Is there a chemical you can regularly smear or spray on the fence that wouldn't harm the dog but it would deter it from going near the fence.

None of the suggestions are going to deal with the constant barking.

In all honesty, if you could afford to move I would. You have selfish neighbours with three young large breed dogs who they are clear they can't be bothered to train, and don't care about the impact of their dogs on you. They appear to believe the dogs will just ' grow out of it.' They won't though.

If you complain about the dogs you will have to declare this when you come to sell. So only complain if you are sure you are absolutely sure you are going to stay.

Take them to where ever stray dogs are taken.

you're going to get abuse from dog lovers but yeah I was going to say if you have a back gate, leave it open when you're in the house.

If they're worried about their dog escaping they might put a bit more effort into controlling it.