Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

about neighbour's dog?

62 replies

humptyismarriedtoanumpty · 12/04/2010 16:04

We have recently moved into new flat with a tiny garden of our own. My kids are desparate to get out and play in it, but I am worried because of next door's dog. The dog is a big collie type and seems harmless enough ie doesn't growl or bark at you, but I was brought up with dogs and taught to never trust them with kids. Neighbour lets dog run free, in and out of her house and up and down the street and it also likes to sit outside the front door in the sun.
Am I being totally precious not to want my kids outside with this dog running around unsupervised? I realise that I will have to keep a close eye on them but they are 5 and 4 and are a bit frightened of this dog????
Have tried to speak to neighbour about dog and asked her to keep it in her garden or under control but she isn't interested and told me so!!
Housing officer warned us about this dog when we moved in and asked us to report it if we see it loose, but seems pointless as it's always loose...
WWYD?

OP posts:
ray81 · 13/04/2010 08:44

YANBU, i own a Collie and would never let it loose in our street, if the children are in the garden then the dog is put in his kennel, he is a lovley dog and i dont THINK he would ever harm them but i cant be sure so would not let him run around with them at all.

You should report it to the local dog warden and the dog would be taken as a stray and she will need to pay to get it back. Perhaps you should try envirnomental health also because surely it is danger to your children.

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 08:46

You mean as opposed to family dogs turning n visitors to the house? There are so many of them, God knows how many are unreported.
How about yesterday's LES?
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23823523-dog-in-party-attack-had-mauled-another-child.do

rainbowinthesky · 13/04/2010 08:48

but the dog in your example didnt suddenly turn. It had a history of beign a vicious dog. I wondered where the stories were of family dogs suddenly turning.

LadyOfTheFlowers · 13/04/2010 08:52

Re-reading the OP, it sounds to me like the housing warden is aware there is a problem and now there are children who will want to use the garden there will be more they can do about it, hence they want you to report.

If you both have a garden, why can't she reasonably be asked to keep it in her own garden?

violethill · 13/04/2010 08:53

Actually whether the dog will/won't/might bite is a red herring, because the point is, the neighbour should not allow her dog to go on anyone else's property. Simple.

Clearly she's been used to doing it (maybe the previous person living there never used the garden or whatever) but that does not give her a right! I am amazed that some people can't see that.

She can let her dog run freely around her house and garden til the cows come home - but not in anyone elses.

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 08:53

Have some info from Australia.

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 13/04/2010 08:58

It obviously shouldn't be left to wander up and down the street, it is an accident waiting to happen and as others have said, she is breaking the law allowing it to do so .

I would keep a note of dates and times when it is out backed up by date stamped photos and report to the dog warden.

MitchyInge · 13/04/2010 09:01

(cat patrol = our dog looking for our cats, not chasing any)

I couldn't intentionally injure one that came into our garden uninvited, even if it killed one of my chickens (this happened once )

Vallhala · 13/04/2010 09:05

FFS ray81, where is your proof that this dog is a danger to the OPs children? Talk about give a dog a bad name and hang him! A danger to himself, yes, poor thing, a danger to drivers, but chances are that if he was a danger to children he would have bitten and/or been reported to the extent that the DW moved his or her ass and got the poor dog off the streets.

It is morally wrong to knowingly let a dog stray and it's an understandable concern to a parent, especially one who doesn't know the dog, but lets not get ahead of ourselves and condemn an innocent animal.

humpty, the solution to this lies with your dog warden. Keep a diary of events, report each and every time the dog strays and if all else fails refer to the DWs superior.

REMEMBER THOUGH that many dog wardens take strays to pounds where after 7 days the dogs are killed if they are not claimed, rehomed or rescue are unaware of them/can't move fast enough to save them or if the pound manager is merely a jobsworth money-grabbing tosser with no concern for the dogs in his/her "care". If in any doubt, find a rescue with a reputation for it's no-kill policy and outspoken views and ask them to put the word out to seek alternative solutions.

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 09:13

'REMEMBER THOUGH that many dog wardens take strays to pounds where after 7 days the dogs are killed if they are not claimed'

Thereby solving the problem. If the owner is responsible, this scenario can't happen, she'll take full responsibility for her animal.
I'm a vegetarian, so killing a cow or killing a dog is the same to me.

MitchyInge · 13/04/2010 09:15

yet goblin you approve of deliberately injuring a dog that is chasing a cat - which is pretty natural if undesirable behaviour?

dogs can escape for all sorts of reasons - visitors not closing gates properly behind them for example

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 09:16

Pressed post absent-mindedly. I just meant that I don't understand why we are overly sentimental about doggies or horsies when we have abattoirs. If you don't want the dog to die, take care of it.

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 09:18

I didn't want my son to do anything to the dog,it could have bitten him.
Tried explaining to an Aspie in full meltdown? he couldn't hear me yell. Good thing the bloody dog ran and hasn't been back, if it had bitten him, I'd have wanted it destroyed, even though he attacked it first. It shouldn't have been free-ranging around the streets.

SoupDragon · 13/04/2010 09:21

The simple fact is that the dog should not be roaming free. The owner can't be arsed to do this and has admitted as much.

Report the dog every single time it is loose, complete with dated photos, and hope that this teaches the owner to be more responsible.

"i would say a 4 and 5 yr old shouldnt be left out unsupervised anyway"

LOL! I think it is you who is bring rather precious. Why shouldn't they be in their own garden with a parent keeping an we on them out of the window?? And yes, I think the OP can dictate what a pre-existing neighbour does when that neighbour is behaving irresponsibly.

MitchyInge · 13/04/2010 09:26

ah goblin this is where that acronym comes in handy - which I always forget, the disclaimer about special needs

Vallhala · 13/04/2010 09:27

Goblin, I'm a vegetarian and view the killing of cows and dogs with equal disgust. I'm also a dog rescuer and do not believe that killing the dog "solves the problem". It merely debases us all as the so-called civilised species.

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 09:31

My dad hasn't got special needs, he'd have done the same thing.
My son has Asperger's but no other learning needs. I wasn't playing the sn card as such, just explaining why he was very fast, very strong and not open to reason. I don't dislike well-behaved dogs under control, we know a couple of lovely gundogs that are an antidote to all the 'Bless him, he's only playing' 'She's my baby'owners. Or those that have an animal, but can't be bothered to put in the time and effort training them.

LisaD1 · 13/04/2010 09:32

OP- I love animals, and enjoy having my own, that is MY choice, same as it is YOUR choice not to have your neighbours dog running around your property!

The dog is the neighbours responsibility and all the time she fails to take it SHE is endangering her dog. The poor thing could end up dead on the road, attacked by another dog, approach a child of a burly lunatic, anything could happen. I think you should just keep reporting it, to the Warden/the Police/anyone who can do something about it.

IF the dog ends up being taken to the pound then although that is sad for the dog it is your neighbours fault, she should look after the poor thing. Dog's need walking and it sounds like your neighbour is too bloody lazy to do that!

As for a 4 and 5yr old not being able to play unsupervised in their OWN garden, seriously? wtf? My 2yr old is currently playing in our garden, I can see her from the window, why the hell should she not be able to play like that? What gives the neighbour the right to take that freedom away from these children because she can't look after her dog? Sorry, I love dogs but they come way down the pecking order to children!

MitchyInge · 13/04/2010 09:37

(was not accusing you of playing SN card, makes genuine difference I think?)

Vallhala · 13/04/2010 09:40

humpty, if the dog ends up picked up by the dog warden and thus in the pound and that pound doesn't have a no-kill policy please will you post to that effect on the Pets section here on MN, with my name in the title? I'll make it my job to get him to safety.

BritFish · 13/04/2010 10:06

im off to go and look at family pets 'suddenly' turning on family members.
if the dog is properly trained and dealt with, im really confused to why this happens.... links?

i hate how many anti-dog people are on mumsnet.
personally im glad my dog nipped my two DC's when they were younger. because i had prepared them on how to deal with it and they showed him who was boss. the dog respects DC's as his masters, they respect the dog.

some parents think a nip is a sign of a vicious dog despite it being a sign of plaay.
if a dog wants to injure you, it will BITE not nip.

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 10:23

Just think of me as Stranger Danger for your dog.
Teach it to be safe, keep it under control and where you can see if it's running into danger.
Be pre-emptive.
Then Nothing Bad will happen.

BuzzingNoise · 13/04/2010 10:26

Report it again and again and again to the housing officer. I had a similar sitaution once and nothing ever got done about it and in the end we gave up.
If I was in the situation now with a child who wants to play outside (DS was only a baby then) I wouldn't let it drop. Take pictures of the dog out on its own too as evidence.

tethersend · 13/04/2010 10:29

Looks like I may have to resurrect my 'float all dogs out to sea on a sort of ark' proposal...

Goblinchild · 13/04/2010 10:31

Morning Tethers, I was wondering about our floating restaurant scenario.

Swipe left for the next trending thread