Law around soaking neighbours pets?!

[TurmericFan]

My next door neighbour's large dog always barks extremely aggressively when I go out of my side-return door and then down my garden path. This is very disturbing and is negatively affecting my ability to enjoy my garden.

There is a gap in the fence which it runs to, and it looks straight at me barking with full intensity aggression. So now I carry a water-bottle and I will get it right between the eyes whenever this happens. (This gap is where the fence goes around a protected tree which is on the boundry line).

I intend to continue soaking it until the owners stop the dog from doing this.

I understand that legally speaking the dog is the neighbour's property. Am I 'damaging' it in some way by doing this?

It is not in my garden when this is happening. But I don't think there's any kind of trespeass because although the water is going into the neighbour's garden, I am not.

Am I legally safe to keep on doing this, until such time as the neighbours pay to send their dog to doggie behavioural classes/to live on a farm somewhere?

Also, as I embark upon this course of behaviour, I find myself wondering about my own cat, who goes where he likes into other neighbour's gardens.

Would a neighbour who didn't like cats, whose flowerbeds were being trampled, etc, be permitted to soak my cat? Because I'm sure I wouldn't like it if that happened...

I told my neighbour to soak my cats if they made pests of themselves - it doesn't hurt them and will deter them from entering the garden
Dogs are different, though.

Every time you soak the dog you are telling it you are an enemy and it will bark at you the more. Hope it doesn't get through the fence. You've effectively been tormenting it and it may actually snap at you now.

Try chucking dog treats over to it, so it sees you as a friend and someone to look forward to seeing

No to this - you don't have the authority to feed treats to someone elses animal .
My NDN had barky dogs , I had so many conversations , they were all "Oh we'll sort it" but basically the dogs were bored senseless .
When the barky little git was sitting at the back door , barking , he usually got a Barry , shut up
So if he was being ignored and barking excessively , I found shouting "For gods sake Barry , pack in it" would open the door and he went inside

When I got got my cats , I told all my neighbours to water bomb them if they wanted them to leave the garden as that's how I disuade other cats from mine .(My cats use a litter tray inside- they will walk in, pooh/pee , walk out)

You sound stupid if you believe banging on a fence will stop a dog from barking.

and if I actually said what I’d do to you, and your cat if I caught you doing this to my dogs then I’d be banned off mumsnet. You sound pretty twisted.

I’m surprised so many dog owners think a dog aggressively barking at someone every time they’re in the garden is OK. Obviously a few “woof-woof” when you go out at first, or hatred of the lawn mower is fine, but aggressive barking the entire time you’re using your garden isn’t - OP says they’re terraced houses so I’m guessing small gardens. Don’t people realise that obviously neighbour would mind??

The water-squirting isn’t going to work, so I’d quit that. It’s either going to make dog see you as the enemy or be a game.

Spraying water at pooping cats does work (and doesn’t harm them), so IMO that’s fair enough.

Im not a fan of dogs, or neighbours...

I wouldn’t have a huge problem with a neighbour doing this to my dog, but I might find that I become less accommodating to their cats (eg we don’t let the dog out if there’s a cat in the garden atm)

i believe the law recognises that cats can not be trained and wander, but you are supposed to be in control of your dog at all times, when out in public, whether this applies to dogs own back garden is unclear, but you have my sympathy, constant barking at you is wearing and annoying when they do it even without being able to see you, I have this happen at the front of my house

Yes exactly this, the neighbour's right to have a dog does not come at the expense of my ability to use my garden!

No.

you’d be very wrong in that

get a grip, talk to your neighbour.

It is absolutely not on to soak this dog. I dont like barking dogs either but this is not the right way to go about it.

Law .
The dog would need to be dangerously out of control- that applies in public and a private dwelling but a dog simply barking is not a dog dangerously out of control

Dog barks through fear/startle/boredom/lots of other reasons.

You squirt dog you will either add to the fear/startle or, you'll provide entertainment and reinforce - either way, theres a strong chance barking will get worse, dog may attack fence, get through fence etc etc.

Similarly yelling at dog and banging on fence will make matters worse, not better.

The way to address this is via the owners - explain to them they need to stop the dog practicing the behaviour by supervising the dog outside at all times, whilst they counter condition - ie, pair you going outside with a tasty treat each time until the sound of you coming outside is a GOOD thing.. and then they fade out the treat for 'every time' to 'some times' and bring the value down so its less and less exciting. At that point the dog then should not need such close supervision in the garden and things can return to normal.

If they're consistent and better yet if you can work together to do this - then the issue can be fixed in a matter of weeks.

This requires you to stop winding their dog up further, whether intentionally or not, and them to understand the work required and do it.

Ultimately, the fault lies with the owners - the dog feels startled and upset at hearing you come outside in EXACTLY the same way YOU do at hearing the dog suddenly bark.

Can't you cover the gap?

If they own the fence, and they don't seem in a hurry to fix the gap. I am sure you could get a spare panel from some where to fix at your side. If only to make you feel safe. Don't throw stuff or bang the fence. Just talk to the dog say its only me or some thing. Play music let it know you are out there, and don't linger near the fence like a burglar.

It's their fence so I don't want to nail anything to it without speaking to them, and if I spoke to them I'd want to discuss the dog, not the fence.

However yes I was thinking I could get a custom little panel made by a joiner that went on my side and just wrapped a bit tighter around the tree trunk. It wouldn't stop the barking but it would stop the dog barking at the sight of me, rather than just at the sound of me.

I wonder choose either, but cat poo on the lawn is far preferable to the noise of an aggressive dog barking several times a day.

Thanks, that's good advice. Though I do need to garden and water the long flowerbed which is on my side of their fence. I'm not going to be hurried in doing that, the dog has to get used to my being there.

To be honest there are so many foxes in these gardens that I'm never even sure if I've seen cat poo, I can't tell it apart....

You are either going to cause more barking and aggression doing what you are doing or you are creating the best game ever

I tend to agree with this. And think the plan to stop the dog seeing in to your garden is a good one

Make/buy a cake or something and take it round to have a chat with your neighbours. Explain the problem and that you’re really disturbed by what’s happening. Could you not agree to maybe box in the tree from both sides so that the gap is filled in ? There are different laws for cats and dogs, by the way. Cats are classed as wild animals and expected to roam - doesnt mean that they can’t be soaked with a hosepipe if they’re causing a nuisance though. Mine has come in soaked a few times and isn’t harmed by it - the least harmful way of scaring cats away in my view.

I'd have thought the best way to sort this was to speak with the neighbours and ask if you could throw the dog a treat before it barked so that rather than see you as something to guard against it would see you in a positive way and look forward to the treat.

Thats a much more sensible solution! I am understand the dog barking is annoying but it's behind a fence so unable to get to you? Squirting it with water isn't going to make it like you and stop barking. In fact it could potentially make it bark more as it will be scared of you! Poor dog. Better to speak to your neighbours and ask them to call it inside if it is barking?

Haven't RTFT sorry but I am in the exact same position as you. However, I would not dare bang or throw water as quite frankly I'm far too scared to get close enough to do that. I'm unable to use my back door or side passage and sometimes even the front. It's spoiling my enjoyment of my own house. They don't just sound like aggressive dogs, they ARE big, aggressive dogs who I know can get over the fence. Speaking to neighbour has not helped.

So I do feel for you, but in the kindest way possible you sound more annoyed than frightened, in which case I think you're unreasonable for not trying some other solution first. If I could solve my predicament by blocking a fence etc then I would in a heartbeat. It's not really the dog's fault - it's the owners who have not taught it/managed it properly.

Hi, OP - the law in question is the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and whether the barking amounts to a ‘statutory nuisance’. It doesn’t provide prescribed / proscribed times for barking though!!

All you’re doing is making the dog more aggressive. Good job.

Have a serious talk with the neighbours. If I caught you doing that to my dog, I’d be pissed off. Of course, I nipped my dog’s barking in the bud, when she was a puppy.

Not every dog is so cooperative.

Thank you, that's useful to know!