Fending and neighbour's dog

[FelineUK]

Down the bottom of our garden, picking blackberries, suddenly spot in the corner, paws on the brick wall, the huge head of the neighbours dog starring at me and then barking, a white American pit bull.

Aren't these supposed to be illegal? Mind you, the stuff its owner smokes is probably illegal too!

Now I'm not usually scared of dogs, actually the opposite, but these are considered dangerous breeds and the fact that there's only a 3.5ft brick wall separating it from me does scare me somewhat. What's the best way to keep the dog out.. barbed wire, other sort of fencing that we can attach to the brick wall.. budget friendly!

@FelineUK

call the police and report.

Agreed. If you really think it's a banned breed then call the police.

I would report to the police OP - my lovely dog was attacked by a pit bull not long ago - the owner "rescued it from a pub". It was savage. Put up something in the interim but call a dog warden / 111 / police

Probably not a pit bull. Put up a taller fence on your side.

Are you sure it's a pit bull? Could be a white boxer.

Can you get a photo of it?

Go the doggie treat route.
You socialise the dog that you and others being in your area is a good thing but that it cant jump the wall
Once the dog gets to know you as a friend with food most of the problem goes away

You can’t put anything up fencing wise that could cause harm. Just put something like a trellis up on top of the wall.

She really shouldn’t be expected to train someone else’s dog , it’s a waste of her time, may not be welcomed by the owner and could easily backfire if it encourages the dog to jump over the fence if he smells or sees food.

OP, as others have said report it in case it is a banned breed and while you’re doing that speak to a building professional for advice on how to create a higher barrier.

She can spend a small fortune on trying to fence the dog out and still not be able to secure her boundry.
The dog may be strong fit and very agile so able to jump climb or break through what is installed, so teaching the dog to be friendly is an option

so what if NDN has a problem with her training the dog. Plus if the dog has a high food drive the OP has a problem with any food smells comming from her garden

Calling the police only works if the dog breed is covered by the legislation but a lot of US breeds were not popular when it passed.

From your description of size it's more likely a xl bully which aren't a banned dog. Looks similar to a pitbull but are bigger.

Rolls of bamboo screening would probably be a cost effective solution and encouraging the brambles to grow in that area. We've found creating a deep border with planting has helped with the neighbours dog but you'll need more height too.

I know my dogs - it's not a boxer.. it's head was definitely a pit bull type - big, longer and narrower. Fortunately the neighbour's house (single guy, btw) is lower than ours so the brick wall in question, which is right at the bottom of our garden (40ft away from the house) is probably quite high for the dog hence only seeing it's face on the wall, and a large tree with branches acting as a barrier. We've got someone coming out today ref fencing, and I also think putting up some sort of screening to obscure its view might help. I don't want to encourage it whatsoever to enter the garden.

I said she should contact police to check IF it’s a banned breed. Well op has stated the existing fence/barrier is already quite high for the dog. And in the unfortunate situation if it does leap into her garden before or after additional fencing is put in this the dog irrespective of breed will be deemed out of control and it can be referred to the police for breaking the existing legislation around dogs which (to paraphrase the law) “must be in control and not cause someone to reasonably feel they are at risk”

@FelineUK I think your plans for blocking or limiting visibility should help. Hope you can get a fence at a reasonable price.

Trying to train other peoples dog, is a massive responsibility to take on and just encourages lazy and inappropriate dog owners. If you have any dog but especially a particularly powerful dog like a pitbull type, you need to be on it.

And if your attempt at training goes wrong and has the opposite effect, they’ll be the first ones to blame it on you for meddling with their dog.

A few years ago a man in my old block of flats had his out of control jump on me on numerous occasions and refused to train it not to. I reported it - never happened again and he eventually gave the dog back to the relative after it was made clear to him that this anti-social behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated in our flats .

The dog was probably just defending its territory by barking. Perhaps it isn't used to seeing the OP at the bottom of her garden? I'd think very carefully before reporting it unless the dog actually gets into the garden and behaves threateningly, as it could cause a dispute with a neighbour who might not respond positively. See how it goes with the fence would be my advice.

Op you could ask the police to get a court order to remove the dog and if the dog fails the testing it may be killed. You will note that the banned breed list is not an automatic kill list
https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/banned-dogs

Dogs are property and the courts cant just take and distroy private property.

You will be living beside the dog and apper to have a little dog experience. How long has the dog lived at the other property? While the dog suprised you, you did not say your fear was about the dog just the breed.
did you fear it would attempt to cross the wall to get at you or was it being a nosy noise maker?

If it was nosy you can gently encourage by using a low calm tone and speak to it (hi fido) to ignore your day to day noise as you move about your garden and reward it for good actions such as not jumping on the walls. (I dont recomend doing the kind of training Oatycookies appears to be thinking about)
The most important thing you need to check out is the owner if the dog was agressive rather than nosy and the owner a poor one going the police route early would be best.

Terriers as a breed are sound hounds (so noise nosy) and hunt by ear like cats so fully blocking its line of vision may not be the best option.
plus like any dog can be distructive so I would try go for a fence you can check on both sides without having to stick body parts over the wall

Plant spiky shrubs in the ground alongside the wall, e.g. Pyracantha which has very sharp thorns and grows quickly.

There's very little visibility into the house below us so more often than not, the dogs can be heard rather than seen... but I had a suspicion from the sound of them, when the two dogs are playing rather agressively, that it was a big breed. As @ClematisBlue49 suggests, I don't want to report the dogs as there could be repercussions with the neighbour - dogs and owners can be unpredictable!

Normally we're don't usually go down to the bottom of the garden so on that occasion I expect it heard me scuffling about and went to have a nose. The owner called it once he heard it barking and the dog left. (The dogs have got out of their own garden before when I've heard their owner walking around the streets calling them.. )

My family (parents) has always owned dogs so I'm used to being around them and not generally scared but for some reason, seeing the huge head of this dog and its barking, did unnerve me especially being alone that day. We recently lived next door to a guy and his brother who also owned similar dogs - they'd come into our garden and be absolutely fine and as friendly as anything, but get an inch in front of the fence between ours and theirs... well, it's something you definitely wouldn't want to do if you wanted to keep your hand, arm, face!