Help me figure out what to do about the neighbors dogs!

[dotfurio]

Our neighbors moved in a couple months ago. They have 2 pit bulls, and one of them has been very aggressive towards us and our dog. It has chewed through our fence twice, only enough to get it's head through. Both times DH replaced the board and talked to them. They are very nice and have always been very apologetic. They also put up plywood on their side to reinforce the holes. Tonight I hear their dogs barking like crazy. We have a sunroom attached to the back of our house, so I peer through the windows and find the aggressive one barking and snarling at me. It had chewed through 3 fence boards to break into our yard. Thank God our dog was inside! DH went over to handle it again, he fixed the boards on our side, they put up more plywood. They want our family to meet the dogs so hopefully they won't be aggressive to us anymore, but that's not going to stop them from wanting to attack my dog. I can't feel safe letting my dog run around its own backyard, and I will NEVER feel safe letting my 8 year old in the backyard without an adult as things are now.

So what I need is some ideas to make our fence more secure. We were thinking of covering our side with welded wire fencing? Any other ideas?

 

[kimblebee]

Call the city and report the aggressive dogs. No way would I put up with being scared in my own home.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Take pictures - document the number of times this is happening, and report them. In my opinion, this is to protect yourselves. I would also ask them what type of fencing they plan on replacing the existing one with to insure that their dogs do not enter your property and endanger your loved ones. It doesn't matter if you meet their dogs and they get used to you. They are destroying your property trying to get at you.

 

[Uncranky Donald]

Oh dear, I am so sorry, this is not a comfortable situation to be in. My cousin's dog Cali was recently attacked by the Pit across the hall from her and unfortunately Cali ended up with drainage tubes in her neck On the other hand my best friend has a very energetic Pit that has bitten a mailman before (they were sued) but as long as I go in and sit down first,feed the dog treats, the dog is fine immediately with me. But this is your home, in NO way do I think you should feel unsafe or be financially responsible for safeguarding your family and pets, they should. If you can't verbally come up with a long term solution I agree with the PP, you'll have to call the city/animal control...I've done it before, whether someone wasn't taking care of their animal for its' sake or for a human's, it's a call that has to be made. Best of Luck

 

[disykat]

I'd call the police. IMO right now you aren't even safe going from your house to your car. No matter what they say, don't let your dog meet theirs. They have an improperly trained dog that they are not restraining appropriately. They are not taking appropriate action in this situation.

 

[indygirl99]

Our neighbors moved in a couple months ago. They have 2 pit bulls, and one of them has been very aggressive towards us and our dog. It has chewed through our fence twice, only enough to get it's head through. Both times DH replaced the board and talked to them. They are very nice and have always been very apologetic. They also put up plywood on their side to reinforce the holes. Tonight I hear their dogs barking like crazy. We have a sunroom attached to the back of our house, so I peer through the windows and find the aggressive one barking and snarling at me. It had chewed through 3 fence boards to break into our yard. Thank God our dog was inside! DH went over to handle it again, he fixed the boards on our side, they put up more plywood. They want our family to meet the dogs so hopefully they won't be aggressive to us anymore, but that's not going to stop them from wanting to attack my dog. I can't feel safe letting my dog run around its own backyard, and I will NEVER feel safe letting my 8 year old in the backyard without an adult as things are now.

So what I need is some ideas to make our fence more secure. We were thinking of covering our side with welded wire fencing? Any other ideas?

First "the rule"

Second I agree with the above. Take pictures and notify both the police and animal control.

No way should you be afraid to use your own yard or let your child or dog be alone in your yard.

Is next door a rental? If so contact the landlord.

Do you have a HOA if so what are the "rules" about pets.

I would also ask them for their homeowners insurance information. Many insurances have a list of "bad" dogs that they won't insure. Also this will put them on notice that you will demand they pay for repairs and will contact the insurance to facilitate it.

I'm sorry you are in this position.

 

[xlxo]

discuss your concerns with the local bylaws on what can and cannot be done.

 

[lynxstch]

I can understand that you want to be 'nice' with your neighbors, but their dog is getting too aggressive. Call Animal Control. Maybe if someone outside of the situation talks to them, they might take a little more action to control their dog.

 

[adisneyaunt]

Awful situation to be in OP. you're attempting to be caring and rationale with people that apparently have a) no proper control over their dog and b) have little concern for both your property and more important your families Safety!
Their dog will most likely Not be covered under an insurance policy for damage to ur property or your person.

I too suggest you immediately notify the local police/animal control, document events and conversations/repairs to date, take pictures Of the repeated damage And the dog/s in question ( at that area if u can safely manage.. u said u can see from window)
While the neighbors "may" have a right to house their dog next door and certainly love it, they do not have a right to place this Risk on you.

I'm a dog lover but have Seen the consequences of an aggressive pitbull ( and I also know a very loving one with no "shown" aggression issue...unfortunately you just never know)
Good luck. Hope you ll update us with a positive result.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

So what I need is some ideas to make our fence more secure. We were thinking of covering our side with welded wire fencing? Any other ideas?

Since fencing ideas are what you asked for, that's what I'll stay with. Welded wire probably won't work, dogs can just dig/push under it.
Whatever you do it needs to be held against the ground solid. I've used metal roofing tin laid sideways for chicken coupes with great success for keeping out dogs and coyotes. The aluminum colored metal would be best as it won't rust away as fast as regular galvanized tin. When installing it slide it back and forth to work it into the ground or the dog will just push under it. Plus a dog really can't chew through metal. It's not pretty but affective. It works best if it could be placed on their side so the dog is pushing at it against the fencing support but it should be affective if secured with good fasteners.

 

[Klayfish]

I was going to suggest the same thing 3 Men and A Boat did. A sheet of metal roofing properly placed will solve the chewing through problem. The dog won't chew through the metal.

Calling the police won't do anything. It's the local animal control you need to reach out to.

I'd also be much more firm with the neighbors. I appreciate that they're nice and apologetic, but the issue clearly isn't being resolved. I'd make it clear to them that I expect them to find a way to resolve it, and quickly. Hate to be "that guy", but I'd say in no uncertain terms that I see it as a threat to my family and my dog and I will make sure we are protected (and no, before anyone freaks out, I don't even own a gun, I hate them, so I'm not talking about that).

 

[tvguy]

They seem to be trying to resolve the issue. I would try having your family meet the dogs, and your dog meet the dogs in a controlled environment to see if that solves the problem. If that doesn't work, yes, the fence needs some sort of reinforcement that the dogs cannot break through. And I would think the dogs owners would want that too.
Funny thing is , I came home from work yesterday to find a fencing contractor reinforcing my back fence. The neighbor behind me has dogs, we do not, and my kids are adults. I have not met the neighbor, and the fencing guy said the neighbor was supposed to talk to us to tell us what he was doing. The neighbor was concerned about his dogs getting out. Apparently he is a RENTER and felt it was worth spending his own money to protect his dogs. However, if he comes by, I will gladly write a check for half the cost since it is a common fence.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

They seem to be trying to resolve the issue. I would try having your family meet the dogs, and your dog meet the dogs in a controlled environment to see if that solves the problem. If that doesn't work, yes, the fence needs some sort of reinforcement that the dogs cannot break through. And I would think the dogs owners would want that too.
Funny thing is , I came home from work yesterday to find a fencing contractor reinforcing my back fence. The neighbor behind me has dogs, we do not, and my kids are adults. I have not met the neighbor, and the fencing guy said the neighbor was supposed to talk to us to tell us what he was doing. The neighbor was concerned about his dogs getting out. Apparently he is a RENTER and felt it was worth spending his own money to protect his dogs. However, if he comes by, I will gladly write a check for half the cost since it is a common fence.

It shows good faith that they want the OP to meet the dog and are trying to work with them but I don't think it will help.

I have a dog who is very reactive when he is in the yard. He runs the fence, barks etc... It doesn't matter whether he knows the people walking by or not. If the OP's neighbor's dog is being territorial, it won't matter if they meet or not.

As for reinforcing the fence, we put rebar in every six inches or so to prevent digging and chewing at the bottom of the fence.

 

[PlutoPony]

Reinforcing the fence with metal as suggested above is probably the best and maybe only way to fence adequately. But it's expensive and time consuming for the OP. How about asking/telling the neighbor to take those steps on their side of the fence? At this point it must be clear to them (as it is to the OP) that wood isn't going to adequately contain their dogs, so THEY need to take the fencing situation MUCH more seriously than they have. This is a bad outcome and lawsuit waiting to happen so they should be willing to go above and beyond to keep their dogs safely contained. Quite frankly the odds of something happening that causes their dogs to be put down is very high.

There's no doubt their insurance company would not insure them if they knew of the dogs. Wonder if it's worth talking to your insurance company about the risk next door and see what they suggest?

Good luck. I'm a big dog person but this situation would not be acceptable in any way for me, don't blame you for being scared. Hate to say it but you might want to arm yourself with something (not a gun, but pepper or bear spray maybe?) when you're outside. IF any of the dogs get into your yard, it will be difficult for you to defend yourself, your child, or dog by yourself.

 

[goofy4tink]

We have dogs across the street that bark at us when we're in our own garage!!!! And dogs two houses down that howl at us if we go into our backyard. At least they aren't dangerous, just annoying. And I have a dog...people are always surprised when they hear we have a dog, since they've never heard it!!!
Anyway...meeting those dogs isn't going to help much. They are reactive, and need to be trained, or housed. Chewing through fencing to get at you or your dog is really concerning! Your neighbors need to reinforce their side of the fence. I love the sheet metal idea. I was going to say chain link fencing, dug about a foot into the ground, but the sheet metal is a great idea, and cheaper!!!
I would also alert the animal control office in your town..just to have a base report on file. Take photos if at all possible. It's nice that the neighbors are apologetic but apologies aren't going to cut it if one of those dogs gets through, and into your yard. I don't see anything positive coming out of that!!!

 

[cvjw]

What an awful situation, op. I am a huge dog lover, but pit bulls scare me. I would be terrified living next to two of them. I live in metro Atlanta, and last month two tame, friendly pit bulls got out of their fence and killed a kindergartner on the way to the bus stop. His little friend was critically injured. Listening to the local news at night, I have heard of multiple injuries caused by pit bulls.

If I were you, I would contact your local animal control, get the neighbors insurance information and repair the fence by whatever means necessary to protect my family. I would also be armed whenever I took my kids or dogs outside.

You never know when those dogs could have gotten outside without their owners knowledge. And sadly, with pit bulls, you can't be sure of what they will try to do to you or our family.

 

[Poohlove]

First I would like to say that I have a Pit and she is the biggest baby in the world, she has no aggression issues at all whatsoever. We had a similar problem with, ready for this, Pomeranians. Somehow because they were small and "harmless" it wasn't taken as seriously as if it had been my dog. Initially we had a chain link fence that these dogs would pee through onto my dog (we also had a min pin at the time who was stupid enough to stand there until the shower started). I put up a wooden privacy fence which curbed that, they did attempt to dig under so I installed chicken wire which worked because they were so small. They would however bark and growl at my kids and my dogs who couldn't have cared any less about them. The most annoying part would be when they would stand up on their deck so that they were able to see in our back door and they would stand facing our house barking and growling at us in our house and at my daughter through her bedroom window. I tried talking to the neighbor but she said "they are harmless", because they were small I wasn't scared just majorly annoyed. We moved (not because of the dogs) and it has been blissfully quiet.

That all said, I would reinforce the fence from my side because I wouldn't put my safety and that of my family at the hands of someone who I hadn't hired to handle the job. I would report the dogs to the local animal control as being aggressive because we have all heard too many stories of them getting loose and attacking a random person. I would also do as others have suggested and put up a metal panel that I would probably put a couple inches into the ground to reinforce the fence and keep them from digging under along with a couple pieces of rebar spaced apart for added protection. I am not sure how long of a span you have to reinforce but since your neighbors have been attempting to find a way to make peace between the dogs and their surroundings perhaps they would be willing to give you a hand and/or split the cost. The metal depending on the color used could also be a reflective surface to help with growing some vegetables or something. If it is a smaller span maybe you could also plant some bushes to camouflage the panel some.

That stinks that you are having this issue, hopefully your relationship with your neighbors isn't damaged because they will be around long after the dogs (unless the move). Good luck to you!

 

[Klayfish]

First I would like to say that I have a Pit and she is the biggest baby in the world, she has no aggression issues at all whatsoever. We had a similar problem with, ready for this, Pomeranians. Somehow because they were small and "harmless" it wasn't taken as seriously as if it had been my dog.

There's no comparison between a pit bull and Pomeranian, except that they're dogs. Which one would you want to meet in a dark alley? Not condemning pit bulls, I have no doubt they can be quite friendly. But when aggressive, one is much more of a threat than the other.

I guess I'd just take a more hard line stance after making several attempts to be neighborly about it. I'm not going to drastically alter my life because my neighbors have a dog that is causing my family an issue. I would expect them to fix the problem, and if they don't, then I'll see to it the dog is removed.

 

[BrianL]

It does sound like the neighbors want to help, so be firm with them. They need to reinforce the fence on their side immediately. Give them the suggestions mentioned above to use metal. I don't think you need to call the authorities yet, but do document the incidents and their response. If they can't get a handle on it, then you are certainly within your rights to report them.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

There's no comparison between a pit bull and Pomeranian, except that they're dogs. Which one would you want to meet in a dark alley? Not condemning pit bulls, I have no doubt they can be quite friendly. But when aggressive, one is much more of a threat than the other.

I guess I'd just take a more hard line stance after making several attempts to be neighborly about it. I'm not going to drastically alter my life because my neighbors have a dog that is causing my family an issue. I would expect them to fix the problem, and if they don't, then I'll see to it the dog is removed.

They are both dogs but the behavior from little dogs is excused a lot more. If they're damaging property and being little menaces they need to be addressed, not laughed off. I think that was that poster's point.