Neighbor's dobermans on my land, protecting "their" property ...??

[texasjohn]

Find out what the leash laws are in your state and county. Where I live, a dog owner is supposed to keep his dogs under control at all times. This means on a leash or otherwise controlled.

I have verified with my county animal control officers that I have "every right" to protect myself and my property from one or more dogs by any means necessary, including lethal force.

That said, I'd discuss the problem with your neighbor.... calling the police to do this job at this point will simply cause hard feelings. You may end up there, but try to avoid that if possible. The existing barb wire fence is not intended to control dogs, nor should it be improved to do so...at least at any cost to you.

Further, since you have a weapon already, I'd suggest you carry it until you are convinced the canine menace is completely neutralized....the events can occur again and the neighbor might not be available to do a dog recall.

Fundamentally, you need to mentally make your decision NOW.... about how you will handle these dogs on your property in the future. If it were me, I'd pull the pistol which I always carry, on ranch and off, at first sighting and prepare to begin fire at the maximum effective pistol range because it takes almost no time for a dog to close the distance from there to your throat. Such a large dog is lethal... thus, you need to go thru your thought process NOW rather than when next faced with a charging pair of dogs. At that point you do not have time to think, only to act on a prior decision which you are fully prepared to execute.

 

[RobertN]

Oh give me a break! We have leash laws here too. In my county, signs are posted too; if dogs bother livestock they may be shot on sight. Ya, that is in California...

Believe it or not, yahoo's are universal, not just from Calif.

I had the same problem with a neighbor around here. I spoke with him about keeping his dogs off my property and his reply was "My dogs have a right to roam the forests." I just couldn't seem to get him to understand my property is not public forest. (He's from California)

 

[TravisTractor]

I know that my dogs do a lot of things without asking my permission and I feel that if they get pepper sprayed for scaring someone it is their own fault. I would feel differently if they were on a leash I was holding at the time, but if they are off property without me along they are on their own.

I am not saying I would be dismissive if someone was deliberately abusing my animals while they were out of bounds, but a reason response such as pepper spray is totally reasonable even if I know my dog won't bite.

I feel that if a dog is off control, it is beyond the owner's right to be offended by any disciplinary action it might be subjected to. If the dog is killed, there is some justification that must be demonstrated that the killing was necessary, but I don't think the owner has a leg to stand on if they were not in control of their animal and the action can be defended by circumstances.

I love my dogs and would feel terrible if they were killed for any reason, but I am aware of my responsibilities to control them and protect them from harm through that control. I also recognize that they do not understand this and will escape my protection from time to time and I have to accept that there is the possibility they will not come home when they do this. I think that any owner that does not accept their responsibility for this potential scenario is simply being irresponsible. Sure you do your best and they still get out, but you cannot shift the burden of care of your dog to someone else because dogs will be dogs. I don't allow a three year old with a baseball bat to go into a glass shop and expect to be exempt from any damage they cause or incur simply because they are too young to know better. If they get hurt it is my fault, not the shop owner's or the kid's. If my dogs get pepper sprayed or worse it is my fault and not the dog's or their "attacker's".

my feelings exactly

 

[jinjimbob]

Carry poison dog treats???

Its a shame there are people like this here.

 

[Skyco]

Interesting you mention lawyer: I just looked up the dog owner's parcel #, got his name from that, & googled him, & most of the google entries indicate he's an attorney.

Well there ya go
Hire him to represent you in your speeding case, then mention- oh by the way - I have this other problem with dogs coming onto my property........

 

[tcartwri]

I've owned large dogs all my life, and there is one thing I can tell you for sure, and that is when you encounter two dogs running wild together you should be very wary. The pack instinct comes back to them and things can turn ugly very quickly, especially for children and other dogs. I would not tolerate two dobermans even having a remote chance of running loose on my property. It would result in a face to face with the owner asap.

 

[RoyJackson]

Yes, good god why is everyone here so quick to want to shoot everything. You may end up with a lawsuit on your hand anyway. Pepper spray is a great idea, and if they didnt bite ya this time its likely they wont!

I doubt there'd be any worry of a lawsuit. The neighbor would lose anyway (but a lawsuit would still cost dollars to pursue or defend oneself).
BTW, don't even think dogs won't bite even if they know you. If they feel threatened (and if you're on what they percieve as their turf, you're threatening them), they may well react.

 

[Milton Burro]

Oh give me a break! We have leash laws here too. In my county, signs are posted too; if dogs bother livestock they may be shot on sight. Ya, that is in California...

Believe it or not, yahoo's are universal, not just from Calif.

You are correct, ya just can't get away from stupid. I didn't intend to dis anyone because of the state in which they reside. My apologies.

I guess my point was intended to imply, that there are lots of folks from the city that move in around here that haven't a clue about life in the country. Being that there are lots of folks moving into this area from Ca., it was my mistake to imply there are no local idiots.

 

[RobertN]

We have the same problems. For all the big city in San Francisco and the greater Los Angeles area, Calif has huge rural and agricultural areas. Folks come out from the city, and think they are living in the wild and anything goes, including ignoring leash laws.

There was an example about 2 years ago locally. Guy came from in town, was walking his Lab; by all accounts a very nice friendly dog. But... The guy crossed a fence in to a field to let the dog run. Dog took off running happily over the crest of the hill, and saw horses. Started chasing horses. Horse owner shot it on site, before it hurt the horses. City folks went nuts!

Well, a really nice dog got shot, because the owner trespassed, let the dog loose, and did not control it. The dog owner thought he had just found a nice wide open area to go play; that was why the fence was there, to keep horses in and others out...

FWIW, my family lived 4 or 5 generations in Missouri before settling the Central Valley(Modesto) and farming. My great Granparents came out here in 1905 from Cross Timber/Hermitage in Hickory County

I guess my point was intended to imply, that there are lots of folks from the city that move in around here that haven't a clue about life in the country. Being that there are lots of folks moving into this area from Ca., it was my mistake to imply there are no local idiots.

 

[LMTC]

All too often some people assume that an open rural area means anything goes. We moved from city to a very rural area 25 years ago. We had family who had lived in a very rural area for years, so we understood the difference between a city outlook and a country outlook, and we made every effort to adapt. Kept our dogs under control as best we could and let the surrounding neighbors know that 1. we would take care of anything our dogs might do if they got loose, and 2. if they get loose and you have a reason to put them down, then do it...otherwise please call and we will get them. To my knowledge they got out once and dug up a flowerbed (Labs)....land owner called, I got them and offered to return and repair....they said not to worry about it. We continued to get along fine. My experience over this 25 years is that I know who will control their dogs and who won't. If I see a dog on our place that I know I either 1. do nothing as I know it is not a problem dog and it is a rare occurrence, or 2. I assess the situation and respond appropriately. I gave up calling owners after two experiences. People with the mentality to let their dogs run will respond to you with disdain, openly or covertly. They will not suddenly change their habits and control their dogs. I know this is not 100% true, but it has been my consistent experience. Speaking to them about the problem only served to give them a place to point a finger when the dog doesn't come home. I love dogs, and would not be cruel even to a vicious dog, but I will not tolerate being intimidated on my own property. I have an excellent relationship with some people whose dog has not returned home (think confronting our children with snarls and growls as they walked out the drive to wait for the school bus) solely because of this "no notice" policy. I know when it's a one time incident and will try to let that go, even for an aggressive dog, but a chronic problem has got to be resolved and I will resolve it in my favor.