Neighbor dog on my property harassing wildlife

[LD48750]

Animal Control, dog catcher, whatever it's called in your community.

*IF* those services are available, what when they don't solve the problem?

Think country, not city.

Is the answer ALWAYS government & NEVER take care of it yourself?

 

[plowhog]

Pat, the reason is that many of us have found that talking with the neighbor does nothing but cause more problems.

That is the dilemma. If I remain silent and shoot the dog, others can wonder what happened but never really know. But if I raise the issue with the neighbor, and afterward the dog disappears, it becomes much more obvious what took place.

But in this case I did commit to talk with the neighbor if it repeated. btw, yesterday the whole thing repeated ... the dog was back. Same exact problem. So that makes two days in a row. I don't have my pictures ready, but I will have them soon, and I will be talking with the neighbor soon.

 

[ruffdog]

The neighbor's dogs would come over once in a while until I scared them a few times. Covered in a cardboard box, kiddie pool, or blanket, I would growl and chase it. I scared the b'jesus out of it. Hehe....just make yourself look non-human and have some fun.

 

[newbury]

That is the dilemma. If I remain silent and shoot the dog, others can wonder what happened but never really know. But if I raise the issue with the neighbor, and afterward the dog disappears, it becomes much more obvious what took place.

But in this case I did commit to talk with the neighbor if it repeated. btw, yesterday the whole thing repeated ... the dog was back. Same exact problem. So that makes two days in a row. I don't have my pictures ready, but I will have them soon, and I will be talking with the neighbor soon.

You have not mentioned the breed or size of the dog. That would make a BIG difference in the actions I would take against the dog. It does seem that the problem is with the dogs training and a lax female caretaker.
Shooting the dog ?? Doesn't seem fair to the dog. Maybe shoot the dog with a paintball pistol (available for ~$50), they even make "skunkballs"

The neighbor's dogs would come over once in a while until I scared them a few times. Covered in a cardboard box, kiddie pool, or blanket, I would growl and chase it. I scared the b'jesus out of it. Hehe....just make yourself look non-human and have some fun.

I've had several "sets" of roaming dogs over the years, from small beagles I'd like to keep to a pair of pit bull crosses and some German shepherds big enough for a 6 year old boy to ride.
The bigger dogs were as large as a Black Lab I owned that pushed 85 lbs when she was in tip top shape.
Often the same dog or dogs would show up several times a week.
For the smaller dogs usually a yell and an arm wave would do.
For the larger dogs I found if I grabbed the nearest big stick/ 2x4, fence post, whatever and went "caveman" they would go off, and if repeated a few times they stopped coming back.

I learned early on to not get friendly with even the smallest nicest dog down here because even some of the nicest neighbors seemed to think that ticks were ok, even if the ticks looked like hanging jewelry.

 

[NorTracNY]

Sadly, my dogs have left the property a few times over the years. They have shock collars and they have learned to stay close, but they are dogs and there have been times where... squirrel! The last time it happened, one of the neighbors called the dog over to them when they saw it walking in their yard. They brought it into their house. My family and I are walking around trying to find it, while calling it with the the remote. The dog hopefully learned that going into that house was not a good thing as it got shocked periodically. IF my dogs had ever exhibited aggressive tendencies, I'd be a lot more concerned, but they both are friendly. Would I be ok with someone giving a non-lethal shot if my dogs went into their yard? Certainly! Would I be upset if they never mentioned there was an issue, yes. I think the OP is doing the correct thing. Right now that dog is having fun chasing in the pond, and will be back. One of my dogs is an escape artist. I rescued it from a shelter. They had found it with a shock collar on, but the owners never came looking for it. We realized that they had likely given up as I've never seen a dog like it. It can climb shear walls over 4 feet without a problem.

 

[LD48750]

Shooting the dog ?? Doesn't seem fair to the dog. Maybe shoot the dog with a paintball pistol (available for ~$50), they even make "skunkballs"

.

The advantage to using .22 birdshot is it doesn't even break the skin at ranges of over 20-30 feet.
The noise & sting scare the animal enough to keep them away in most cases.

 

[BleedingOrange]

I kinda like the skunkballs idea. That should be enough of a constant reminder to convince the neighbor to keep her dog at home. Do you have skunks in your area ? What about porcupines ? If so, I,m sure the neighbours dog would love to play with one for at least a few minutes. :laughing:

 

[shooterdon]

What a great site...never heard of skunkballs. Non-lethal and it brings the problem "home" so to speak. I would let the neighbor know the plan so there are no surprises and that alone may incentivize them to control the dog.

Just make sure you sight in well away from the house....LOL.

 

[JasperFrank]

Our dog would roam, so we got a Wireless Fence System. Problem Solved. Not sure i can recommend any particular brand. We use the Havahart Radial-Shape System.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Issues with neighbors animals can get real messy real fast. And in the long run, its the animals that suffer, due to the irresponsibly of the owners.

The OP has their own unique situation, as we all do. The desire to keep their word, and integrity in tact, is commendable. Politely speaking in person with some photos and dates can help keep the situation diffused... but it can also deteriorate easily, and fast!

Best of luck... I hope this ends well for all involved.