Loose dogs and owner responsibilty

[LarryD]

<font color="blue"> Shoot, shovel, and shut up. </font> With 90 acres of heavy forest next to me, I think I'll just feed the 'yotes. Shoveling makes me tired.

We have a problem with a neighbors dog running loose but I'm not ready to shoot it. He was very friendly and not a threat to any of our horses.

The first time I caught him, I took him home and asked the neighbor to keep him off the property because he may get hurt if the mule got a hold of him. His response was "if he gets kicked, oh well. I explained that it may not be as simple as a kick and if my wife found the dog dead in the pasture it would be a big deal.

The next time the dog came around my SIL was here with her kids and they were playing with our 8 week old puppy. My niece grabbed up the puppy and the dog jumped up on her trying to get to the puppy, only playing mind you but scared my niece. My wife tied the dog up and called the sheriff.

They must have bailed the dog out because I hear it barking but I haven't seen it on the property since. The wife however did see it one day and and went over to speak to the owners, forum rules won't allow me to detail her one-sided conversation.

If I catch it again, I'll call the sheriff and have it impounded. The fines grow with subsequent infractions. If the dog turns up dead in the pasture, I would try to get animal cruelity charges brought against them because they knew the mule sees small animals as predators.

 

[Unclebuck257]

We live on 50 acres and I work out of my home, so I'm on the place most of the time. We also have a herd of cattle, two horses and a mule. Most of my rural neighbors are gone during the day to their various jobs and one set of neighbors is gone most weekends too. As a result, their dogs are all left alone during the day and have long ago realized that at almost anytime they can come here to our place and find company.

I feed my cattle, horses, and mule about 1230PM everyday and ALWAYS have literally POCKETS FULL of dog bones when I go out to feed to give to all the dogs that show up for this daily event. We have 5 dogs of our own, plus 2 Great Danes, 5 German Sheppards, a red Healer, a boxer mix, and whoever else might show up for bones on any particular day. All get their petting, attention, and bones, BUT ALL MUST get along and no fighting!!

It has been this way for years now with no problems except from one neighbor who has 2 Chows and a large white mixed dog that travel in a pack. They are cowards and will sneek up on another dog from behind and attack it, all 3 at once. These 3 dogs injured a blue healer we had, and have "pack attacked" one of the Great Danes that comes here, injuring him too. I have warned the neighbor that if I ever saw these three on my place again, I would shoot them without hesitation and I keep a loaded rifle by the back door just for them and coyotes. This is only AFTER the second attack and many talks with those neighbors though!

 

[Jagmandave]

I have some property that's on the edge of town but is still considered rural, and all the people in that area seem to think it's ok to let their dogs run loose.
I'm going to build my house there this summer, and we have two small dogs, so my choices are to try and get all the neighbors to keep their dogs on their own property or to fence mine in. I'm probably going to have to spend the $10K to fence.............
The neighbor behind has two very large Rotty's(?) who have challenged me a couple of times on my property, so I drove around the block and had a conversation with him. I explained that even tho they have had the run of the property and pond for a long time, it was no longer available to them and he needed to keep them on his property - all in a conversational and pleasant tone. He agreed, but yesterday they were there again growling at me. I'm going to visit with him once more, and inform him that if they set foot on my property again, they won't be coming home. I don't like to start off with new neighbors this way, but there's no way I'm going to put up with a dog challenging me on my own property.

It is sad tho, because a number of the neighborhood dogs who have come up to say hello have been very friendly, happy dogs. I've given treats to the two who live on either side and they no longer bark at me, in fact one comes over to have me throw a stick for her. But the only way I think I can keep my two safe is to keep theirs out from now on........

 

[greatrandini]

Don't dispatch the dog! Call dispatch and have them send out the dog catcher. Could be a nice dog that just happened to get out once. I think I am going to put up an elec fence gate across my drive. The rest of my property is fenced. All my neihbors let dogs run loose. I keep mine safe inside or inside fence. I have two German Shepherd Dogs and a "Fugly". If I did not love them so much I would let them run just to see how the neihbors liked that.

 

[PBinWA]

It took my dog about two and half years to commit the big sin and he finally caught one of the neighbors cats (in their yard too). I think I was more mortified than the neighbors. I fenced in the five acres within a few months. He was in solitary confinement during that time and only allowed out with his shock collar on.

These days he sits and stares into their yard looking to relive his conquest. I can tell that if I didn't fence in the yard he would be over there all the time.

I love that dog so I put up a fence (he cost me at least $4K).

Good fences make good neighbors.

 

[gsganzer]

I think a lot of it depends on the dog. I have a yellow lab that stays out during the day. I DO pen him up at night. He's a friendly dog that visits all the neighbors. One neighbor gives him a stale loaf of bread each day. He goes for afternoon walks with another neighbor and he frequently naps on another neighbors porch. They all encourage his visits. He occasionally gets into mischief, but never anything destructive or threatening. I'll find an occasional shoe or sandle (he never chews on them) in my yard and I return them as I find them.

One of the real worries with dogs running loose, is when they team up with other dogs. Dogs can act very differently when they're in a pack. Fortunately, my dog isn't very social with the other neighborhood dogs and will usually chase them off. He prefers human companionship instead.

I'm 100% confident in the docile personality of my dog. If I wasn't, I would have probably put him down and certainly wouldn't let him run loose.

 

[MLinOleMiss]

Several years ago, my cousin had a pit bull that killed about 30 other pets in our neighborhood (ducks, dogs, cats, calves, etc). He (my cousin) got a big kick out of having the neighborhood "bully". I was a youngster of about 15 and he was about 30 and I always told him that I would shoot Oscar (the dog) if he ever attempted to hurt one of my animals. The day came that Oscar got to one of my pets, luckily the cat got away but I had a decision to make. My father taught me to never make a statement that I wasn't willing to stand behind so, I shot Oscar, peppered him with 16 guage birdshot to break the skin. Didn't take long for the phone to ring after the shot and a bloody dog ran home. It led to some tense family reunions for a while but a new understanding from my cousin (it had never occured to him that others loved their animals as much as he loved his). Oscar never killed another animal in the neighborhood and my word has not been doubted since.
However you decide to handle the neighbors animals, warn them and be willing to take responsibility for your work.

 

[scott_vt]

Hi Randall,
Sorry to hear that you lost one of your pets!

I have to agree with most of the others, in that it wasnt the dogs fault, but the owners problem. The girl down the road from me was getting all her clothes pulled of the line and finally she had enough. She pulled out her 223 and took the dog out, called the people who owned the affending dog to come get it /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Too bad it has to come to that, but some people are slow learners.

scotty

 

[riptides]

None of my animals are allowed to run free on my property without adult supervison. I do this for the safety of the animal. In this day and age it is much easier to shoot first and ask questions later.

My neighbors are also aware that my pets are animals, and while they may act playful, I have no control over what they may or may not do in my presence. This limits neighbor interaction with them on my property, greatly.

It is too bad some people just have a different attitude about letting their pets run free. Too much trouble to get into, all three parties.

-Mike Z.

 

[jimg]

I lost about 50 chickens to a couple of running dogs. There were dead chicks all over my yard where the dogs dragged em out, chewed a bit then went back for more. I think the chicks flailing around just make the situation worse. Anyway, the police and animal control officer became involved and tracked down the owner who payed for the chicks and lost egg income. When I talked to the owner he was in shock that his 'gentle' pets would do such a thing. I guess he learned something about his animals that day. Im really glad I didnt have to shoot those dogs and that the owner did the right thing and paid for damages w/o a fuss. Even though I lost my chicks it would have made the situation that much worse to kill the dogs too. They were being dogs. Now the owner should have been on his game a bit better and understood his pet.