# Need help with neighbours dog



## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Sorry for the length, I'll try and give as much information as possible

Background: 

There are several dogs in our neighbourhood, there was a schnauzer living across the road that had serious aggression issues (mostly we only had to deal with fence fighting on walks, thankfully Delgado never responded in kind and they seem to have moved out two weeks ago). Also there is a lab and another large dog living behind us that are left outside often and they'll bark continually to be let back in, a little annoying but harmless. Again, Delgado has never barked back or reacted to them in any way. Our fence and all the fences of the neighbours are 6' privacy fences, so tall and strong. It's been a fairly peaceful place until a few months ago 

Problem:

In November our next door neighbours moved away and our new neighbours have a small dog, I'm not sure what breed but it's around 15 lbs or so. This dog goes nuts if my dogs are out when it's outside, it will scratch, whine, growl, and bark at the fence. Jazzy will come to the door immediately if the dog starts barking, sometimes if I'm not quick enough she'll bark back but that's the extent of her reaction. Delgado runs to the fence and will bow down to try and look under the fence and will bark and hop (looks like a play bow and bark to me). He doesn't react to fence fighters on walks so the only difference is this is on "his" turf rather then out in the world

A "leave it" and "inside" gets both my dogs in quickly and I usually wait 15-20 minutes and check again and if the coast looks clear I'll send them back out. My dogs don't stay outside long, unless I'm outside with them they just do their business maybe sniff for a minute or two then they're back on the deck waiting to be let back inside. As the weather is finally getting nicer the next door neighbour is leaving their dog out a lot. They either leave it loose in the backyard or they have a long tie out (stake and wire) which they seem to use at random as well. The tie out does not impede the dog from reaching the fence between our properties which touch. 

Of course I want my dogs to completely ignore the other dog, that's my goal. I would like my dogs and the neighbour dog to at least coexist without getting into barking wars through the fence. We have a nice backyard and deck and I would like to be able to spend time outside relaxing and having the dogs out with me. Unfortunately I can't control the other dog, but I can control mine. Their "leave it" is pretty good (Jazzy's better then Delgado) but the barking/scratching dog on the other side just seems to be too tempting, especially for Delgado to leave it alone completely without verbal correction every 15-20 seconds or so. I've tried letting the two bark it out for ten seconds or so but it just escalates, verbal correction gets him back onto the deck and inside, I've tried calling him onto the deck and holding him there and giving a collar correction when he reacts which again works but if I let go he'll run back and start again. Even with both dogs away from the fence and not reacting the neighbour's dog will continue to fight until we're all back inside.

Is there any advice I can use to try and resolve the situation? I haven't spoken to the neighbour about it yet, I'd like to try and resolve it by taking my dogs reacting out of the equation first. I know it takes two to tango and Delgado isn't helping calm the situation

My main concern is it seems to be escalating on the neighbour dog's part, it's beautiful weather today and I had our back window cracked open. Delgado was sleeping on his bed under the window and then woke up and got off his bed and walked into the kitchen, the neighbour dog must have been out and heard him moving in the house and went nuts at the fence even though both of my dogs were inside. Delgado went to the window and huffed but I corrected him verbally and he went away. The neighbour dog continued to bark until they finally brought it in a few minutes later


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## GermanShepherdDog (Mar 26, 2012)

What type of fence do you have? A privacy fence works wonders when it comes to this type of thing. Have you tried talking to the neighbor who owns this dog about his behavior? 

There's another thing that you can do, it may not be the top recommendation for many but you can buy one of those bird house bark control systems and hang it on a tree or something close enough to the neighbors dog, but on your property so that when the dog barks, he will be corrected.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

6' privacy fence, there's maybe 1/2" gap in places between the fence and ground. 

No I haven't talked to them yet, I'm working on correcting my dog's first. I don't want them getting defensive and thinking I'm just there complaining about their dog, it's on their property and outside of being annoying there's no real basis for a complaint

Correcting their dogs barking is only part of the problem, digging at the fence and going nutso is also part of the issue unfortunately . I'm praying it's not smart enough to realize digging under is a option, I'm keeping a close eye on the ground as I noticed a spot a few days ago where it looks like it might be starting a hole


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## GermanShepherdDog (Mar 26, 2012)

Is it actually your fence or do you share the fence? If you own it, you can go on the other side of the fence (where the small dog is) and you can attach chicken wire to the fence and/or attach hot wire to the fence. I'd lay chicken wire alongside the fence to prevent the dog from digging over to your yard.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Shared so unfortunately I don't think our neighbor would appreciate us zapping his dog on their property, though I have to admit it is a little tempting...I'll look into the bark stopper that looks like a birdhouse, it can't hurt to try that at least

I just noticed a little extra daylight and what looks like claw marks on their side, if it gets any bigger I'm definetely talking to them right away


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## GermanShepherdDog (Mar 26, 2012)

The birdhouse works really well, it's definitely worth the buy. If the dog becomes too much, you can report the dog as a nuisance. You can also try planting big bushes alongside your fence so that your dog will be discouraged to pay any attention to the neighbors dog and the neighbors dog will eventually give up.

Can the dog's see each other through the fence? If so, you can also try to lean or attach something to your side of the fence to prevent them from having any contact. 

How large is your property? If it's large enough to fence within a fence, that could be another option. 

There are so many options. I hope you find a good solution.


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## readaboutdogs (Jul 8, 2001)

Oh the fence war! I put up the 6 foot fence around our yard. I put chicken wire down,fold in half, half on ground and half attached to fence with" hog rings". Then I laid railroad ties all along the fence line. Nobody digs in or out! The bark stoppers help, I even tried a silent whistle, but that is not too good! The dog that lives next door now Responds to me! It took a while, but I either say "at at", " boys!" or clap and he goes to the middle of the yard or porch. I was correcting my dogs but he caught on too! But the fence thing with other dogs is a real pain! It always seems like since I have big dogs, it's my problem! The neighbors rarely do anything. But I do all I can to make it safe and hopefully more peaceful to set outside!


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

No, the cracks between boards are very small so they can't physically see or touch through it. 

I can't say for sure but the yard is about 40'x30' fully fenced, I don't see the double fence as a option and my worry about bushes is I wouldn't be able to see if there is any damage to the fence or underneath. The ground is very soft now but it still would take a while for a hole big enough to be dug. 

I thought more on it last night and will do the chicken wire or at least a solid board attached to the bottom of the fence and dug into the ground.

The verbal correction is loud and firm, my dogs respond right away but the neighbour's dog doesn't even pause. I've heard them trying to call it back and it ignores them too!  I think that might be why they installed the tieout but because the yards are longer rather then wide we get the short end of the stick for sure, it might not be able to reach the backyard neighbors if it's the reason but it can reach ours

I'm definetely going to keep working on my dog's "leave it" command and continue to make sure there's no way it can try and get into our yard in any way

Thanks for the suggestions, it's much appreciated


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## DaniRo (Jan 8, 2013)

I'm having the same issue in my yard except my neighbor has 2 huge dogs. And when my dogs are out the neighbors dogs actually fight each other. They sound like they are killing each other and of course the neighbor takes their time correcting them and most if the time leaves them out anyway. My dogs react to them and start barking so I bring my dogs into my house as soon as I hear them. But now with the weather getting nicer my dogs want to be out more. I may try the birdhouse thing. 
Good luck with your neighbor dog!!!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Throw them treats so they will associate you and your dog with something good. I did that in our neighborhood and the barkers were pleasantly surprised. I also found out their names, which helped too. And it was a great training opportunity for WD to stay calm amidst chaos.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Update:

Time, training, and patience has been paying off! :happyboogie:

We were outside yesterday playing in the pool and the neighbors came out into their backyard. I couldn't see them but I could hear them and their dog of course started barking, they must have had it on a leash because I could hear it but it didn't touch the fence like usual. They had company over so they were actually correcting the dog (ineffectively but at least it was something )! Delgado "boofed" once or twice without hackles when the dog would start it's tirade and I simply gave a verbal "no, leave it" and went back to playing and he joined in happily and ignored the other dog completely even when it continued going on and on

This was also good because it confirmed my suspicion that it was the scratching/crazy behaviour on the fence itself which was setting him off as ignoring barking hasn't been a issue. With no actual fence contact and just the barking he was able to ignore fairly easily, with only needing a single verbal reminder 2 of 4 fits which happened.

I'm very happy with the progress  Onward and upward


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