# Unreasonable neighbors - how to deal with them?



## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

Alright maybe someone can give me some tips I am sure that a lot of people have the same issues out there.

We have unreasonable neighbors. We live in a nice area of town and everyone aroun us us just awesome, all dog lovers and super cool people except for the people next door to us. We live in the city and in a house but our homes are about 20 feet apart. Her main part of the house is adjacent to our backyard and our main part of the house is adjacent to their backyard. She is a stay at home mother of 3 that is constantly yelling at her kids and her husband. The other day I had to get my son out of our yard because she was yelling 'f this and f that" and I know her kids were home (2, 4 and 10 yo). She has a cat that is always pooping in our yard and planters and always left out and drives our dogs nuts.

When we first moved in we talked to all neighbors, gave them our numbers and said to call if there was ever a problem. We had a doggie door and our 5 yo female and my 13 yo male used to be in and out as they pleased (8 foot fenced yard, wood boards, reinforced, no holes). Well they started calling us every time the dogs barked twice. I am not kidding cause the other neighbor was home and confirmed they had barked twice. One time she calle dmy husband and the dogs were in the home with me and not even barking or outside. We asked her not to call us unless the barking was unreasonable and a bark here and there is not unreasonable. Then she made up this whole thing how even if our dogs bark once that it scares her kids to death. Never mind that the dogs never bark at their kids. We are talking an enclosed yard and their kids are on the second story of a two story house separated by 8 foot fence plus 10 foot planters with bamboo and thick brushes in between so our dogs can't even see the kids inside the house and vice versa.
So it is not a matter of the dogs even being close to the kids since our houses are offset and 2 stories. So she started calling animal control knowing very well my husband is a cop and works with them. So again, the ACO would go there and say this is reasonable, the dogs aren't doing anything much. She would do it on purpose to embarass my husband. meanwhile her childrem are out there screaming and making tons of noise and we never, ever complain about her yelling at husband and kids, her cat pooping all over our property and other nuisances. Now we keep our dogs in the house when we are not home because of her. The pup is crated and the female has the run of the house. She now calls if the dogs bark inside the house at another dog going by.

One afternoon my husband and I and our dogs were in the yard and our dogs were barking at some activity behind our fence and in front of their house. Those idiot neighbors made their 4 yo kid yell out the window "shut up dog" so my husband said back, our dogs are protecting our house and your house and doing their job so you please stop (we never use bad language)" sure enough my husband called the police and some people were conducting illegal business in front of our neighbors house.

We never heard one complaint from any other neighbor and they stay home too, they all say everything is completely reasonable and normal as far as our house and no one seems to like our trouble neighbors.

The lady who owned the house before us said she would call the cops on her too for her dogs.

Any ideas on how to deal with people like that? We love our home, love our dogs and we go out of our way to be considerate and it doesn't matter. I am frankly tired of this...

thanks for letting me vent!


----------



## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

What a bad situation. I'm sorry you have to deal with that. I doubt that a dog barking in one house is loud enough to bother anyone in another house. Both of my neighbors have dogs, and I never even hear them (they bark like crazy though - I know from walking by the house). I don't know what to recommend since it sounds like reason has no place in the issue. You could get drastic and call the police yourself and advise that the neighbor is harassing you. I'm not sure if that would help, but just thinking out loud.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Have you talked to an attorney? I their intention is to 'embarrass' or get your husband in trouble at work, a letter warning them to knock it off might be a good idea. I would stop talking to them, answering the phone when they call, anything. Apparently Animal Control is aware of their unreasonable behavior and will get sick of them calling for nothing. I would however, call the cops when their noise is excessive and their words and actions threatening. Maybe a letter from an attorney saying that you consider their actions a threat might work.


----------



## ChristenHolden (Jan 16, 2010)

Revers the roles call the cops every time the kids make noise as well in side or out. Childish I know but I would not be as vice as you and would have came across much more bitchy.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I think that' what I'd do too- go on the offensive


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Call child-protective services on them. Tell them that she is yelling and swearing so much over there, you think she may be hurting the kids. After an audit by cps, maybe your nasty neighbor will understand that they need to be more tolerant.


----------



## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

if i`m not mistaken, cats are not allowed to roam free, i would call AC and complain the cat is using your flower box as a litter box


----------



## JudynRich (Apr 16, 2010)

I agree w/ Stosh. A letter from an attorney may stop the harrassment. I know there are fines for excessive reporting of a non-crime (dogs are allowed to bark during the day in our county). Can you photograph the cats using your yard as a litter box? Can you record her abusive language? I would cease all communication as well. We had a neighbor across the street where we used to live and it was a similar nightmare (I woke up to 4 slashed tires one morning.) After we contacted an attorney (our friend) he sent a letter and it immediately stopped. The letter was a courtesey letter forwarning of pending legal action. I guess they didn't want to be sued.


----------



## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

ken k said:


> if i`m not mistaken, cats are not allowed to roam free, i would call AC and complain the cat is using your flower box as a litter box


I've never heard of a place where cats aren't allowed to roam free. That's certainly not the case anywhere in Washington that I know of. Or if it is, NO ONE is in compliance.


----------



## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

ThorDog, try putting mouse traps in your planters. They don't have to be baited, just set. We found this to be very effective in keeping our former neighbor's cat out of our well-cultivated flower beds. I know that doesn't do anything to solve the root problem, but as least you have a chance of cutting down on unsolicited fertilizer.


----------



## Asche-zu-Staub (Apr 25, 2010)

JudynRich said:


> Can you record her abusive language?


 be careful recording....my friend got arrested because he recorded people harassing him. in some states, you must have their consent, he brought it in to show them what they were doing to him, and he ended up arrested and is facing a misdemeanor. he said if he had not been talking on the recording, then it would have been a felony charge. we were all shocked, as he had never been in any trouble before, and none of us even knew this was a law.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Wow, you cannot make a recording in YOUR backyard and inadvertantly record your neighbor going off on her kids???


----------



## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

I'd probably block their phone number. Also, I'd trap that cat and take it to the spca. Where I live, it's illegal for animals to defecate on any property that is not there own if the owner doesn't clean it up, and it's illegal for cats to roam as well. Perhaps it's not illegal for cats to roam where you live, but it should be illegal for the cat to poop on your property. Maybe a few fines later they'll keep it inside.

Is there any way you can convince the animal control officers and police officers to not respond to any of her noise complaints if you prove they are frivolous? Maybe she'll stop calling if no one responds.

Before you start taking action against them, I'd try discussing the problem with them and see if you can make a compromise. I'd only start fighting back if they were completely unwilling to stop their behavior.


----------



## vat (Jul 23, 2010)

In our county cats can roam free but all feces must be picked up. I would find out what your local ordinance is for cats. I also agree about the attorney. Sorry you have to go though this. We have also had our share of nasty neighbors, luckily they lost their home and had to move. Would not wish that on anyone but everyone in our neighborhood disliked these people.


----------



## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

if you cant record her, then next time she goes off, call the police and say, "listen to this" and hold the phone out the window


----------



## Gsdldy (May 7, 2010)

I had a similar experience with people that lived across the street from me. They use to call the police all the time and tell them my dogs are out all night barking. Only problem with that is my dogs are inside dogs and are never out after 9ish. After the police came out for a couple of her false calls and I explained to them that she calls all the time with these calls they went across the street to her house and told her that if it continues I can lodge a complaint against her for harrassment for makeing false complaints and also they can fine her for it. The calls stopped after that...Do you think you can get one of the police officers that come out when she calls to go give her a warning like that? It might help.


----------



## Asche-zu-Staub (Apr 25, 2010)

selzer said:


> Wow, you cannot make a recording in YOUR backyard and inadvertantly record your neighbor going off on her kids???


not here evidently. lol.


----------



## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

Sounds like they just hate cops and are trying to make trouble. My husband is a cop too. We had a neighbor's daughter call hubby's job and say that he shot our dog! This was ludicrous, but they were obligated to come out and see if the dog had any gunshot wounds. LOL! Then she complained that there was a cover up because of course, cops cover for each other.


----------



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

This neighbor of yours is trouble. Sorry you had the misfortune of moving in next to her. Wish I had good advice for you. I tend to avoid confrontation if at all possible, but it sounds like you need to do something.

I really hate the cat poop thing too. My neighbor feeds stray cats, so we have about a dozen or so around here. I've found two dead in the road this summer, but have also seen two pregnant ones, so the population persists. They poop up and down the length of my driveway. One day I had just pulled Rosa away from a pile (she will try to eat any poop she finds, can't seem to train it out of her), I got out a poop bag to dispose of it, and I saw it was chock-full of worms!!!!

So if your neighbor does not properly vet her cat (and if it is outdoors it WILL eat small animals and get worms), those poops are potentially even more harmful to you and your family. Certainly seems justification to live trap it. Unfortunately the whole situation is not the cat's fault.


----------



## Valkyrierider (Jul 21, 2010)

Deliberately recording them may not be legal in your area, but if you are video taping *your* family, in *your* back yard and the neighbors start yelling, cussing and such. There is nothing intentional about that. You just happened to catch it on camera while trying to enjoy *your* family. Then report them. Just a thought. ;-)


----------



## bianca (Mar 28, 2010)

What about trying to leave a video (with time/date stamp) on all day every day so when she does call to complain again, you can prove that there was no barking (and your dogs were inside). Then use that to issue a complaint?


----------



## EchoGSD (Mar 12, 2010)

Re: bad neighbors...We live in a subdivision with very narrow streets; my neighbor across the street always parks her very large SUV directly across from the base our driveway making it extremely difficult for us to back our cars out of the driveway. We've asked her if she could park in front of her own home, or even 10' away in either direction to help prevent an accident, she refused. Needless to say, soon enough my husband accidentally tapped her vehicle when backing out. he got out, he looked, she looked, they agreed no damage, no problem. 3 days later her adult son (who doesn't live in the house) came over with an "estimate of costs to repair the damage". He had over $3000 in estimates for damage that had been done to the vehicle over the last 4 years -- full body paint job, replace trim on windsheild, replace broken door handle, etc. It was insane, and my husband told him so. Nevertheless, this guy and his wife began harassing us day and night: beating on our door, calling at all hours, etc. We finally sent a letter via our attorney that if he didn't cease and desist immediately we would file a lawsuit for harrassment and fraud. We haven't heard from then since.


----------



## clearcreekranch (Mar 18, 2010)

OMG, thought that I was the only one with neighbor issues. All I can tell you is that this is a no win situation. I have had many issues with a neighbor after he turned in his dogs to animal control and I adopted one of them. I just try to be a better "woman" that him and ignore him. I would change my phone# to an unlisted one, however. And try not to react, just let her be stupid.


----------



## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

EchoGSD said:


> Re: bad neighbors...We live in a subdivision with very narrow streets; my neighbor across the street always parks her very large SUV directly across from the base our driveway making it extremely difficult for us to back our cars out of the driveway. We've asked her if she could park in front of her own home, or even 10' away in either direction to help prevent an accident, she refused. Needless to say, soon enough my husband accidentally tapped her vehicle when backing out. he got out, he looked, she looked, they agreed no damage, no problem. 3 days later her adult son (who doesn't live in the house) came over with an "estimate of costs to repair the damage". He had over $3000 in estimates for damage that had been done to the vehicle over the last 4 years -- full body paint job, replace trim on windsheild, replace broken door handle, etc. It was insane, and my husband told him so. Nevertheless, this guy and his wife began harassing us day and night: beating on our door, calling at all hours, etc. We finally sent a letter via our attorney that if he didn't cease and desist immediately we would file a lawsuit for harrassment and fraud. We haven't heard from then since.


 
Crazy people

My daughter had something similar happen at a friends house. The friend's father, her friend, herself and the owner of the car all agreed there was no damge, period, no scratch, dent nothing.

A week later we get a call from our insurance agent asking about the accident. This guy submitted a $2000.00 claim for damages. Somehow he got my husband's email address, lucky guess, and submitted an estimate wanting us to pay (car in is his name). My husband and daughter went to his house to take pictures of the area of the damage and it was no where near where my daughter tapped the car. Informed my insurance, etc., saying this was fraud and their comment was - it will cost us more to fight it.

I even went to the police and got an officer with an attitude who all he talked about was how his car was hit and the person took off and if I don't watch it he will arrest my daughter for leaving the scene of an accident. Holly crap. I asked to speak to his superior which he would not allow me to do.

Anyway, this guy harrassed my daughter's friends family for a while and they eventually moved.

Neighbours from H*** can make every day life unpleasant.

To the OP I don't know what I would do as I would probably let my emotions take over. I don't think talking to this woman is going to get you anywhere except to become more upset. The sad thing is that she is using her kids as an excuse - afraid of the dog barking.

As far as her cat is concerned is there a concern that your dogs could hurt the cat? I'm sure she would go off the deep end if that ever happened.

I think the best thing you can do is to ignor her. Let her call animal control, the police etc. They will quickly learn what type of person she is and discount her calls. Let it backfire on her. 

Dogs can bark, just not for an excessive about of time.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

You should check your local laws but I believe as long as you have signs stating there is video surveillance it is legal. If they happen to get caught on the video, sucks to be them. I would definitely look into video/audio to prove your dogs aren't barking.


----------



## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Ignorance is bliss...adding fuel to the fire is disasterous.

If there are not laws against barking dogs, etc. let her call ACO. Sooner or later they'll just stop investigating her claims if they have no merit. Don't give fuel for her fire. The last thing you want to do is start a HUGE fight involving child services, then she turns it on you can calls someone else and so on and so on. 

Do not take the cat to the SPCA, how is that fair to the cat? Cats don't know they're not supposed to crap in flower boxes. 

Next time, if her shouting and yelling is too much, just call in a potential domestic abuse call to the cops and leave it at that, this should help curb her loudness.


----------



## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

All very good points and it is sooo sad that your home is yout castle but then it gets ruined by idiots like this. It is not ilegal to have outdoor cats here, they really could care less if the cat gets hit by a car or eats birds. The cat always does his business in the middle of the night when we are asleep and sometimes he sits on our fence and the dogs go nuts and he jumps over, so unless I had a camera at all times it would be tought to catch it. Yes it sucks because he can carry lepstopirosis (sp?) and fleas to our backyard and I always worry our toddler will handle his poop if he finds it. Yuck! I thought about taking the cat to spca but you are right it is not the cat's fault.
I also thought about calling child protective services but I really worry that this will become some kind of war, and escalate.
I wrote her a polite letter saying what is reasonable and what is not and asking to keep her cat indoors. It just doesn't work. She is just one of those people who is unhappy with life, kids, husband and I think she just takes it out on everyone. She tells her husband what to do and then he calls us but he has no .... if you know what I mean, he just does what she says. Is there a cat repellent that won't repell our dogs? We thought of putting carpet tack strips on inside of our fence on top so the cat doesn't want to climb up the fence.
I looked into video cameras for surveillance so we could tell our dogs were not barking but we can't afford it.
It is illegal to tape her but I think that if you are right and I am taping my child it should be ok... that's a really good idea...
Our other neighbors love us to pieces and are so happy they have a cop and GSDs to protect them! And these jerks just complain, complain... I am starting to make notes on when she yells and waht she said. I will ignore their calls but then at one point say this is what you are doing and if you don't stop complaining about everything I will call the cops on you.

I just wish we could all get along!  People should not have cats if they are going to just leave them out 24/7 and not care for them.


----------



## Valkyrierider (Jul 21, 2010)

As far as the phone calls go, once they have been told to stop calling you and they persist. Check out California Penal Code 653m. Annoying and harassing calls. Properly documented the DA could make a stronger case. Also check out Costco for a video security system, some are only a couple of hundred bucks. As long as you are not directely pointing it in their direction it's for your homes security. Who knows, you may find out they are deliberately emptying the litter box in your flower bed. Then you got em.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Get a journal and document everything. Time of day, what happened, everything....


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Get a harley, dress like hippees or gang members, and have a few parties requesting everyone dress like a thug. 

For some reason, no one bothers their drug dealer neighbors. If they are AFRAID of you, they will leave you alone and hope you won't bother them or even notice them. 

But your husband is a police officer? Hmmmmm. That does make it a bit more difficult. The problem is more that they _know_ he is. 

Normally, I try to make nice with the neighbors because neighbors can put you in a world of hurt, with little or no provocation. And like it or not, it is a world where you need to _prove_ yourself innocent.

If you can rig a surveliance camera that will record sound accurately, you can use it to prove you case if it becomes necessary. 

I remember we had an elderly lady who lived in the upstairs of a duplex on our street in Cleveland. Her name was Mrs. Day. On Easter Sunday morning, we would trapes down the street to another lady's home, a childless couple, and they liked to take our pictures, in our Easter Sunday best. (This was back when people bought new clothes and wore the very best on Easter Sunday.)

Well, our little patent leather shoes clip clopped on the sidewalk as we walked down the street. Old Mrs. Day would come out and yell at us making a whole lot more noise than our shoes ever did. She would tell us to go and play on our own street, that she was calling the police, and other such stuff. 

After getting our pictures taken we went home and changed into our play clothes. Then we went out and got every moving child's vehicle in the area, waggons, skates, big wheels. We tied tin cans to them so they would drag along behind us. We proceeded to parade back and forth down the street and back for a good long time, until my father came out and made us stop and bawled us out for picking on an unhappy old lady. 

Did it work? No. Old Mrs. Day continued to come out and yell at us for nothing whenever it struck her fancy. If she ever called the police, they never came or they never bothered us.


----------



## kidkhmer (Jul 14, 2010)

selzer said:


> Call child-protective services on them. Tell them that she is yelling and swearing so much over there, you think she may be hurting the kids. After an audit by cps, maybe your nasty neighbor will understand that they need to be more tolerant.


Being an Australian, we tend to mock the American "Better call Saul" mentality.....

BUT

*I LOVE THIS RESPONSE.* 

I guess I would be worried about this woman baiting your dogs. She sounds like a real BI**H.


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

selzer said:


> Call child-protective services on them. Tell them that she is yelling and swearing so much over there, you think she may be hurting the kids. After an audit by cps, maybe your nasty neighbor will understand that they need to be more tolerant.


 

i have to agree. If she's cursing and yelling at them that often, and you said the kids are constantly screaming and yelling outside for apparently no reason, you could mention that as well because too many people could take that noise as the kids being abused and who knows, maybe they are being abused.


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Eventhough I suggested it, calling child protective services is really a serious thing. If they come in, they can literally take the kids out of the home and place them in a juvenile facility or temporary foster pending investigation. I doubt it though, it seems like the kids practically have to have a fractured scull for them to remove them. But, it is something parents really, really worry about, worse than shady business owners worrying about a tax audit. 

It is mean, perhaps even below the belt, but then, they are calling about your dogs barking INSIDE THE HOUSE???


----------



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

A couple thoughts. #1 - change your phone numbers and do NOT give them to that neighbor! 

Trap the cat. It's better for the cat to be humanely euthanized at the shelter if it doesn't get adopted than to become roadkill or worse.

Get yourself a ScareCrow Automated Sprinkler (if you don't trap the cat):

Contech Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler LOW PRICES and FAST SHIPPING


Next time the woman starts screaming at the kids call the police and report a domestic disturbance involving children.

Buy a couple of these:







Amazon.com: VIDEO SURVEILLANCE ~Sign~ Property Protected by 24 Hour: Home Improvement , put them outside the house where the nasty neighbors can see them and then spend the day pretending to put up the cameras!


----------



## Myles (May 23, 2010)

Sounds annoying haha. Try your best not to make things worse. I know how annoying it can be but take it in stride and keep doiing things the way your doing things (quite appropriatly i might add.


----------



## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

selzer - I love the little parade story! I feel a little nervous calling cps on them. I don't think they are really abused or I would in a second. Is she a great mom, I doubt it, with the way she talks to her kids and husband. I have heard horrible stories about children being taken for no reason at all sometimes while some others get left in abusive homes. If this was the case and an overzealous case worker took the kids away, I would feel horrible.

They put their kids to be early so I decided not to tip toe around anymore so at 8 pm my son (who is an owl) wanted to go outside and play and sure enough we had a great time playing outside with the dogs (not a peep from them but we sure had fun) we were not being loud or anyhting just nomraly having fun. It was great she banged all her windows shut but never called us in since she had no basis for complaint. But it felt good to take ownership of our space and have fun! 

I love the scare crow idea! thanks!


----------



## Aescleah (Mar 28, 2008)

i hate obnoxious nieghbours

Ashley


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If she sends AC to your house again, maybe you could go over, bang on her door, tell her that if she wants to continue this, you will call the appropriate agency concerning her children as with all the yelling and swearing, you are worried they are being abused. Then, she has been warned to cut the crap or deal with some herself. 

Owning your space seems to be working though, maybe this is as far as it will go. 

People with brats, I mean kids, have to learn to be tolerant. It is only so long before one of them does something really stupid on your neighbor's property, like balls through windows, running over their lawn with the bicycles or car, and the list goes on and on and on. I think that they will suffer a lot less from your dog than you will from their kids in the long run.


----------



## gsd_lover (Aug 22, 2010)

Oh, nasty neighbours. May I rant? When we moved into our home, we had 2 GSD's at the time. The next day our neighbour on the right side came right over and was very pleasant. The next week our neighbour on the other side sent a nasty letter to all neighbours living on our street - without ever introducing themselves to us - stating that our dogs were vicious and that they had a new baby in the house and they weren't going to put up with vicious animals next door. WOW. We thought at first it was an irrational fear of GSD's. Turns out their 15 year old daughter was impregnated by the 30 year old man who sold the house to us. So they were taking their anger out on us since we were an easy target. 

We erected a 6 foot high wood privacy fence where the property line is to ensure the dogs could not be accused of barking at them (which they never did) or intimidate them in any way. They started throwing used condoms in our inground pool (at least the parents knew how to use birth control...) and threw a cement block in it which damaged our pool liner to the tune of $1800 to replace. My husband finally removed the pool himself because we were made to feel so uncomfortable in our yard it made no sense to keep it and maintain it year after year.

They have threatened to shoot our dogs while in a drunken rage, shouting at me across the backyard fence. We called the cops, they basically told her to seek counselling for alcoholism and work on her maturity level. 

Animal control used to sit down the street watching our house for days. Our dogs were perimeter trained. They were allowed in our front yard off leash but they never left the property and never barked at nor approached anybody walking by. We know they called AC on us, but since the dogs never did anything wrong, the AC guy couldn't do anything about it. He must have gotten very bored watching well behaved dogs for days on end. I used to wave at him every day and smile. 

We have lived here like this for 11 years. Our 2 dogs passed away 2-3 years ago and we now have a 4 month old GSD. I'm sure they will dream up more things to do now that we have her but I don't care anymore. 

We have NEVER met these people nor spoken to them, we have never yelled back at them nor responded when they've tried to provoke us - because that is exactly what they want us to do. They're drama-queens. And I'm not about to give them what they want. Their son who is now 19 has come over to us and apologized out of the blue for his family's behaviour over the years. He acknowledged we've done nothing to deserve it and he's ashamed of how they've treated us. That was a real surprise.

I do sympathize with the OP's plight. Some people are just downright angry with no boundaries. There's not a whole lot you can do about that, except don't play into their game. We have taken the high road knowing we've done nothing wrong. It is stressful but in the end they know what they are (trailer trash) and their toxic attitude has had a truly damaging impact on their children. They know we look down our nose at them silently. The whole neighbourhood knows what they are too. But you know, what comes around goes around and lately they've been looking quite haggard, they've really aged a lot. Life sometimes has a way of smacking you upside the head, and they've done it to themselves. 

Sorry for the novel and the rant. Just couldn't help it - and sometimes it helps to know you're not alone when it comes to nasty neighbours.


----------



## GermanShedder (Aug 28, 2010)

Sorry about your horrible neighbours. Please be careful about escalating the situation. I've heard stories of angry neighbours throwing poisoned food into backyards for the dog to eat.


----------



## gsd_lover (Aug 22, 2010)

I don't worry too much about our pup. These neighbours have 2 dogs of their own (how ironic). They're just angry bitter people. The only solution is to move which we plan to do in a year or so.

It's been very hard not to say anything to them, especially when they are yelling things at you. Maybe we'll buy another home and keep this one, rent it out to a big burly tough guy, who knows.


----------



## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

We installed a scare crow which hopefully will take care of the cat issues. I agree on taking the high road but I also admit I secretely dream up crazy ways of getting back at them, one can daydream right?

Your home should be your castle, GSDs and all! 

I guess we will keep ignoring them unless of course we think there really is anything bad happening to their kids which I don't think there is. It is really sad to have to live with people like that whose purpose in life is to pester because their life stinks so much.

gsdlove - good venting! Your neighbors are worse than mine! I am so sorry. Good job on putting up with them for so long, too bad there was no disclosure on what to expect from people around. 

I think that for some people, you being happy is probably the best revenge. My hubby and I never yell or fight and we are pretty much always happy, that must bother them even more than us ever yelling at them!!!


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

well if you think Kip would be in danger,,I think you should send him to me so I can protect him )


----------



## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

:wub: Nice try  he is such a sweet boy!  we are so lucky!


----------



## Dennq (Jun 21, 2010)

Time to pound the for sale sign in the front yard! This will never end!


----------



## gsd_lover (Aug 22, 2010)

Dennq said:


> Time to pound the for sale sign in the front yard! This will never end!


Agreed!! :toasting:


----------



## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

paulag1955 said:


> I've never heard of a place where cats aren't allowed to roam free. That's certainly not the case anywhere in Washington that I know of. Or if it is, NO ONE is in compliance.


Yes, unfortunately, I had cats screeching every night in the alley outside my bedroom window in Seattle. Not to mention the cat poop in my garden. 

Cats should be under the same leash requirements as dogs.


----------



## clearcreekranch (Mar 18, 2010)

Yeah, but I am almost afraid to move....what if the new neighbors are worse than the ones that I have now?


----------



## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

we couldn't possibly movein this economy without loosing tons of money in the house  plus we are 5 min from work, 5 min from daycare and we can walk everywhere, we really love our house... now if we could get rid of the neighbors 

I agree that there should be a law for cats just like we have to abide by so many dog laws. On leash dogs - cats roam free. Dog poop $500 fine, cat poop - no fine! No fair!


----------



## Gsdldy (May 7, 2010)

I went through this about a year ago. Had a neighbor who just picked for any reason, called AC on me twice saying I let my german shepherds run loose and they terrorized the neighborhood. When AC came to investigate they found I had 6 ft fence around my yard that contained my dogs and she also walked right into the yard with my dogs and none of them showed any agression. She went back and wrote it up as false complaints. When that didnt work she called the township and said I keep my dogs tied out all night and their constant barking keeps her up. Luckily for me the sheriff that came out to investigate was someone I knew who knows me and my dogs and knows my dogs are ALL house dogs. My dogs are all inside by 9 pm. 

The last thing the neighbor did was the worst though. My dogs were outside in the yard in their kennels. My GSD pup Bella was in a kennel with my rat terrier Jax, they played together alot so they were entertaining each other. I took them in shortly after that and they both went right to the water and drank a bunch of it. Next thing i knew Jax was seizeing I was rushing him out to the car when my Daughter yelled that Bella was seizeing too. I got them both in the car and to the vet which was right up the road. According to the vet it was antifreeze poisoning. I KNOW I didnt even have any antifreeze so they didn't get into it laying around anywhere. When I got back home I found an empty meat wrapper in their kennel. Another neighbor told me she had seen the husband from the people that were causeing the problems walking around that corner of my yard earlier that day. 

I really really wish I had looked better instead of just putting them in the kennel to play a bit. Bella did pull though and is back to being an ornery pup but Jax didnt make it. Unfortunately the police said its all circumstantial and they cant do anything about it. So just be really carefull you never know what some sicko will do just to do it. BTW I had always been nice to these people and there was nothing that went on between us, they just decided they didnt like big dogs and started up when they realized I had GSD's. I have moved since then and can happily say that where I am now is very dog friendly. 

Some pictures of my boy Jax


----------



## ThorDog (Feb 12, 2010)

gsdldy - I cannot believe the pain you must have gone through losing your boy to these heartless #$%$# I am so sorry to hear about this. And to think they were not even pucnished for this. I sure hope they burn in H*** for this. I think I would have gone crazy if they killed one of our dogs. Big hugs and I am glad you moved to a better place. Our dogs are never alone in the yard and we always look around. My heart goes out to you.


----------



## tonkatuff81 (Jul 13, 2010)

*Very Important: Poisoning*

My taxes are extremly high for a small house in which we can hardly entertain friends inside. What keeps us here are our wonderful neighbors. We thank God for them all the time.

GSShredder made an excellent point. Police your yard for food thrown in by these sick neighbors of yours. We know a family that had a beautiful GSD that was killed by their sicko neighbors. 

Their dog would bark when the neighbor took out the garbage and it pooe'd near their bedroom window (but on th ownrer's proprty). Said neighbors got extremely frustrated with this. Neighbors laced some meatballs with finely broken glass and the dog died an agonizing, expensive death. DA would not prosecute as there was no proof as to who killed the dog.

Shitty, sick nighbors. 

In any case, you might have no idea what these people are capable of. Do not let your dog eat anything you have not given him while on walks or in the yard. 

PS: Buy a Bazooka !


----------



## Norfpo (Aug 27, 2010)

I would take the cat to the SPCA if theyre not going to keep an eye on him he should be adopted out to a home that will give him the time he needs without letting him go in other peoples flower beds...I would consult a lawyer about harrasment for the rest...


----------

