# What to do about neighbor's aggressive GSD's



## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

Ok. We have a meth head that lives across the street. He used to have Pit Bulls until the four of them got taken away and put down for attacking a woman. 

Now he has 3 beautiful pure white GSD's- full grown, BIG males, that are terrorizing the neighborhood. They jump the poorly constructed fence- and that's only when he doesn't leave the gate open himself. This has been going on for MONTHS now. They go into people's drive ways and gang up on them- chasing them back into their own homes. Kids can't play outside in their own yards. They steal things from other people's property- shoes, toys, tools, etc. They have jumped OUR fence trying to get at my own well behaved (fixed) female Shepherd. They've jumped up on two people walking down the street, barking in their face, but have not bitten anyone....yet. This jerk doesn't pay any attention to his dogs at all. Occasionally, if he happens to be awake when they're out terrorizing the neighborhood, he'll call them in, they jump the fence to get back over, and he'll keep them inside for a few hours before letting them out again. 

We (and several neighbors) have called animal control, police non-emergency, and 9-11 several times over the past several months to no avail. It takes the police/animal control at least 35-45 minutes to respond and by then the dogs have jumped back into their own yard. They tell us there's nothing they can do if they're in their own yard when they show up. A couple of officers have even tried to "entice" the dogs out of the yard by walking back and forth past the property. (No one has ever said GSD's are stupid- they don't jump the fence or come out of the gate when the police come....) 

We're really at our wits end on what to do. I'm tempted to use my bleach spray bottle in their faces to keep them off of and away from our property but that does nothing for the rest of the neighborhood or my teens walking down the street. (If it would even work...and I'd have to get close to use it anyway.) I do not show fear with them- I chase them off the property- but my 16 year old son does. He runs back in the house. (Which is kinda funny to see a whole 5' tall, 8 months preggo woman chasing off three big dogs while her 6' strapping young lad runs and hides...) If it were just ONE misbehaving GSD- not a huge deal. Still scary, but more manageable. But this is a pack of THREE with one true aggressor and he's the biggest male. (And funny how we don't use our GSD for protection...we send her in the house when they're near and I go out and handle it myself...but I don't want her to get hurt...there's THREE of them...) 

So if the city and animal control won't help us, what can we do? I'm told to buy a gun and just take them out when they come on the property or poison some meat and leave it out, BUT being an animal lover myself, that would break my heart. I know it's not their fault and they're BEAUTIFUL dogs...they're just becoming more wild and uncontrolled by the day. I fear it's a matter of time before they attack someone seriously and then we'll have another news story of how these evil dogs attacked someone as opposed to the evil owner that didn't teach his dogs to behave. Any ideas?


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## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

Are any of them friendly enough for you to catch one and take to the shelter? I'm sure he would not be happy to have to go and get his dog out of the shelter, he will have to pay fines and all and eventually get in trouble for it if it keeps happening.
If I could catch one at a time, that's what I would do, keep taking them to the shelter.


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## jimj (May 30, 2012)

Ok, so instead of shooting the dogs, shoot the owner? Seriously though here are a couple of suggestions. Does this person own or rent? If he rents send a registered letter to the owner informing him of the clear and present danger/hazard on his property and that it's seriously impacting the use of your property and ask him to remedy it within a certain time frame. If nothing happens take him to small claims court and sue for the maximum. 
Talk with your neighbors and have them do the same thing. 
I'd bet after being sued by several people and standing to lose thousands of $$$ the landlord will take the easier route and just remove the problem.
This process has been used in CA and other states to rid neighborhoods of drug houses and has been very effective.

If he owns the house (highly doubtful) see if you can find out who his homeowner insurance company is and let 'em know about the dogs. I'd bet the company doesn't know and would drop him like a bad habit or raise his rates so high he'd drop them, good luck finding insurance that's willing to take that risk.

You can always use the court method on him as well, you may not get anything but he WILL get the message.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

You can videotape them or, (if you can) catch them and take them to the shelter yourself...


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## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestions!!...the only problem there is he was living with a man who died. That man owned the house. Now the house is in limbo while the estate is being sorted out- so no real registered owner except the deceased guy until that's all sorted out. The sister and brother are fighting over the house. (The druggie that's living in the house is no relation- was just a friend of the owner.) We've already warned both the sister and brother who both said as soon as the legal proceedings were worked out on who the house belongs to, they'll go through the eviction process to have him removed. Unfortunately, the legal process for probate may take months- then eviction on top of that will take even more months.
I initially tried to "befriend" the dogs, without being too friendly as we don't want them in our yard all the time or thinking our property is one they have to protect or hanging out with our girl (so no feeding or treats offered- just calm words and slow movements) but that's to no avail. I guess we could try to set "traps"? Though I don't know what kind of trap we could set for 100+ pound dogs that will hold them until animal control could get to us. (without hurting them, that is...) The dogs aren't friendly. At all. Their barks are aggressive "teeth showing" barks- not the "scared get away from me" barks that our GSD has displayed to strangers a few times over the years. I would be worried about having one in my car so I wouldn't want to drive them anywhere. We're in Texas...so trapping one in my car to wait 35-45 minutes for animal control probably not a good idea. It's so hot here. We don't have a garage- just a carport- otherwise I'd put some meat out in the garage and as soon as they came in, shut the door and wait for animal control.

(And yes, the thought of shooting the owner is WAY more appealing than shooting the dogs...if only it were legal....sigh)


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

please don't shoot, poison, or otherwise harm the dogs.


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## jimj (May 30, 2012)

carla4659 said:


> (And yes, the thought of shooting the owner is WAY more appealing than shooting the dogs...if only it were legal....sigh)


Well you DO live in Texas... Here's the thing, since it's being argued over it may work to let the brother _and_ sister know you're going to sue the estate thereby reducing it's value when you and others win. Maybe a talk with the conservator or whoever is handling the probate? There's got to be someone legally responsible for what happens in that house. It may take some work to harass the responsible parties but in the end should be worth the effort.


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## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

katieliz said:


> please don't shoot, poison, or otherwise harm the dogs.


As I said, this is what we're trying to avoid...hence why I'm here asking for help and not sitting in my yard with a shotgun (how's that for a stereotypical Texas picture...). Though, if it comes down to them or me...or them or my dog...or them or my kiddos....or them or a neighbor walking down the street.....I DO have metal baseball bats and will swing to cause severe harm. Again, I want to avoid this.

This is a daily occurrence- several times a day. Not just occassionally. They're out right now as a matter of fact. Pooping in my side yard.

OH! And they've been maced by a neighbor- TWICE. Didn't stop them or calm them down. Just made them more aggressive.


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## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

jimj said:


> Well you DO live in Texas... Here's the thing, since it's being argued over it may work to let the brother _and_ sister know you're going to sue the estate thereby reducing it's value when you and others win. Maybe a talk with the conservator or whoever is handling the probate? There's got to be someone legally responsible for what happens in that house. It may take some work to harass the responsible parties but in the end should be worth the effort.


Mumble, mumble....Texas...mumble, mumble......not a fan of this state. Laws are all skewed and weird and take forever in the courts. (even real estate- but that's a topic for another website...lol.)

The guy didn't leave a will so it's just "in limbo" until settled is what we're told by the tax assessor. Said the current registered owner is the dead guy. There's no homeowner's insurance on the property currently. We tried that route first cause it was a complete nightmare getting insurance for us with a GSD so we figured that would be the easiest route and sick the insurance company on him.


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## Caitydid255 (Aug 28, 2010)

I would go with the video tape suggestion. Even if it doesn't give AC the evidence they need, you could always use it if you ever have to start a suit. 

I would suggest that you carry mace. It won't permanently hurt the dog but it will give them a nasty experience with your yard. Plus if they run back into their yard, their owner would have to deal with them. I'd also encourage your neighbors to do the same. Eventually the dogs should learn that outside the yard = no fun.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would contact your state AC, probably the head of Agriculture?? I know we have a 'state' AC, complain to them that your local AC's are NOT doing their job


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## x0emiroxy0x (Nov 29, 2010)

Is a dog's life worth more than a humans? If you truly fear these dogs could attack and kill you, it would be ignorant to *not* have a gun. But do not carry a gun unless you have gone through classes and actually know how to shoot and can go through with killing the dog to save your own life and not beating yourself up over it afterwards.

If it were simply an annoying little weinie dog that always ran up growling at you, you could kick the little gnat. However, a german shepherd can rip your arm OR THROAT to shreds. A *pack* could rip your body apart.

I wouldn't go all gun-hoe happy and start shooting up the neighborhood dogs, but obviously this is not your case. You are level headed and scared about the danger these dogs pose.

What is worse? Shooting one of the dogs when it attacks your son and goes for his throat?

OR holding your son as he dies in your arms after being attacked by the shepherd while you helplessly watched because you never got a gun?

A little melodramatic on the last statement, but I have never seen these dogs and don't know HOW bad it currently is.

Yeah, you can carry mace...but is that really going to stop the german shepherd as it jumps for your son's throat? All of us that have GSs known how fast they are.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Since you tried to contact AC and got nowhere, why not get the neighbors that are affected and go to the local news. Usually that always gets the attention needed to correct a situation.


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## x0emiroxy0x (Nov 29, 2010)

EXAMPLE OF WHY YOU CARRY A GUN:

_New information from KVIA.com reveals that Jazilyn Mesa was killed by her father's pet XXXXX. Art Mesa, the baby's grandfather, said that Jazilyn was never allowed to be alone with the dog. Jazilyn had wanted to play outside and the grandmother was in the process of putting the dog in the kennel when it attacked. The grandmother tried to stop the attack, but the XXXXXX would not let the baby loose and drug her underneath the ground-level trampoline. 
__ Mesa says his wife jumped on Jazilyn to cover her but the dog would not let the baby loose. He says the dog then took the baby underneath a trampoline in the backyard. Mesa says his wife, Letitia Mesa, grabbed rocks and was hitting the dog with them._​_ The XXXXX turned its attention upon neighbor Barry Sander after he arrived with a handgun, according to Mesa. Snyder fired multiple shots at the dog, hitting it six times._

If the gun had been there in the first place, perhaps the kid would have lived. And this was a family pet....obviously these dogs are not yours and don't give a lick about you.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

x0emiroxy0x said:


> EXAMPLE OF WHY YOU CARRY A GUN:
> 
> _New information from KVIA.com reveals that Jazilyn Mesa was killed by her father's pet XXXXX. Art Mesa, the baby's grandfather, said that Jazilyn was never allowed to be alone with the dog. Jazilyn had wanted to play outside and the grandmother was in the process of putting the dog in the kennel when it attacked. The grandmother tried to stop the attack, but the XXXXXX would not let the baby loose and drug her underneath the ground-level trampoline.
> __ Mesa says his wife jumped on Jazilyn to cover her but the dog would not let the baby loose. He says the dog then took the baby underneath a trampoline in the backyard. Mesa says his wife, Letitia Mesa, grabbed rocks and was hitting the dog with them._​_ The XXXXX turned its attention upon neighbor Barry Sander after he arrived with a handgun, according to Mesa. Snyder fired multiple shots at the dog, hitting it six times._
> ...


Equally good example of why there should be some control over breeding to ensure sound dogs are bred.


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## x0emiroxy0x (Nov 29, 2010)

But you can't argue that breeding is all of it....I have heard of dogs with brain tumors biting their owners. Or a dog that gets loose and is well bred but is scared out of its mind and bites someone. These are all chance cases that I listed, but the dogs described....I'm not sure whether breeding takes a play in this? Even well bred dogs could go bad when living outside with a pack mentality? *Do any breeders have input on that last sentence?* I'm not sure if it is true or not.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

1st choice, video tape the dog outside doing what he should not, particularly acting aggressively. 

Last choice, Shoot, shovel, and shut up about it -- the three s-s don't forget the third S, because people can and will make a stink about it after the fact, and they may try to retaliate. 

If my dog got out and someone had to shoot the dog, I would rather know. But your neighbor does not deserve to know. He does not care about the dogs. It would be much better if you could catch them and spirit them away, but the chances are good that these dogs are going to take work to get them to the point of being safe to adopt anyway. There are many fine dogs dying in shelters whose only problem is fewer homes than dogs. Save the resources for these dogs, and put dogs that people have deliberately encouraged to be aggressive down. 

The thing is, your neighbor is a meth-head. He doesn't care about anything but his drugs. He hasn't much to lose so he does not care about losing it. If you shoot these dogs, he will go and get more dogs and do the same thing. 

What needs to happen is someone needs to get attacked by the dogs. The dogs need to be euthanized and the evidence NEEDS to be strong enough to put this guy in prison for criminal negligence. 

Document everything, and then when someone gets bitten or attacked, go to the prosecutor. Document every time AC and the police were called. Document ever time you or your husband contacts him about his dogs. And get the neighbors to do the same. 

I do not see this ending pretty. If the other dogs attacked some lady, if these dogs do the same, the guy will be looking at a prison sentence I would think. If no one gets hurt, I doubt anyone will do anything. 

It is a bad position to be in to be sure.


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## GSDForTheWin (May 22, 2012)

Well, do you think an electric fence would hold them in the yard? Or maybe a shock collar?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

GSDForTheWin said:


> Well, do you think an electric fence would hold them in the yard? Or maybe a shock collar?


An electric fence or a shock collar requires the owner of the dog to purchase the equipment and then train the dogs. The owner in this case is an unreliable turd who cares for nothing but his drugs. If they could catch the dogs (to put a collar on them), the could take the dogs 50-100 miles away and dump them at a shelter. But the dogs are aggressive, and if you try to catch a dog and get yourself bit up, I really do not think the court should award you damages.


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## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

We just had an incident today. A neighbor from another street was walking the block and the dogs were out. They ran up and started barking at her and she started screaming and moving quickly backwards. The REALLY aggressive male advanced and jumped up on her. She fell to the ground and he's just barking and drooling all over her face and chest. She was still screaming. I grabbed a wooden board and ran over and started swinging. I hit him once before he jumped out of the way but it wasn't that hard as he was already pulling off when he saw the board. I got his snout, though. The other two just stood about a yard away barking their heads off. (They didn't try to attack me or the woman.) A-d-r-e-n-a-l-i-n-e rush. I helped her up and the owner stepped outside to call his dogs back in the yard. The lady screamed "I'm calling the police!" The meth head screamed back "the police won't do anything" and LAUGHED!!! I took her to my house where we called the police and she checked herself for any injury. Other than a knot on her head (she was on the side of the street)- no bites.

So the police get here (again) and THIS time they say since THE dog made actual physical contact and pinned her down, he can call animal control and seize the animal. He took the lady by the yard to point out which of the dogs attacked her. She couldn't distinguish between the three on which one was on top of her. I can understand being pinned to the ground and only seeing that set of teeth barking and drooling and not paying attention to any of the differences. (The only difference is the one is slightly bigger than the other two. All three are pure white.) And guess what...since she couldn't identify the specific dog and they were (again) in their own yard, the COP DIDN'T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT TAKE A REPORT! (Yes, I told him I could identify which one it was- he didn't care...) He did ask if she needed to go to the hospital and offered her a ride home. And in his defense, he did spend about an hour standing outside the fence talking to the dogs....from the OTHER side of his car. Meth head stayed inside. (And it makes me furious that he was right- no action from the police...) I REALLY don't understand why they don't jump the fence when the cops are right there to go after them. They stand up on the fence (front paws) and bark their heads off but don't jump it when they're here. I don't get it.

Good that the other two didn't join in on the attack or just wishful thinking that MAYBE they have more sense?

This is such a tragedy. It's really not their fault. It's their stupid, inconsiderate owner's fault. Why have even ONE pet if you're not gonna love it and take care of it??? I mean, I guess since he's a druggie he wants "protection" from thieves or an alarm for the cops or something. (He's been arrested twice for the drugs but he doesn't seem to care- he sits on his porch doing it so ???)

This feels like a dang stalker case....no one will do anything until something REALLY bad happens. We don't own a gun and I really didn't think I would consider buying one for protection from an ANIMAL. A stalker...sure.

(Husband is deployed right now- its just me, my mom, and the kiddos. Husband-unfortunately-would have already taken them out to rid us of the threat.)

Mace doesn't work on the dogs. Stun gun?? BB Gun?? Anyone have experience with those and how they affect large canines? Cattle prod? (Do they still make those?)


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## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

selzer said:


> 1st choice, video tape the dog outside doing what he should not, particularly acting aggressively.
> 
> Last choice, Shoot, shovel, and shut up about it -- the three s-s don't forget the third S, because people can and will make a stink about it after the fact, and they may try to retaliate.
> 
> ...


I'm sadly starting to think the same thing. Even if these dogs get taken away/killed/lost/whatever, he'll get more dogs. It SHOULD be a crime for some people to own dogs. He's one of them. This isn't going to stop until he's gone (the owner). It was the same with his Pit Bulls, though, they didn't get out much. And it was only maybe the third time I saw them out and then didn't see them anymore. Found out about the attack and being put down after that.


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## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

x0emiroxy0x said:


> EXAMPLE OF WHY YOU CARRY A GUN:
> 
> _New information from KVIA.com reveals that Jazilyn Mesa was killed by her father's pet XXXXX. Art Mesa, the baby's grandfather, said that Jazilyn was never allowed to be alone with the dog. Jazilyn had wanted to play outside and the grandmother was in the process of putting the dog in the kennel when it attacked. The grandmother tried to stop the attack, but the XXXXXX would not let the baby loose and drug her underneath the ground-level trampoline.
> __ Mesa says his wife jumped on Jazilyn to cover her but the dog would not let the baby loose. He says the dog then took the baby underneath a trampoline in the backyard. Mesa says his wife, Letitia Mesa, grabbed rocks and was hitting the dog with them._​_ The XXXXX turned its attention upon neighbor Barry Sander after he arrived with a handgun, according to Mesa. Snyder fired multiple shots at the dog, hitting it six times._
> ...


ANY child dying in whatever way is a sad tragedy. But your example says they KNEW the dog was dangerous. The girl was never allowed alone with the dog? The dog was being kenneled so the girl could play outside?


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## carla4659 (Jun 12, 2012)

kiya said:


> Since you tried to contact AC and got nowhere, why not get the neighbors that are affected and go to the local news. Usually that always gets the attention needed to correct a situation.



Interesting idea......


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## Charmander52 (Oct 21, 2011)

How about a bullwhip? 
This may not work or be legal, but is there any way you could tranquilize them and take 'em to a shelter? Like put it in some food or something? Though they might smell it and not eat it, I guess.
Our neighbors neglect their dogs, too, and it drives me up the wall, though it's nothing like what you're dealing with. :/


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## luvmyfostershepherd (Mar 15, 2012)

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. I am in TX too, it can be difficult to get the police to assist. Perhaps you could DEMAND that they determine whether these dogs are vaccinated for rabies. It is a class C misdemeanor to not have these dogs vaccinated, and a police officer or animal control officer could potentially write this gentleman 3 tickets. At least it would bring revenue to the department and cover the repeated costs for them to come out there. It really sounds like these dogs are going to bite someone...
See page 5 of this document:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/he...on/training/aco/manual/information/826law.pdf


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## x0emiroxy0x (Nov 29, 2010)

I didn't think about this at first...but I would get a gun to protect yourself from the *druggies* that are potentially hanging out in your neighborhood and buying drugs from this guy or hanging out with him. 

Imagine your son walking home, "Hey kid want to try something fun"? as he walks by that house.

My boyfriend is in police academy right now. He said tape the incidents with time stamps. This is the best way to get the dogs out. AND the media can play the tapes.

It took 6 videos of the dog upstairs SCREAMING for 30 minutes straight for animal control to finally remove it. I just sat the camera on the desk facing the window and would press on any time it started.


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