Neighbor's Dogs

[Kerry L]

I am looking for some advice here....

Last July we bought a new house with 3 awesome acres of land. The land was one of the reasons we purchased the house; so we could play outside with our doodle, Hank (now 2.5 years old) and our daughter (now 18 months old) and we are also expecting another baby in September. We are in the country and our only neighbor's are right next to us. When we first moved they had 2 dogs (Boston Terriers), one male (Vader) and one female (Chewy). They have an underground fence so the dogs never came over but they barked non-stop. Whenever Hank was outside they would bark like crazy, Hank seemed uninterested and pretty much ignored them. When we'd go for walks, they go crazy and run back and forth while we passed. Vader seemed to be getting more and more aggressive so they decided to get another dog to distract Vader and Chewy! (I should mention that our neighbors are vets and own an animal clinic so I thought maybe, they had some knowledge that I was unaware of.) When they mentioned getting a new dog to me, my first thought was "Isn't this going to just encourage a pack-mentality behavior?" but I'm not an expert. They got the dog, this one is some kind of weiner dog mix that they named Jowa (male). Predictably, this didn't help and only added one more dog that barks to the mix.

Well winter came and we are in Wisconsin so they let their dogs out less because of the frigid temps. It was quiet most of the winter. Now, it's spring here....and the issues have intensified! Vader seems to be really aggressive now. He's ran thru the underground fence and comes of over, chases our Hank and nips at him. He's corned Hank on our deck a couple times and barks in his face and nips/bites at him. He's never hurt Hank but Hank is also 80 pounds vs Vaders 10-15 pounds. We've chased Vader off but he's as agile as a squirrel, thus nearly impossible to catch and take back to his home.  All 3 dogs sit on the lot line and bark at our house non stop. We will be inside eating dinner and they just sit and bark at our house. Their bark is a pitch pierces your ears! Annoying.

Then last Friday, I was taking Hank and my daughter for a walk and the two other dogs, Chewy and Jowa, came running out from the house when we were walking past. They both chased Hank and were more aggressive than I've ever seen any of the dogs! Hank tried running but finally just layed down with his head hung and both dogs jumped on him, nipping at him. Of course, I was trying to get the dogs off of him, my daughter was screaming then I got tripped and scrapped my knee pretty good. It was complete chaos and the whole time the neighbor were inside. Hank never tried to defend himself, he's such a gentle giant. I felt so bad for him.

Monday, I called the neighbors and filled them in on all the issues with the dogs. The barking, the attacks, everything. He was VERY apologetic and suggested we get the dogs together (one at a time) on lease to 'meet' and 'get everything out' and see if that helps. Will this help? It seems like Hank has already put up with enough, why should he be subjected to more abuse by their dogs?? I feel like their dogs will just bark and go crazy and lunge at Hank if they are on leash. Any suggestions on other solutions?

My main concerns are: Will Hank eventually take enough and snap at one of the dogs? He's WAY bigger than them and he could serisously hurt them/kill them. Will all of this make Hank defensive with other dogs? And my BIGGEST concern is if my daughter gets hurt when one of them comes over again! Help, I'm open to suggestions! The neighbors are showing effort but are clearly at a loss for any real solution.

[Missy]

I am hoping someone will offer you advice!  

We too have neighbor dog issues, and our Teddy puts up with a lot, but he did snap back one day.  Ours is 33 pounds, and he snapped at a full size retriever. Thank goodness the dog owner witness the snapped and leashed up his dog after that. The retriever backed down, but who is to say if we the people weren't there what would happen. 

I too worry about other dogs harming my baby or my baby harming other dogs. 

The meet and greet things makes me nervous every time. (which probably doesn't help!) lol 

It sounds like neighbors dogs are trying to make your Hank submissive to their pack. And since there are 3 against one, will that work? I have heard great things about Doggie Dan.

[Kerry L]

The meet and greet makes me nervous too!

[Kamela & Beckett]

I'm in no way an expert, but we've taken classes from a couple different trainers and all of them have indicated that on leash meetings between dogs are a bad idea. Dogs naturally strain at the leash to try and get to the other dog and that puts them in an aggressive body posture (even if they aren't actually being aggressive) so the other dog often interprets it that way. Your neighbors may be vets, but they don't seem to be very educated in dog behavior. Are there leash laws in your town? What about noise nuisance ordinances? I'm sure you don't want to be forced to elevate it like that but it doesn't sound like these folks are getting it and don't seem very realistic about their dogs and their behavior.

[Kerry L]

 We are more in the country so I'm not sure there are any leash laws or noise ordinances in place. I'll check on that although, I'd rather try to deal with this one on one before it elevates to resorting to laws but that might be an option in the future. I'll def do what I have to, to protect my fur baby and human baby!

[Deborah Brown]

So being a vet doesn't make one very knowledgeable about dog behavior, does it?  If you want to try a meet and greet, it should be one dog at a time in a non-leashed environment.  Hank must be able to escape.  It might work but it sounds like these dogs have barrier frustration and it has built up over a long period of time.  

I don't see a good solution unless the owners will work on it over a number of months. Ideally, they would never allow their dogs out without supervision and take then in whenever they bark.  They would need to work on counter conditioning with them.  But that's a big daunting task with three out of control dogs.

Can you put a physical barrier between your properties?  A fence that doesn't allow their dogs to see Hank could help.  Since you have such a big yard, you may be able to play unnoticed by the yappers.

Also, look into the noise and leash laws. I think I would talk to the police at this point since the dogs attacked Hank on the street with your child present. At the very least, they will be aware of the situation and you could find out what options you may have.  You, Hank and your family do not deserve to live with constant harassment.

[Kerry L]

No, being a vet gives no extra knowledge of dog behavior! If (that's a big IF) we do the meet and greet, Hank will not be leased. I'm not going to risk him getting attacked while on leash and risking him getting tangled up and hurt. They will be leashing their dogs.

I agree, this is going to be a daunting task especially with 3 dogs that have formed the pack. On top of that they have 2 small children so they have WAY more than they can handle. They did take their dogs inside this weekend when they were barking but now that it's warm, they come home from work, let the dogs then leave to take their kids to their activities and leave the dogs out!!!

I mentioned putting up a solid wood fence between our properties and he was very against that. We are estimating it would a huge cost (2K or more) but I think we'd be willing to invest in it. We could play on the other side of the house but a majority of our yard is on the side that butts up to their lot. That side also has our deck and my daughters swing set.

We are more in the country so I'm not sure there are any leash laws or noise ordinances in place. I'll check on that although, I'd rather try to deal with this one on one before it elevates to resorting to laws but that might be an option in the future. I'll def do what I have to, to protect my fur baby and human baby! As of now, we have open communication with them.

[Tracey & Spike]

Would you consider doing the no maintenance vinyl fence that comes in assembled panels from lowes? My cousin in Ohio has a huge property and he installed it two years ago. He said it was cheaper than wood. They get harsh winters and wicked storms and it has all held up.
We are in Canada and can't get it here. It makes my dad mad!

[Kerry L]

Yes, we'd be open to anything! I'll look into the vinyl fence. Thank for the input.

[Laura and Angus]

Perhaps you could enlist the help of a dog trainer? At the very least to have someone come observe the behaviors you're seeing and listen to your experiences and help you (and the neighbors since they seem to be willing to work on things) identify a solution that will not increase the aggression issues. I don't think it's wise to try any thing without being sure that it won't increase the stress that the three smaller dogs seem to be experiencing for whatever reason. Has the neighbor thought about working with a trainer to decrease the aggressive behaviors their dogs are displaying?

[Kerry L]

I think they've referred to their on staff trainer and that's where the meet and greet idea came from. Hank is at daycare today and I'm going to talk to the trainer from his daycare when I pick him up today. It's their dogs with the aggression problems so I don't know that me bringing a training into the picture would do too much but I will mention that to them.

[Laura and Angus]

Oh gosh, yeah I don't think a meet a greet in an uncontrolled environment without a trainer present is a good idea. I totally agree that technically it isn't your problem since your pup isn't the aggressor, but somehow it has become your problem. Maybe talking with them about having a trainer come work with their dogs at the house (instead of making random suggestions from afar without being able to really diagnose the problem) would help? I wouldn't involve the police until you know they're unwilling to work toward a solution with their dogs. Do they seem to get that they need to work with their dogs to fix this issue? If worse comes to worse and they weren't putting forth the necessary effort/hiring a profession, I'd go with the fence idea. Totally worth the investment, imo.

[Kerry L]

They absolutely get that their dogs are trouble! They've apologized and said they are open to working on solutions for the issues. I think the fact the I fell and got hurt and I'm pregnant really opened their eyes.