Mrs. Cravets the next door neighbor.......

[Ellie and Cooper]

Has anyone ever had an idiot for a neighbor?  I have one that has put up cardboard on her chain link fence to keep Cooper for peeing in her yard. Then she puts down moth balls three inches next to the fence line.  Now I have to worry about Cooper getting one in his mouth.  I am getting a 6 foot fence installed next to her chain link fence but for the next two days I will be a basket case worrying about what she will do next.

 

[Kelly]

Moth balls are deadly. She should not be in your yard either. I am so sorry that you have to deal with this. Why can't all neighbors be like mine. He buys dog biscuits and doesn't even have a dog. Skeet goes to his house every day. We say he is stalking the neighbors. He says Skeet is the perfect dog for him. All the fun... no responsibility. Hopefully the fence will do the trick. If not you may need to report her for harassment or at least to document the problem. You have my sympathy.

[Kelly]

Who wouldn't want to live next door to such a darling as Cooper anyway?! He is so adorable! She must be crazy

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Just a suggestion, but I would put latice on top of your 6-fence. It is open and decorative, but it makes a bit more of a block to tossing things over the fence and into your yard. We had to do this because we had a dog that could climb. When we had a new fence installed recently, we had the builder dig a shallow trench and put cement in so that the dogs couldn't dig out. It didn't cost much to do this. I would also put a LOCK on your gate so this lady cannot come in your back yard for any reason, much less to pick peaches. What if she fails to close the gate? What if she falls while on your property?

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Very good advice Nancy!  This woman sounds like a nut case and probably capable of anything!  

[Ellie and Cooper]

I like the lattice idea.  The guy made a good gate and fixed it so no one could get in from the outside.  I told her if she came back in the yard and she fell or if Cooper knocked her down that I would not be responsible for what happens to her.  I will put up a Beware of dog or no trespassing sign for what good it is worth. 

 

[Deborah Brown]

We have neighbors who hate us and our dogs.  We used to be friends and then one day the guy blew up and had a laundry list of things we had done to annoy him, ie using our light by the grill at night, one of our kids playing the banjo, etc.

Anyway, when Wayne came to us, he was a foster dog with issues.  He would bark at strangers.  They could have solved the problem by befriending him but instead the guy got this device that emits noises to try to stop the barking.  Let's just say it didn't work and I was pretty angry that he used it on my dogs.  Then he put up a privacy fence between our properties which turned out to be a good thing.  My dogs still bark at the fence.  They have a dog that stands on the other side and cries.  

For awhile he seemed like a complete sociopath and I was worried that he would do something to hurt the dogs.  You know people have done crazy things before.

You will feel better with a fence for Cooper.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Deborah, we had a neighbor take a 2x4 piece of lumber and slammed it into our dog's rear leg because she was barking one day.  Of course we did not know he did this until later, we were both at work.  Our dog had torn ligaments and the vet said only getting hit by a car could cause this type of injury.  We were dumbfounded because we knew she did not get hit by a car. Just a short time later the neighbor on the other side of this neighbor caught him in the act of hitting their dog with the same type of board.  Then we put two and two together!  Our dog had extensive surgery out of town and six months of rehab!  Our hearts were broken to know someone could do that to an animal.  Those neighbors (renters) moved out in the middle of the night after getting caught!

[Deborah Brown]

I guess the best news is that they moved out.  Otherwise, I think I would be tempted to use the 2x4 myself.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Ugh what a terrible neighbor... I'm so sorry you have to deal with that.

Our neighbor isn't that bad, but she is VERY particular about her property ... she doesn't want anyone touching it, any weeds AT ALL anywhere and well... we live in a suburban neighborhood with small, shared lawns and lots of dogs and kids.  She gets angry a lot ;)  Thankfully she loves Luna, she just doesn't really like DH or myself (or our weedy lawn!)

Example:

One day a few months ago I came home to an odd trough of dug-up grass on her side of the lawn and I thought to myselff..."Wow that's weird, wonder how she managed that? I bet she's not happy"

Later on that day she comes storming around the corner while I'm coming back from walking the dog and says (in an angry voice):  "The people YOU hired to cut YOUR lawn DAMAGED MY PROPERTY"

And I said "What?  We didn't hire anyone..."

She then looked very confused and then said "Well, there were people here earlier and when they mowed their machine dug this big line in my grass".

I asked her if she'd seen what the company name was so she could call and complain... I guess she was too mad us to bother looking for that.  I just told her I was sorry but we didn't hire them and it was too bad she didn't get the name of the company...

I think it would be best for her to live out in the country where she has no neighbors to bug her!

[Sheila & Finnley]

I'm glad that you are getting a fence. I would definitely be cutting every last limb of the tree parts hanging over my lawn.

I would get photo's and video if you can. Then I would call the police on her at least once when she does something, that way there is a documentation in their records.

Finally if she persists to make Cooper's life miserable I would tell her that she better knock it off or you will be calling a lawyer and sue for harassment.

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

Print and share with your neighbor:  http://realestate.findlaw.com/neighbors/conflicts-involving-trees-a...

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

What we need is Samantha to wiggle her nose and do something to teach Mrs. Cravits her place!  

Meantime, lots of good advice for you here and I join in being glad you are getting a fence.  Be safe