neighbor extremely upset -- looking for solutions

[PortageGirl]

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Yes, the OP is being very helpful and that's good BUT, read the OP again. It's the DOG's owner that is angry because msjones' chicks are in their own backyard, making the neighbor dog bark, and the neighbor doesn't want to put in any time, training, or patience over the whole thing. This is the crux of the matter which has people up in arms over the whole topic. (including my morbid fascination over the whole thing LOL)

 

[1stepcloser]

Whoever posted the tip about the cayenne pepper??....YOU are my new hero!! Around 9 last night I crept out and sprinkled cayenne the corner of the fence where the dogs charge me. This morning they came barreling down at me snarling and barking...and I waited with baited breath. The german shephard must have caught the first wiff because he turned tail almost immediately. The other dogs paused, barked again, paused and beat it out of there! LMAO!

 

[Chickn chick 46]

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That was definitly a

and

moment. Good for you!

I'm going to remember the cayenne pepper also. I have a neighbor dog that pees on my flowers

 

[Ladyhawke1]

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I am so glad that the Cayenne worked for some people. It is so easy and no one has to be the wiser. Allergies are rare…and unfortunately so are good neighbors. We do not get to choose our neighbors…unless we have lots of money to live where we want.

Sorry to ramble and sorry to highjack and sorry...I am going to have to be “sneaky” on this one issue, the Cayenne Pepper.

We all want to be honest and do the right thing. I have always tried to live by the rules. I was taught to share, tell the truth, and not stick my nose in other people’s business. That is unless someone is trying to hurt someone else…then look out. I feel these core principals have somehow gotten lost in this country. I defend my sneakiness.

Unfortunately, here in California we have some homes that are called “common” wall houses. A common wall attaches your houses but the properties are separate. Your back yards and front lawns are separate. If you only knew what I have put up with in the past eight years with kooky neighbors. If I could have moved, I would have.

Luckily, the neighbor next door “moved” last December. I felt so relieved and that is when I got my chicks in March.

If this neighbor were still here…I am sure, she would have been climbing my fence and reporting her unhappiness to the city every five minutes, even though I can have my chickens in the city.

This woman was nuts. She married the man living in the house next door and “moved’ in and took over. This man had his own “issues” with my privacy even before he married this woman. One day he mowed/bulldozed my lawn without my permission or knowledge and I called the cops. The police officer says…."Boy he really butchered your lawn. You shouldn’t have asked him to do it.” I told the cop that I had NEVER asked him to do it and that is why I called the police. This neighbor, the man, would also lean over my fence by a couple of feet and cut my bushes. I sent him a letter telling him if he ever did anything on MY PROPERTY again WITHOUT my permission…I would call the police. And, I did.

So these two were like two peas in a pod. Double trouble nuts. On my property I had a crew cutting my tree down because a water pipe had broken. The woman neighbor came busting over shoving and pushing her husband in front of her …also towing another neighbor behind her and pounding on my front door demanding to know what I was doing and if the tree had fallen on my house…which it had not.

She would leave me phone messages saying that she was “improving” her property and she wanted to know how much I could pay to get my side done.

She did extensive remodeling and built a room on the house. She being newly married, could not spend this guy’s money fast enough.

One day she tells me she is going to termite the house and she wants me to move for a few days. And oh yes, she would pay me for a room somewhere. I am sorry but I had to laugh in her face….she was totally out of control. All I could do was laugh.

What she did not tell me is that she was selling the house and that they needed “certificate” to assure the buyer that the house is termite free. She wanted me to move for a few days while they tented the house to gas for “possible” termites. I have medical issues especially with insecticides, I have animals, and I am not concerned about termites.

I told her to ….!@#$%^&*()&^%$#@!

You can take it from there. Good fences make good neighbors or so you would think.

 

[Beed]

I gotta say something here...It is not the dogs fault he/she is barking. It is an instinct. The woman that owns the dog can get the same if not better results w/ training than using a barbaric shock collar (I hate them). My friend put one on her dog and he went from being a super fun, happy dog to a bundle of nerves w/ nippy tendencies. I tried the thing and it hurts-knocks the wind out of you. I think it is a lazy remedy. Docs use shock treatment on patients w/ severe mental illness usually as one of the last resorts. Why would someone put their pet through that torture. The use of C. pepper to deter someones pet is considered animal cruelty in some counties. I have a bleeding heart for mistreatment of animals, I know, and am a bit radical. All that being said. There is nothing that woman can do to you legally. The dog will keep barking and she will have to do something about it. Intuition tells me that dog is in for a not so fun time.

 

[msjones]

I think she's good to her dog, actually. He's gettin' plenty of love and care. And no worries about the cayenne. I don't think it will be necessary since I used the netting near the fence.

And, he doesn't bark constantly. He barks at various times each day, for anywhere from 10 seconds to 20 minutes. Some days a lot, some hardly at all. I don't expect the dog to be silent at all times -- we do live in a city, after all. Lots of people, lots of dogs (and 3 chickens

) The worst of it is the 4:30 - 6:00 a.m. barking.

The barking at my chickens doesn't bother me. Actually, I don't even know if it's the chickens he's barking at since I can't see the dog. I'm quite accustomed to his random daytime barking and don't think twice about it.

She was the one upset about the barking -- it was bothering her. I think she was having a particularly bad day, and I think we're both hoping to leave it behind us. I've got my fingers crossed!

 

[jjthink]

Wow.

Took the time to read all of these pages because this situation (OP's neighbor) is such a classic example of how so many people have lost their way in terms of personal responsibility.

We see how often this is the case with dog owners who irresponsibly allow their dogs to run at large and who maim or murder our birds. We see how often the dog owners barely get a slap on the wrist, if that. And how indignant many of them are. (BYC dog owners can be a rare exception, because most of them really understand..). We see how dogs are allowed by law to bark incessantly and drive others to distraction when the sounds made by chickens are treated as treason. I panic when my roo crows (rare, thankfully) and distract him right away because I want to be a responsible neighbor, yet I have many neighbors whose dogs bark unendingly (one is a yappy little thing with an ear piercing shrill bark that never stops - he barks more in one day than my roo has crowed in years). Incessant shrill barking can turn a perfectly nice day into torture even for the animal lover and rescuer that is me.

For the sake of all the chicken guardians out there, and especially for the sake of our defenseless birds, we shouldn't coddle owners of dogs who are behaving badly, whether their dog is running loose, incessantly barking or a dog owner is actually thinking their dog's actions are someone else's responsibility. People need to become more responsible again. There was a time when the situation the OP is experiencing would have been unheard of, a time when a dog owner complaining to someone else about the dog owner's own dog barking, would have been deemed certifiable. If her dog were to hurt or kill the OP's chickens, would she then blame the chickens for being too tempting? The example Cyn gave re: the jewelry is a great analogy, as are Jody's and others. The need for dog owner's to become much more responsible than they are (on average) these days is epidemic and we all need to help make this happen, so the number of tragedies declines significantly. We are so far from there at this point that it's egregious, ever more the mandate. Thank goodness the OP's situation is one where no one has been hurt (yet) but her neighbor's mindset is frighteningly close to those who let their dogs wander at large without a thought (or care, in some cases) as to their predator tendencies. It's their responsibility to make sure their dogs do not enter other people's properties and harm their birds. Just as it is the OP's neighbor's responsibility to keep her dog quiet for the sake of her neighbors. That it even entered her head that it was the OP's responsibility speaks volumes about how off track things are these days.

JJ

 

[vtara16]

I have a very similar situation......My dog will barks every morning at the neighbors cat, who strolls through my backyard. I dislike the cat, but it is really my problem. I ended up buying a citronella bark collar for the dog. I only had to use it once! Now all I have to say is "i will get the bark collar". The dog is my problem, not my neighbors.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I would be very upset if MY dogs were barking at a neighbors chickens... It would be my problem--not theirs!!! And yes, I have both dogs (who bark at everything) and chickens! My hound did bark when I first let my chickens out to free range..but now he just lays at the fence and if they get too close he growls--- his 'too close' is about 30ft... LOL..

 

[CMV]

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I have one of those citronella collars for my dogs. I highly recommend them. Perhaps the OP should suggest one of those for her neighbor. It resets a dog doing undesirable things without causing any pain. I originally got it when my rescue dog was a puppy and would jump up on people who came to visit. I HATE dogs that jump all over you. The collar worked within 3 days. We used it for our younger dog to curb his wandering ways. And we loaned it out on 2 occasions to friends to aid in re-educating their puppies. They both liked it so well that they went out and bought one each. The collars eat batteries up pretty quick, but it's a small price to pay for educating a dog without causing unnecessary pain.