Neighbors Dog is Digging Into My Yard!

[MgnRose]

Hi everyone! I am having an issue with my neighbors dog & I was hoping for some ideas/ feedback/ information if anyone has dealt with this issue before.

My neighbors dog will not stop digging at the fence line and into my yard. He is a German Shepherd/ Husky who can fit it entire head and front limbs under the chain link fence. He is left outside all day, without supervision or toys (I have tossed him over quite a few balls and sticks because I feel sorry for the guy) and he has decided that trying to catch my chickens is how he entertains himself.

I have tried talking to my neighbors about it and they deflect responsibly, have no solutions, and are just generally hostile about the situation. So no help there!

What are steps I can take to protect my chickens? We are currently waiting on a contractor to build a privacy fence, but I don’t know that this will deter him in the long term. So- any ideas of how to protect them in the meantime? We have filled the holes in our side, buried rocks/ blocked the fence he had bent, put up particle board as a visual barrier in strategic spots already. I maintain it daily as he finds a way to move the rocks (they’re so big!! How does he do that?). I am looking for something more permanent on my end, that isn’t going to cost us an arm & a leg, and that I don’t need to maintain daily.

Any ideas are so very appreciated. I just want my chickens to be safe, thank you

 

[RobertaD1]

Electric fence at the bottom of the chain link.... get one graded for cattle. Dont put it directly on the fence.... a few inches on your side. He will quit when he hits that a couple times. Unless you want to lake the time to train him.... and it CAN be done from the other side of the fence.
The electric fence wont hurt him... but it WILL get his attention.

 

[RojoMarz]

Ummm. Is there a male in your household? If so, give them lots and lots of beverage of choice, then instruct them that they can't use the bathroom, instead they have to "mark" all around the fence perimeter. Worked for us, as the neighbors dog didn't like the new unknown male scent.

 

[NatJ]

Maybe leave your chickens shut in for the day, let the dog dig under, and call Animal Control? Or, if the dog is friendly, catch the dog and take it to the Animal Shelter yourself.

 

[Howard E]

Electric fence at the bottom of the chain link.... get one graded for cattle. Dont put it directly on the fence.... a few inches on your side. He will quit when he hits that a couple times. Unless you want to lake the time to train him.... and it CAN be done from the other side of the fence.
The electric fence wont hurt him... but it WILL get his attention.

Couple times? More like once..........

After that, you probably couldn't make him go near it.

 

[Howard E]

Chickens get shocked too and it doesn't hurt them.......and after that, they won't cross it either. I use it all the time with the birds for crowd control. Keeps them out of places (like garden plots) and off places (like patios) where I don't want them to go.

A properly setup electric fence is about as magic as it gets with barnyard animals (and varmints).

 

[Folly's place]

You aren't intending to zap this dog, you are keeping raccoons and foxes out, right?!
Mary

 

[black_cat]

Ummm. Is there a male in your household? If so, give them lots and lots of beverage of choice, then instruct them that they can't use the bathroom, instead they have to "mark" all around the fence perimeter. Worked for us, as the neighbors dog didn't like the new unknown male scent.

I popped in to look at the thread and can't tell if you're serious or not XD

 

[RojoMarz]

I popped in to look at the thread and can't tell if you're serious or not XD

Serious, but with humor.

 

[Howard E]

Haley and others.......I have one segment of my chicken yard fence that was placed about 1 foot inside a woven wire livestock fence. It sets on step in insulated posts, and was no more expensive.....along with being easier to maintain and build....... than hanging insulators on the steel posts that holds up the woven wire. If a german shepard tried to crawl under my fence, his nose would come into contact with the electric fence about the same time as his front shoulders were under the woven wire fence.

In practice, it is brutally effective for any animal coming through or under the fence. They get trapped in there and will get repeated shocks before they can get clear of it. Will not physically harm any of them, but will assure nobody tries it twice. I have seen several dogs get it.....and the response is always the same. Loud yelp, followed by dog sprinting for the horizon as fast as their legs will carry them.

The net effect is the neighbors dog will no longer be interested in chickens. My neighbors dog took an interest in my birds early on, got zapped and even now, if it is out with the owner....whose garden is less than 50 feet from the fence......and birds just on the other side of the fence, it looks the other way. Wants nothing to do with them.