Neighbors' Pesky Dogs and Invisible Fence

[Geena]

I seriously understand hating confrontation and wanting positive relationships with the neighbors, but it sounds like you have tried civil and those dogs could kill you, so I think you have to be forceful and make it clear that you have the right to shoot the dogs if they are coming at you on your property. :/

I get what you are saying, but I do think they should try to work it out first, asap. OP describes a nook with just three house on a shared driveway. It could become mighty uncomfortable in that cozy little nook if people's tempers flare up, especially in southwest Virginia.

 

[ackie]

I get what you are saying, but I do think they should try to work it out first, asap. OP describes a nook with just three house on a shared driveway. It could become mighty uncomfortable in that cozy little nook if people's tempers flare up, especially in southwest Virginia.

Always try to work it out first, but I agree with ASAP.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Ok that all makes sense. I wouldn’t be concerned about the old radius once it’s moved. Have the neighbor tell you when the move it and give it a few days. Make sure it’s up to it’s highest and it will train the dog quickly. I am more concerned about the safety of radius boxes in general because they suck.

I'm concerned about that, too. It already had gone out a few times (but it was the less aggressive dog's radius, thankfully). Waiting for the day Cujo gets loose...

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I cant even imagine having to endure the situation you have described. And, every post u add describes even more distressing info than before. I Iive in the sticks too, & certainly there is no "animal control" out here, other than livestock owners taking care of nuisance animals with guns, using the sss method if necessary. A shame that u may need to carry a firearm to walk to your mailbox, but maybe that is ultimately the best idea if no better fence solution can be found. But even if u never need to use the gun, the daily emotional stress is surely tormenting. Re using a stun gun, i realized the zapping sound would scare your dog too, so maybe not a great idea after all. Re bear/pepper spray, i think that would work better.
Just make sure the wind direction is not blowing toward u, or pepper spray could end up in Your/your dogs face. Some pepper "spray" actually comes in the form of foam, meaning it shoots further before dispersing.Spray/foam with a laser pointer helps accuracy too. However, after the recent descriptive info u have added, and fact that you live in the country and CAN carry a gun, thats what I'D do if i were you. (Until the fence issue is hopefully resolved). Forget stun guns, bear spray, baseball bats, or any other nonlethal weapon. If u dont own a gun,a problem may be that AMMO is currently so hard to find. I have been seeing more 9mm ammo in gun stores lately than any other type, but that may vary by state/region for all i know. Again, so very very sorry u r dealing with this. Even tho i would be carrying a hand gun whenever in proximity to the dangerous dog(s), situation would still Totally ruin my quiet peaceful country living. And knowing there are toddlers neighbors to those dogs is very scary too. Even if the kids are taught and Heed instructions to stay far away, the kids may end up having instilled within them a lifelong fear of dogs. Which would be such a shame, since most dogs are awesome! Keep us updated. Am hoping u soon find a FENCE solution to restore your peace of mind.

Thanks for your empathetic post--I love how this forum (BYC) provides a way for people to just talk through things and connect with each other's experiences. To tell you the truth, we did recently buy a 9mm and 22 caliber pistol, and the straw that broke the camel's back (because we are truly not "gun people" at all--no offense to those who are, it's just not our cup of tea) was my fear of the dog and being in my yard should he get loose. I also run a lot of the national forest area here and have had some unfortunately creepy situations arise, and thought if I ran with my big GSD on one hip and packed heat on the other, the visual effect would prevent unwanted encounters. I also think if the neighbors see me packing heat to go check the mail as their dog growls at me from a foot or so away, it may help them re-think things.

Luckily, there are plenty of good dog examples here (the neighbors with toddlers have two very friendly dogs they've grown up with, and our GSD mix loves them/vice versa) so hopefully they won't develop a fear. I just hope it never comes down to us or the neighbors w/ the toddlers having to confront the aggressive dog on our properties--I have no idea how I'd act under the pressure/fear and it also pains me to have to hurt an animal (of course, rather him than me).

Here's my sidekick I hope would step in should anything ever go down (at least he's a visual deterrent but I have a hard time imagining him hurting anyone or any dog other than licking/annoying them to death):

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

The behavior you are describing sounds to me like prey drive. Does he act the same way when it just you vs you and your dog? You say he has bitten both of the neighbor's dogs, did they go into his yard? Could be he's very dog aggressive and maybe, hopefully, not so human aggressive.
With your new details I think this situation is beyond you simply carrying bear spray or gun or whatever, and no one should have to live like that. You and your other neighbors really need to get together with the third neighbor and find a collective permanent solution to this problem.

Sadly he's people and dog aggressive. I don't think he ever met any other people except his family (who lives at his home) for his whole first year, or dogs except for the one he grew up with. We once went over there just my husband and I (no dog) and they decided to try to bring Duke out (the mean dog) but he had to be held by his collar the whole time and did not stop snarling and growling at us until they made the decision to bring him back in (this was 20 minutes or so of non-stop growling). My husband made an attempt to reach out and let him come to him for a pet and the dog launched right at his face--luckily the owner was quick on his collar. The neighbors than joked about how when their mom visited to spend the night recently he growled at her the entire time--even through the next morning until she left. I do hope that, if my dog Albie is out should Duke get loose, he'd grab Duke's attention more than us (also worried about our chickens grabbing his attention!).

The other dog was out with us, and he was fine. I think he just feeds off the meaner dog's energy. And luckily it's been this less aggressive dog that tends to get out/breach the radius into our driveway.

We have been talking with our other neighbors about a solution--at least we have them to commiserate/plan with.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Remind your neighbor that if that dog ever attacks a person, it's an automatic death for the dog.
I'd definitely get a video of this behavior for the future if anything happens.

Yes--the video is a great idea. They should know he's a liability. I'd be so concerned having a dog like that out where there are lots of bikers and hikers.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I get what you are saying, but I do think they should try to work it out first, asap. OP describes a nook with just three house on a shared driveway. It could become mighty uncomfortable in that cozy little nook if people's tempers flare up, especially in southwest Virginia.

Yeah, that's what we're worried about. We've heard stories about longtime grudges in the neighborhood--people do all kinds of weird stuff out here.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Thanks for your empathetic post--I love how this forum (BYC) provides a way for people to just talk through things and connect with each other's experiences. To tell you the truth, we did recently buy a 9mm and 22 caliber pistol, and the straw that broke the camel's back (because we are truly not "gun people" at all--no offense to those who are, it's just not our cup of tea) was my fear of the dog and being in my yard should he get loose. I also run a lot of the national forest area here and have had some unfortunately creepy situations arise, and thought if I ran with my big GSD on one hip and packed heat on the other, the visual effect would prevent unwanted encounters. I also think if the neighbors see me packing heat to go check the mail as their dog growls at me from a foot or so away, it may help them re-think things.

Luckily, there are plenty of good dog examples here (the neighbors with toddlers have two very friendly dogs they've grown up with, and our GSD mix loves them/vice versa) so hopefully they won't develop a fear. I just hope it never comes down to us or the neighbors w/ the toddlers having to confront the aggressive dog on our properties--I have no idea how I'd act under the pressure/fear and it also pains me to have to hurt an animal (of course, rather him than me).

Here's my sidekick I hope would step in should anything ever go down (at least he's a visual deterrent but I have a hard time imagining him hurting anyone or any dog other than licking/annoying them to death):

View attachment 2451548

View attachment 2451552

Please take a gun safety course. I support your decision, but handguns are much more dangerous than rifles.

 

[Acre4Me]

Terrible situation. The overwhelming theme I’m reading here is immature and very inconsiderate neighbors.

1. They also see their dog’s body language.
2. They are aware the dog has attacked and injured other dogs.
3. They are aware toddlers live next door.
4. They are homeowners with potential liability.


a mentally mature homeowner would take any one of the four above points and maturely consider solutions for that point. But, there are four important points, not just one.

inconsiderate homeowners because of the first three points. Yes, their land, etc...however common sense does not appear to be a strong point for them.

Neighbor wars suck, definitely avoid, if possible.

but, your safety and mental well-being is important. The toddlers next door have NO ability to protect themselves. Why should bad dog owners have full use of their property when toddler homeowners can’t make use of their whole property or you can t safely walk down your driveway to get your mail?

basically the bad dog owners are playing dumb, along With being immature and inconsiderate.

you and toddler parents need to put your resources (time to research, $$ for a consultation if needed, effort to talk with the agency that manages pet issues and/polictogether and find out your legal rights. Then pursue an Avenue. Maybe that Avenue is pursuing “dangerous dog” status. Maybe laws indicate dog wire can’t actually be on the property line -needs a buffer (I don’t know). Maybe there is something else.

good luck with that stressful situation.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Your profile says you live in Virginia.

Virgina's Dangerous Dog Law is here:
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title3.2/chapter65/section3.2-6540/

Biting another dog is enough to qualify that dog as "dangerous," if there was a serious injury to the bitten dog, and if the dog that got bitten was not on the property where the aggressive dog lives.

There's a series of procedures to follow, but it can end with the owner being legally required to keep the dog either indoors, or in a locked physical fence.

Basically, if you and your neighbors are willing to go to some bother, it can be possible to legally force the owner to address the issue, depending on whether the dog has done any of the specific things listed in that section. It would require involving either the police or animal control.

Or I suppose you could just call the police and try to get them to send an officer out to investigate--if the dog charges the police officer, he would probably shoot the dog in self defence, and that might be the end of the matter.

Thank you for the resources. The other neighbor's (friendly) dogs who were each bitten did wander to into their radius, which goes slightly onto their property. Their dogs are not confined by an electric fence or otherwise, but thankfully are very friendly towards people and chickens and pretty well behaved (I guess they learned their lesson the hard way). I don't know what it is about the country but everyone likes to just let their animals run amuck lol. Our GSD is under tight supervision 24/7--he's sweet as can be but I cannot imagine letting him run free.

I like your idea about the police officer. I may think about that, especially should he get loose one day. Of course, here's another small-town cliche, but I'm pretty certain this neighbor's family has police connections. Their parents and some of their other relatives live in this neighborhood--and have lived here over generations. They have local police buddies.

I will re-emphasize: we're on good terms with these neighbors and I want to do everything I can to keep it that way while also preventing a dog attack.