Urgent Question...

[Red Fox]

KL, Do you own your own home? What about putting some lattice up along the fence line? It's very cheap to do and you can add an extra 2-3ft (minimum) in screening height. I won't stop them bashing on the fence but it might help deter and prevent things form being so easily thrown over.

If it was me then yes, I would be putting in camera's. I'd also go over and see the mother when the kids are out and explain to her what you are doing and why (tell her you have been advised to do so by the police if necessary). If nothing else the kids might think think twice about how they behave.

If parties and drinking are the problem you can always call the police and report them for being loud and disorderly (presuming that they are?) especially if they are throwing things at your house!

The only other option is to leave Sasha inside when you're not home (or give her a dog door?). She's half Ridgie isn't she? If she's anything like mine she'll be happy to sleep the day away on the couch

Good luck with it and I hope you get it sorted out

[Kelly_Louise]

Yes we do own it (well the bank owns some too ). We have thought about putting in extra lattice, especially as their land is a bit higher than ours - however at the moment OH won't budge on that one. I will continue to work on it though!!

I actually did call the police at about 1.30am, however they either didn't turn up - or if they did it didn't do much, as they started to get worse. Although, if I'd known the garbage was coming over the fence and told them they might have taken it more seriously. When I rang in the morning, they had no record of my calling or any evidence of whether the police had gone there. The policeman told me there isn't much they could do other than tell them to tone it down - which is quite disappointing. I thought there were laws regarding noise etc after certain times... I thought they could tell people to stop the party (not like it hasn't gone on for long enough or anything) or take it inside where it doesn't disturb others etc... but apparently that's only on the TV shows.

They said they couldn't do much unless I was physically threatened. Not sure if that includes whether my dog is threatened or not, however they really just didn't seem to want to care or be involved. They said that it would probably make things worse... so that's as good as the police protection gets. Might make it worse, so let's not worry about it.

When they are there being annoying or having a party, she comes inside. Luckily she doesn't pay them too much attention unless they are banging on the fence or gate. When they are having a 'supervised' civilised party, she generally stays in her bed in our garage (which is carpeted, part of the house and is on the opposite side of the house to the neighbours so she feels secure there) and sleeps through it. She doesn't like when the scream or yell loudly though because it scares her.

The reason she isn't inside when we aren't there is because of her fears, she is likely to panic and hurt herself if something scares her. She got startled by a loud noise outside once and got tangled in the vertical blinds and almost brought them down on herself And if there was a storm I'd hate to think of how she'd panic. At least if she is outside she can just run around the backyard and not hurt herself on anything. But I wouldn't mind putting a doggy door in the laundry... so at least she has access if she needs. Can you put a doggy door in a glass sliding door?

I go home for an hour at lunch time everyday though, and she comes straight inside with me and naps. Yep she is part ridgey, and is happy to snooze the day away. Even when she's inside though, she likes to go back after a while and sleep in the sun on the grass. She's a sun worshipper

[Red Fox]

Kei likes to switch between the couch and the sun too. Or if it's hot he moves right under the fan

You can get the Pig In Mud doors that slip into the sliding door frames. You can have a dog door put into the glass but they aren't cheap, especially for a big dog sized door. What about putting a door on the garage for her?

I'd pester your OH for the lattice. It's really cheap and easy to bolt on (my OH is useless with handyman work and he managed to do ours in a few hours). You can paint it or grow a creeper up along it too so it doesn't have to look ugly either

Our next door neighbours on one side are also higher up than us, so when they sold and the house was bought by an investor as a rental property we decided to put up the lattice. The new neighbours are fine but it's nice to have the extra privacy.

The neighbours on the other side of us are real whingers when it comes to noise. They've called the police many a time when the kids across the road from us were having parties or had the music up too loud on a night. Cops ALWAYS came out and told them to tone it down... I can't beleive that your local police wont do that! Though I do live in a small town so the local police here probably had nothing else better to do

[Rysup]

We put some lattice type fence extensions on our side fence. Our neighbours could stand at their front door and look straight into our backyard/back room/outdoor area. So we went to Bunnings and got these fence extensions, they are woven timber slats but more private than lattice. You really cant see through them except for a slit of light. That did the trick. They no longer stand there and watch us when we do stuff outside with the dogs.

[Kelly_Louise]

People with nothing better to do? I hate people that do that. We also like our privacy

The fenceline we are talking about is very long, probably 20-30 metres that they have 'access' to our yard - would this be costly to put the extensions on? What kind of areas did you guys do?

[Pollywaffle]

Hello Kelly-Louise, As someone who went through a similar scenario...where we got to the point of making arrangements to sell our house - because life was almost untenable at home (the neighbours from hell) - all of a sudden and right out of the blue, these neighbours moved out - two weeks ago today. True, they were only renting, but I guess the message is that sometimes matters do resolve themselves. It is just so wonderful not going to bed with earplugs in....

So my message, take whatever actions you need to for your poor little pooch's sake, but know that things often sort themselves out.

That's my wish for you and Sasha....

[Kelly_Louise]

Oh thank you Pollywaffle, and it's such great news for you. I can't imagine what relief you must feel

My only hope that I cling to is that there was once a suggestion that when her divorce went through she was going to sell up and move because their place is MASSIVE and they have very few people who actually live there anymore. I can only hope though...

Seeing that they pay people to do absolutely everything though, I can't imagine how size would be an issue...

I just hope that we have as much luck and things don't get worse.

[Freshstart16]

Thanks for your thoughts and support guys. I appreciate it, helps me know I'm not over-reacting or being irrational.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

used condoms ewww that is so disgusting and not to mention all the other stuff that could hurt you are your dog.

how are things going??? the cameras up yet.

[MelissaS]

They sound awful!!!

Horrendous.Really disgusting and selfish.

Must be very distressing for you.

Really hope it all resolves itself.Keeping all fingers and paws crossed for you.

[Kelly_Louise]

Thanks guys - we are having some pretty special surveillance gear sent over from America, so hopefully they will be up by next week! The only thing they don't have is audio, but tiny microphones can be attached. So we should be all set to go soon, and I'll be able to see exactly what goes on when we're not there (or even when we are!). It will give me peace of mind for Sasha's safety.

I have tried numerous times to talk to the mother next door - however, she must have started working again because she is gone by the time I leave for work, and doesn't come home until well after we get home. Last weekend, thankfully, everyone was gone the entire weekend so it was SO peaceful. Really lovely not to have constant screaming, yelling, loud music and making Sasha bark (or out of control parties!). So although I've made several ventures over there, I can't seem to catch the mum... thought about writing a letter but I don't know her name or their last name - so not sure who to address it to so that the kids won't get to it first (although they'd probably be too lazy to bother with it).

Although the last week has been incident free and very quiet, we are still going ahead with the cameras etc because all it takes is one out of control incident to destroy property or harm my fur babies. I won't take the chance.

Thanks for your support and understanding guys, really appreciate it. Fingers crossed it will be sufficient to deter further poor behaviour.

[all that glitters]

Let us know your findings when the cameras go up!

[Kelly_Louise]

Certainly will... although, I'm hoping they will be useless and I'd much rather that there is nothing to report

But that's just wishful thinking

[kimzy]

you are definetly not overreacting in fact we are saving up to do the same thing.