Spudd Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 We met our new back neighbor over the fence yesterday and he was telling us that he has seen our next door neighbor's kids stare Spudd up a few times, usually during the day (during school holidays I guess) he said that they wave sticks over the fence and make stupid noises, I was so angry and wanted to go knock on their door straight away but my husband reckons that we should just say something when when we see them.. he is extremely friendly and a well socialized bull terrier, he loves kids and tries to be gentle when playing. For a few months now he has been running straight to the fence every time he goes out when it gets dark and just barks and growls at nothing until we hear him and call him back inside, he wags his tail too so I don't know if he just wants to play or what.. I always thought that he barked at the cats over the fence.. Now I'm starting to think that he is waiting for those stupid kids! I just really hope that he doesn't bite them one day! I don't even know what to say when I see the neighbors, some people just don't like dogs and there is no point talking to them, I was thinking about fencing an area for Spudd to keep him away from the neighbors. Has any one else had a similar issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akitasthe14me Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I think you should address it with the kids, their parents and if necessary council. Your dog is on YOUR property...he has very right to be in his own backyard without being harassed by the local kids. At least if you raise it first and try to resolve it, you are less likely to be held accountable should something happen. Put on your best people skills, smile, try not to sound accusing or defensive and if tension starts to escalate, put it back on them by saying you would absolutely HATE to see a child get hurt if the teasing where to continue. hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 he wags his tail too so I don't know if he just wants to play or what.. A wagging tail is not always friendly .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murve Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I think you should address it with the kids, their parents and if necessary council. Your dog is on YOUR property...he has very right to be in his own backyard without being harassed by the local kids. At least if you raise it first and try to resolve it, you are less likely to be held accountable should something happen. Put on your best people skills, smile, try not to sound accusing or defensive and if tension starts to escalate, put it back on them by saying you would absolutely HATE to see a child get hurt if the teasing where to continue. hope this helps. Are you able to have a couple of CCTV camera's set up & film the lovely Kids (like not) stiring up Spudd, this will give you proof of what is happening & it can also cover your @#$%% if Spudd ever does hurt these kids. If you do talk to the parents they might get defensive & say something like "our kids would do such a thing like that". We did that some years ago to my drunken neighbor, he threw bricks, stubbies etc at my Rottie pups. the council was not happy of what he did. He ended in that much shit financially with council & the health Dept, he moved soon after Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaar Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Set yourself up at the base of the fence with a water pistol ;) In all seriousness though, talk to the parents, they probably don't even know their kids are doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Can you get something like that good neighbour fencing ? The trellis extension that makes it higher or make something similar yourselves so they can't do it. Otherwise maybe talk to the parents if seem reasonable & friendly people & maybe ask if you can let the children make friends with your dog if you think this may work. Choices are you either have to encourage them to stop or make it so they can't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I think the best approach would be the friendly one. If Spudd is generally kid-friendly, you could go and introduce yourself and Spudd to the kids. This will show the kids a different way of interacting with your dog. If they meet him, and its a positive experience, and they like him, they are probably going to stop being silly over the fence at him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fynesse Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I would electricfy the top of the fence so when they climbed up it they got a bite from the fence..... but maybe thats just cause Im a nasty old lady who does not like kids and dislikes kids who tease dogs even more!! In all seriousness, I would speak to the parents, to me this is not acceptable behaviour, as already said, your dog deserves to live in his own back yard without being harrassed, and the fact that he is to the point of racing out and growling at the fence proves that it isnt just a one off thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I think you should address it with the kids, their parents and if necessary council. Your dog is on YOUR property...he has very right to be in his own backyard without being harassed by the local kids. At least if you raise it first and try to resolve it, you are less likely to be held accountable should something happen. Put on your best people skills, smile, try not to sound accusing or defensive and if tension starts to escalate, put it back on them by saying you would absolutely HATE to see a child get hurt if the teasing where to continue. hope this helps. Are you able to have a couple of CCTV camera's set up & film the lovely Kids (like not) stiring up Spudd, this will give you proof of what is happening & it can also cover your @#$%% if Spudd ever does hurt these kids. If you do talk to the parents they might get defensive & say something like "our kids would do such a thing like that". We did that some years ago to my drunken neighbor, he threw bricks, stubbies etc at my Rottie pups. the council was not happy of what he did. He ended in that much shit financially with council & the health Dept, he moved soon after i love this idea! even if you have evidence and take it to the neighbours parents and say you will go to the police with it if anything ever happens and this sort of behaviour is not tolerated. its bullying basically! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuggyWuggy Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 My suggestion would be to find an opportunity to have a general conversation with one or both of the parents - suss them out and maybe get an idea of how they feel about dogs to start with, and that might give you a better idea of how best to approach the situation. If you bring up the kids teasing your dog, I personally would say that I was more worried about my dog barking because of it, and disturbing the peace in the neighbourhood. I think if you say that you are worried because you don't want their kids to get bitten, the parents might get defensive and think your dog is savage and threaten to do all sorts of things to it if it ever touched their kids. It could be just that they have no idea their kids are doing it and will be shocked and embarrassed, and reprimand their kids for it straight away. But if they don't like dogs they might be inclined to get their back up about it. I'd also try and catch the kids in the act, and nicely but firmly tell them that you don't like what they are doing and neither does your dog - tell them if you see them do it again you will have to talk to their parents about it. Just remember that unless you are in a position to pack up and move should things turn ugly, you may have to deal with neighbours that hate you and your dog because of how you handled the problem, so always be nice, polite and humble about it, and don't paint your dog as being unpredictable and possibly savage (whether he was provoked or not would probably make no difference in the laws eyes should he snap). Getting angry and giving them a mouth full will only make things worse for you and your dog. If you want to avoid dealing with the neighbours all together then maybe another fence to keep him away from them or extend the one that's there so they can't poke their heads or sticks over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 My neighbours brats climbed the fence a few times - AFTER we extended it to 6ft. Talking to the parents did nothing, neither did trying to explain that my dog doesn't like children, so the next time I caught them up there I yelled "OI GET DOWN NOW!" so loud that they fell off the fence. They haven't it tried since... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffikki Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 In all seriousness though, talk to the parents, they probably don't even know their kids are doing it. Totally agree I had a very similar problem with my neighbours kids when they first moved in. My bully, Lucky, would be outside minding his own business and the kids would start banging on the fence, running along dragging sticks along the fence, throwing stuff over aswell As their mother was home I assumed she was not worried about what they were doing, but Lucky was getting really worked up. I let it get to the point where I was fuming that she hadn't told them to cut it out, and stormed over, banged on their front door and yelled at her She told me she hadn't realized what they were doing or how stirred up Lucky was getting and sincerely apologized. The kids never did any of it again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dju Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 We have demon children for next door neighbors.. they're destructive, spoiled and malicious. I've never disliked children more than I dislike them. Hugo doesn't like them at all, whenever they're out, he barks at them and they just stare at him or they go closer to the fence and make noise with the various noisemakers they have (like the pretend guns that have the high pitched laser shooting sound when you pull the trigger).. they're technically not really "doing anything", so I can't exactly go to their parents. I mean what am I going to say? Your children are looking at my dog and playing with their toys? I did once see them throw rocks at the chickens and taunt them with food from the other side of the fence (you know, put the food against the fence, when the hen pokes her beak towards it, they pull it away, the hen sticks her head further through the fence, strains to reach the food but just can't reach). We just keep Hugo inside when they're over, since they're technically only grandchildren who come over (much too often) on visits to their grandparents. But they still annoy the carp out of him, he stares and barks through the flyscreen doors if he can see them. I hope you get your matter solved quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spudd Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Thank you everybody for your replies, we decided to just go with the fence extension for now.. will do it this weekend and see how we go. I don't think that the parents really care what their kids do and that the kids don't care if they get into trouble by their parents. Little shits!! If that doesn't help, we will try and talk to the parents nicely about the problem and if that doesn't help we might have to just build Spudd another fenced yard in our back yard.. That will keep him away from the pot plants too (-: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Im so over little brats. Last place we lived in they would throw rocks over the fence, at the window, at the dogs.... Why are there so many these days!!??? Is there no discipline? I never would have thrown rocks at someones dog or window?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pollywaffle Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Im so over little brats. Last place we lived in they would throw rocks over the fence, at the window, at the dogs.... Why are there so many these days!!??? Is there no discipline? I never would have thrown rocks at someones dog or window?! I so hear you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now