Most complaints about neighbor’s dogs are incessant barking at all hours, cats and dogs pooping in your garden and leaving dogs off-leash outdoors with no fence to contain them.
Let’s tackle incessant barking at all hours first. There may be ordinances in your area that do not permit any type of excessive noise before and after certain times of day, usually before 6 A.M. and after 10 or 11 P.M.
If your neighbor is reasonable, a friendly approach is best. You might tell your neighbor that although you are a dog lover, the constant barking can be disturbing. Perhaps you can work out a compromise where the dog is outdoors at certain hours. My neighbor and I worked out such a compromise – my dogs were not allowed outside at the times of her children’s naps or before or after certain hours.
If this doesn’t work and the barking continues unabated, it’s time to call animal control or the police and find out the laws in your area and ask them for help.
It’s a beautiful day and you have a lovely garden that you’re all set to enjoy when you go out and step in not so friendly poop. Your neighbor’s dog or cat has left you a present and in the process, trampled some of your lovely flowers.
The best policy in this case is honesty. If you know it’s your neighbors pet causing the problem, speak to your neighbor about it. If it continues, try sprinkling some citrus oil in the area – pets don’t like the smell of citrus. The only problem is that the oil may yellow the grass. Or try one of the pet repellents on the market. Although not always feasible financially, the easiest solution is to put up a fence. If you do decide on a fence, make sure it’s deep enough in the ground so that dogs can’t dig their way in. If your neighborhood doesn’t allow fencing or you don’t like the look, you might want to think about invisible fencing that doesn’t allow pets in or out of your designated space.
Again, if the problem continues check with local authorities about the laws in your area. Most places have pooper scooper laws, but of course you must know the pet causing the problem.
My pet peeve – dogs outdoors allowed to wander the neighborhood or people walking their dogs unleashed. It doesn’t matter, results can be the same. For no apparent reason, even the sweetest dogs can meet someone they dislike. Certainly little children can be fearful of any dog, large or small. You may be walking your leashed dog and seemingly out of nowhere comes this charging bundle of fur. Or as sometimes happens, your dog goes on the attack when a loose dog approaches. In any case, the owner of the unleashed dog is at fault. Most communities have leash laws which some people do not obey. You may try talking to owners and in a few cases they may decide to comply with the law. However, if the problem continues and the same dogs are always off-leash, it’s best to notify animal control or the police.
In all instances of bad pet neighbor behavior it’s a good idea to keep a record of date, time, place, any witnesses and any other pertinent information. That way you have a record of all transgressions that you can quote to authorities.
Sadly I have found in most instances, people who are bad pet neighbors don’t respond until the proper authorities are called in. As a pet person, please examine your own actions and make sure you are a good pet neighbor.
Do you have any other bad pet neighbor instances to add?
