O.K. I need advice from you all. I need to know what some of you would do in this situation. I live on a farm and have horses, donkeys, and mules. Next to our farm is a subdivision. DH inherited our farm from his Grandfather and he lived here for 50 years before he passed. So the farm was here before the subdivision. One of our neighbors has a dog that he either lets run loose or lets out to potty or whatever. Every single day I see that dog barking at one of my animals. It picks out one particular animal and just jumps around in front of it barking. I usually yell at it to get and go home but yesterday I snapped. It was jumping so much and barking so much at my horse that my horse actually looked like he was dancing. Now mess with my kid or my horse and mama bear automatically comes out. I actually got on our Kawasaki Mule and went over to the field where the incident was happening and run the dog home. His owner was on his back deck looking at me and I just looked at him and watched his dog go back through the fence and then went to my horse to see if he had anything wrong with him such as bites or anything. The owner was on his deck when I came over there so my question is: Was he there watching his dog aggravate my horse? What should I do? I know I probably pissed him off yesterday when I run his dog home. Should I go to his house or at least go to the fence since it is so close to his deck and address this problem? That way I would still be on my own land. I don't want to get into a shouting match with my neighbor. Plus I don't want to create a bad situation with my neighbor. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Charlotte

Do you know your neighbor? Do you have any sort of relationship?

I'd start there. Introduce yourself, make it clear that you're an animal lover and so it's not the dog you're bothered with, but the lack of concern that this man has about the dog's behavior toward your animal. (You'll have to word it more nicely, but you know what I mean.)

I'd probably go to the front door and not stand across a fence, that seems defensive.

Good luck - we've got neighbors who let their dogs poop all over everyone's yards. We're in the midst of dealing with it and it's no fun at all.

I don't get why the dog is running loose if it has a fenced in yard Or is it your fence? No matter, NO dog should be allowed to run loose, EVER. Definitely talk to your neighbor and stress how unsafe it is for his dog to be on your property. One kick from your horse = big bucks at the vet for him. Maybe he would take it better if you phrase it in that manner; that you're concerned for the well being of his dog (although clearly he isn't).

Many states/counties also have leash laws, which this is a clear violation of. You can also threaten (but in a nice way ) to call animal control the next time the dog tresspasses. Irresponsible pet ownership just ticks me off!

-Lisa

ETA: I just re-read your post. Let me guess - this is a brand new subdivision in the middle of farm country, right? We have those people here too. The ones who call the cops because the crop duster is out at 6 am over the field next door & complain about the cow smell as if they didn't notice the working farm there before they moved in. Puh-lease.

I grew up in the country and the law of the land was that if there was any kind of dog, be it coyote or somebody's pet, bothering your livestock the dog was shot. I am not saying that you should shoot the guy's dog, but you definately should not put up with this (give them an inch and they will take a mile). I would politly inform the neighbor that next time his dog is on your property you are going to catch it, crate it, and call animal control to come pick the dog up. Your property, your rules, no exceptions!

Yeah, the subdivision has only been there for about 2 or 3 years but that particular neighbor has only lived there for about 8 months. This farm has been here for 50 years I know. Plus there are several farms on up the road so yeah it's a subdivision right in the middle of farm country. One of my "new" neighbors is a cop and one morning my DH was out bulldozing a path for a new fence at around 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning and the cop came out and asked him if he didn't have something better to do on a Saturday morning, the dozer woke him up. Well DUH, it was supposed to be hot that day and DH wanted to get it done before the heat was unbearable. DH told him that his day started at 5:00 a.m. not dinner time. Don't get me wrong I really don't have anything against any of my neighbors. It just irked me to no end to see that guy watching his dog aggravate my horse. I'm afraid that will make him "spook" when he sees a dog and it starts barking and i'm riding him I would be the one getting tossed, not dear neighbor. I really don't want to go to his door because I don't want to be on his property. Mr Cop is his BIL so if things got out of hand who do you think would be blamed? Me of course. I want to catch him in his back yard and casually make my way over to the fence. His house is not fenced in so his dog roams where it will when it's out. I didn't notice it out at all today. Hope he got the point yesterday when I run it home. Hopefully I won't have to confront him. I'm terrible about confronting people except when i'm mad then it "katy bare the door". I have a horrible temper when i'm mad so things could very easily heat up if he has an attitude. You are probably wondering why DH isn't taking care of this. Well his attitude is to shoot the dog the next time it is on our property. That I won't have. It's not the dog's fault his owner is a bonehead. Plus i'm afraid my horse will get out into his yard sometime and he will return the favor. Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.
Charlotte

Can you put up a shock fence where the dog gets in? I would then look into getting a billy goat to teach the dog a lesson. LOL or maybe the man a lesson. Put up a sign that warns any tresspassing will be dealt with accordingly. I don't think talking to him would make a difference, but a sign is legal and will hold up in court over a conversation. Good Luck Tell dh that rock salt works great in guns and just stings. (at least that is what I have been told)

We have kind of the same situation with a subdivision going up right in the middle of nowhere, across the road from us. No one has started building yet, the lots have been for sale for almost two years. But I'm dreading the day people do start building because of things like this. It will mostly be "city folk" in the middle of the country, and I dread the thought of things getting hairy over the smells and sounds of the country.

I would go talk to the guy. Tell him you are unsure if he's aware, but your dog has been on your property multiple times, disturbing your animals. If it continues, you will be forced to contact animal control, the humane society, the police- whoever it is in your area that takes care of things like that. And then follow through. EVERY time the dog is on your property, call on it. If you can call the dog over to if, lock it in your garage until the authorities get there. If he has to go to town a few times a week to bail his dog out of the shelter, he'll either fence that yard in real quick, or if he's letting the dog run loose because he just doesn't care, he'll be finding a new home for it real quick.

another vote for rock salt

and also for: catch, crate, animal control

and check county ordinances on unleashed animals -- i bet there's something in there somewhere about animals threatening livestock.

Yep! Rock salt into an empty shotgun shell, close the shell casing well. Load and shoot. Burn 'im up a little, no damage permanently. Just clean the gun real good afterwards.

Or get some pepper spray. Next time the dog gets close to the horses/animals, spray him with that. Again--no permanent damage. And the above threads are right, too. But I'm all for the proactive approach with uncontrolled animals on your property.

-m-

Becareful if you try to catch and crate the dog...even friendly dogs can turn on you if you try to force it into a crate...

hope all goes well for you!

well, this sounds like a hairy situation. It's like a small chunk of city has landed in your backyard and you're expected to suddenly go along with city life while living in the country. That's silly.

Besides that, the guy should know that in the city, dogs aren't allowed to run free either. Why would he think that his dog can run through your land? because it's bigger? Your land isn't a park. It's your land. There is a difference.

I don't know if the rock salt is a good idea or not. Maybe try to be diplomatic first and then if that doesn't work, have a "plan B."

Thanks so much for your all's great advice. I knew I could count on you gals and guys. I usually don't have any problems with my neighbors and this bothers me so much. Mainly for my livestock but also because i've lived peaceful for so long and I hate the thought of making things bad between me and my neighbor. I have to protect my stock though and will do whatever it takes to do it and hopefully without hurting the dog. My DH still wants to kill it but I won't let him. Oh and this really takes the cake (no pun intented) I have another neighbor in the same subdivision that moved there about 5 months ago. Her DH's company rents the house for them. They are from NY I think. Well she came over to see my DH the other day for get this: THE DOGS BEING TIED UP She really wanted us to let them run loose because they weren't getting any exercise. These dogs' chains are on long cables that allow them to run back and forth and get plenty of exercise. My DH told her that he had no idea how things were done in her hometown but here in KY we tied our dogs up. She then said we could turn them out in her fenced in backyard to get exercise. My DH politely told her that he didn't think so because if one of them bit her then he didn't want to lose his farm from a lawsuit. Then he told her he thought it would be best if she just minded her own business. He dosen't have ANY problems telling people exactly what he thinks. I sincerely hope that these people don't think that they are going to run us off this farm because if they think horses smell (and i'm not saying they do think that) then I know pigs smell worse. You know I kinda think pigs are cute too I can be so spity if I try Again thanks to all for your advice.
Charlotte

I had a problem with a dog that used to poop infront of my salon. One of the other shop owners would just let the old dog run loose. So one day I tied a nice bow around her neck with a copy of the law about dogs running free printed on card stock. That really didn't solve the problem but it was a nice warning. And the next time I saw the dog I called animal control. no problem after that.

Maybe you could print up the law about being allowed to shoot any animal on your property bothering your animals on one side and then on the other side print a picture of you holding a shot gun, punch a hole in it and get some really nice ribbon and tie it around the dogs neck, put him in your car and drive him home and don't forget to wave to your new neighbors as you drive away (jk)

ok, maybe just the ribbon with the statute would do it.