Help with neighbors dogs!!

[Zach'smom]

I am so frustrated I could just scream. Almost 3 months ago we adopted a rescue dog. She is a beautiful 2 year old lab/shepherd mix. She is a sweet, kind dog. We have been training her since the day we got her. She loves people and other dogs. When we are out walking she loves to meet and greet everyone. The problem is our neighbors behind us. They have a pit bull mix and a Great Dane/Doberman mix. They are both frustrated, territorial dogs that hate my dog. They are left out unattended for hours at a time. They bark at everything. They are constantly at their fence barking at anything that goes by including the little dog on the other side of the fence. Nobody ever comes out to correct them. Now we bring home our dog. Of course they do the same thing to her. So she reacts to it and runs to the fence and barks back. Next thing you know they are all running along the fence barking and trying to bite each other through the fence. At one point my dog had her nose nicked. Or else the great dane mix will stand perfectly still and give her the "death glare" which will also make her react. So we have now hit the point where every time they are out together everyone ends up at the fence. I am at wits end. She is well trained and listens well until these dogs are out and then she doesn't hear a word I say and it is hard to chase her off the fence. Any thoughts on how I can get her to ignore the neighbor dogs? my dh would really like to get a second dog and I am afraid of having to deal with 2 dogs in that situation. Thanks for any thoughts or insight!!!

[Denvergirlie]

I don't think there is much you can do about the behavior of your neighbors dogs.

only thing that might help would be a better fence between the 2 properties, so the nipping stops and they can't see each other.

Other than continuing to redirect your dogs attention, perhaps with age, your dog might learn to ignore the posturing on the other side of the fence.

best of luck, hope some others will chime in with additional ideas.

[greenmulberry]

Is there any way you can put a second fence, about three or four feet out into your yard from the fence dividing the yards? Plant some nice bushes and mulch there or other landscaping in there.

I had to do this at one place I lived, because I had this same problem. I turned this area into my vegetable garden. Keeping the dogs separated a few feet from each other GREATLY helped my dog ignore the other dogs. I just used a decorative picket fence

[Ola_]

We have a similar issue - one of our dogs is quite reactive and our neighbours have a bunch of dogs that freak out whenever we come outside. One thing that you may find helps is to plant something to block the view (not sure what kind of a fence it is) like a hedge or bushes.

The only other thing is to work on training your dog. Yes, it can be done even if it seems impossible. I always go outside with our dogs so I'm often throwing a frisbee to keep them occupied and burn off some energy, or I'm giving them commands to keep them occupied. For Chaos, I've found that I sometimes need to go and get her away from the fence if she gets really worked up - which is less and less often the more we work on this. I no longer have to physically remove her though (I would at the beginning) but once I'm closer to her she seems to switch her brain back on.

Another thing that I found to be key - stay calm. If I get upset that she's running the fence or not listening, you can tell from my voice and she will escalate her behaviour. Whereas if I stay calm, she will disengage and pay attention to me. It's almost as if me getting upset makes her think there is something be upset about, you know? While you are working on this I would consider getting a long line if you don't have one already, that way it will be easier for you to get her under control and bring her back inside. Bottom line is if she's acting up, she has to go inside. As long as she is ignoring the rude dogs and minding her business, she can stay outside and play.

And I agree, it will get even worse if you have two dogs as they will likely feed off each other.

[lonegirl]

I agree with Ola. You can't do anything with the neighbour's dogs but you can train your own. Talk to you vet for a recommendationfor a good trainer and inlist in some help/suggestions.

[Tjej]

Get one of those pretend birdhouses that emits a terrible high-pitched sound (that dogs hear and you don't). Put it up on the fence. They sell them at Walmart or many other stores. Works amazingly well on silencing many dogs. Not all dogs care, but many do.

Try to have your dog and the other dogs meet the sound at separate times, so they learn that it is their own barking that sets it off.

Tjej

[greenmagick]

Be very careful of using the sonic no bark things...I have been hearing stories of them causing some pretty sever behavioral issues in dogs, and not the ones it is intended for!

I like this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n_fP...eature=channel

[Ola_]

Meh, I got one of those sonic bark things. My dog noticed it the first time, but completely ignored it after that. It didn't work at all for us.

[Tjej]

Like I said, it doesn't work for everyone. It has been a miracle worker around here.

Tjej

[Zach'smom]

Thanks for all the ideas!!! We are going to heavily landscape the fence. It is too late in our neck of the woods to start planting, so we are going to have to wait until spring. But at least now I have a plan of action and it makes me feel better. I can make our landscape plan over the winter. Meanwhile we are going to keep working hard on her recall, supervising her and bringing her in when she barks and acts like a crazy dog at the fence.

A co-worker told my dh they had some luck having the dogs leashed and have a meet and greet on neutral territory. Then when they came back to their yards they were calmer with each other. I am going to try to get my neighbors to do that with us. I would just love to have all the dogs live in harmony!