I'd call animal control in a heartbeat on a person who leaves their dog without adequate food, water or shelter. Those should all be ticketable offences and having to pay a ticket can help to make people take a look at how they do things.
Could you go to the neighbours and ask that they measures to keep their dogs in their part of the yard? Could bits of fence be put up to make the yards more private? That would probably benefit them as well as you. I would go so far as to make up an allergy in my kid..."I know your dog is good with kids but little Timmy is allergic and if he pets the dog he'll sneezing and snotty all afternoon"...or take the more honest approach..."I just don't want to have to worry about kids and dogs in our own yard"...or if you think it would make a difference (and it probably wouldn't with people who leave their dog tied in yard all day...but you never know) say "my kids just aren't used to dogs and I don't want to take the chance that they may hurt your dog"
As for dogs and cats...I would definitely worry about the cats. Most dogs will be more than willing to harrass if not attack a cat unless they have been trained specifically not to. Its in your cats favour that the dogs are tied up because they probably won't go near enough to them for it to be a problem.
As for kids...I agree that a dog attacking another dog is very different than attacking a human. But do all dogs consider kids humans? If they aren't exposed to kids on a regular basis they may just not see kids that way. Kids also have a tendancy to act very different from adults (squealing, running, moving irratically). So while its not a sure thing that a dog who attacks another dog will attack your kid I think it would be crazy to think it isn't a possibility.
Its really too bad that you have to share your yard. I think all you can do is talk to the neighbours, try and make your yard as secure as possible and supervise your kids when they are outside. If I felt that a threatening dog coming in the yard was a possibility I would also have a big stick on hand.
Casey
Could you go to the neighbours and ask that they measures to keep their dogs in their part of the yard? Could bits of fence be put up to make the yards more private? That would probably benefit them as well as you. I would go so far as to make up an allergy in my kid..."I know your dog is good with kids but little Timmy is allergic and if he pets the dog he'll sneezing and snotty all afternoon"...or take the more honest approach..."I just don't want to have to worry about kids and dogs in our own yard"...or if you think it would make a difference (and it probably wouldn't with people who leave their dog tied in yard all day...but you never know) say "my kids just aren't used to dogs and I don't want to take the chance that they may hurt your dog"
As for dogs and cats...I would definitely worry about the cats. Most dogs will be more than willing to harrass if not attack a cat unless they have been trained specifically not to. Its in your cats favour that the dogs are tied up because they probably won't go near enough to them for it to be a problem.
As for kids...I agree that a dog attacking another dog is very different than attacking a human. But do all dogs consider kids humans? If they aren't exposed to kids on a regular basis they may just not see kids that way. Kids also have a tendancy to act very different from adults (squealing, running, moving irratically). So while its not a sure thing that a dog who attacks another dog will attack your kid I think it would be crazy to think it isn't a possibility.
Its really too bad that you have to share your yard. I think all you can do is talk to the neighbours, try and make your yard as secure as possible and supervise your kids when they are outside. If I felt that a threatening dog coming in the yard was a possibility I would also have a big stick on hand.
Casey
