# Neighbor's dog keeps jumping the fence to come into my yard



## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

So, ever since a puppy came into my life a little over a year ago, the neighbor's dog (we share a back fenceline) has been jumping the fence to come play with the puppy (now an adult dog). They would play and get along fine. The neighbor's dogs have a dog door that lets them in and out of the garage freely where they have a fenced run.

Last spring, I also had the entire fenceline around my lot rebuilt (from 4' aluminum chain link that was original to the house to 4.5' black vinyl-coated chain link with a gate in the middle so our dogs could play). All of my neighbors chipped in on the shared fence line.

Well, the dog kept jumping the fence. It got so bad that I insisted something be done. They put in an invisible fence. It worked. For a while, until they stopped keeping the collar on him. I had to be insistent again that the collar needs to stay on him. They started putting it on him again.

This winter, it's been worse. The dog is pretty high-energy and I don't think they're really giving him enough attention and exercise. He'll jump over as soon as I open my back door to either play with my dogs or see me. This is particularly frustrating because he gives my dogs absolutely no time to do their business before jumping on them, and then the puppy-now-dog comes back in with slobber all over her neck. So it's problematic in the mornings before work and when it's raining/snowing. My dog seems to not like him anymore, she tries to get away from him and he'll try pulling her back by the scruff of her neck or her collar. Even when he stays in his yard, she no longer goes to the fence to be smitten with him. The romance is gone.

I'm also landscaping by that fenceline back there in addition to trying to grow new grass, but he runs and jumps around with his big shovel-like paws and it tears everything up (I talked about this in my lawn journal last year).

There's not much I haven't said to them about it, they know it's important to me that they keep their dogs in their yard. So now I have to review next steps and I'm not sure how to approach this.

I'm hesitant to call animal control, because he'll jump over the fence by the time AC gets here and I don't want to call them repeatedly because that's a pretty crap call for them and I don't want to keep repeating it.

I could build a privacy fence but that looks like it could cost $1-2k for that back section, and that's not something I have laying around, especially considering the fence is less than a year old. But it would have the added benefit to hopefully screening out their crappy backyard.

I could pepper it in the butt with a BB gun like they did in the old days but that's possible to get me into more trouble.

Has anyone dealt with anything similar? Are there any solutions I'm not thinking of?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

How high can this dog jump. You could run a couple wires above your fence and attach a solar powered fence charger like they use for livestock.


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

I'd call the local sheriff and at least inform them and possibly where to go from here. They deal with stuff like this more than you'd think.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Sounds like the behavior of the owner needs to be corrected, because by allowing their dog onto your property, they're disrespecting your wishes, and not being a good neighbor. There's a time and a place to allow their dog to come into your yard, hence the gate, but since the dog wasn't trained to use the gate by their owner, you can't really fault the dog for doing what dogs do. I'm running into a similar problem, where I've put up temporary construction fencing around the pool area to keep my dogs out, but one of them has figured out that it's no problem for her to just leap over it. This week, I found a spot where she dug uncomfortably close to the edge of the pool, in search of god knows what. She's a brittany/border collie mix, so she's got a keen sense of smell and tons of energy.

My $0.02 is that you should approach your neighbor and explain to them what you're trying to do, and that their dog is preventing you from enjoying time with your own dog and your property. They need to keep it within their property lines. Without telling them that it's costing you time, and money, they might not think it's a big deal; but it is. You have every right to tell them that they have a week to fix the dog's behavior. Give them a timeline. Let them know the consequence, whether or not it's calling AC, getting video of their dog jumping the fence, showing it to AC, and letting them deal with the ramifications of not keeping their pet confined. A responsible pet owner should be vigilant to protect their pet, and their own liability from the dogs actions. Even if the dog isn't there, the AC officer has the ability to enforce the owners to abide by the law, with some hefty fines. I'm sure it won't take but one visit by the officer to get corrective action.

But I'd start with talking to the neighbor, and let them know the behavior needs to stop. Use a newspaper if you have to.


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

It happened again today and it made a mess of the yard and my dogs since everything is really wet right now. I sent a strongly-worded message to them today letting them know that I've appreciated them as a neighbor, but if they can't contain their dog then I'll have to start contacting the city and I don't want to be "that" neighbor. They apologized and said they will do a better job of keeping the collar on him, so... we'll see.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Here's hoping it works out for you man!


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