Need advice.. dangerous Pit Bull next door.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey gang...thanks for taking the time to read this. My girlfriend and I have a dilemma. She just bought a small home in a new community. It is a small but great starter home. Each home has their backyard fenced with a 6 foot fence that is made of some sort of plastic composite. It seems somewhat secure although I could definitely knock it down if I really needed to. From about 4 foot up, the fence has lattice (sp?) so that you can clearly see your neighbor's backyard. The bottom of the fence barely touches the grass...I could put my whole hand under any part of the fence, anywhere around the yard. She has a Welsh Corgi and an adopted cat, both which are great pets. The cat is an indoor cat, except for 10-15 out of the day where he cruises through the backyard, but not very far, and never tries to get out of the fence. We are always outside whenever the pets are out there.

There is a young couple next door. The have two dogs in the backyard, both pit bulls. One is full grown, brown and is a beautiful dog. The other is a tan color and is about 4-5 months old. Both stay outside most of the day. The neighbors seem nice, although we have not had much conversation with them. Their yard is a wreck, pretty much destroyed and not kept up at all. No biggie, it's their yard. The adult pit bull is VERY aggressive whenever we are outside, barking profusely and banging into the fence. I have quietly walked over to the fence to look and if this dog sees me, he goes nuts, jumping about 4 feet off the ground and baging into the fence. I really do not think this dog (he looks to be maybe 40-50lbs, but extemely muscular) could know this fence down, although he seems to be trying. I have also noticed that he has started to dig in about 5 places, holes under the fence. This really worries me. If the dog got into her (my gf) yard, he would absolutely be coming with the worst intentions. There is no doubt in my mind that something awful would happen if he managed to get under or thru the fence.

I have been around alot of dogs; rotti's, labs and other big dogs and know how to act around strange dogs. This seems to be a different situation. I am the biggest animal lover in the world, but if the dog gets into her yard I will not hesitate putting about 7 hollow points into it to protect my girlfriend or her animals. It is very worrisome, and I wish I would have known about the situation before she bought the house, or I would have advised heavily against it. I really do not know what to do. I will tell you that talking to the neighbors is probably not an option, simply because they seem young and irresponsible when it comes to their property and their animals. I thought about calling animal control, but dont know what they could do. The only thing I could think of is to build some sort of concrete type fence/moat in the ground at the botom of the fence, but it seems ridiculous to have to do that to protect loved ones or their animals.

Thanks again for reading this. I welcome any advice anyone has.

Brian

[imported_Cassie]

Wow, what a situation! :o
I too would be upset for the safety of my pets...but, also your girlfreind is not the one who should be responsible for putting up a secure fence. The more your neighbors dogs see your animals etc the aggression is rising and rising....
I would first speak with your neighbors, if they seem nice enough perhaps you could mention to them that perhaps the dogs either need to be kept in the house when not supervised...of course if the neighbors agree to this it will probably only last a little while...I would suggest also it would be really nice if they put up a much more secure fence...a fence the dogs cannot see through would be ideal...I have seen privacy fences made of wood which are great for situations like this. If the neighbors do not agree to this or if they do not have the finances to do so...then I would put up a privacy fence on my side and fill in the holes where the dogs have dug...some times if the dogs can't see what is making them excited then they will not try to dig underneath the fence...but, then again....some dogs just enjoy digging.
I would definately do some thing soon before a "mistake" happens...it best to protect your self as some people are so irresponsible when it comes to their pets and they can't seem to see any problems. Where your girlfreind just moved in I would try not to get on the bad side of you neighbors by making accusations...you could even talk to the other neighbors who are on the other side of this "bad" neighbor and see what problems they have encountered. If worse comes to worse then I would definately speak with the local animal control agent just to get their opinion.
Situations like this are unacceptable....

[Guest Anonymous]

IK would go over and talk to the owners, saying that they are starting to dig and seem very agreissive whenyou are out side and your afraid that they might do something if they get in to your yard.

Pouring cement sounds good to me, we had to do that to stop our rottie and Aussie from digging out. it works good and that way you know that they can't dig their way in to your yard, you could also build the cement up higher so that it goes to the botom of the fence so that you can't stick you hand under it. they *should* be safe in your yard then.
Maybe this pittbull just wants to play?

[mydogroxy]

you should definitely talk to your neighbors straightaway. the dog may just have serious fence aggression with strangers (my apbt will bark at strangers through the fence). if the dog is stable and friendly, meeting him would most likely eliminate this behavior. however, it may just be that the dog is people aggressive or protective of his property, in which case you would be wise to ask the neighbors to keep the dogs secure and/or get yourself a new fence! good luck.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey everybody...thanks so much for the advice. I will definitely talk to them in a very friendly matter...they may not even know the dog is digging thru. If that does not help, I will probably take the advice of cassie and look into putting a privacy fence along that side...it seems to be agitated by sight more than anything..we definitely dont antagonize it at all. I love dogs and understand that breed is a protective breed, I simply want to be safe...thanks again!

Brian

[courtnek]

The electric fence at the base is a good idea for digging, but before you decide on solar vs. house current, you need to find out how much daily sunlight is needed to keep it powered. Here in Chicago, it would only work for about 5 months - there is so little sun during the winter that it wouldnt stay properly charged. Some solar systems work off of ultraviolet, but they are more expensive.

For the decorative top that the dog can see through, there is stuff you can buy at home improverment stores that weaves through the lattice and
pretty much blocks the view, and it comes in all different colors so you can make it match the house and the fence.

I would definitely talk to the neighbors however. Does the Pit seem
aggressive more towards you or towards your gf's pets? Pitts are naturally animal aggressive, although usually not people so, but there are exceptions. This could also be fence aggression, which my dog puts up with from the border collie next door every day. In the long run, the privacy fence may be the best bet on that side of the yard.

Good luck! Let us know what happens.

[Angelboddy]

Sorry about the dilemma. :(

All the above advice is great. :D
I would go with a privacy fence.
And if the neighbors can't afford to pay for a fence, then maybe you can go half way with them.
That way you both will help on the situation. :D

Good luck. :P

[Guest Anonymous]

:( I have two pit bulls across the street from me and on more than one occassion they have come into my yard, barking . I am at lost as how to proceed, espically since my next door neighbor told me that the same dogs broke down her fence 4 days ago and killed her little dog. To make matters worse a neighbor watched the young men who owned the dog take the mauled dead little dog over to their house. They left no note and if they had not been seen she would not have known where to go and look for her dog. The young men offer no apology and say that it was the little dog's fault for barking. I have two dogs myself and am worried about their saftey! The Humane socitety has been called as have the police and each say that there is nothing that can be done until they do something else. happens( my neighbor is afraid of these young men and says that they have threated her before), she is not willing to report it to the authorities. Another question is what can I do to protect myself AND my dogs from these pit bulls?

[courtnek]

Rimsky, it doesnt state where you are from, so I will go with what I know for Illinois laws. There are leash laws here, dogs are not allowed to wander alone unattended and loose. The police are often "oh well" about dogs wandering around, they call animal control and they take care of it. The old fashioned "dog catcher" as it were.

However, since these dogs have proven themselves a nuisance, and dangerous. you should call both the police AND animal control EACH AND EVERY time you see them wandering loose. Here, you can file a complaint anonymously. The police know who you are of course, they have hi-tech called ID, but if you request anonimity they have to respect it. Also, depending on the community, they cant trace cell calls without a court order since those numbers are not accessible to the general public.

The more complaints you make, the more fed up the police and animal control will get, and they MAY actually do something about the issue.

Hope that helps you

:)

[slim86]

Rimsky,

That's horrible what those guys accross the street did. I can't believe that your neighbor doesn't want to do anything about what happened. If it was my dog that got killed, the next time I saw those dogs running loose they would be dead. I'm upset right now just reading about it.

If I were you, I'd keep a Louisville Slugger on your front porch and I would keep calling the police/animal control every time I saw those dogs out running loose.

Slim

[nadooshkinz]

Dog Lover, I soooooooooooooooooooo agree! :evil:
Its irresponsible people like them that give pit bulls a tough exterior image!
Advice to anyone thinking of getting a dog in general:
If you cant take care of yourself, theres no way you can take care of a dog!!

[Guest Anonymous]

I VERY MUCH SO AGREE WITH THE LAST STATEMENT MADE ABOUT IF YOU CANT TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF DONT GET A DOG.
I HAVE A PITT BULL NAMED CHLOE. I KNOW THAT PITT HAVE A BAD REPUTATION WHICH REALLY UPSETS ME BC IT REALLY ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU RAISE THE DOG. MY DOG IS SO SWEET AND WOULDNT HURT A FLEA. I BELIEVE THAT IF YOU SHOW YOUR DOG ATTENTION AND LOVE THEN YOUR DOG WILL BE GOOD WITH PEOPLE. SINCE WE GOT CHLOE SHE HAS PLAYED WITH KIDS AND HAS NEVER HURT ANYONE. SHE IS VERY GENTLE. I DONT SEE WHY PEOPLE WANT A DOG OR ANY ANIMAL AT THAT IF YOU ARE GOING TO KEEP THEM OUTSIDE OR CHAINED UP SOMEWHERE I DONT CONSIDER THAT A PET THAT JUST SEEMS LIKE A NUSIANCE TO ME.