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Is it an option to install a fence around your yard?

that's a really cute fresa! I don't have anything helpful to say regarding the pet, except that...I wish I could have a pet in my apartment!

this photo made my day!

That photo is rad.

The dog sounds like a good candidate for obedience training. Are the owners unwilling to train their dog? Have any of the neighbors organized a meeting with the owners to discuss solutions? It seems like they would be concerned even if only for liability reasons.

Have a talk first with them. Our chihuahua barked all night and we got several people begging us to put her in at night. We were embarrassed that we had tuned her out so well and now she sleep inside. If they don't respond to that, then do the formal complaint.

If the dog is being a threat to other people and is being allowed to run loose, then animal protection can be called. Hell, you can call 911 if a dog seems violent and is approaching you in a threatening manner. If he's barking, then the cops can also be called regarding noise violations. I suppose this would be a move of last resort, though...after attempts to talk to the dog's owner proved fruitless. (Except for the 911 call if the dog is stalking you/you feel in immediate danger because of it, of course!)

(Just noticed this is from AT: Australia. So maybe there are different animal control and noise laws? Or other ways to address them?)

Most places have leash laws. If the pet's owners have been spoken to and no change has occurred, it may be necessary to take legal action. We've done it in the past (dogs) and while it does create hostile feelings, that's life. I believe in civil rights, but your rights end where my space begins.

Your recourse depends on the laws of your area. I don't even know what body corporate means... sorry.

Are they not required to keep the dog on a leash?

I'm assuming someone has spoken to the owners first (i'd make all sorts of accomodations to please a neighboor) then frankly, persue every legal means you have to protect safety.

I'm a little grumpy because I feel duped into reading this post by that crazy strawberry cat.

Have you done anything at all to try to solve this problem besides asking a bunch of strangers on AT?

If there is a large dog threatening people in your neighborhood why haven't you called the police?

In L.A., as in many cities, dogs running loose and menacing people can get the owner cited. If the dog bites someone, the owner is liable in civil and/or criminal court, depending on the law in your city or state.

Has anyone talked directly to the owners? Suing is a big step. A discussion of neighborhood concerns would be more productive. Maybe if someone started the talks by saying, "You know, the little kids around here are really scared of your dog -- I'm sure he's harmless, but would it be possible for you to not let him out off-leash or when you're not supervising him?" Or suggest the obedience training option.

If the owners aren't receptive and ignore the neighbors' concerns, if you see the dog loose, just call animal control. In Austin, one of the questions they ask is, "Do you feel the dog poses a threat to anyone?" You can say that there are children and elderly people who feel unsafe and they'll send a truck out immediately. Once the owners have to pay fees to spring their incarcerated dog every time, they'll quickly learn not to let him run loose.

But simply talking to them directly might do the trick and negate the need for escalating the situation.

Ususally the police are not the officials in charge of dealing with dogs. If there are leash laws where you live, I'd check and see what the law actually requires, first. Local animal shelter often have the relevant information. (If there are no leash laws, and the dog owners aren't interested in controlling their "pet", I don't think there is much you can do unless someone is acutally injured).

I had a problem where I formerly lived with a neighbor who let their black lab run loose in the neighborhood. The dog tried to attack me (hair on end, growling, snapping, stiff legged walk), both when I was walking my own dog (on a leash) and when I was outside without my dog.I tried to talk with the owners but they were really nasty and sarcastic.

The Animal Control officer came to speak with them twice, and they denied that their dog was ever loose, or out of the house. Finally I was able to take pictures, while hiding behind a car, of the owner going jogging, with her dog running loose down the block. After turning the photos in to the Dog Officer, I never saw that dog loose again...

umm you need to call the cops or animal control. now. don't wait if that dog is running around unsupervised!

i just picked up a bunch of freebie dog stuff from a person on craigs. apparently her mom came over to her house and when she opened the door, her little yorkie ran out. the rott across the street (which wasn't fenced properly) grabbed it like a chew toy, shook it around, and killed the poor little thing. granted it was partially the yorkie's fault for running out. but it wouldn't have happened if the rott's owner had kept it properly locked up.

Poison the dog.

Go CSI on them. We had a similar problem, and talking didn't help. So everyone got out their camera phones and digitals and begin snapping every picture of this dog unsupervised and scaring people possible. This is the kind of evidence that speaks volumes.

Tell the freakin' owners to keep it tied up.

Otherwise, someone's going to get pissed and call animal control.

A friend of mine has a very small dog. He had it tied up to his chair at an outdoor cafe and a woman with her giant rottweiler walked by and the rottweiler bit the small docile dog in the head and they had to take it to the vet and pay hundreds of dollars to get their dog fixed.

The woman with the rottweiler? False address, false phone number, etc. Irresponsible basically.

Big dogs and irresponsibility can lead to fear and physical harm. I see it all the time in Chicago and once in San Francisco in 2001.

art is referring to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Whipple

we've resorted to electronic dog barking controllers that emit high freq sounds. seems to be working. something stronger (mace? pepper spray?) might also be a good thing to carry if the dog is physically lunging at people.

I have five dogs (none of them ever wander loose), and I would definitely want someone to talk to me before they called animal control or sued. Definitely start with that.

Of course, a lot of pet owners are lame and unresponsive. If that doesn't work or something happens before you get a chance, then call your city or county's animal control.

When I was little, a family moved in across the street with 2 Rottweilers. We introduced ourselves along with our black lab mix and mentioned that it would be best to keep them behind their own dogs fenced as much as possible since there were so many other dogs and small children in the neighborhood. They agreed and claimed that that was their plan anyways.
They turned out to be pretty bad neighbors for a variety of reasons, not least of which was the time that one of their dogs came sprinting across the street and attacked my dog in our yard. The dog had a death grip on the face my dog. The owner just came up all nonchalant as my parents were freaking out and told us to kick her dog in the head until it let go. So my dad swung his foot, made contact a couple times and finally got the dog to release.
Multiple hours and stitches later, we called animal control and the dogs wound up moving out of the neighborhood, with their owners following shortly thereafter. Turns out they did not have the proper tags or licenses for them anyways.

If it is running loose, if you can, catch it and bring it to a non-kill animal shelter. Maybe it will find a better owner.

I second the taking pictures idea!

Dogs don't define their territory based on human property lines. If the dog is running loose, he's determining his own territory lines, which for sure extend beyond those of his owners. Now he's warning people to stay out of "his" territory.

Talk to the owners first, but if they don't take immediate and permanent actions to fix the situation, move quickly to involve the authorities. It's unfortunate that it creates hostility among neighbors, but looked at from a different way, the owners are putting their dog's "fun" (running around loose) before their neighbors' right to live peacefully and safely. Maybe paying fines will mean more to them than respecting their neighbors. I'm a dog owner and dog lover, and people like this really make me mad.

For anyone who has encounters with loose aggressive dogs, Cesar Millan (aka The Dog Whisperer) has a section in the back of this book "Cesar's Way" with tips on how to get out of the situation safely.

Well, just last night around midnight I went to take my own dog out to the little dog walk in my building to pee.

I opened the door and was being stared at by about a 90 # pitbull with a chain around its neck and no leash.

The pitbull didn't look scared at all. Just the owner, a middle aged woman who appeared like a "normal" person at first glance who frantically screamed at me, "wait! wait!" and ran to her dog to put it on a leash.

Then, I waited in the hallway as she brought her dog in. Again, the dog didn't look scared. Just the owner as she was pulling with all of her strength to keep the dog walking straight (not towards me).

People.

Check out the book "Neighbor Law" by Cora Jordan.

Talk to the owners first. They could be going through a "we just moved and we're being ridiculous" phase. My new neighbors opted to leave their Portuguese Water dog outside, all day (no joke: 7:30am-7:00pm) while they were at work. Their dog barked and cried almost non-stop. A couple of gentle threats, and business cards for dog walkers, led to the dog being enrolled in doggy day-care.

I had the EXACT problem. New neighbors a LARGE, AGGRESSIVE 80-90 lb. Rottie amd 2 other little dogs. I never say them except through the fence because they NEVER left the yard for a walk, EVER, in 3 years! The Rot was so miserable he barked all day and many nights, ALL night and they did NOTHING. Finally I had to file formal complaints with animal control, which would get them to put him in the garage at night, so the barking was at least muffled. I finally had had it when the dog started attacking the fence, jumping on it and trying to knock it down, growling & snarling for up to 30 minutes at a time if I stayed outside, in my own yard! I have dogs of my own and I feared for their safety. I wrote the people a note explaining how long we have been trying to "deal with their dogs barking" but we had had enough, if the could not keep it quiet at night and control it's aggression, we would call animal control every incident (which would get them a $1000.00 fine). Apparently they didn't feel like putting any effort into the dog and they gave it away. Probably best for the dog. ALL they needed to do was walk the dog, give it a little attention and let it in the house and teach it some "rules, boundaries & limitations." Their little dogs still bark during the night, but they are quieter and much less vicious. We have reinforced the bottom 4 feet of our fence with plywood, just to completely block their dog's view of our yard, so there is nothing for them to bark at. We then covered over the whole fence with rolls of reed fencing, so it's not so ugly, it gives a nice tropical feel and more privacy. Good luck!

My neighbour's cat does ALL of its business in my garden, front and back. A fence wouldn't keep it away, and I don't feel like poisoning the cat, yet. Any ideas?

They look tacky, but it works:

Fill soda pop bottles (the 2-liter or so plastic ones, not the smaller ones) with water after the label has been removed. Clear bottles only, no colored ones.

Set two or three of them here and there in groups throughout your yard, especially in the places the cat favors.

Most cats get freaked out by the weird vision they see through the bottles and will leave.

(FYI, this is why there are so many of these bottles tied to telephone poles in cities of Japan, especially Tokyo.)

I wouldn't want to wait until it bites someone- especially elderly or kids O.o.

I would report it now. let the neighbor know, yes, but I think it is good to have the incidents reported asap in case anything DOES happen.

Thats really cool about the water bottles!

Ironically, those bottles are called "PET Bottles" in Japan. It's because of the kind of plastic they're made from, but I still think it's amusing.

The neighborly thing to do is talk to them pleasantly at first and not have the whole neighborhood there. That would just be uncomfortable for the owners and create something more hostile. i agree with someone on here for you to get a fence.

We live on a road that has about 15 cats that also live on the road. We like cats but not their messes. Over the years, we finely got tired of cats coming in to our garage to sit in our chairs and leaving their mess in our yard. We finely bought 2 of the Cat stop electronic deterrents just over a year ago. On occasion we still find cats coming into our garage and yard, so it may not work as well as it is supposed to. After a year our neighbor now, wants us to remove them because, he said that it bothers his cat (that is on a leash.) He said that if we don’t remove them that he is going to sue us. He said that it emits beyond the 20’ that it is supposed to, (in which will now contact the manufacture and inquire about his claim.) We don’t want to have to remove them because they do help as least some of the time, which is better than none of the time.
Can this guy win a law suit against us for having Cat stops up and running in our yard?