Monday, March 21, 2011

Advice

Ok, so what would you do if you were in my shoes?

My neighbors, on the far side of the our duplex (so they're not immediate adjacent to us), insist on having their large poodle/lab mix, Jack, in their front yard, unleashed and out of control, at least once a day.  They have a backyard, so it's not Jack's only place to be outside, but they let him out in the front yard whenever they're outside doing yard work, playing catch with him, etc.

We have a backyard, but no door to it.  We have to go out the front door and up the driveway to get to the backyard.  It's not fenced, but we have a dog run so we can tie up Molly when we're in the backyard.

However, since it's a pain to go to the backyard, I usually let Molly out in the front yard, on a leash, whenever she has to "go".   But whenever Jack is out, I can't take Molly out in the front yard, because he will come over, jump all over us, and distract her from her "business".  The neighbors don't usually notice, and when they do, he doesn't come when he's called, so they have to come over and drag him back by the collar.  If they even bother to.  Usually I scoop Molly up and go back inside until they have the decency to control their dog.  He's about three times her size, and she gets pretty freaked out by him.

But regardless of if we're outside, Jack doesn't stay in their yard.  He wanders over into our front yard, up to our door, all over our porch, and they don't call him back until he comes back on his own or they have to go inside.  Needless to say, Molly gets very upset because like all dogs, she's territorial, and our yard is "hers".  Today she was growling, barking, and had her hackles raised.  And today, Jack decided to walk up our driveway to our backyard and poop!!  Of course, our neighbor had no idea, because she was on the phone and taking in the garbage cans.

So am I justified in being angry?  If you were me, would you say something to the neighbor?  What would you say?  Help!

2 comments:

  1. it certainly depends on the relationship you have with the dog's owner..people are so weird when it comes to their dogs, its like babies "don't tell ME how to parent"
    maybe you could something like, before you next take molly out and they have their dog off leash, just say "hey, i need to let me dog out but shes afraid of your dog, could you put it on leash for a moment?" i don't know if that would work...?

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  2. I meant to respond to this the other day. I dont' know what to tell you, but I can say I had a similar situation with my neighbors dogs in MS. The worst dogs in the entire subdivision lived across the street from us, and it was the south so I was the neighborhood freak for having mine on leashes. Their dogs consistently attacked mine. they new their dogs were horrible and saying something did nothing -- it just made the relationship awkward.

    i hope you are able to work things out. having a dog who is not happy at home sucks (believe me -- mine can't stand city living! can't wait to move to the 'burbs next week)

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