This all sounds so strange to me.

I think that you should put up a privacy fence immediately. Get the beagle vet care and either take her in or find a good home for her. You're not unreasonable in wanting to keep your pets and family safe and healthy.

Also, I would put up a double fence (about 3 feet between both) to make sure that your dogs don't come in contact with other animals. Parasites and such can be passed through a single-fence contact. I'd fence the entire area right away. I know it's a big expense, but, it would be worth it to prevent any problems with the neighbors.

You'll never be able to control someone else's actions -- especially when that is how how things have been run in the past in that community.

"This all sounds so strange to me. "

That cracked me up, because I just didn't know where to begin. Debbie P, if you read what you wrote I'm sure you will understand the reaction. Great that you are moving to the country, but next door to a trailer with 7 neighborhood dogs sleeping on your porch - well, yes you do need to think about how to handle this! Wow. Get that fence up and make sure the gate has a lock on it. You are not going to be able to tell the neighbors to get their dogs off of your porch, so you need to prevent it. As far as the elderly beagle without a home, that saddens me. Since you have a good heart, it would not surprise me if you take her into your family.

This is so familiar to me. Several years ago,we sold my house in town, near my job, to "rescue" dh's recently widowed mom in the country. She could not bare to leave her home (it needed extensive repairs & updates, but that's another post)only to find things very, very different.
I would do as bbaird suggests & put up a fenced area, however small,at the side/back door for your pets. Being new in the area, you will be labelled a trouble maker considering this is "their" accepted way of doing things. Don't get me wrong - I don't agree with them. How wonderful to have 2 1/2 acres in the country to enjoy, but trust me, as the new kid on the block you should try to fit in & not "rock the boat". Not fair, I know but if you want to be happy it may be the price to pay, at least til you get to know some neighbors.

You're the new kid on the block. Have you knocked on the the doors of neighbors' homes and introduced yourself? You might just be pleasantly surprised. Do you know what the laws for your town/county are with respect to dogs/domestic pets? With all due respect, it sounds as though YOU have many preconceived notions, too. ;)

Yup, fence the immediate area around your home so the dogs can't access your porch. If the beagle isn't something you want to adopt and has no tags to denote an "owner", have it euthanized, the reality IS old dogs are rarely adopted. Grim but true. And it will probably better off in the long run.

Stake your territory however you deem necessary, but cut your neighbors some slack, please. Remember, when the s--t hits the fan you'll have to run somewhere! better to run to a FRIEND that someone you've alienated over canine roamings...

Just a thought from someone who lived many years in a very rural community.

Get the fence out back right away for your own peace of mind. When we moved to the country with our dog all was fine, he never left the property. Then the yokel the next house down got himself two dog pound german shepherds and did nothing with them other than let them roam everywhere. One day they attacked my dog while he was sleeping on our front porch and I was in the garage sweeping. I chased them off with a broom and you should have heard that yokels wife screaming every profanity at me for going after her dogs with a broom. Thanks heavens they eventually moved or had to after his "arson" job on his garage didn't pan out the way he was hoping.

Cynthia and bbaird I went back and reread what I wrote and besides some misspelled words I don't understand the reaction you said I would understand if I was to read what I wrote.Maybe you can enlightened me.If its that theres 5 to 7 dogs sleeping on the porch well all these dogs don't belong to the neighbor that lives in my backyard almost.These are dogs that live throughout the neighborhood.I do have preconceived notions and I really hope I'm wrong about that,hence the reason I'm planning in advance how to handle this.I will be the new person in the neighborhood and don't want to cause trouble but then again I don't want the neighborhood dogs staying at my house either..Debbie

"Cynthia and bbaird I went back and reread what I wrote and besides some misspelled words I don't understand the reaction you said I would understand if I was to read what I wrote."

Huh? I didn't say that. If you read my post, all I said was, "This all sounds so strange to me.".

I was referring to the roaming dogs that kinda/do/don't belong to people and the way the community cares for the animals.

I know that bbaird.I was mostly referring to the post under yours.I wasn't sure what is being implied that I would understand if I reread my post.So my response was in no way a putdown to anyone and I hope it wasn't taken as one.Debbie

I think all cynthia was simply stressing that it is a strange situation -- not disgreeing with you. A person might assume you'd be in a peaceful perfect setting when you move to the country, but as you've realized, there may be more problems than one would anticipate. Sounds like sympathy to me! (I sympathize as well!)

Maybe you could put up a decorative fence around a portion of your front yard to keep the neighborhood dogs off of your porch.

It sounds a bit strange to me. I've lived in my house for 25 years and have never had a dog in my yard, let alone seven sleeping on my porch. It will be expensive to fence in all that land but probably worth it. Country living isn't some times as tranquil as it seems. Re: no zoning laws. But what's with the seller? Disposable animals. I'd tell her what I thought of her. I hate the ads in the paper..Moving..free whatever...animals are NOT disposable things. I have NEVER moved and left an animal behind including when I was very young and fed a stray Tom cat. He never was in my house but I did feed him so when I moved, I took him 200 miles with me.Not a fun car trip..

debbie, please don't misunderstand but why did you buy the house without checking things out beforehand. We have a lot of that unhappiness up here from people from the city who think they're moving to the garden of Eden and find out how different things are in the country and end up moving back to the city. Tho it does'nt sound like country with neighbors so close.
What a nasty thing to do to just abandon their pets. I feel for you and for sure don't see a good solution. Good luck
vickie

Oaklief,I did know this in advance somewhat.I'm not going to let roaming pets deter me from buying a house I've wanted for the last twenty years.I've waited a long time to be able to get whats left of this farm.Granted I didn't know that this seller was going to give her pets to the neighbor at the time but I'll deal with it.I lived in the area twenty years ago and I know the neighborhood is not bad.The reason the other home is so close to the home I'm buying is because it did belong to a sister of the seller which she has sold and moved to.A privacy fence will take care of looking at the mess and I will eventually have all the yard portion fenced.A large portion is a pecan orchard and another portion is a fenced area that had horses.I don't mind animals coming through those areas but prefer that I don't have to deal with other peoples pets in my yard portion and porch.Which as I said will eventually be fenced.I was just seeking advice on how to deal with the neighbors if they don't keep the pets that were given to them by the seller contained.I no way will blame the animals if they want to come back to the home that they were raised at.Its very common in my area that people don't keep their pets ar home,they are left to wander.etc.Sad but true.

Just curious - the fencing thing, if you are in the country, why are you putting up a privacy fence? I live in a country-like setting and no one has fences. It's pretty much an unwritten agreement since fences tend to look awful no matter how nice a fence you try to erect. That's the draw, not living in a neighborhood where everyone has a fenced in yard. Out in the country people use electronic fences so as not to ruin the look of things.

I don't know, I guess its a regional thing? I see you wrote the neighbors are a mess, but you knew that when you bought the house. If there were so many drawbacks, why not look for a similar house but a better situation neighbor-wise?

Its not unusual for people to leave pets behind. Mostly cats. For some reason people either don't care or assume the new owner will take the animal in, which usually happens.

I guess I am also wondering why didn't put all of this in writing before closing that the seller must take the entire contents of the home including any and all personal belongs including animals. If you haven't gone to settlement yet, you can do that and it is enforceable.

I am sorry that such a happy time is so wrought with negatives for you.

Get the number of the local animal control officer. Put it on speed dial. Eventually the neighbors will adapt and keep their dogs away from you.

If you cannot afford the time and expense to put up a large physical fence right now, consider an electric predator fence. This is not as dramatic as it sounds. It is just an electric charged wires or plastic tape strung on plastic posts. It goes up in 2-3 hours, and you can surround acres. Cost is about $350 and up, the major expense is the charger.

We put up an electric fence inside a wire fence to contain our Huskies. We got a solar charger, 50 plastic posts, and 1/4 mile of polytape, woven polyester ribbon with 5 metal wires embedded in it. It was enough for two strands, one low one high and we enclosed 600 ft in hours.. It nearly knocked me down he first time I tried it, and our Huskies eventually learned it bites back. Check out the site below for some suggestions how to construct fences for various purposes. I am not advocating that manufacturer, their site just explains it well.

If there is a feed store or tack store near you, they can advise you.

Here is a link that might be useful: one of many electric fence manufacturers

Thank you Measure Twice!

I feel for you. I sort of had a similar situation when we moved into our house 30 yrs ago. We fell in love with our house, as it had land and to people moving from NYC was peaceful and quiet. All the houses were 1 acre zoned, so we thought we would have privacy. Shortly after moving in, I discovered that all the kids in the neighborhood walked through our property to get to the school bus - which stopped at the top of our driveway. Our property was the 'short-cut' for the whole street. Each morning and afternoon, we had about 20 kids running all over the place.

Our house is on the side of a hill. When it snowed, all the kids would show up at the top of our driveway and sled down our entire property. We didn't know what to do. I wanted to make friends with my neighbors, but finally had to tell them to please not allow their children to use our property for the school-bus and for playing.

It was uncomfortable and we didn't want to do it, but had to. What amazed me was that it never occurred to our neighbors that we might not like having their kids at our house. The people we bought the house from, had 4 boys who were friends of all the kids.

We all survived and got over it. We did become part of the neighborhood eventually. That was 30 yrs. ago.

Good luck,

I personally do not believe you are under any obligation to put up a fence, unless that is what your original plans were, regardless of the neighborhood dog problem. If unwanted animals continually encroach your property, I would call your local amimal control and have the amimals removed, simple as that.
--J