Sounds like the "friendly neighbor" thing is off the table since your DH threatened to shoot and kill their dog. It also sounds like the owner/mother has been trying to resolve the issue, so give some credit where it's due.

The mom has more than she can handle, and is prone to making bad decisions.

It says a lot that the kids no longer let the dogs out without an adult home. They could have been very frightened, along with the mother.

That could be something that the mother might have called the police over.

OP-do you know all the local rules and regulations when it comes to owning a dog? From excessive barking to the filth and dangers of not cleaning up their excrement?

It's a horrible situation. I've got 2 dogs, one a barky bichon. I monitor the noise level when they're out and will go out to quiet him down or bring him in when he really gets on a roll. I also don't let them have the yard early or late-I walk them instead, lest I risk waking someone.

If you had a close past relationship, perhaps instead of threatening to shoot, you or your husband could offer to let the dogs out, to interact with them, or to establish a friendly relationship with the child and then give him some ideas of how to help. Offer milk and cookies after pickup duty.

There is another thread here about a gw person befriending two young girl neighbors. No critters involved, but it seems the friendship has made a huge positive difference for those girls.

Economics has made 2 earner families commonplace. Opinions differ about the quality of life for dogs in such situations, but this family at least is not leaving them chained up outdoors all day.

You have to work with what you have. Sometimes with horrible abuse, a gradual approach is not possible, but I think this family just doesn't know how to cope. I'm sure they would appreciate any scrap of help that came their way.

A dog that worked up in a state of frenzy that he bit another dog that got close to him is a serious danger. He could have easily done the same to that child had it been the child instead of the dog getting in his space. That's what I would try to get across to the mother. That is a sign of a dog that can flip in an instant and be very dangerous. This dog came to the family with a new boyfriend this dog doesn't feel any connection to the kids or other dogs. Not knowing how this boyfriend was training the dog, was he trying to make it fierce? The mother should thank you for bringing this to her attention because next time it may be her children and it may be too late. That's how I would approach her. It doesn't sound like she has an attachment to the dog and the boyfriend is iffy. I am not surprised that your husband reacted in a frightened manner the dog would have loved to be on the other side of the fence ripping him off the mower. Fences often are not enough to contain some dogs. The boy should actually be afraid of that dog! Seeing it in such a state should have scared him it sure would have scared me. I am sure your husband didn't mean to scare the boy and it might help to have him explain that he reacted out of fear for himself. This dog is not going to suddenly change. It's been behaving this way it's whole life. Putting a bandaid on it won't stop something awful from happening.

It sounds like the mom acknowledges there is a problem and has been working to resolve it. You are lucky in that respect. I totally understand your frustration, but I do think your DH might have crossed the line by telling a 13 year old that he would shoot the dog. I am sure your DH said it out of frustration and I think he needs to let the mom know that. From what I read, she appears to be open to communicating with you. I would let her know that you and DH are in fear of the dog and are not feeling safe in your own yard. Also that you fear for the safety of her kids and the other two dogs.

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

A dog that worked up in a state of frenzy that he bit another dog that got close to him is a serious danger

********

Yup, mom is not making the best decisions here. She probably is afraid that the dog and BF are a package deal. Sigh.

I will, rather than jump all over the OP for her H's losing it on the kid, support her.

There are laws in cities about barking dogs. I would call animal control and complain to the city about the barking and the crap filled yard. Let the city take care of it.

I have 2 dogs and a large fenced in yard for them. When someone walks by on the street they run the fence and bark and we quiet them down if we are out and bring them in other times. Some people let their dogs bark all night; the city has had complaints and now they are working on it.

Totally agree w/Raven. That Pit-mix was totally out of control. Fences don't always keep an angry dog in.

I would imagine your husband felt threatened by the dog and personally, I don't blame your husband one bit for threatening to shoot the dog. I would imagine your husband felt threatened. (not saying it was the best thing to do, but I surely don't blame him.)

Video the dog when he's outside. Especially if he comes at DH again when mowing.

If the neighbor doesn't do anything to remedy the situation, call the police and file a complaint. Get it on record. NO ONE should have to live in fear that a dog will come through a fence, or should have to put up with smelling dog crap from the neighbors yard.

Gosh, the advice here has gone from compassionate to calling in authorities in anger and fear. I kinda think some calmness needs to prevail. It does seem like the home owner and her two dogs and 2 kids are in need of some thoughtful help.... like a friendly "coffee-neighbor meeting" like matti suggested and...... how can we help you find a solution to the situation as well as apologies made. Some dogs like that "fence fighting" and it is one of the things our shelter works at in re-training rescue dogs. It should not mean the dog is 'vicious'....even tho it does sound terrifying especially if it has the "PIT-BULL" name attached. If the "pit-bull" is going to be a member of the family.....and they can be the "best" if trained and cared for, then some training needs to be started. Perhaps the 13 year old boy can be encouraged, not only to help train him, but to begin being responsible for picking up all three dogs droppings. My 2 GGrands (ages 4 and 14) do it daily....and the 13 year old could be encouraged to play with the new member of the dog family, instead of just turning all three lose in the yard after school. Good exercise and learning experience for all. That family could use some help....IMO. And in doing so..,..YOU are the good neighbor during that family's bump in the road.

Thank you all for your responses. I do agree that DH went too far is
threatening to shot the dog...he acknowledges that also and will talk to the boy
and try to make him understand why the threat was made. What set DH off was
when it attacked the little dog. What if the dog got loose and attacked our
granddog which is often sitting on my lap while I tour my yard and gardens on my scooter.. There is no doubt now that it would if given the chance. The elderly
neighbor on the other side is terrified of it. It got out once and went across
the street and tried to get at the fenced in dogs there.

The thing is, that this has been going on since last August when the dog
first visited here. We have tried to make friends with it, offering treats
through the fence, talking to him.

I know that the Mother has given the kids orders to not let the dog out there
barking for long periods. But it seems that they just tune it out once they shut
the door. This has been going on since school started in September.

We do have an ordinance that a dog can not bark for more that 15 mins and
animal control has spoken to them. The fine is $500. I am thinking that is why a
bark collar was finally bought. Our suggestions for helping solve the problem
fell on deaf ears too many times for us to continue to be nice about it.

Believe me, we have been very helpful to this family from the day they moved in 6 years ago. The kids and Mom spent a lot of time with us and DH has done uncountable favors for them. Since the divorce, 3 years ago, Mom is more interested in her social life and weekend partying. That is where she picked up this loser that about once a month she throws out and takes back. I told her the last time she tossed him that the single most important thing is the welfare of the kids and if they need anything they should come to us.

That boy, by the way, let it be known that he would not help carry over to their yard the cut up wood from a tree we cut down a couple weeks ago. "So Mom, he said, If you want it you can carry it" That is his attitude on any thing that might even hint of work.

Again thanks for all your responses. I appreciate every angle presented to me and will keep it all in mind.

Perhaps you could do a little research on a good dog trainer in your area and recommend them to your neighbor?

Our "pit mix" is an extremely fearful dog and he will guard his backyard from squirrels, birds, and heaven forbid a stranger walks up to the fence. But the same stranger can be in the house and all is well.

The only answer is training. Buying a collar that shocks him when he barks - if that's the type of bark collar they have - that is not going to solve the problem of him guarding the fence. Plus I think they are cruel. Dogs bark. Excessive barking is a training issue.

The dogs need let out when the boy comes home from school to go potty. Then he should bring them back inside. Sounds like they should only be out when supervised at this point.

Good luck.

It's so frustrating when people just put the welfare of others completely out of their minds. This lady sounds like a flake and I feel for her 13-year old son. Bringing some bum around to live with them is just about the worst parenting decision she can make. That's going to pay off in spades, and not in a good way.

I hope you stay safe, and if at all possible, the dog gets to a proper home with proper training and treatment.

Training would be a good investment, but I am sure there is no money for it, in fact I doubt that those dogs get the medical care needed either. There was an elderly Beagle before the two bulldog types came. It was is in need of relief of it's suffering from the ravages of old age. No money to put it down. So the ex Mother in law who couldn't stand seeing the dog suffer gave her the money.

I am so sorry you are experiencing this. It sounds very much like the neighbors are not going to put any effort into making these dogs be tolerable in any way. And since you have been more than open and helpful to them in the past and it has not accomplished anything, I think probably the law is all you have to work with here.

This has just happened with my next door neighbor. She has/had (I hope he is gone now) a bull terrier that is very aggressive. Her son's friends won't come over because they are afraid. He charges my fence when I am out there weed whacking the grass at the fence. He got over into my yard last year and went after Fred. Fred stood his ground and when he turned towards this dog, it ran off yelping!! It's very unpredictable and it got out again last Saturday and went after the neighbor on the other side of me! The dog came up from behind and was about to bite him when he turned around and yelled at him. He stopped and ran into my backyard. Luckily my neighbor's sons and wife were not home at the time because they would have been traumatized by the attack. He made it known to the owner that he would not stand for it anymore. I told her that it wasn't worth her losing her house in a lawsuit if the dog were to injure someone. She agreed and the dog was supposed to be gone this past Sunday night. I haven't seen him since but haven't been able to ask her either. She contacted the dog's original owners and they were supposed to take him back. If that fell through, she was going to contact a breed rescue to take him. At least she has been very cooperative and apologetic that this happened.

I hope your situation ends soon and peacefully. Do they know that they are responsible for any damage that dog does??

Some people should just not have a dog! I guess it's better than being in a shelter, or being abused etc. But still......

I just want to say that I am sorry you have to live with this situation. I used to have two black labs next door that barked all the time. I was never so glad to see someone move away. Hope things improve for you.

call animal control again...and keep calling until the issue is totally resolved in whatever way

I hope this issue is resolved soon - both for you and your neighbors. It's a nasty situation and using a dog bark collar isn't going to change the dog's nasty behavior. My neighbor tried the dog bark collar on her large schnauzer but the dog was smart enough to realize that he could bark twice then pause for a few moments and then bark twice again. It was nearly as bad as constant barking.

Good luck.

I am hoping it will be resolved quickly too. The house is for sale, but I am not thinking any move will happen soon as the for sale sign has been in place for 17 months. Nothing is done to improve the 'curb' appeal and I know the inside is pretty much uncared for. Grass not mowed in weeks, old mower sitting out in side yard along with picnic coolers, rusted bicycles, folding lawn chairs, one draped with several articles of clothing that have been there since the last weiner roast last fall. And can you imagine how a prospective buyer thinks when they walk in and see/smell the results of 3 dogs that are pretty much uncared for, inside and out. Plus they are asking at least $25,000 too much. No, I don't expect a new neighbor anytime soon.

I get upset with our neighbors across the street, a beautiful family, but utterly careless with their adorable little shih tzu, Scruffy. He's pretty much allowed to go where he wants, in spite of leash laws.

He's very street savvy and friendly, but he's little......and even though I've told these people about the coyotes and fox that I see on a routine basis, Scruffy is still allowed to roam.

I feel that he's doomed; it's almost inevitable.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this and feel sorry for the dog, too. I would definitely keep calling animal control as needed. I am also dealing with a neighbor dog. It's a very sweet older golden retriever, but has always been allowed to roam out their back door when it potties or needs fresh air. (We just moved in here 7 months ago.) We are on a wooded cul de sac, and the dog doesn't go far from home, but it does come in our yard on occasion and I have picked up its poop a few times. The other day I was sitting on our front porch with my senior cat on my lap. (Kitty is only ever outside with me and doesn't leave our porch.) Neighbor dog comes up on to the porch - he had come through the back service door of our garage so I didn't see him approach. Dog started barking when he saw the cat, and chased the cat through the garage and up a tree. Poor kitty just had surgery last week on its side for tumor removal. The last thing he needed was to be chased and treed. It's been a few days since this happened and he is still really jumpy. People need to keep a handle on their pets, and if they can't or won't do that, they shouldn't have them. My cat should be able to sit on our own porch with me, but I guess those days are over, because I can't trust that the dog won't come onto our porch again.

maire_cate

I hope this issue is resolved soon - both for you and your neighbors. It's a nasty situation and using a dog bark collar isn't going to change the dog's nasty behavior. My neighbor tried the dog bark collar on her large schnauzer but the dog was smart enough to realize that he could bark twice then pause for a few moments and then bark twice again. It was nearly as bad as constant barking.

*****

OMG, I laughed so hard at this comment. Not laughing at you, just at the irony that some dogs have more smarts than their owners.

And can you imagine how a prospective buyer thinks when they walk in and see/smell the results of 3 dogs that are pretty much uncared for, inside and out. Plus they are asking at least $25,000 too much. No, I don't expect a new neighbor anytime soon.

******

Houses (well, the owners) like this are so frustrating. The house will probably never wind up in the right hands where it gets cared for.

We have a house like that a few doors away. Not that bad, but since the original owners sold it, it's be defaulted on a couple times and sits empty now.

Have hope! There are people like Nicole and me. Someone could buy the sad houses cheap and fix them up.

:)

Just want to be clear, we have not called animal control. Another neighbor who is tired of the barking talked to his friend, the dog warden, and asked him to just warn them that they could be fined for leaving the dog to bark for extended periods of time. That good neighbor knows that the amount of the fine would be a hardship and wanted to avoid that if possible for them. None of us are 'heartless' here.

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

I get upset with our neighbors across the street, a beautiful family, but utterly careless with their adorable little shih tzu, Scruffy. He's pretty much allowed to go where he wants, in spite of leash laws.

*********

I am hard pressed to take action, but this would probably prompt me to take video and call animal control.

That is cruel.

I just about lost my mind when my dogs have gotten out, which has thankfully only been twice, with very quick recovery. The thought of (ultimately) my carelessness leading to an accident which kills them would be almost too much for me.