We have lived next door to the most rude, unappealing family for the last 15 years. They are quiet, though, for the most part and we have just learned to tolerate them.
When my daughter was an infant, they got a Labrador puppy and did not train him and he ran the neighborhood (we are out of the city limits so leash laws don't apply) and got into mischief, and then barked non-stop when they put him in a pen. Fortunately for the dog, they realized they were in over their heads and rehomed him a year later.
All these years, they have been petless, and not really a bother. Their children graduated from high school and moved on to college. Then their son gets a puppy....
Yep, the couple now own "Rascal." He is an Australian Shepherd/Rottweiler cross. They made him a large run in the backyard and they exercise him a couple of times a day and he seems to have house privileges as well (as much as I can tell by spying on them from my bedroom window!) He barks a fair amount and always barks when I go into the backyard. We have a privacy fence, so I can't really see him.
A few weeks ago, he ran at us aggressively as we were walking on the street. We cautiously let him "say hi" to our dogs and then the female owner became her usual snotty self and claimed that he was not "running toward us" and led him away. O....K....then how'd he get into the street? We determined then that the dog has ZERO social skills.
On Thursday I had my dishwasher repaired. I let the guys out the front door when they were finished and as I walked back into the kitchen I heard barking, then yelling, and rushed out to see Rascal running at them VERY aggressively. I called his name, hoping to snap him out of it, but then the "female" came again and said to the repair guy, "Stop harrassing my dog!"
HUH? He ran from his yard, into mine, tried to bite the repair guys and they were harrassing him??? One of the guys even pulled out a gun, the other grabbed a stick and she finally led him away. HOLY MOLY!!!!
Today I was in my garden, and heard the mail carrier's truck. He stopped and got out as he was bringing a large package to my porch and again I heard barking heading across my front lawn, followed by the "female" calling him. OH CRAP! Nothing happened this time, but a few minutes later, I could hear him really worked up in his pen as he watched some neighbors walking in the street.
I'm at the point now that I don't want my daughter to go into the front yard, and she LOVES to get the mail every day as part of her afternoon routine. I don't know what to do, as this couple has a reputation for being really difficult and I've yet to meet a single person who actually likes them. Animal control has no jurisdiction out here and I don't think the sheriff's dept will do anything unless someone is bitten. My dh is "Switzerland" and never wants to get involved (I think I've mentioned this one before).
What to do????
C
When my daughter was an infant, they got a Labrador puppy and did not train him and he ran the neighborhood (we are out of the city limits so leash laws don't apply) and got into mischief, and then barked non-stop when they put him in a pen. Fortunately for the dog, they realized they were in over their heads and rehomed him a year later.
All these years, they have been petless, and not really a bother. Their children graduated from high school and moved on to college. Then their son gets a puppy....
Yep, the couple now own "Rascal." He is an Australian Shepherd/Rottweiler cross. They made him a large run in the backyard and they exercise him a couple of times a day and he seems to have house privileges as well (as much as I can tell by spying on them from my bedroom window!) He barks a fair amount and always barks when I go into the backyard. We have a privacy fence, so I can't really see him.
A few weeks ago, he ran at us aggressively as we were walking on the street. We cautiously let him "say hi" to our dogs and then the female owner became her usual snotty self and claimed that he was not "running toward us" and led him away. O....K....then how'd he get into the street? We determined then that the dog has ZERO social skills.
On Thursday I had my dishwasher repaired. I let the guys out the front door when they were finished and as I walked back into the kitchen I heard barking, then yelling, and rushed out to see Rascal running at them VERY aggressively. I called his name, hoping to snap him out of it, but then the "female" came again and said to the repair guy, "Stop harrassing my dog!"
HUH? He ran from his yard, into mine, tried to bite the repair guys and they were harrassing him??? One of the guys even pulled out a gun, the other grabbed a stick and she finally led him away. HOLY MOLY!!!!
Today I was in my garden, and heard the mail carrier's truck. He stopped and got out as he was bringing a large package to my porch and again I heard barking heading across my front lawn, followed by the "female" calling him. OH CRAP! Nothing happened this time, but a few minutes later, I could hear him really worked up in his pen as he watched some neighbors walking in the street.
I'm at the point now that I don't want my daughter to go into the front yard, and she LOVES to get the mail every day as part of her afternoon routine. I don't know what to do, as this couple has a reputation for being really difficult and I've yet to meet a single person who actually likes them. Animal control has no jurisdiction out here and I don't think the sheriff's dept will do anything unless someone is bitten. My dh is "Switzerland" and never wants to get involved (I think I've mentioned this one before).
What to do????
C