My neighbor has 4 textbook cases of bad and aggressive English bulldogs. Never walked or exercised. Left to roam outside for 10 hours a day, bored and looking for trouble. They have recently learned that by barreling into the fence they can push under it like a bowling ball and be into my yard whenever they want.
I don't want our Basset or Chihuahua in the yard when this happens. Currently I have old tires and wheels stacked along the fence line to stop them....but that looks pretty trashy. It hit me today that perhaps tent stakes might do the trick.
I know the proper way would be to add a tension line to the bottom of the fence but that isn't in the cards.
Worth a shot?
Sure. Why haven't you done it yet? LOL. Got any military surplus stores around? Good cheap durable stakes to give it a try. I think I sell them for 1.99 a steak.
Another option is 2' pieces of rebar. Drive them in 18" and use hardware wire to attach them to the fence. This works well in soil that won't hold tent stakes.
Not sure what you do with a tent steak, or how to cook them for that matter...wait, is that a euphemism for your hootus? Like trouser snake?
You might also want to consider a strong electric fence charger and a roll of poly tape. Run the strands along the bottom where the neighbor dogs will hit them coming in. Hook it up to a strong charger.
If you are lucky and the fence is yours and on your side of the property line, run the polytape on the outside.
The idea is to hurt the dogs, badly. Equating your yard with pain. A strong predator type charger does just this. It does not kill, it just hurts.
three calls to the cops, (skip the animal control, their uselss) and its done. the first time they get a warning, the second they get fined, the third the state takes the dogs.
AND every time, your neighbor gets to pay to fix the fence. ZERO reason you should have to pay to re-inforce your fence to keep HIS dogs out.
-J0N
foxtrapper wrote:
You might also want to consider a strong electric fence charger and a roll of poly tape. Run the strands along the bottom where the neighbor dogs will hit them coming in. Hook it up to a *strong* charger.
If you are lucky and the fence is yours and on your side of the property line, run the polytape on the outside.
The idea is to hurt the dogs, badly. Equating your yard with pain. A strong predator type charger does just this. It does not kill, it just hurts.
Came in here to say this, no need to call the cops, that will just piss the neighbors off more.
ditchdigger wrote:
I know the proper way would be to add a tension line to the bottom of the fence but that isn't in the cards.
Why not? A harbor-freight come-a-long and the tension wire. you're out... $50?
In reply to Grtechguy:
Older fence with a lot of plant growth around it. It would take weeks to clear out the whole thing before I could string a tension line.
So...a battery powered sawzall to remove plant growth? I see tent stakes being temporary at best.
obviously a) he cares little about the neighbor, simply because he can't just go talk to him, b) screw the dogs, their obviously enough of a threat to peace and safety to be an issue, the neighbor should be pro-active about it. its a shame hes such an indifferent owner, and a shame their isnt a better process for becoming a dog owner to prevent this kind of indifference, but neither of those should warrant the OP having to deal with this situation. and c)its not gonna be $20. it MIGHT be $20 the first time. but he is going to deal with this FOR EVER with this neighbor, and it if were me, id nip this BS in the bud early on.
but thats me.
-J0N
Grtechguy wrote:
So...a battery powered sawzall to remove plant growth? I see tent stakes being temporary at best.
It was planted with Clematis vines years ago to give a bit of a privacy barrier. They have really taken hold and look quite nice at certain times of the year. At least nicer than a bare chain link fence.
The rebar works. It's what I used with my dog to prevent pushing under the fence and digging. Pound it in 18 inches and wire it up. Every couple of feet will keep the fence from lifting, every 6 inches creates a barrier that the dog (my dog anyway) won't dig through. Quick and effective.
Electrify the fence is good idea. Build up a block fence on your side against the fence would slow them down. Rebar should work too. But if the dogs are really aggressive getting animal control or the cops involved is a good idea. I mean, what if they get out of their yard onto the street. Someone or even worse, someone's kid could get hurt. If they get in your yard and you feel threatened, I'd shoot'em. I'm as much of a dog aficionado as most of us. Always had a dog. Have a toy poodle in my lap typing this. A rescue as all my dogs were.
I used tent stakes at the bottom of our chain link fence to keep in my 15 lb dogs. I don't think it would work on much larger mutts. I second the rebar idea.
Or shotgun. 
Document every time they have come into the yard. If you have pictures, that's even better. Then do the rebar thing to reinforce the fence. Call animal control or the local sheriff's office. Tell them the dogs are aggressive and you fear for your family's safety. If you don't get action from them, then get a gun.
Rebar is probably the best way, my dad used it to keep our malamute in the yard when we were kids.
If it's his fence I don't think you can touch it. Talk to the guy, express your concerns; then call the cops.
My brother had aggressive dogs from his neighbor getting into his yard, one even bit him once. He hooked up an electric fence charger to a line run along the fence and it took one - JUST ONE - very satisfying zap and the dogs never came back through the fence again. It gave that fence a wide berth.
Every now and then the neighbor gets a new dog so he hooks the charger back up and the new dog learns its lesson.
I like the Claymore idea, but it's kinda messy. Go with the electric fence. I had a 5/8ths Pitbull once. At the vet during her "fixin' surgery" recovery time, she had nothing to do, so the figured out how to blast right through chain link, like your neighbor dogs did. Electric fence with a $15 (at the time, probably $30 today) horse/cattle fence charger fixed that problem.
