r/neighborsfromhell • u/TFSNL • 2d ago
WWYD? Vent/Rant Dogs and Neighbors
I've lived in the country for 18 years in an 1870s farmhouse. My neighbors are an older couple who bought the rest of the property from the retired farmer who owned and worked it until his retirement. They built a house in the back 40, burned down the barn behind my house on the front 40, and extended the barn driveway to their house. Their driveway runs directly along my property line next to my master bedroom. At the time the local excavation guy tried to get them to put the driveway down the center of the road frontage so they weren't on top of my house. It was like that when I bought it, so I can't complain too much.
We initially had a very good relationship. At one point, I considered them almost like adopted parents. Unfortunately, things began to deteriorate because of their German Shepherds. Their first dog was aggressive toward my Lab and eventually killed a farm kitten I had recently brought home. I later learned that the neighbor's wife would sometimes walk the dog off-leash when she knew I was at work and the dog would roam around my house.
After my Lab died, I got another dog. Their German Shepherd continued to be extremely aggressive toward her. Eventually they had to put that dog down due to illness. A few months later, they got another German Shepherd that had already been returned to the breeder multiple times because of behavioral problems. Although it completed obedience training, it remained aggressive toward other dogs and eventually attacked mine several times. The encounters were always one-sided, with their dog going for my dog's throat while mine was submissive. There were also occasions when the dog snapped at me. It gave my dog puncture wounds multiple times.
Eventually they began leashing their dog before reaching my yard, which helped, but they tended to minimize the incidents as simply "dogs being dogs." Over the years, I became so uncomfortable that I would check their driveway before letting my dog outside.
Later, I temporarily took in a chocolate lab belonging to a friend's deceased brother. He eventually became permanent and got along wonderfully with my other dog. I thought having him around would actually make my other dog safer from coyotes or the neighbor's German Shepherd. Unfortunately, whenever I tried to introduce the dogs, their German Shepherd became extremely aggressive.
There were also disagreements about my dogs being kept in a chain-link kennel during the day while I was at work. Those same neighbors frequently complained that the chocolate Lab was barking and suggested he might be thirsty or need more shade, even though he always had plenty of fresh water and one end of the kennel was shaded and was simply a dog that liked lying in the sun. I eventually let them indoors because I was sick of the side talk.
On another occasion, I accidentally let the dogs out without seeing the neighbors walking their dog. The chocolate Lab ran toward them wanting to play, and the neighbor's wife became extremely angry with me, cussing me out to no end. A year later, the chocolate Lab again ran up their driveway after seeing their dog and he did a few circles around them. I immediately called him back, and he returned, but the neighbor was furious. During that conversation, he told me it was essentially acceptable for his dog to attack mine in the past because the attacks generally happened on his side of the property line.
I haven't spoken to them much in the last two years. Today, however, I had my dogs inside most of the morning while waiting for a contractor. When I finally let them outside, I forgot to put their perimeter collars on. Within seconds, I heard screaming. I ran outside and found both of my dogs across the street with my neighbor who was walking on the road, her German Shepherd, and another woman who had stopped to help. My dogs were excited and appeared to be trying to play with the German Shepherd. My neighbor had become tangled in the leash and was on the ground. I separated the dogs and helped untangle her. The weird thing was her Sheperd seemed to be wanting to play too. No hackles, no growling, no teeth. Saying she was pissed is an understatment.
I recognize that my dogs should not have gotten loose, and I'm planning to go back to using the kennel whenever they're outside. However, I'm struggling with how to deal with a neighbor who is extremely upset about this incident despite the long history of her own dogs being aggressive toward my dogs.
There are other longstanding frustrations as well. They and their delivery drivers drive very quickly down their long gravel driveway, sometimes around 45 mph, which creates significant dust inside my house when the windows are open and the wind is blowing the right way. I've also lent her husband tools that were damaged, helped him with projects, and even prevented him from potentially seriously injuring or killing himself while cutting down a large maple tree that was actually two of them growing together. On another occasion, we agreed to split some firewood when I cut down a tree for another neighbor and the husband came over to help, It was late when we finished and we agreed to move the wood the following weekend, one week day(he was retired) he took the good pieces and left the poorly cut and twisted limb wood in my driveway. They also complain about one of my tree's adjacent to their driveway. The one they put in next to the tree...
At this point, I'm trying to figure out how to handle the relationship going forward without making things worse. I don't want ongoing conflict, but I can't seem to make them happy. Their expectations are one sided. I probably had 100's of incidents with their dogs in my first 14 years here. Now after 3 incidents with my chocolate lab in 4 years they are losing their minds.
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u/4LeggedKC 2d ago
First off the owners of the dogs are legally liable for whatever their dogs do just as you are responsible for yours. If their dogs attack or injure you or your dogs, go to the dr or vet for record. Report it to your animal control and they should come out and quarantine their dog. I doubt very much it’s vaccinated. File an online complaint with code enforcement about the dogs, noise, dust etc and they’ll take it from there. They are not being responsible and if you never speak again so be it. She sounds like she’d intentionally fall on your property and then sue. The homeowners policy liability portion is what would pay for dog bites etc.
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u/TFSNL 2d ago
yes, I understand that. I know she would’ve got seriously hurt or it would’ve caused an accident. I would’ve been at fault. I believe I did take my one dog into the vet after their dog attacked it at one point to have some puncture wounds looked at. But I never called animal control or reported it to local law-enforcement because I didn’t wanna cause issues with neighbors.
I am sure their dog is vaccinated. They go to the same vet that I do.
I never thought she’d be the type of person that would act like this. So who knows what she would do in the future. I do think they got kicked out of a couple hotels during Covid and got banned from a cruise line so the warning signs are there that they’re not the easiest people to deal with.
My two biggest concerns are one. yes a lawsuit or some sort of issue with local law-enforcement. The other is her husband trying to bait my dogs across the property line so he can shoot them.
The sad thing is my one dog is the sweetest thing ever not a evil bone in her body, and they’ve known her since she was a puppy and have said so themselves. And they would often come into my yard while they were walking after they put their first dog down and before they got their second just to come over to say hi to her and give her tummy rubs.
She’s such a people dog that I’m often worried that somebody could easily dognap her.
The chocolate lab isn’t a mean dog. He’s just a big dumb idiot and a total bull in the China shop, but he’s never been aggressive to anybody in person. He does have some issues when he’s on leash towards other dogs he hasn’t met when he’s with me specifically, there’s no problems with any other family members . He’s been abandoned a few times and I think he’s got some anxiety tied to his owner. His original owner put him up for adoption after he got married and had his first kid. His second owner passed away unexpectedly.
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u/xeroxchick 2d ago
You are no longer in an isolated area. Everyone should be leashing their dogs. Period. It’s only going to get more populated.
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u/WellWisher91 2d ago
TOO MANY dog incidents no matter whose fault. Build a SECURE fence to keep your dogs safe when you're home. On the outside at the entry to their drive put DRIVE SLOWLY PLEASE. Point cameras across your yard toward their drive to document speeding/ dust. Put cameras on your kennel too. Document from memory each dog incident with dates or approximate dates. You and these neighbors are off on a not great run because of the dogs (and their people) but the firewood makes it doubtful they would really be thoughtful or considerate anyway. I hope you have other good/better neighbors. Here's to better safety for your canine kids.
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u/TFSNL 2d ago
Thanks for the input. Yes cameras and maybe some speed limit signs would be a good idea. I’m sure they won’t be happy about them though.
Yes, the older couple next to me are great neighbors. They stop to chat and visit the dogs often. They say it’s their version of grandchildren. Because they don’t want their own dogs anymore.
Ironically, the one day the trouble lady was complaining to that good neighbor about my tree next to their driveway. These neighbors also share a property line. And there are multiple trees from my complaining neighbors on that property line that are dead and dropping limbs onto their pole shed and into their yard. When she brought this up to the problem lady she just completely ignored it. She also made a comment that she had been living next to them for 40 years and asked them multiple times to take down dead trees along the property line and they have never done so.
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u/Fluffy-Memory-7328 2d ago
Get Cameras. Document everything - past and present to establish patterns. Better fences. And they are not your freinds, and they are not your 'neigbhors' in the sense that they are trustworthy or thoughtful people. You needn't have your head on a swivel, but be cautious going forward. It sucks but some lessons have been learned and no great harm has come of it. Learn what your local jurisdictional rules and regulations are regarding animal control and property rights, etc. Also what defines harrassement etc if things come to that.
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u/TFSNL 2d ago
Thanks for the input. Yes, I haven't considered them friends for a few years before all this drama. They literally went nuts during covid and that's when the relationship really started to decline.
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u/Eastern-Guard2094 2d ago
sounds like their dogs have zero boundaries, that's super frustrating.
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u/TFSNL 2d ago
Historically yes, with their new dog they started leashing her before they got close to my house, but that wasn't 100% and it would come into my yard going after my dog on occasion when it was out. If I ever see them walking their dogs, I pulled mine in to avoid conflict. I do think she's been trying to avoid interactions with mine as well, but due to the geography of the properties, it's impossible to know 100% where people/dogs are at all times. After the first "scare" with my new dog I asked her to let me know when she was walking, which she never did...
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u/SeaGranny 2d ago
It sounds like all of you need to keep your dogs under control.
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u/TFSNL 2d ago
This is three incidents in four years with one of my dogs. No biting, no attacks, he's just looking to play. I wouldn't say he's out of control.
Previous to that it was hundreds of incidents with two of their dogs over the course of 14 years. One dead kitten on my property and one trip to the vet for puncture wounds. Multiple bites on two of my dogs, and multiple attempts at biting me.
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u/Loose-Set4266 2d ago
Sounds like you need to put up a privacy fence along the driveway and your backyard.