What Would You Do? Neighbors Dog

Eh, we had a pit bull living down the street. Dang thing would climb the chain link fence and get out. It was the most amazing thing to see :)
I always brought it back to its house.

It's litter mate (I think it was a litter mate) lived on the street also and would often "escape" and come over. Same thing, I walked it home.

My dachshunds are escape artists, tunneling under the privacy fence. I am grateful to my neighbors who bring them home, or don't mind when I retrieve them from their yards.

It is part of being a community and a neighborhood. Doing for each other and looking out for each others pets and children.

My neighbor has 2 dogs that keep getting out. They do no harm but just run around the culdesac. I just ignore them. Their owner knows they get out but can't keep them from escaping for some reason. At some point they will be picked up by the pound and he will get fined.

Se should call animal control and ask them what their policy is regarding animals that get loose when the owner location is known. These people need to take care of their own dog. If animal control can pick it up and notify them, that may get their butt moving to take care of the issue.

Mom's house, mom's decision.

Your mom sounds like a great neighbor.
Her motivation seems to be coming from a good and true place.
Her choice!

It sounds like your mom has decided how to handle the problem for now. That's her right, right? If the dog is not causing damage or threatening people or other pets, it may not be enough of an issue for her to cause bad feelings with neighbors.

My mom lives next door to us, out in the country. She loves to give treats to a few friendly neighbor dogs, so they drop by regularly. I don't really like it, because they also use her front yard to poop. But it's her business, not mine.

Good for your mom, she sounds like a kind hearted woman who is looking out for the best interest of that animal.

I think this is your mom's choice on how she wants to handle since it is her neighbor. If she does not mind taking the dog back, no harm done. You said its a rental so they really are in no position to replace the fence. Perhaps they already asked their landlords and the landlords declined. Your mother is very kind. I may have taken the dog back once or twice, but then would probably get annoyed and call or knock on their door to tell them they need to collect their dog and to start using a leash if they need to leave him out for a bit when they could not be with him watching over him.

Having said that, I have two dogs and I am a responsible pet owner. If this were me, the first time someone brought my dog to me and informed me that my dog jumped over the short fence, that would have been the last time that my dogs were left outside unattended by me or my husband. I don't want my dogs loose, roaming around. I don't want them hit by a car or causing any fear to those walking by that happen to see what they assume is a stray dog.

Your mother sounds like a very kind woman and a great person to have as a neighbor though.

Ultimately it is your mother's decision on how she wants to handle it. If it were me however, I would call animal control after two courtesy returns of the dog the next time it happens. They have a legal responsibility to keep their dog controlled. No one can predict how a dog will react under any circumstance. Nothing peeves me more than an irresponsible pet owner.

For the third time I would call the neighbors and let them know, but if they do not answer I would call the dog catcher. After my kids became terrified of the neighbors dog I call the police every time it gets out. We do not have responsible neighbors (they live a few houses away). Their dog is not aggressive or mean, but gets overly excited and knocks the kids down pinning them to the ground. If I were your mother I would probably do the same thing by catching the dog every time and taking him back home just because I would feel sorry for the dog.

Boxers... are known for jumping... they are like jumping beans.
We had one.
Ours, could jump over her kennel enclosure. And let me tell you, that enclosure was HIGH.
Or, we'd put her out on a runner.

Just tell your Mom, to call the Human Society.
But your Mom seems to be mostly concerned about the dog's well being and safety. Sweet.

I HOPE, that dog has an I.D. tag on it or is micro-chipped.
If he gets lost or stolen... that will not be fun for the owners.

i have a very similar story.. the people that live a few houses up the street from us have a boxer.. he constantly got out(and for some reason always came to our house and would stand by our fence looking for my dog).. cant even tell you how many times.. it got to the point where my dad would let him into our yard to play with our dog for a while before bringing him back home.. finally it was 3 times in 3 days my dad had to walk this dog back up to their house.. well when they answerd the door they were kind of like "oh hah guess he came to your house for a visit again"... well my dad was like im serious when i say this, you have a really sweet dog, next time he gets out dont expect to get him back because if he comes to my house again hes mine im keeping him... seriously, we havent seen the dog since!
-your mom needs to make some kind of "this is the last time" kind of statement like my dad did.. not in a mean way.. but something to let them know that this is it

Okay, well... your mom is taking the tact that she doesn't want to punish the dog for being a dog and allowing natural consequences for it escaping its yard. She's assuming that means it would get hit by a car or lost or something. I think that's nice, but it's not practical.

She's not doing the dog, the neighbors, or herself any favors. I'm of the "three strikes you're out" sort of neighbor. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on negligent issues three times, but the fourth time I'm going to handle it much differently and in a way that will make it clear I'm not tolerating it any longer.

In your mom's situation, I would have brought the dog home three times but only if he had jumped the fence and was in my own yard. After that, the neighbors would be getting a courtesy call to come get him themselves. Three times. After that, if I were to see the dog wandering outside of the yard ANYWHERE I would be calling Animal Control to come get him, and that can be done anonymously.

Call the landlord, if you know him-if that doesn't work-call the sheriff. It is negligent to allow a pet to run free-it is probably a violation of their lease-you may be able to get them evicted-I know, lovely. Good luck!

When I was growing up, every single time there was a thunderstorm, this huge old English sheepdog would show up at our house. He was scared of storms & would inevitably find his way out of his own house/yard and for some unknown reason, end up at our house, which was 8-9 blocks away. We returned him the first 2 times, then started calling for his family to pick him up. I think we were almost as sad as his family when he got hit by a car while wondering over during a storm & died from his injuries.

I think for the dog's sake, your mom should let animal control know because they can compel his owners to fix the problem or find a more appropriate environment for the dog.

ETA: S.H. is right. Boxers are jumping beans. My dog is a Boxer/Pit Bull mix. He loves to jump. I am 5'8" and he can jump up to kiss my face from one spot - not a running jump but one spot like he's on a trampoline.

When his brother was alive (he died Oct '11 and lived across the street from us) these two would be VERY active and jumping. His mama had to make a higher fence to keep him from jumping out.
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L.:

As much of a dog lover as I am, I would NOT go after the dog anymore. I would hate for the dog to be killed when hit by a car. However, the dog is NOT your mother's responsibility. She has been nice. Twice is great. They aren't doing anything to fix it.

I would call the animal control for the county and have them come pick up the dog.

These neighbors aren't going to do anything about the situation unless forced to. Since they are renters, they don't care. If your mom knows the landlord, maybe she can contact them and let them know what is going on and ask them to fix the fence.

Your mom is VERY sweet to want to take care of the dog!! I think it's great - really. But she is NOT the owner nor the responsible party.

Good luck!

I would completely ignore the dog. His owners are responsible for it's safety, not your mother. Your mother cannot make them take responsibility. In fact she is making it easy for them to not take responsibility.

If the dog can get out of her yard and does no damage there is no reason for her to pay attention. Also, I would remind her that most dogs who get out of their yards/houses do not get run over. We have a neighbor whose dog has been running in the neighborhood off and on for several years and he's never been injured. Why should your mother be more concerned about the dog then the owners are?

Also, it may be that the neighbors do plan some way of preventing this but it takes time for them to do it.

I would take the dog to the pound. If they don't care enough to make an effort to keep the dog themselves, then they don't need to be pet owners. Especially after its been brought to their attention several times. JMO.

It would really depend on the relationship she has with her neighbors..... I would QUICKLY help my neighbor (several of them, actually...and have done so) if his dog got out... and he has done the same for me.

We keep our dog inside 90% of the time.... but when we let him out, he had also figured out how to get over the fence..... he didn't even come to the door to be let in, just hopped the fence. We have since fixed that, and he no longer gets out.

If it was a neighbor that I really didn't have a good relationship with, I'd try once or twice, and then probably let it go...... We've been neighbors for 15 years, though... I've also done the same thing if I knew who the dog belonged to, but it didn't happen that often....

I would frequently catch the loose dog, check for tags, and call the owner.... and I would hope that anyone else would do the same for me. I've done this whether or not I knew the owner... I didn't want anything to happen.

There is nothing wrong with being a nice person and bringing the dog back when it gets out... it almost sounds like you are more bothered by this than your mom...

However for me, with a small child roaming the yard the risk would be too great, even if the dog seems nice. I would ask the neighbors to keep the dog contained and if they did not, call animal control to remove the dog from my yard. If your mom isn't bothered by this I think it's fine to just keep doing what she has been - it's her yard after all.

Good luck

I'd call animal control next time. If they have to go get him out of the pound maybe that would make them take care of this.

Me, yes I am a sucker and would keep returning the dog (I'm an ex vet-tech, BF is a vet). I'm also in my office with a reject one eyed dog that we rescued last year. Your mom really needs to talk with them and express her concerns that the dog will get hurt. I do understand where she is coming from though.

Maybe they aren't sure what to do. Perhaps next time your mom could mention that she heard the such and such chain works great or that she knows of a great fencing company etc...

I agree with you (though it's your mom's call in the end). She has returned the dog twice, which was beyond the call of duty. And next time, all it would take would be for the dog to be agitated over seeing a squirrel or anything and its "personality" could change; she could get bitten. That would really open up a dreadful can of worms and create possibly years of strained relations with the neighbors--maybe even legal problems. Yikes.

If it were me, next time I saw the dog I'd phone them immediately and say the dog is in my yard right now; I cannot return it to you this time (no need to explain why); I'm concerned it will wander farther and be hit by car; please retrieve it now. Then when they come to retrieve it, I would come outside and say, "This is the third time he's jumped the fence and I am very concerned for his safety. Not all the neighbors are going to return him like I did or call you like I did just now. Please consider looking into a higher fence, or an "invisible fence" or some other way to keep him in your yard. If he can get into my yard, he can get into other yards or the street as well. I would hate for him to be lost or injured, but I am not always going to be around to return him or to call you, and other neighbors may well call animal control instead of calling you." I'd say it nicely but firmly and emphasize that if the dog gets into MY yard it's going to get into other yards and other neighbors may not be so accommodating.

If they don't do anything, and the dog does it again -- I would call them maybe one last time, for the sake of peace (not return or touch the dog, call them) and then any further times, I'd call animal control. I would frankly want animal control to keep my call anonymous and just handle it as "we heard there was a dog roaming the area and that you had a dog like this one."

Does your mom have fenced yard? They may think it's all fine since the dog is going into a yard with perhaps a better fence than their own!

But I definitely would never again touch a dog that wasn't my own. I don't care how he seems to be -- he could decide next time she's coming at him too fast, or he doesn't like something else in the yard, or he's startled by her. It's not worth gettting bitten.

She needs to call animal control. It's not fair to the dog to just let it stay loose and get lost and starve or get hit by a car. If they want the dog back, they will have to pay to get it out. That will make them think about keeping him contained. I personally don't agree with keeping pets outdoors.

I have went and got my neighbor's dog a few times but they are long term neighbors and I know their dog. Just a few times in 7 yrs.

I also know a girl whose dog would get out rarely. The 10 yr old grandson of the neighbor tried to pick him up. He snapped at him and caught the boys lip. $300,000 dollars in insurance money later, the kid looked pretty good.

Tell your mom to get a decent but inexpensive collar and long leash for the dog; an wrap it up as a gift and give it to the neighbors. As she hands them the gift she should say something like 'Rex is such a nice dog I would hate to see him get hit by a car, so please keep him on a leash when he is outside.

If that doesn't work, then call Animal Control every time he gets out.

I would keep going after the dog, but also let animal control know of the situation so they can address the home owners.

I had a similar issue, the dog got into our yard, a few times I brought him back, but honestly the last few times I just opened the gate on our fence and told him to go home then shut our gate so he didn't go back and poop in my yard.