Neighbour and our dog :(

zaksmum

Dumbe wrote: »

It sounds to me like the neighbor is being aggressive not the dog!

I didn't read anywhere anything the dog was doing wrong!

OP did say the dog will bark and BE AGGRESSIVE when he hears the neighbour's voice!

lisawood78

Fully agree with person one here, lovely dog but very pit like in looks and this can lead to all sorts of unpleasant situations, look at the recent story of poor Lennox.
Big lad for 6 months.
Good luck

zaksmum

lisawood78 wrote: »

Fully agree with person one here, lovely dog but very pit like in looks and this can lead to all sorts of unpleasant situations, look at the recent story of poor Lennox.
Big lad for 6 months.
Good luck

He does look quite scary. If I was out with my dogs I'd be crossing the road if I saw this fella!

krlyr

I would suggest an APDT trainer or APBC behaviourist to help you transition him from an outdoot to indoor dog
http://www.apdt.co.uk
http://www.apbc.org.uk

Might be worth contacting some of the rescues that deal with ex-puppyfarm dogs, like Many Tears, to see what advice they have on getting a dog used to homelife, becaue they will have experienced it many times themselves.
American based, but this link may help http://www.mchumane.org/RehabilitationofaPuppyMillDog.shtml

At the very least, my priority would be making the dog safe from anything this neighbour may do, whether he does it legally or otherwise. I would suggest an enclosed kennel and run as opposed to a standalone kennel and loose in the garden. The enclosed run will provide shelter even if he prefers to be in the outside area, you could face it away from this neighbour and cover up one side to prevent the dog seeing him, and the neighbour will be unable to throw in any poisoned/baited meat, lean over the fence and claim to have been bitten, make a hole in the fence to let the dog loose, etc.
You can often pick these kennel and runs up off Ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_fspt=1&_sadis=50&LH_Distance=BD5%200DX..50&_sacat=0&_fpos=BD5%200DX&_nkw=dog%20run&_sop=1

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I had a rescue dog just like that. He even came with the Scumbag padlock and chain.

He lived indoors, was great with the cats, great with the kids, absolutely 100% trustworthy as any dog can be. The only time he ever growled was when some bloke was trying to talk his way into my home. The bloke quickly disappeared.


He was, however, very vocal, talked all the time. And food motivated. So there had to be a baby gate on the kitchen and the bin was emptied after every meal.


I don't think your one was six months old when you got him, though - nearer nine months, so probably as he was getting to be a bit too big to handle - and too soft to get involved in fighting.



Anyhow, getting him indoors is going to take some work. But it's not impossible. After all, just think from how far away you can hear a dog barking when they're outside - miles - compared to indoors, where it's muffled immediately and cannot carry anywhere near as far. The dog outside WILL be louder and more annoying to even morons like the one you have living next door, compared to being indoors. You just have to put up with more noise.


And no, a staff will not starve himself to death. Allocate him a special space, like the kitchen, with a bed, with a bowl and let him associate it with his home. Everything good happens there. Some people build little dens under the stairs or between cupboards or under the kitchen table for their dogs.

It'll take time and effort, but you could be saving his life by doing it.

zaksmum

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I had a rescue dog just like that. He even came with the Scumbag padlock and chain.

He lived indoors, was great with the cats, great with the kids, absolutely 100% trustworthy as any dog can be. The only time he ever growled was when some bloke was trying to talk his way into my home. The bloke quickly disappeared.


He was, however, very vocal, talked all the time. And food motivated. So there had to be a baby gate on the kitchen and the bin was emptied after every meal.


I don't think your one was six months old when you got him, though - nearer nine months, so probably as he was getting to be a bit too big to handle - and too soft to get involved in fighting.



Anyhow, getting him indoors is going to take some work. But it's not impossible. After all, just think from how far away you can hear a dog barking when they're outside - miles - compared to indoors, where it's muffled immediately and cannot carry anywhere near as far. The dog outside WILL be louder and more annoying to even morons like the one you have living next door, compared to being indoors. You just have to put up with more noise.


And no, a staff will not starve himself to death. Allocate him a special space, like the kitchen, with a bed, with a bowl and let him associate it with his home. Everything good happens there. Some people build little dens under the stairs or between cupboards or under the kitchen table for their dogs.

It'll take time and effort, but you could be saving his life by doing it.

OP says the dog's 6 months old NOW, not when she got him from a friend who got him from a breeder. And the complaints about him began 4 months ago, when he'd only have been about 8 weeks old.

He looks a lot older than that in the pic with the chain and padlock round his neck, which OP says was when she first got him.

Raksha

I would also say he's very much a 'pit bull type' - so sad to think he's at risk, OP - please make sure you are aware of the legal position regarding the possible seizure of such dogs http://www.deednotbreed.org.uk/
Hope this helps.

lisawood78

Hang on, there's no way that dog in the picture above is only 8-10 weeks old. I own Great Danes and they are not that big at 10 weeks, far from it. Op are you sure the dog isn't older than the age you were told? Just doesn't seem quite right to me.
And your neighbour sounds like a prat

somethingcorporate

Yep, for the sake of your dog please get working on making him an indoor dog. The last thing you want is your neighbour reporting him for being aggressive and you having him seized.

Fire_Fox

Seems to me there are two issues here, the neighbours behaviour and your passive/ negative attitude to training and socialising your dog when he is still very young. IMO at six months you should be training him daily, not going to in the future or starting again. Guard or working dogs are trained intensively from a young age, if you are not doing this frankly you are NOT raising a guard dog you are just neglecting your pet by chaining him up in the garden. Have you taken him to puppy classes, advanced obedience, thoroughly researched how to train a guard or working dog, got a referral from your vet to an animal behaviourist? Do you have heating in the outside kennel and enough space for him to move around, if not what are you going to do when it frosts or snows? My worry would also be if he decides to poison the dog, which is a lot easier with it being outside.

You neighbours behaviour: contact Environmental Health yourself and ask them to mediate over the noise then you have a record of being reasonable and proactive. Keep a diary of ALL noise your dog makes whether you think it is acceptable or not and all negative contact with the neighbour. Phone the police every time he is abusive to your family or your dog and about the camera. If he is a council tenant contact the council's antisocial behaviour unit about the harassment and abuse, the more information you can give from Environmental Health and the police the better.

This takes time to get a result, you would be better to nip this in the bud by getting your dog happy indoors, sorry but trying for 16 hours is a poor and short sighted attempt.