Neighbour and our dog :(

babysonia

gettingready wrote: »

9 months, coming on to 10 months really.... we are at the end of September now...

OP- is Ringo your first dog?

What kind of support/help do you have with him - your family? Husband? Kids? What age the kids?

We had a Doberman for 5years he was an ex police helper and by far the best dog i have ever come across but he died due to natural causes at the start of this year.

My fiance takes him out for 3 walks a day without fail ranging from 30mins to 1hr each time- he gets taken into a park and just runs loose to get the extra energy out. He is too strong for me to take him out. Me and the fiance are the most respected by the dog and he will listen to all our commands. I basically do everything for the dog with help. We train him daily and play mentally stimulating games for about half a hour per day.

My mother is always home will peek through the kitchen to have a look at him all day- shes not a very dog person but she helps with feeds etc when we are not home.

I have a 13year old brother who helps with cleaning his kennel, feeds and plays with him all the time. He is the least respected member as he will let him do anything in his watch.

I also have a 2year old who Ringo adores. She is never left alone with him but he will walk around after where where ever she goes and generally protect her- There was a instance when she fell over and started crying. I was inside the kitchen and the 13year old was talking to a friend over the gate.

That as the first time Ringo ever came in and nipped me getting my attention, pulled me by the trousers to go out and see what happened.

He adores everyone except this one man.

rosyw

OP, with all due respect, how much experience have you had with dogs? Firstly you don't really seem to know his age, which seem to vary between 6 and 10 months, and then are unsure as to his breeding, started out as a staffy x boxer, then you say your vet said staffy PIT x bull mastiff, then you say the vet says pit bull type? Sorry, but those pics scream Pit bull!! and I do know what one looks like. Now I don't hold with all this stuff about certain breeds being classed as dangerous, but the way your dog is being kept, and the way you say your neighbour is tormenting him makes me think that one day you and your dog are going to be in big trouble! and it won't be he dogs fault

babysonia

Fire_Fox wrote: »

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.

Our dog is socialised. He will go upto any one in the park wagging his tail and will belly flop on the floor for them to rub his belly. He is just very alert around the garden and will not let anyone enter unless i tell him its okay. 16hours was one of the many times we have tried with him. We tried for 2months straight with a dog trainer but he did not listen and became very distressed. I am looking into booking a appointment with the vet to see if he can refer me to a behaviourist.

He is not chained all day- he is free to do what he wants. Back door is always open for him to enter if he wishes. His kennel is fully equiped and has carpet-padding-heater the works. It is actually very cosy i can vouch as i jumped in with him when we first got it to get a feel of it.

Thank you for the helpful advice about the measures i can take with this neighbour i have been putting it off but i guess i need to make a stand now.

babysonia

rosyw wrote: »

OP, with all due respect, how much experience have you had with dogs? Firstly you don't really seem to know his age, which seem to vary between 6 and 10 months, and then are unsure as to his breeding, started out as a staffy x boxer, then you say your vet said staffy PIT x bull mastiff, then you say the vet says pit bull type? Sorry, but those pics scream Pit bull!! and I do know what one looks like. Now I don't hold with all this stuff about certain breeds being classed as dangerous, but the way your dog is being kept, and the way you say your neighbour is tormenting him makes me think that one day you and your dog are going to be in big trouble! and it won't be he dogs fault

I have been typing this down and condecing the information so i can go throught he posts quicker. He is my second dog and i thought a staffy and a staffy pit was the same name. I cannot remember the names for the life of me. My mistake.

Vet said he look like a pitbull type aka - Staffy pit cross Bull mastiff but he said he was not 100% sure as he could be a staffy cross mastiff. My friend said it was a Staffy bull terrier cross with a bull mastiff.
He is 10months old now that i have gone through the months. I dont see anything wrong with the way he is being kept. I am working on bringing him into the house and he has never bit or been aggresive to anyone.

There i have cleared it out.

I dont know how you perceive aggressiveness but, When i say he is being aggresive to the neighbour i mean he will bark at him continuesly- He doesnt show his teeth but to me barking at someone unless its to play is aggressive. He has never growled.

He is a very well rounded dog unless anyone steps into his territory which no one can. We have 6ft fences, high walls and the garden gate is padlocked closed. No one can come in or out of the garden unless we let them.

babysonia

Notsosharp wrote: »

I don't think the OP is necessarily being cruel by keeping the dog outside.

My mum had a German Shepherd Dog and two springer spaniels that were kept outside at the side of the house. They grew thick healthy coats to cope with the cold and the one Springer was like the OP's dog in that it hated being inside and would just pace and moan and whine when it was inside. Outside he was content and hardly barked or whined. They were kept warm in the winter with plenty of bedding and a heater and they all lived to ripe old ages. I don't really think it is cruel keeping a dog outside provided they are well looked after and catered for. Eg: exercised, fed well, kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer. There are a lot of people round here that keep their dogs outdoors including the local gamekeeper and the respected Labrador breeder.

Mum was lucky with her neighbours though, they didn't mind the dogs barking as they felt secure with them there (not that the dogs barked that often)

Mind you they did have like a proper dog run with kennel attached and the area was very secure so there was no danger of them getting out or anyone getting in. They also came into the house on a regular basis. When Mum moved house the dogs were kept in the garage with a wood burner and were often warmer then my parents! So that might be an idea too OP if you have a garage.

OP I think it's your neighbour that has the issue with the dog.

Thank you, I feel like everyone is pushing me to bring him inside when he just wont. He is very well looked after and i just feel that if he is happy outside and nice and warm then he should stay outside.
The garden is very secure there is no way no1 can come inside or go out.

My issue is just the neighbour as he can look over into our garden and that is what causes Ringo to bark. He hardly barks unless he see's this particular or if someone comes to the garden gate.

CH27

babysonia wrote: »

Thank you, I feel like everyone is pushing me to bring him inside when he just wont. He is very well looked after and i just feel that if he is happy outside and nice and warm then he should stay outside.
The garden is very secure there is no way no1 can come inside or go out.

My issue is just the neighbour as he can look over into our garden and that is what causes Ringo to bark. He hardly barks unless he see's this particular or if someone comes to the garden gate.

Who is the boss? You or the dog?

gettingready

The garden is very secure there is no way no1 can come inside or go out.

You only need ONE idiot to throw some poisoned meat over the fence.....if they do not like the dog for whatever reason

rosyw

OP, you MUST get this dog into the house and away from your neighbour! he may not be an aggressive dog, but ANY dog will only take so much before they "snap"! I speak from experience, when I was a teenager we had a fabulous pyrenean mountain dog, soft as they come, then the neighbours got a jack russell who did nothing but bark and snap at him for hours from the safety of the other side of the fence, when I went to get our dog in one evening to stop him being tormented he'd had enough and turned on me in a effort to get to the other dog, I still have the scars. It wasn't his fault, he just couldn't take anymore, the neighbours said it was our fault for having such a big dog :eek: and had refused to control theirs, and we had asked then sooo many times to stop him tormenting ours. My dad had our beautiful dog pts, we couldn't find another home for a dog that had bitten.
Take control of your dog, YOU are supposed to be boss, and if you can't get him into the house you could end up with him becoming aggressive due to your neighbour, or as gettingready has said, it only takes ONE piece of poisoned meat.

con1888

I think if the OP makes sure the kennel is fenced in and by that I mean mesh over the top too so nothing can be thrown in then there is no problem in keeping it outside. Plenty people keep their dogs outside and so long as it is warm in the winter, cool enough in the summer, fed well, watered and loved then it is not cruel in any way.

I've never had an outdoors dog but I know people who have/do and they love their dogs every bit as much as I do.

zaksmum

con1888 wrote: »

I think if the OP makes sure the kennel is fenced in and by that I mean mesh over the top too so nothing can be thrown in then there is no problem in keeping it outside. Plenty people keep their dogs outside and so long as it is warm in the winter, cool enough in the summer, fed well, watered and loved then it is not cruel in any way.

I've never had an outdoors dog but I know people who have/do and they love their dogs every bit as much as I do.

I suppose some dogs do live outside all their lives, but I'd never allow it for any of my dogs.

They live here in the house with us, have the run of the house and the best care, love and comfort I can give them.

If you are going to have a dog at all, you have a duty to look after the dog to the best of your ability.