Neighbour's dog fouling my garden

ItchyFeet

Hi, does anybody know where i stand in regard to a neighbour's dog repeatedly going into my garden and fouling?

The dog's owner is a youngish bloke that has recently moved in with his girlfriend (she lived there before), and as soon as he moved in set about 'doing' their garden which was rather overgrown. He has cut down ALL the plants, including a couple of mine that i asked him to leave alone. Half of the boundary is fenced and half isn't - just has plants and a tree along it and doesn't lend itself very well to being fenced and is now much barer due to his gardening. The dog is obviously just going through here into my garden.

I have asked him a number of times now to keep the dog out - he started off by saying that he was going to get it fenced and then he leant an old fence panel against the gap in a rather ineffectual manner. I have just seen the dog in my garden tonight and went out and asked him to get the dog out of the garden (i may have raised my voice here as i am getting really annoyed with it). He went beserk and started effing and blinding at me and said he'd spoken to the dog warden who'd told him it was my responsibility to get the garden fenced to keep his dog out, and that the dog could go in it and sh*t on it as much as it liked. It ended in a shouting match and slamming of back doors.

Is it my responsibility to fence the garden or his responsibility to keep the dog out? Fencing will involve moving the boundary substantially out in one garden or the other. I'm not really sure what to do now as i don't really want to exacerbate any animosity.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

balletshoes

if you really don't want any more animosity, and you want to keep the dog out of your garden, put a fence up.

monty-doggy

Id get some chicken wire and makeshift a fence.

nuttybabe

We had this problem 5 years ago. The fence blew down, it was the neighbours fence. I used to go round asking her to pick up after the dog which she hated doing. Kept moaning that it was because there was no fence but refused to put one up cos she couldn't afford it as they had a mortgage and car. So do we, we also have 3 kids that the dog would bark and growl at in the garden.

I spoke to council, rspca and dog warden. council said as houses owned all they could do was send a letter asking them to keep dog out. RSPCA said I was not allowed to do anything (asked if I could do anything when it growled at me) but also that it is her responsibility to keep dog out of my garden and nothing they can do as she doesn't. And the dog warden said its private property so nothing they could do but was there a gate I could leave open on my side.........

In the end we paid a huge amount of money to put up a fence with slates so the wind would go through it and they have nailed the other kind of fencing to their side so the wind does not go through it.

We did ask them for half the money for the fence but they refused and then told all our neighbours how unreasonable we are and now will not speak to the neighbours who told them they should have paid!

elsien

Bag up the !!!! and gift it back to him?

Wouldn't help neighbourly relations in the slightest, but might make you feel better in the short term!

I don't think you can force him to put up the fence. Is their place owned or rented - could you come to a compromise with the girlfriend instead?

dancingfairy

I guess it depends on whose boundary it is as to whose respobsibility it is to maintain.
I think * not too sure that it's normally your boundary on the left? maybe worth having a look at your titled deeds. Even if it's his boundary then you can put a fence on your land as well/instead if you wanted.
No, of course that does excuse the irresponsible dog owner but it might be an easier fix.
In terms of the dog owner, if you're not prepared to build a fence I presume you'd have to get the local council involved for anti-social behaviour:(
df

ItchyFeet

Thanks for all the comments. I like the sound of the chicken wire - at least this could be wound around the plants which are all large established ones.

Their house is rented, mine is owned. I know the landlord but i'm loathe to go to her if i can find another solution. It's a very long story but i had problems with the previous tenants harassing me and damaging my property. I complained to the landlord then and she moved them to another property. The girl there now is a close relation of the previous tenants and she asked to borrow a screwdriver on her moving in day so i gave her all of mine and then she refused to give them back! Therefore i don't think appealing to her is going to help.

ItchyFeet

I don't know whose boundary it is but it's on the left so i guess it must be mine. I certainly can't afford a fence (I had a quote last week to replace 3 panels further up the garden which was £330). I don't think a fence would go in anyway without removing a tree and 3 large shrubs which aren't in a straight line, or giving up all the beautiful plants and about 4 ft of a narrow garden.

I think i will definitely look at the chicken wire idea though. It sounds cheep too.

valk_scot

I would email your local council dog warden and ask for advice on the legalities of this. He might be able to pay your neighbour a visit to discuss the fouling with him. In the meanwhile buy a child's beach spade and use it to flick the poo back over the fence. I'm not saying to aim at the patio or garden furniture, you understand, but you are allowed to close your eyes as you aim.

krlyr

What the owner needs to worry about is that a dog on someone's property without their permission is much more open to falling foul of the DDA
https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/overview

Legally, he's obligated to keep his dog under control. Getting the dog picked up for straying (you could "forget" who it belonged to when it wandered into your garden) a few times might convince him a fence is worthwhile, especially as some councils charge a release fee.

Environmental Health might get involved with the fouling side of things, the dog warden may have a word (doubt he's contacted them himself if that's the advice he's quoting), and as someone said, involving the council for antisocial behaviour (or your local PCSO may be someone to talk to) are other options to explore.

However, with his attitude you may be better off just sorting some kind of fencing out yourself, so you don't aggravate him. It's not right or fair, but may give you the easier life longterm. A few metal stakes and some chicken wire or green garden fencing shouldn't be too intrusive or expensive.

marisco_2

Most people try to establish good relationships with their neighbours when they move into a property. From the outset this guy has shown a tendency to do as he pleases and to hell with your wishes. It was reasonable of you to ask him to leave your plants alone when he was sorting out his girlfriends garden. That request got ignored. Now when you have approached him for the umpteenth time, asking him to prevent his dog fouling on your property, he sees it appropriate to respond to you in a foul mouthed and arrogant way.

Unfortunately people like this cannot be reasoned with. In order to be able to live in peace and not put up with any more !!!!!! from him or his dog, you are going to have to take control here. Put up a fence to prevent the dog coming onto your property then you wont have to endure any more interaction with him. You may need to refer to your property details if you are unsure about where the boundary lines are.