My dog, my fence, the law???

Well it finally happened. My husband had Lacey out and the neighbor, who is a druggie, her daughter and her 3 year old grandson come out her backdoor with her 5 little dogs on leashes to go for a walk. The little boy races to our fence and Lacey starts barking and runs over there much faster than my husband can get to the fence.(her driveway is closer to our fence than our garage)Well of course he sticks his fingers in and thank god Lacey licked his fingers!My husband grabbed her and stuck her in the house. The boys mother, also stoned,grabbed him.
Lacey is not well socialized with children and she is a very fearful dog,not aggressive,fearful.We spent $2,000. on a fence and have to worry at least 1/2 the time she is out there because of this(she's never out by herself)The daughter and grandson, at least for now don't live there.
Our fence is 6 ft wood along the back and the rest is 4 ft. chain link.It is just our back yard that is fenced,it's about 90 ft. by 60 ft.The zoning says it must be two feet off of our property line and on her side it is four feet. We did that to line it up with our wood fence and with the house.
So my question is this: what if Lacey snaps at the little boys fingers through the fence? Not only is she fenced on her own property but the little boy is four feet in on our property!Will we have a legal leg to stand on? Does anyone know? Has anyone had a problem like this? Any opinion is welcome.But please don't suggest talking to the neighbor, like I said she's stoned or drunk most of the time.

I can't answer your legal questions, but I have an idea that might help.

I've heard that some people get rolls of this plastic stuff and weave it through the holes in the chain link. Perhaps this would deter the kid from sticking his fingers through the fence and maybe if Lacey couldn't see him outside, she wouldn't run up to the fence. One lady on another board I check out did this on one side of her yard because she had kids sticking things through the fence and teasing her dog. She said it has worked like a charm and cost her around $120.

Good luck and hugs to your sweet Lacey!

Personally, I think any child stupid enough to stick his fingers thru a fence deserves to get bitten. :rolleyes:

I would think that it would be the fault of the parent for not watching the child, and for not making sure the child knows NOT to go sticking its hands thru fences with dogs on the other side. Of course, we are talking about the country where if I robbed your house, fell and hurt myself, I could sue YOU and WIN. :p To be on the safe side, I would try to put something up that would prevent him from sticking his fingers thru. If he managed to do it anyway, it would show that you would have at least tried to fix it so he couldn't. It should then go back to the parents.

Not much help, I know... sorry... :D

My stupid neighbor put her foot into a hole in our fence and Roxy supposedly bit it. (I wasn't there to witness it.) I asked my neighbor why she put her foot in the hole and she said "To see if she would bite me." Anyways, I called and asked around. I was told that if your pet is on your property, is up to date on it's shots and licensing, and isn't known to be trained to be aggressive, you have a leg to stand on.

You're best bet would be to call your county animal control, they can tell you.


You hit the nail right on the head w/ this one:

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I would think that it would be the fault of the parent for not watching the child, and for not making sure the child knows NOT to go sticking its hands thru fences with dogs on the other side. Of course, we are talking about the country where if I robbed your house, fell and hurt myself, I could sue YOU and WIN. To be on the safe side, I would try to put something up that would prevent him from sticking his fingers thru. If he managed to do it anyway, it would show that you would have at least tried to fix it so he couldn't. It should then go back to the parents.

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Personally I hate the way they run things around here (the USA). I mean its different if your dog is loose, but if your dog is on your property than you shouldn't be responsible even if your dog kills someone (not like they should have killer dogs but ya know what I'm saying?)

Wanna invest in an electric fence? ;) ;)


I'm not sure about your legal questions though, sorry I can't help!
It's too bad those kids are in a situation like that and their parents are such a way. :(

I'm of the mentality that it takes a village to raise a child. As an adult, I feel like it's my responsbility too, to look out for the safety of lil' kids, even if they're not mine. Kids will be kids. They will make mistakes, as they grow up and learn through life experiences. If I felt that my dog was a danger to them, I'd be taking precautions to prevent it and wouldn't so much worry about the laws and what my dog could legally get away with.
I love my dogs dearly, but kids come before dogs, IMO.

Par...

Par, I'm in total agreement with you. Even if it isn't our "legal" responsibility, I feel it is our "moral" responsibility to protect children, especially when we know there are extinuating circumstances.

What a sad, horrible situation, chocolatepuppy. I'm glad that you and your husband are so careful. :(

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Wanna invest in an electric fence?

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I think you should put up barbed wire..... on THEIR side! :D muahahahahaha!! With land mines!

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Originally posted by heinz57_79
Personally, I think any child stupid enough to stick his fingers thru a fence deserves to get bitten. :rolleyes:

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Wow, that's really mean. :( The 3 year old child has only learned, or not learned in this case, what the adults in his life have taught him. Saying the child is stupid enough to be bit is a little much. Saying the adults deserve to be bit is more accurate and something with which I agree.

I don't think you'd be liable, except possibly for the fact that you know your dog may be fear aggressive. I really like the idea Sevens had of weaving something in the chain link to prevent the child from sticking his hands through.

I knew someone that had this problem and the animal control officer told her to post signs that said "Beware of Dog" on the fence in plain view. He told her that if anyone climbed her fence or stuck a finger in then she would have all her bases covered. Her dog wasn't aggressive but the neighbor's kids kept teasing him and would work him up enough that they were worried he might bite them when they stuck their fingers in. The AC officer also told her to call the police and have them warn the neighbors to leave the dog alone.

If your neighbor is a druggie and stoned when the police come to warn her then maybe that will end some of your trouble.

Good luck.

OMG! Thanks for all the responses! I've been meaning to post this but last night got me motivated. Thanks for all suggestions.
Let me clear up one thing, I do not want this little boy to get bit as he is only three and it is not his fault he has no one to watch him.We are very careful about this situation but I do not feel that we should not be able to take our dog out because *we* should be the responsible ones!
I didn't mean to make it sound like this was just a legal issue. I DON'T want my dog taken away (they would have to use a hell of a lot of force to do that) and PTS because of some druggie that can't watch their kid! What about their responsibility as a parent?
I will take the advice of contacting someone to find out what our rights and my dogs rights are though.
And BTW, some of you were very naughty with your responses(but I loved it):D

Maybe call some sort of authority....Child services? The police?

ParNone, What do you think I should do to prevent anything from happening? Get rid of my dog? And I'm not trying to 'get away' with anything, just trying to protect myself and my dog!

Kay we've tried the police. We live in a small town and believe me they love to come out and see the two 'girls" They are the kind that attract trouble but always come out with their nose clean. Her last husband(3rd) is in prision for felonious assault.As far as childrens services I have no proof other than seeing them make drug deals and watching them snort stuff.A few neighbors have complained about her but so far it does no good.And we don't live in a bad neighborhood either believe it or not, all it takes is one bad druggie!

Maybe a shorter fence, more than her arms' length from the taller fence, would keep the baby away?

The mother should be forced to pay for the fence, since it's her child you're trying to protect.

Poor little kid. I hate seeing kids raised in environments like that.

chocolatepuppy writes:

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ParNone, What do you think I should do to prevent anything from happening? Get rid of my dog? And I'm not trying to 'get away' with anything, just trying to protect myself and my dog!

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Sorry, if I came off a lil' harsh chocolatepuppy. This is somewhat of a sore subject with me, because I've got a cousin, who's got 2 scary aggressive dogs. One's bitten several people and the other one, although I don't he's actually bitten anybody yet, I saw him lunge at my 14 year old cousin with the intent to bite. She thinks they're wonderful, because they're so protective. So she doesn't do anything about the situation.

Anyway, only you know your dog and what your level of concern is as to whether she'd actually bite somebody. So only you can discern, what's the appropriate steps to ensure others safety. I've got a very high confidence level that Murph and Oz wouldn't bite anybody (Gully's still a puppy, so although he's shown no aggression so far, I think it's too early to know for him). Even with a high confidence level, I've got a 6 ft wood fence enclosing the backyard and I always keep the gate locked and the dogs are never left alone unsupervised with kids. I do leave them unsupervised in the back yard though, because I honestly don't think they'd ever hurt anybody. I've had workmen and meter men jump the fence, while the dogs were back there, and the dogs happily welcomed them into the yard.

Par...

ParNone, It's ok, I certainly don't want to fight with anyone about this, but I felt like you were critizicing me.Lord knows I have enough problems with my neighbor. But let me assure you Lacey is not mean or aggresive, she is fearful and not well socialized with little kids.She was like this when we got her and I have tried working with her, she's been to school, but she still remains a fearful type of dog. I don't really have a lot of little kids to socialize her with anyway. I would never think aggresive dogs were great. I'm 95% sure Lacey won't bite the kid, it's just we worry so much about it, we can't even enjoy our fence and dogs. Our Mandy who is leashed because of her heart is not out as much as Lacey. If Mandy bit someone I would have a heart attack, she is so friendly and out going!
And yes legally I'm concerned like if she bit him what about our homeowners insurance, never mind what would they want to do to my dog?I just wanted to see how other people felt about it.Thanks for your input. :)

I tend to think that if a dog bites anyone, even if it's on your own property, there would be legal problems. The reason I think this way is if someone should fall down on my sidewalk (for example when there is ice during a storm) I am responsible. It is on my property and so I am responsible. I don't know if it works the same way with dog bites, but I'd err on the side of caution and keep a sharp eye out when there are little ones near the fence. I think the idea about weaving something through the fence is a good one. You could also plant bushes that would spread and provide some privacy inside your fence, but of course it would take quite a while for it to make a difference. Sorry I'm not more help.

My daughter was bitten when she was around four years old by a neighbor's dog. It was a small dog and I think it was a shih-tzu or something like that. It was tied to a tree out front and she walked over to pet it. I just asked the neighbor to show me proof of up-to-date vaccinations and we let it go at that. Shortly after that I noticed they didn't have the dog any more. These people didn't know anything about dogs and weren't very bright. In the short time they lived here they had two dogs and both went back to wherever they got them. I don't think they even had a clue how to housebreak them let alone train them. :rolleyes:

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Originally posted by jazzcat
I knew someone that had this problem and the animal control officer told her to post signs that said "Beware of Dog" on the fence in plain view.

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I can't remember where I heard it, but I heard that if you post beware of dog signs, you are acknowledging that you have an aggressive dog, so you are liable. Don't know if that is true or not.

Pam, that's what I always thought, if it's on your property you're in trouble. I doubt that much damage could be done through the fence. If she were to bite it would be more of a nip.Depends on how the neighbor would take it. Lacey is up to date on her shots.I guess for now we'll continue to be a nervous wreck and try to be careful. As the boy gets older I'm sure he'll be teasing my dogs and we'll have more problems. This lady has made our lives a living hell. I know the mother would let it be but the daughter , well I don't know. Anyways I'm hoping nothing ever happens but it's a shame we put a fence up so our dogs could be safe and be outside with us and then this:(

stacwase, I thought about a double fence, but get his mom to pay, I don't think she even has a job and I think the boys dad is in jail. Grandma (the neighbor) has a good job but I know where all her money goes!

Tonya, I heard that before too. I thought I read it in dog fancy a long time ago, that it's not a good idea, like you're admitting you know your dog may bite. Don't know if it's true though.

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Originally posted by Tonya
I can't remember where I heard it, but I heard that if you post beware of dog signs, you are acknowledging that you have an aggressive dog, so you are liable. Don't know if that is true or not.

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Oh wow, well then forget what I told you. My friend that was told this lives in a really backwoods kind of county so who knows if the animal control officer even had a clue.

On that note though, we had problems with neighborhood kids climbing our fence to get their ball and I was terrified that one of them might fall in the pool and drown so I asked my insurance agent about it (I just happened to be talking to him that day) and he said we should post No Trespassing signs on the fence. I don't know if that would really help from a legal stand point but I did notice that the kids quit climbing the fence. At least it made me feel like they had been warned - even though me telling them to stop didn't help.

jazzcat That's funny I was just telling my husband that we should put up a no tresspassing sign facing her property.Of course a 3 year old can't read but mom and grandmom might get a clue.

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Originally posted by heinz57_79
Personally, I think any child stupid enough to stick his fingers thru a fence deserves to get bitten. :rolleyes:

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exactly my opinion also! i think that you have a legal stand on the subject.

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So my question is this: what if Lacey snaps at the little boys fingers through the fence? Not only is she fenced on her own property but the little boy is four feet in on our property!Will we have a legal leg to stand on? Does anyone know? Has anyone had a problem like this? Any opinion is welcome.But please don't suggest talking to the neighbor, like I said she's stoned or drunk most of the time. [/B][/QUOTE]

We had an alaskan malimute/wolf mix who was the greatest dog! He was NEVER agressive toward anyone. My eight year old sis and all of her friends would run around with him in the back yard and he would just wag his tail and run around. The next door neighbor boy,about 7 or 8, was sticking sticks through our 6ft wooden fence trying to poke the dog. the dog was trying to grab at them because he was very playful. then the boy stuck his finger in the fence and Kovu nipped at it...a tiny little bite no bigger than a blackhead (sorry had to think of something REALLY small)..it wasn't even a bite, it was a tooth mark that drew blood. The animal control came and took him and put him to sleep!

thats horrible!!!

Does everyone see why I'm so concerned about this? I have to worry about this everyday of my life- that something could happen. Checked out some slats to put in the fence but the ones we looked at wouldn't do much good the kid could still put his fingers through it. Then a finger might even get stuck in the fence and they could blame us for that. Will call animal control and any other place I can think of this week as I am off the rest of the week. Maybe they can give me some insight as to where we stand on this. I tell you it's a shame to spend all that money on a fence and can't use it because of someone else. We have to be right there all the time watching Lacey and she hasn't done anything wrong!