Potential abuse of my dog by neighbour

sungear

I have never trusted my neighbour to not mistreat my dog when I am out, so generally when out the dog is kept indoors, even when I am there I dont like leaving her out long on her own anyway and mostly not unless i have a reason to be outside too.

Basically I know my neighbour sprayed something over my wall and either sprayed the dog with something or attempted to spray but possibly missed and the dog went and sniffed at what landed, she then had a coughing and sneezing fit.
I'm not 100% sure if it really was aimed at the dog, but she suffered a sneezing/coughing fit because of it. I was actually in my shed doing something at the time and smelled the chemical, I assumed they opened something up but it was a powerful smell like a stong chemical that gets in the back of your throat, I was inside the shed and assumed the dog having a sensitive nose just was more sensitive to the chemical wafting across the wall.
while I know it was not something that should be available domestically I have no idea what it is.
It didnt dawn on me till the next day when i saw the grass burned that I put together what happened, the strong smell, the dog coughing and then the burned grass.
I dont talk to my neighbour over some anti social activities they are up to, hence why i dont trust my dog alone out there.
I'm furious, whether they did this to get at me,or tried to target my dog,even if it was only negligence (which i know not to be the case), its wrong do I have a leg to follow up with the ISPCA? my dog doesnt seem to have suffered any burns or isnt irritated now, but I dont really know how to follow up, she is not due a vet check up for a few months, they probably know but Im looking for an answer sooner than that
I tried looking them up but not sure if there is a national number for them.

daithi09

Cruelty to animals is terrible. Why does your neighbour want to kill your dog? There has to be a reason right? I'm gonna take a guess. Sleep deprivation! I've lived in a good few places over the last few years, and dogs barking at night/morning are really annoying, often keeping me awake at night, waking me up during the night or early in the morning. Whilst I've never harmed an animal, I can't say that I've not lay in bed thinking about giving them a quick death.

Owners of dogs should be aware that if they are in a residential area, just because their dogs don't keep them awake, they may keep their neighbours awake. I've often wondered if they hear their dog at all and why it doesn't bother them? Most of the time I reckon they must sleep to the front of their house(with the dog out the back).

Rant over.
Sorry if your dog is one of the quiet ones and your neighbour just doesn't like it..

sungear

daithi09 wrote: »

Cruelty to animals is terrible. Why does your neighbour want to kill your dog? There has to be a reason right? I'm gonna take a guess. Sleep deprivation! I've lived in a good few places over the last few years, and dogs barking at night/morning are really annoying, often keeping me awake at night, waking me up during the night or early in the morning. Whilst I've never harmed an animal, I can't say that I've not lay in bed thinking about giving them a quick death.

Owners of dogs should be aware that if they are in a residential area, just because their dogs don't keep them awake, they may keep their neighbours awake. I've often wondered if they hear their dog at all and why it doesn't bother them? Most of the time I reckon they must sleep to the front of their house(with the dog out the back).

Rant over.
Sorry if your dog is one of the quiet ones and your neighbour just doesn't like it..

I completely and utterly sympathise if you have suffered that, dog noise due to uncaring owners (uncaring for their dogs or neighbours), Ive suffered it myself before having my dog, its not nice. However, maybe you should follow it up legitimately instead of suggesting giving the dog a quick death? Id like to take the shgort cut ad sort out my neighbour myself as they are scum as i know what they did, but I dont want to stoop t their level plius I think sorting it out officially does more to protect me and my dog from them and if they get their name down on some list (as in a record) as being cruel to animals they might get charged the next time
My dog barely barks, that barely is virtually non existant unless someone walks up the sideentrance, Im at home most of the time so know this, i have plenty of time to walk her so is well tired, she only does a funny yelp when she meets other dogs or is chasing rabbits.

I think they did this because I asked them to stop doing something else unrelated, as they are sneaky cnuts either they tried to damage my back lawn or tried to get my dog, I was just out of sight when it happened so just missed witnessing it but heard talking so know who it was, I was busy and concentrating so didnt go out as I didnt realise what happened until adding 2 and 2 till the next day, ie strong chemical smell,dog yelping and then seeing the grass the next day.
I got a spray to put on the carpet to stop the dog weeing when training the dog, once I was spraying part of the carpet she weed on regularily, she went in and sniffed the stuff and had a similar reaction, I tried that stuff on the grass which hasnt been used since she was a pup, it didnt burn the grass, whatever they sprayed was strong enough I could smell it inside my shed a number of metres away and it burned the grass too, I was concerned the dog might have suffered an injury (dogs noses being so sensitive)
They dont realise i know, but they have avoided me like the plague since the incident, I think they twigged I might have been in the shed but that only dawned on them after the act.

As a one off, does anyone know if i have a case against them, is there a national number for complaints, with only my word and a stain on the ground will it go anywhere?
How far the chemical reached into the garden shows it wasn't spilled but sprayed, even if they just wanted to destroy my grass, there is the careless ness that anyone including me or my dog could have gotten it on us, they simply dont care about that.

loveisdivine

daithi09 wrote: »

Cruelty to animals is terrible. Why does your neighbour want to kill your dog? There has to be a reason right? I'm gonna take a guess. Sleep deprivation! I've lived in a good few places over the last few years, and dogs barking at night/morning are really annoying, often keeping me awake at night, waking me up during the night or early in the morning. Whilst I've never harmed an animal, I can't say that I've not lay in bed thinking about giving them a quick death.

Owners of dogs should be aware that if they are in a residential area, just because their dogs don't keep them awake, they may keep their neighbours awake. I've often wondered if they hear their dog at all and why it doesn't bother them? Most of the time I reckon they must sleep to the front of their house(with the dog out the back).

Rant over.
Sorry if your dog is one of the quiet ones and your neighbour just doesn't like it..

This post is ridiculous. The OP has a legitimate problem and you have used the thread as an opportunity to vent your own angry opinions about something completely irrelevant.

To the OP - Your dog could bark the house down morning noon and night but it still wouldnt give anyone the right to harm your dog. Obviously!

I'm not sure if you have enough evidence to follow this particular incident up. Maybe you could perhaps set up some sort of cheap CCTV for your garden, like a webcam or something, so if they do anything again you will have hard evidence.

Or if they are up to other illegal activities, perhaps you would have better luck reporting that? Might give them a fright and they would perhaps back off a bit? Its a difficult one.

micheleabc

I agree with the previous post about the use of CCTV or IP security cameras. I also would make sure that the camera is well visible from your neighbours so they will know that they'll be caught in case they should attempt to do something. Of course for legal reason remember that the camera should not have a view into the neighbourns property.
For the reporting part of the issue, I don't think that this is an animal abuse related problem. If someone is damaging your property (things or animals) you should talk to the police. Also I would take the dog to the vet, just in case she should suffer of some long term effect from that spray. Good luck with this situation.

Setun

Whenever I see a thread on boards about problematic neighbours, I always see the same good advice being given: keep a record of their behaviour, and get photographic evidence when possible. God knows what they sprayed over the wall, but if it burned the grass, chances are it would have done some damage to your dog had she been unlucky enough to be hit by it.

gimmick

Is it not possible that your neighbour was simply killing weeds or some other gradening in their own garden and the breeze carried the chemical into your garden? At least thats what I hope it is.

Einhard

I think you should knock on your neighbour's door, and explain that you were in the garden when some substance landed in your garden from theres. Tell them that it burnt the grass and affected your dog when he sniffed at it. Then simply explain that, while you realise it was probably an accident, you'd appreciate it if it didn't happen again, because if anything happens to the dog you'd have no option but to involve the ISPCA and/or the police. You may have issues with the neighbour, but I doubt they'd risk involement of the authorities by attempting to poison the dog again.


Also: take some photos of the burnt patch.

EDIT: Just thinking about this now...what if there had been a child in the garden. This is a serious incident. What kind of person throws chmical products into another garden?? As I said above, I'd confront the neighbour in a passive manner...let on that you realise it was an accident, but leave them in no doubt but that any further such incident will leave you with no choice but to involve the authorities.

sungear

loveisdivine wrote: »

This post is ridiculous. The OP has a legitimate problem and you have used the thread as an opportunity to vent your own angry opinions about something completely irrelevant.

To the OP - Your dog could bark the house down morning noon and night but it still wouldnt give anyone the right to harm your dog. Obviously!

I'm not sure if you have enough evidence to follow this particular incident up. Maybe you could perhaps set up some sort of cheap CCTV for your garden, like a webcam or something, so if they do anything again you will have hard evidence.

Or if they are up to other illegal activities, perhaps you would have better luck reporting that? Might give them a fright and they would perhaps back off a bit? Its a difficult one.

I agree, am going to do the camera at the back, already have two at the front, due to car damage, since they moved in. I wouldnt be happy if she was barking a lot, but she simply doesnt do it, almost not at all, I know some people would dispute that being possible, I myself am quite astounded by it, the other neighbours didnt even know we had a dog for ages. If she was barking then it would be for a reason, I dont think she has one, she isn't left outside, simply cannot leave her there, but wouldnt want to for long anyway.
I had debated about letting her out if someone had to be away for a few hours rather than have her in the kitchen, but its not possible with my neigbours on one side,this has been confirmed to me now unfortunately.

Setun wrote: »

Whenever I see a thread on boards about problematic neighbours, I always see the same good advice being given: keep a record of their behaviour, and get photographic evidence when possible. God knows what they sprayed over the wall, but if it burned the grass, chances are it would have done some damage to your dog had she been unlucky enough to be hit by it.

Its possible they sprayed the grass and the dog smelled it, I am kicking myself, I was metres away inside the shed, I didnt twig it at the time, Im furious with them. I wish I had a camera up at the time, or had seen it, but they were there, I heard them and then my dog started acting up, I think they cleared off then, maybe they heard me in the shed and shat themselves they were caught? not sure as I wasnt really paying attention to them and doing something else, I didnt twig it and only added it all up until the following day.

gimmick wrote: »

Is it not possible that your neighbour was simply killing weeds or some other gradening in their own garden and the breeze carried the chemical into your garden? At least thats what I hope it is.

No, I dont think so, as they just turned up, i was already in my shed, they were talking, I wasnt paying attention to what they were saying, didnt want to speak to them so just kept at what i was at, I wasnt trying to be quiet but was doing something that was making no noise, so I can only assume they didnt hear me. There was a terrible smell, the dog started acting up, coughing, kinda a yelp/whine, I wasnt paying particular attention and for that Im annoyed at myself. I was finishing up what I was doing and thought she smelled the smell I had and reacted to it wafting over the wall.
They were not there when i left but I didnt hear them leave, they were just gone when i went out, gave her a look over and she followed me back into the house.
the way the pattern is, it is like it landed like it was water sprayed out of a hose but not a fine mist, if that could describe it? it is in a clear pattern, the grass went brown, today its gone very pale/yellow and is completely dead,I think it si dying back to the roots, I dont think it was even weedkiller due to the smell at the time.

sungear

Einhard wrote: »

I think you should knock on your neighbour's door, and explain that you were in the garden when some substance landed in your garden from theres. Tell them that it burnt the grass and affected your dog when he sniffed at it. Then simply explain that, while you realise it was probably an accident, you'd appreciate it if it didn't happen again, because if anything happens to the dog you'd have no option but to involve the ISPCA and/or the police. You may have issues with the neighbour, but I doubt they'd risk involement of the authorities by attempting to poison the dog again.

Also: take some photos of the burnt patch.

EDIT: Just thinking about this now...what if there had been a child in the garden. This is a serious incident. What kind of person throws chmical products into another garden?? As I said above, I'd confront the neighbour in a passive manner...let on that you realise it was an accident, but leave them in no doubt but that any further such incident will leave you with no choice but to involve the authorities.

We had a bit of an issue with them lately, had to get their landlord, they threatened me that if i did that, well there were some things mentioned by them,I reasoned with their landlord and he agreed with me, but that they did this right after he left, then made me follow up with the gardai,
I recontacted the landlord to tell him this, he was in agreement with me but i dont know how much he will or can do.
The gardai said there is not much i can do and dircetd me to the local authorities, couldnt get through to the DSPCA or ISPCA, even though i may have not much to go on, I have reported a few things to the council now today, things I was letting slide but spraying chemicals into my garden and attacking my dog like that or leaving them for her to sniff or lick up or even us to walk in, thats the last straw.

As for the edit, I know I was thinking that too, we could be out there, or that we have clothes on the line or that we could come into contact with residues after they are gone and unbeknown to us.
They threatened me numerous times when i request not to block my drive, and I let that and a few other things slide, but I eventually had to call the landlord over for them blocking of the drive, they wont move but if i say, look if you wont move I call the landlord, then they threatened me if I did that I would be floored. I should have stayed inside and called the gardai
Now I dont care about the consequnces, i actually think they wont follow through on their threats to hit me, but will more likely puncture a tyre or do something sneakily, I reported the issue to the local council and someone is to get back to me, not sure if I am wasting my time trying to get hold of the DSPCA.

sungear

Just so I dont make this confusing, I am making a seperate reply
The dog seems ok, at the time she concerned me but I was more concerned when i figured out what happened.

But I say she seems ok, her annual check up isnt for a while, i think I will go there as soon as I can with her, it will probably be monday before I can go though.
I cant believe they are so sneaky and evil, that they would do that in the first place, dog or no dog, no concern for us, our dog or anything.

I am convinced they knew it would affect the the grass, she was running around the garden and is playful and friendly which i fear at times, I am so certain they are malicious types that I am convinced they tried to get her by enticing her over.

I decline to speak to them generally since they do **** and then act all nice, but if they make any passing comment about her if they see me walking my dog, I feel like ripping into them.
I kinda want to prepare what to say but dont want to tip my hand as to what they are in for.
I dont want to get bogged down in an argument, just something like, if you ever go near my dog again, I'll have everyone on you, gards, DSPCA, everyone, I wont need to call the gardai, they will, evil fuhcks. ( I know a bit of that is hard talk online but I am so furious about it, girlfriend told me to let it go today but, jesus i cant let them off the hook)

edit, If I thought she had obvious signs of injury from it I would go immediately, it doesnt appear so, but Im no expert, she seems ok, so I am hoping she just sniffed at what was there and backed off cos she didnt like it
and
actually I think I will knock on their door with the vet bill too, see what they say,

Im certain it was no accident that the chemical got into my garden, the pattern and compactness makes it look like it wasnt a vapour sprayed and settling thinly,
I think I will try the DSPCA and wait for the council and then follow up with the gardai again.

I hope she is wary of them for it now, she is so friendly and that concerns me.

Einhard

Hmmmm let me get this straight...your neighbour has threatened physical harm to you on several occasions? That's insane. I know it's easy for me to say this in the safety of my own home with good neighbours, but I'd have no hesitation in contacting the Garda for that kind of thing. I'd raise it with them for sure, and tell them that you will contact the police should you be threatened again, or should any such incident happen again.

Obviously, in saying this, I assume you aren't living beside the Dundons...in which case, move!

miller50841

Fit CCTV and have all on tape much better to know for sure then just guess

sungear

Einhard wrote: »

Hmmmm let me get this straight...your neighbour has threatened physical harm to you on several occasions? That's insane. I know it's easy for me to say this in the safety of my own home with good neighbours, but I'd have no hesitation in contacting the Garda for that kind of thing. I'd raise it with them for sure, and tell them that you will contact the police should you be threatened again, or should any such incident happen again.

Obviously, in saying this, I assume you aren't living beside the Dundons...in which case, move!

They aren't the Dundons but they are more closely realted to the Dundons than I am, shall we say. Moving out simply isn't an option, it just is not affordable, I'm in my home and they are just renting. I did contact the Gardai and they said, we could go to them and they could say you are a crank and really unless they actually hit me there is nothing they can do??
This is the first time as far as I am aware they have done something that could be construed as an attack on my dog and its a dangerous attack on me and my family too but my dog was there at the time, Im furious i did not see it, oh how I wish i did.
The camera out the front is great, no one has gone near our car since it was put up, before that tax discs were dissappearing and the door lock was broken.

miller50841 wrote: »

Fit CCTV and have all on tape much better to know for sure then just guess

I do have a camera recording box, and a few cameras, but when i went to back up stuff to my laptop, I found the file format wasn't compatible to show them on my laptop and also not easy for editing.
Does anyone know a good file format for a cctv system to be in?

I am certain their landlord has tipped them off that I know they did this and that I contacted him about it, as they have kept low all week since, they are literally not making a sound, it is the most unusual thing to experience, no noise! its peaceful quiet which makes me know for sure they are the problem, usually loads of cars coming and going and loads of noise, i hope I am not tempting fate by saying that.
I used to be concerned that the problem would be my dog might eat the ciggie butts they fire over the wall, that is usually not at the back though

hardCopy

sungear wrote: »

Einhard wrote: »

Hmmmm let me get this straight...your neighbour has threatened physical harm to you on several occasions? That's insane. I know it's easy for me to say this in the safety of my own home with good neighbours, but I'd have no hesitation in contacting the Garda for that kind of thing. I'd raise it with them for sure, and tell them that you will contact the police should you be threatened again, or should any such incident happen again.

Obviously, in saying this, I assume you aren't living beside the Dundons...in which case, move!

They aren't the Dundons but they are more closely realted to the Dundons than I am, shall we say. Moving out simply isn't an option, it just is not affordable, I'm in my home and they are just renting. I did contact the Gardai and they said, we could go to them and they could say you are a crank and really unless they actually hit me there is nothing they can do??

miller50841 wrote: »

Fit CCTV and have all on tape much better to know for sure then just guess

I do have a camera recording box, and a few cameras, but when i went to back up stuff to my laptop, I found the file format wasn't compatible to show them on my laptop and also not easy for editing.
Does anyone know a good file format for a cctv system to be in?

Have you tried playing them back using VLC media player? This will play most video formats without the need for additional codecs, if that doesn't work you may need to install a particular video codec. Most compressed formats won't play by default on windows but can be installed relatively easy with a codec pack.

Setun

What file format is it in? It should really be possible to view the video content, you might have to convert the file to a readable format, or download some plugins. Avi, mov, mp4 are very common formats which most basic video editors would support without any messing about.

Kashkai

On the CCTV issue alone, you are not allowed to record activities that take place outside the curtilage of your own property, I.e., you cannot allow any camera to record what happens on your neighbour's property, no matter how much you might want to keep track of their activities. If they think that you are recording them while they are in their own back garden, you will be the one who the Gardai will be having a word with, perhaps even ending up in court. The cameras must only record what happens in your garden and not over the wall.

I sympathise with your predicament and lousy neighbours were the reason I left my last house. They can get under your skin in so many ways and you can never feel comfortable in your own home knowing they are right next door. The best option is to tell the Landlord that you are documenting their behaviour and have contacted the Gardai. He might feel they are more trouble than they are worth and get rid of them himself.

As for your dog, I'd be careful that they don't throw poisoned meat over the wall sometime when you are out. That happened to my girlfriends cat years ago. The cat died suddenly even though it was young and healthy. The Vet examined the contents of the stomach and in his opinion, the last food ingested was poisoned. I don't want to alarm you but if your neighbours did throw a chemical over the wall, then I wouldn't put it past them to resort to poisoning your dog too.

I hope it works out for you but don't do anything that they could use against you. These people are usually more aware of their "rights" than the rest of us.

sungear

hardCopy wrote: »

Have you tried playing them back using VLC media player? This will play most video formats without the need for additional codecs, if that doesn't work you may need to install a particular video codec. Most compressed formats won't play by default on windows but can be installed relatively easy with a codec pack.

I didnt try vlc, Im not too well up to speed on that stuff, I'll look into it..

Setun wrote: »

What file format is it in? It should really be possible to view the video content, you might have to convert the file to a readable format, or download some plugins. Avi, mov, mp4 are very common formats which most basic video editors would support without any messing about.

I will check it up, I saved some files from the recording box, trying to find them, I will update

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

On the CCTV issue alone, you are not allowed to record activities that take place outside the curtilage of your own property, I.e., you cannot allow any camera to record what happens on your neighbour's property, no matter how much you might want to keep track of their activities. If they think that you are recording them while they are in their own back garden, you will be the one who the Gardai will be having a word with, perhaps even ending up in court. The cameras must only record what happens in your garden and not over the wall.

I sympathise with your predicament and lousy neighbours were the reason I left my last house. They can get under your skin in so many ways and you can never feel comfortable in your own home knowing they are right next door. The best option is to tell the Landlord that you are documenting their behaviour and have contacted the Gardai. He might feel they are more trouble than they are worth and get rid of them himself.

As for your dog, I'd be careful that they don't throw poisoned meat over the wall sometime when you are out. That happened to my girlfriends cat years ago. The cat died suddenly even though it was young and healthy. The Vet examined the contents of the stomach and in his opinion, the last food ingested was poisoned. I don't want to alarm you but if your neighbours did throw a chemical over the wall, then I wouldn't put it past them to resort to poisoning your dog too.

I hope it works out for you but don't do anything that they could use against you. These people are usually more aware of their "rights" than the rest of us.

I understood I could take recordings of my property and public areas? but not their property, the cameras look onto my drive but due to the field of view see along our dividing front wall, the end of their drive and out onto the path in front of both of us, is that allowable?

I have already before this been suspicious of the possibility they might try poison her, we can control that situation better, we cannot do as much for our caty and I wouldnt be suprised if they try something, I think they will let things quiet down maybe, then in a few months do something sneaky, i am going to put up a high fence, as high as is legally permitted on top of the block wall out the back.

sungear

This is an image of the damage the chemical did, the overall area of damage is small, its like someone walked across that part of the garden with a container leaking or more like pouring weedkiller behind them, I have deliberately left out other identifying stuff in my garden, there are a couple of other small patches.

Its not the area, so much as the fact they did it and the hazard it presents.
The area of the big patch is about just over a foot long and about 5 inches wide, I am estimating that looking at it out the window, I'll have to measure it for exactness. The seperation between this and the other patches makes me think they were spraying at her in a stop start fashion while she was moving but it could be said that is speculation, they certainly sprayed in a kind of arc across my garden, the patches are almost parallel to the dividing wall with another seprate blob of patch between them but nearer the wall as if that where the spraying ended and it leaked off whatever they sprayed with as its less damage.

franksm

Sorry to hear about your trouble with those scumbags.

Here's an elegant solution to the CCTV idea if you want to keep it discrete - it's a standard outdoor lamp with a small camera built-in. Just needs you to pop out the memory card and download it if you happen to see evidence of anything else going on:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-400W-2MP-Security-Camera-Light-Outdoor-Motion-Sensor-Video-Camera-Light-/130723619660?pt=UK_Garden_Lighting&hash=item1e6fbc234c

Alternatively, a 'proper' CCTV camera can prove to be a good, visible deterrant, but it might send the wrong signals to the scumbags. Dunno, depends on your circumstances.

BTW that grass damage looks like weedkiller or bleach

sungear

This is the dote they tried to get, animals. I have no qualms as a guy saying, I love that dog.

By the by, does anyone know a good way to get rid of eye gunk, she gets it in her eyes, I get it out with a bit of tissue and it comes out like a small bit of snot, disgusting I know. that was before this incident, I need to bring it up with the vet, it started after she had an eye infection, the vet washed her eyes out and gave me eye drops and the swelling then went down in her left eye and right eye didnt look red anymore, but she gets this gunk in both now, it doesnt seem to bother her and if i leave it, it seems to come out on its own.
It just dries on her face, I left it for a while to see if it would sort itself out as i prefer not to give her antibiotics if possible and it doesnt seem to bother her at all, but it doesnt seem to be resolving itself.

i know thats seperate to all above, just thought Id ask.
Im not looking for the awhh sympathy factor or anything, but that face breaks my heart, the thought they did this and I believe at the back because I dont have a camera there, it just pisses me off, they went too far this time, attacking her, I usually let things go but none of the neighbours realise how bad they are.

sungear

franksm wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your trouble with those scumbags.

Here's an elegant solution to the CCTV idea if you want to keep it discrete - it's a standard outdoor lamp with a small camera built-in. Just needs you to pop out the memory card and download it if you happen to see evidence of anything else going on:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-400W-2MP-Security-Camera-Light-Outdoor-Motion-Sensor-Video-Camera-Light-/130723619660?pt=UK_Garden_Lighting&hash=item1e6fbc234c

Alternatively, a 'proper' CCTV camera can prove to be a good, visible deterrant, but it might send the wrong signals to the scumbags. Dunno, depends on your circumstances.

thanks for the info, I will go for another camera, they already know I have some at the front, I never said they were for them, but one time I asked them to move their van as they were fully blocking me and the father went off on a rant about the cameras, they are not pointing to his drive, so he can piss off as far as I am concerned.
I dont really want to be hoping up and down on a ladder so i think i will go for a visible camera, or one that I can semi recess in my soffit that i can access from inside.

demanufactured

sungear wrote: »

Einhard wrote: »

I think you should knock on your neighbour's door, and explain that you were in the garden when some substance landed in your garden from theres. Tell them that it burnt the grass and affected your dog when he sniffed at it. Then simply explain that, while you realise it was probably an accident, you'd appreciate it if it didn't happen again, because if anything happens to the dog you'd have no option but to involve the ISPCA and/or the police. You may have issues with the neighbour, but I doubt they'd risk involement of the authorities by attempting to poison the dog again.

Also: take some photos of the burnt patch.

EDIT: Just thinking about this now...what if there had been a child in the garden. This is a serious incident. What kind of person throws chmical products into another garden?? As I said above, I'd confront the neighbour in a passive manner...let on that you realise it was an accident, but leave them in no doubt but that any further such incident will leave you with no choice but to involve the authorities.

We had a bit of an issue with them lately, had to get their landlord, they threatened me that if i did that, well there were some things mentioned by them,I reasoned with their landlord and he agreed with me, but that they did this right after he left, then made me follow up with the gardai,
I recontacted the landlord to tell him this, he was in agreement with me but i dont know how much he will or can do.
The gardai said there is not much i can do and dircetd me to the local authorities, couldnt get through to the DSPCA or ISPCA, even though i may have not much to go on, I have reported a few things to the council now today, things I was letting slide but spraying chemicals into my garden and attacking my dog like that or leaving them for her to sniff or lick up or even us to walk in, thats the last straw.

As for the edit, I know I was thinking that too, we could be out there, or that we have clothes on the line or that we could come into contact with residues after they are gone and unbeknown to us.
They threatened me numerous times when i request not to block my drive, and I let that and a few other things slide, but I eventually had to call the landlord over for them blocking of the drive, they wont move but if i say, look if you wont move I call the landlord, then they threatened me if I did that I would be floored. I should have stayed inside and called the gardai
Now I dont care about the consequnces, i actually think they wont follow through on their threats to hit me, but will more likely puncture a tyre or do something sneakily, I reported the issue to the local council and someone is to get back to me, not sure if I am wasting my time trying to get hold of the DSPCA.

Are they travellers??

sungear

franksm wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your trouble with those scumbags.

BTW that grass damage looks like weedkiller or bleach

I was in my shed at the time, I actually smelled that they were at something, I thought it was chemicals they were storing and that they opened a container, the smell isnt usually there, it smelled like a really strong solvent.
My friend had a look at it and he said if thats roundup, nothing will grow back!
I dont care about the grass but they sprayed chemicals where my dog, me and my family can be.

demanufactured wrote: »

Are they travellers??

Yes they are travellers, while i dont have any time for discrimination, I have less time for anti social behaviour, people locally dont realise the noise they make or how much they block our drive way as they are very sneaky about it, when no one else is around.
They actually make out they are nice to some neighbours, a few people have told me they are concerned to deal with them, some have said its best to have them onside, but the stuff they are up to next door to me is too much, its ok for others but I get it full force living right next to them.
There are certain people there that are animals, thats even unfair on animals, I dont want to get banned but I believe they tried to get her with a dangerous chemical, at the least they intentionally sprayed it in my garden. I knew it before but this proves it beyond doubt to me that they are vicious animals.

sungear

I just got off the phone from the emergency DSPCA no., they told me it is up to the gardai to decide whether to proceed, they took down what i said but whether the gard did anything about it I dont know. I am keeping a record of everything but my girlfriend is getting a bit annoyed as she says this is consuming me now, I cant accept what they did or tried to do, it is a step too far and unless i do something I am afraid something will happen to us or that my dog will be killed or have to be put down for being in agony from having consumed something out the back that was thrown over the wall.

i know that seems melodramatic, but I find it unacceptable

They could be as nice or as quiet as they can from now on and it wont matter to me, they crossed a line, maybe Im still mad but I cant accept them anymore, I cannot try with them anymore.

Maybe there is a saying, dont fcuk with a mans car or his dog? or his woman or his child or his home, i guess the list could go on but they are the top things?, not in that order. It makes me sick to even see their faces, even in my mind, i wish i could erase the existence of their memory from my mind.

Im just ranting now, I need to calm myself, I have some things to do so will check back in later.
I dont understand some people though, I just dont.

Kashkai

CCTV cameras cannot record someone else's property. Even the Gardai cannot use cameras on their station to record goings on in neighbouring property. You wouldn't like it if your neighbours had a camera that could record even part of your back garden. Recording your own garden and onto a public road s acceptable but even a sliver of someone else's land would leave you open to legal proceedings. Just be careful is all I'd say or your neighbours will have you over a barrel.

Scumbags are scumbags no matter if they are Travellers or settled people so I wouldn't go down the road of saying they are Travellers and therefore bad people. Life isn't that clear cut. Documenting anti social behaviour and reporting it to the Landlord is the best route. Advise him that you will adjoin him in any legal proceedings and he might see sense. I'd also advise removing that photo of your dog as it would help in identifying you. You never know who is on Boards.ie. Your neighbours might be reading this.

miller50841

Get onto the council and social welfare report them

sungear

miller50841 wrote: »

Get onto the council and social welfare report them

I have been onto the council, a few different depts this week, they are to contact me back.
I have considered contacting the social welfare and the hse due to their anti social behaviour but I dont know if enough or even any other people will support me, so it may be my word against theirs.
I'm going to take a harder line with the landlord, tell him if i contact the HSE and SW that he may nor get payed and they will not get rent allowance for somewhere elese, so they can either clear off peacefully or we will all suffer, we are already suffering and as its not ending I see no reason to make it easy for the landlord or the tenants anymore. i know that makes me sound like a cnut but Im putting my foot down, my girlfriend is concerned they will do something to her or try attack her when she is with our child or me when i am with our child, I am too I feel that attacking someones dog like that is some kind of warning sign or prelude to something even worse.
They just wont accept that how they behave is wrong, eg, we previously asked the mother who acts nice, to get people to stop throwing rubbish, literally hundreds of ciggarette butts in the front garden, its no exaggeration, I was picking up between 100-150 butts a week,
to think if thats likely or possible, 3 guys smoking 10 a day=30, if a thrid of them come in my garden thats 10 per day, by 7 days -70, then add the extra at the weekend and for all the visitors, hey prresto you are up to 100 easily on occasion it was more, but mostly around the 100 mark. It was after we asked, Q the spitting on our doorstep, snot and chewing gum and blocking our drive.

Anyway I need to do some stuff, I will see if I can get the file format of the recordings if anyone can advise me on that later.

miller50841

Dont speak to the landlord anymore send a registered letter to the landlord stating the facts.

Send same to council, local TD, social welfare and anyone else you can think that would need to be involved.

How old is the camera system do you have a monitor so you can see the cameras?

sungear

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

CCTV cameras cannot record someone else's property. Even the Gardai cannot use cameras on their station to record goings on in neighbouring property. You wouldn't like it if your neighbours had a camera that could record even part of your back garden. Recording your own garden and onto a public road s acceptable but even a sliver of someone else's land would leave you open to legal proceedings. Just be careful is all I'd say or your neighbours will have you over a barrel.

Scumbags are scumbags no matter if they are Travellers or settled people so I wouldn't go down the road of saying they are Travellers and therefore bad people. Life isn't that clear cut. Documenting anti social behaviour and reporting it to the Landlord is the best route. Advise him that you will adjoin him in any legal proceedings and he might see sense. I'd also advise removing that photo of your dog as it would help in identifying you. You never know who is on Boards.ie. Your neighbours might be reading this.

No, dont get me wrong, im not saying they are animals because they are travellers, I am saying they are animals because they are. At least with a scumbag they dont pretend to be anything else, this lot actually act real nice with some people and try make out they are nice, my mother even says oh they keep the place very clean, it does look cleaner than any previous tenants kept it, but previous tenants didnt threaten us.
I know well there are plenty of other scummy types around that are settled and are probably even worse. Im not attacking travellers, Im saying they are travellers, i didnt even want to get into it until i was asked but its a fact.
I have no time for discrimination, but what they are doing is wrong.

sungear

miller50841 wrote: »

Dont speak to the landlord anymore send a registered letter to the landlord stating the facts.

Send same to council, local TD, social welfare and anyone else you can think that would need to be involved.

How old is the camera system do you have a monitor so you can see the cameras?

The system isnt old, but its a basic enough one, I have a tv beside it but just review it if something happens, I really need to start backing up files and making notes of stuff, I have a written record back to middle of june now, I am going to record every activity they are up to now, in writing and back it up with photos.
Council says if its private letting anti social behaviour is not up to them, the landlord says he is away now.
I dont know if TD's will want to get involved, i am waiting for the environmental health officer to turn up.
I will leave the HSE and SW for my final escalation as if i hit them in the pocket they may retaliate and i can use it as my last lever to get them out, that is the threat of reporting them to the social and HSE, but I am not waiting forever, I wondered should I let things cool off, but realise I have always done that and it always reverts back to this. I hope to get this sorted this year but I think it will take time to follow up and resolve, technically 7 days notice is correct for anti social stuff, but I need to gather evidence and prove stuff, plus they could refuse to leave.
I never let my dog out for long on her own when there and if we're not at home not at all, besides two times in the past, I cannot leave her out now even if I am in the house as they could be out there and i will have to check the back everytime i let her out for a wee, that is check for harmful stuff, traces of chemicals are going to be impossible to check for though.

demanufactured

sungear wrote: »

franksm wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your trouble with those scumbags.

BTW that grass damage looks like weedkiller or bleach

I was in my shed at the time, I actually smelled that they were at something, I thought it was chemicals they were storing and that they opened a container, the smell isnt usually there, it smelled like a really strong solvent.
My friend had a look at it and he said if thats roundup, nothing will grow back!
I dont care about the grass but they sprayed chemicals where my dog, me and my family can be.

demanufactured wrote: »

Are they travellers??

Yes they are travellers, while i dont have any time for discrimination, I have less time for anti social behaviour, people locally dont realise the noise they make or how much they block our drive way as they are very sneaky about it, when no one else is around.
They actually make out they are nice to some neighbours, a few people have told me they are concerned to deal with them, some have said its best to have them onside, but the stuff they are up to next door to me is too much, its ok for others but I get it full force living right next to them.
There are certain people there that are animals, thats even unfair on animals, I dont want to get banned but I believe they tried to get her with a dangerous chemical, at the least they intentionally sprayed it in my garden. I knew it before but this proves it beyond doubt to me that they are vicious animals.

Report them to pavee point

sungear

demanufactured wrote: »

Report them to pavee point

what good will that do? Pavee point are a travellers group, they arent likely to defend my rights or my dog, do you think?
I dont even want to reach a settlement with them, I want them gone, they prove they cannot behave decently and reasonably. Do you really think Pavee point is useful? seriously?? Im not having a go, I just think at best they will try smooth things over, at worst accuse me of discrimination
Are you joking me?

demanufactured

sungear wrote: »

demanufactured wrote: »

Report them to pavee point

what good will that do? Pavee point are a travellers group, they arent likely to defend my rights or my dog, do you think?
I dont even want to reach a settlement with them, I want them gone, they prove they cannot behave decently and reasonably. Do you really think Pavee point is useful? seriously?? Im not having a go, I just think at best they will try smooth things over, at worst accuse me of discrimination
Are you joking me?

Don't know Then man...the council, guards and landlord don't seem to want to help you.
Time to start a vigilante group.

Kashkai

There are laws against anti social behaviour in housing estates but they generally apply to local authority tenants whereas these appear to be renting from the private sector. The Landlord is responsible for the tenants and he is the one you must direct your attention to. If his tenants are causing a nuisance, then he is liable.

My former neighbours (Americans btw) wound me up so much that I moved house, and I liked where I lived but I couldn't stand them anymore. They would occupy my every waking thought and p1ssed me off whenever I saw them or heard them. Their kids would thrown rubbish over the fence, they would turn a hose on and spray it over the fence or leave it running so the water would pour under the wooden fence and saturate my garden. Their parents didn't give a damn, e.g. The kids broke windows in their own house and the parents just stuck cardboard over the holes, they never cut their grass, left rubbish piled up in the front garden etc etc. the "joys" of some neighbours. What could I do about it? Nothing, so I moved house for peace of mind. It's the nuclear option but how much more of their behaviour can you put up with?

demanufactured

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

There are laws against anti social behaviour in housing estates but they generally apply to local authority tenants whereas these appear to be renting from the private sector. The Landlord is responsible for the tenants and he is the one you must direct your attention to. If his tenants are causing a nuisance, then he is liable.

My former neighbours (Americans btw) wound me up so much that I moved house, and I liked where I lived but I couldn't stand them anymore. They would occupy my every waking thought and p1ssed me off whenever I saw them or heard them. Their kids would thrown rubbish over the fence, they would turn a hose on and spray it over the fence or leave it running so the water would pour under the wooden fence and saturate my garden. Their parents didn't give a damn, e.g. The kids broke windows in their own house and the parents just stuck cardboard over the holes, they never cut their grass, left rubbish piled up in the front garden etc etc. the "joys" of some neighbours. What could I do about it? Nothing, so I moved house for peace of mind. It's the nuclear option but how much more of their behaviour can you put up with?

From what I gather the OP owns his house so he can't just move.

sungear

demanufactured wrote: »

Don't know Then man...the council, guards and landlord don't seem to want to help you.
Time to start a vigilante group.

I know you are trying to help, look thanks for the advice,

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

There are laws against anti social behaviour in housing estates but they generally apply to local authority tenants whereas these appear to be renting from the private sector. The Landlord is responsible for the tenants and he is the one you must direct your attention to. If his tenants are causing a nuisance, then he is liable.

My former neighbours (Americans btw) wound me up so much that I moved house, and I liked where I lived but I couldn't stand them anymore. They would occupy my every waking thought and p1ssed me off whenever I saw them or heard them. Their kids would thrown rubbish over the fence, they would turn a hose on and spray it over the fence or leave it running so the water would pour under the wooden fence and saturate my garden. Their parents didn't give a damn, e.g. The kids broke windows in their own house and the parents just stuck cardboard over the holes, they never cut their grass, left rubbish piled up in the front garden etc etc. the "joys" of some neighbours. What could I do about it? Nothing, so I moved house for peace of mind. It's the nuclear option but how much more of their behaviour can you put up with?

were they rented?
Just in case anyone knows me, or if my neigbours are reading this and recognised the picture of my dog which I took down, which is probably unlikely, but anyway

An open letter to my neighbours
Dear neighbours, your name changes so often you fail to keep up with your own lies, the gardai know who you are it seems, why does it not suprise me.

when I said earlier in the thread that i would leave it as a last resort to contact the HSE and the Social Welfare, thats what it is,but I will carry that out, it is not just a threat, i cannot fail to do that for fear of what you might do, enough is enough. I will do that if all other avenues fail but i will not wait forever, you can be as nice as you like from now on but unless you go at the end of your lease, I will present the previously mentioned organisations eg the council etc with proof of your "other activities" also, which other people around on the road are aware of also. So if you do not leave peacefully, good luck getting the HSE to give you rent allowance somewhere else, and good look thinking the landlord will rent to you if you cant get rent allowance.

To everyone else, I know that sounds nasty but considering their violent tendency towards me, plus other illegal activities beside me, threats of violence, damage to my property,attack on my dog, noise, its nothing.

I know that sounds like hard talk online and i doubt they are even looking but maybe, you never know, anyway I intend to follow this through.

edit, i do own the house, I wish I could just go, but Im here, its not practical or financially possible to move.

edit again, I am indanger of derailing my own thread, this attack on my dog is the last of a long line of stuff done against us, I was suspicious they may try harm her but I felt guilty for even considering it, they proved they are capable of that now and continuing to sink to lower levels and I do not know how far or low they will go, but I think there is no limit, especially if they can or think they can get away with it. I believe it was intentional, I know them and what they are like.
I'm going to give myself a time out and, do some things on my to do list.
I appreciate the advice.

demanufactured

sungear wrote: »

demanufactured wrote: »

Don't know Then man...the council, guards and landlord don't seem to want to help you.
Time to start a vigilante group.

I know you are trying to help, look thanks for the advice,

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

There are laws against anti social behaviour in housing estates but they generally apply to local authority tenants whereas these appear to be renting from the private sector. The Landlord is responsible for the tenants and he is the one you must direct your attention to. If his tenants are causing a nuisance, then he is liable.

My former neighbours (Americans btw) wound me up so much that I moved house, and I liked where I lived but I couldn't stand them anymore. They would occupy my every waking thought and p1ssed me off whenever I saw them or heard them. Their kids would thrown rubbish over the fence, they would turn a hose on and spray it over the fence or leave it running so the water would pour under the wooden fence and saturate my garden. Their parents didn't give a damn, e.g. The kids broke windows in their own house and the parents just stuck cardboard over the holes, they never cut their grass, left rubbish piled up in the front garden etc etc. the "joys" of some neighbours. What could I do about it? Nothing, so I moved house for peace of mind. It's the nuclear option but how much more of their behaviour can you put up with?

were they rented?
Just in case anyone knows me, or if my neigbours are reading this and recognised the picture of my dog which I took down, which is probably unlikely, but anyway

An open letter to my neighbours
Dear neighbours, your name changes so often you fail to keep up with your own lies, the gardai know who you are it seems, why does it not suprise me.

when I said earlier in the thread that i would leave it as a last resort to contact the HSE and the Social Welfare, thats what it is,but I will carry that out, it is not just a threat, i cannot fail to do that for fear of what you might do, enough is enough. I will do that if all other avenues fail but i will not wait forever, you can be as nice as you like from now on but unless you go at the end of your lease, I will present the previously mentioned organisations eg the council etc with proof of your "other activities" also, which other people around on the road are aware of also. So if you do not leave peacefully, good luck getting the HSE to give you rent allowance somewhere else, and good look thinking the landlord will rent to you if you cant get rent allowance.

To everyone else, I know that sounds nasty but considering their violent tendency towards me, plus other illegal activities beside me, threats of violence, damage to my property,attack on my dog, noise, its nothing.

I know that sounds like hard talk online and i doubt they are even looking but maybe, you never know, anyway I intend to follow this through.

edit, i do own the house, I wish I could just go, but Im here, its not practical or financially possible to move.

edit again, I am indanger of derailing my own thread, this attack on my dog is the last of a long line of stuff done against us, I was suspicious they may try harm her but I felt guilty for even considering it, they proved they are capable of that now and continuing to sink to lower levels and I do not know how far or low they will go, but I think there is no limit, especially if they can or think they can get away with it. I believe it was intentional, I know them and what they are like.
I'm going to give myself a time out and, do some things on my to do list.
I appreciate the advice.

There is only 2 things these types are afraid of in my experience...Big dogs and guns...
They are not afraid or worried about guards in any way...it's the other way round actually.

They will continue to intimidate you and your family...
A strongly worded letter to the landlord today OP.

JustAThought

They sound like a nightmare TBH.

And as we all know travelogue amongst others have more rights than the rest of us put together .

They ve been quiet since your landlord spoke to them. That's something.

Your dog is your weak spot, and is a target.

I would aim by the sounds of their behaviour to be commiting to spending a fiver a week on having them evicted. Registered letter; once a week; to the landlord , with a list of whatever antisocial actions that have been impacting in you ; littering, noise, blocking your house, smoking & dropping butts in your garden. , etc. WTF is your neighbour doing renting to travellers? Gas he rented to the council under that 5 year scheme where the council guarantees rent fir 5 yes & you have to take whomever they send? If so; after 5 years you'll have some problem shifting them.

I'd start dealing with it now ; if your LL finds it a pain in HiS neck to have them as tenants he will find them in breech if his lease/contract & have them moved . Why should you have to put up with the antisocial behaviour & danger so s/he can line their pickets & make a profit.

I'd be looking for a meeting with the local Garda seargent & making a statement. I'd also be involving them in a FORMAL way and putting things in writing ; if they want to help you they have the means to. Don't give them the opportunity to say they didn't know . Ask in writing for a response in writing; and ask is there anything they need from you to ensure the ongoing issue us dealt with by them. Don't give them the chance to nit bother or say you hadn't followed their fantasy procedures.

Nightmare situation.

You could also go to FLAC & get their input ; if it's harassment, or steps for a ( useless) ASBO, or how to engage... Well wirth a try.

Good luck & don't trust thdm with your dig or food in the garden for a minute

Kashkai

Ease up there on the anti Traveller rant. Apart from the fact that you are verging on breaking the law (check out the Equal Status Act), not all neighbours from hell are Travellers. My last neighbours were well to do Yanks and they threw rubbish over my wall, their kids were up on the bonnet of my car, they threw stones at my windows, you couldn't sit out in the back garden because their kids would turn a hose on and spray it over the wall etc etc. Oh and they and their relatives/friends would block our driveway on a daily basis. As they owned their house, there was little we could do but move. So deal with this as it is, the OP's neighbours are a pain because they are scumbags and not because they are Travellers.

I do agree that documenting every anti social occurrence and submitting to the Landlord should be the first step in taking action. If the Landlord ignores this, let him know that he was given every chance to remedy the situation and now he will be made responsible in Court for the actions of his tenants. Photographs of blocked driveways, cigarette butt mountains, scorched grass from the chemical etc should be taken and kept for evidence. It will be slow and laborious but if the OP builds a strong enough case supported by evidence, then he will stand a good chance of resolving this situation.

franksm

Sungear, best bet may be to make contact with the PRTB. They will be quick to get on to the landlord of that property. I have seen this in motion, and it's similar to solicitors letters going back and forth. If the landlord does not play ball, he can be fined quite heavily.

sungear

Just going to reply to what was posted since I last did,

I was thinking of getting a big dog, I was already thinking of getting one but i really wanted to hold off a few years until my dog is a bit older. I'd like if i could get some kind of training programme for a dog,if such a thing exist so that I could just complete a list of tasks routinely until the dog has passed certain stages of training, thats probably a bit simplistic, but I would like a dog that can be a family pet and a watch dog and be trainable and follow my commands, ie so i can command it to eat and not someone chucking stuff over the wall, not sure how successful that is, therefore maybe I could leave them out the back.
But I was thinking of that anyway, it would be a big task just as a response to this.

I didnt think of FLAC, thanks, I'll look them up and see if there is an office near.

I have been in touch with the PRTB, and Local Authority and HSE, its slow going, they are being quiet for the moment, but it never lasts, they are adults so should have behaved like that.
The landlord isnt disengaged but the attitude seems to be to pacify the situation, in my opinion enough chances have been given enough times, the last one recently was broken in a few hours in what I consider a dangerous, malicious, vicious manner.
They've been there long enough, time for them to move on, it always comes back to more of the same and I believe no matter how good they might be for a week or two, they should have considered this before.
Basically we want them gone, I've heard some other members of their family have been trouble elsewhere but i have yet to confirm this and where, from my experience, Im not surprised.

I might ask FLAC but is there some precedent for suing a landlord for the effect they have on your life, it sounds douchy but its been a bloody nightmare due to their hands off landlording, most of their tenants have been like this, in fact i think it is the reason for it, they just let people in and they dissapear, no inspections, no follow up with us or any consideration, just ohh we thought everything was ok, the tenant always says you go to them with any problems, such a horse**** excuse.

sungear

franksm wrote: »

Sungear, best bet may be to make contact with the PRTB. They will be quick to get on to the landlord of that property. I have seen this in motion, and it's similar to solicitors letters going back and forth. If the landlord does not play ball, he can be fined quite heavily.

Actually, from what I was told, it seems I apply for the address from the PRTB, then I send the letter? Im not sure, they are sending me out stuff
The landlords contact details application form
and
a dispute resolution form.

Im waiting on the HSE to get back onto me too as these people are getting rent allowance for a private letting, I want to find out what the procedure is to report them there, if they cant let us live in peace, which simply will never happen, then i am going to make them suffer too.

In reality I am going to offer them to go or I will hand over their details and they will be evicted eventually, and not get supplement for somewhere else, plus the landlord wont get his cut, but i want to know how to go about it so i can just get on it straight away.

I really dont care if they say they really will agree to peacful coexistance this time, as we just agreed that a week ago, when they did what they did,they just keep going further and further. They really have a huge chip on their shoulders I think, I actually dont know what their problem is, I think they are just assh0les.

My dog doesnt seem affected now,(unlike the time of the event) she isnt showing any abnormal signs. I will bring her to the vet during this week, had I suspected she was affected in pain or discomfort I would have brought her straight away but Im not even sure in that case if it would have done her any good. The other day she did something she has done very very rarely , she growled, she stood in the middle of the garden and did this at the neighbours garden?, I think someone was in there but they slinked off, I went out to look as was int eh kitchen and keeping an eye on her while doing stuff. I'm not sure if Im getting paranoid but i think they did try something, as in beckon her over then try get her that day. She has growled down the side gate once or twice when she hears loads of them out the front and I havent discouraged it, I think maybe it is a terretorial or defensive behaviour? she isnt aggressive at all? and is usually playful.

demanufactured

Any update OP

sligoface

I would like a dog that can be a family pet and a watch dog and be trainable and follow my commands, ie so i can command it to eat and not someone chucking stuff over the wall, not sure how successful that is, therefore maybe I could leave them out the back.

that is no type of solution i'm afraid. not saying guard dogs and family pet is mutually exclusive but they are very different. also, do you have a few grand to spend on a dog that comes from a working background and a few more for professional training classes/materials, plus hundreds of hours to train him? training a guard dog is serious stuff and this is absolutely not what they are meant to be trained for. do you really think you are going to be able to train a dog to only eat on command? and how do you think this attack dog and your current dog are going to co-exist?

i know you're desperate to do something about them but the only thing you can do is move, any way you can. the people you are complaining to are going to offer little help, and the neighbors will just retaliate. i know it sucks that a nice law abiding person has to give in to these kinds of scum, but there just isn't any real authority in this country and unless they get caught selling drugs they won't be locked up at all. i've had situations like this and they made me so mad i was considering doing things to 'sort them out' that would have been totally against the law because i knew that going to the garda was useless, the people in question were in court all the time for something and would pay a few pound, say they were sorry, plead they had drink problems, etc. it was like going to mass for them really. but that would have brought me down to their level and being violent just isn't what i'm about. it was a hassle, but i just packed up and left and now their someone else's problem.

sungear

demanufactured wrote: »

Any update OP

So far, they have stayed quiet and left us alone, but I am crossing my fingers

sligoface wrote: »

that is no type of solution i'm afraid. not saying guard dogs and family pet is mutually exclusive but they are very different. also, do you have a few grand to spend on a dog that comes from a working background and a few more for professional training classes/materials, plus hundreds of hours to train him? training a guard dog is serious stuff and this is absolutely not what they are meant to be trained for. do you really think you are going to be able to train a dog to only eat on command? and how do you think this attack dog and your current dog are going to co-exist?

i know you're desperate to do something about them but the only thing you can do is move, any way you can. the people you are complaining to are going to offer little help, and the neighbors will just retaliate. i know it sucks that a nice law abiding person has to give in to these kinds of scum, but there just isn't any real authority in this country and unless they get caught selling drugs they won't be locked up at all. i've had situations like this and they made me so mad i was considering doing things to 'sort them out' that would have been totally against the law because i knew that going to the garda was useless, the people in question were in court all the time for something and would pay a few pound, say they were sorry, plead they had drink problems, etc. it was like going to mass for them really. but that would have brought me down to their level and being violent just isn't what i'm about. it was a hassle, but i just packed up and left and now their someone else's problem.

You are right, another dog isn't really a solution, its something we thought about before but decided against for a while. Moving is a plan that we hope will be possible eventually. It has actually been quiet here since I got onto the landlord the last time,but I'm not sure if it is because he said something to them or because they mostly aren't around for some reason. It has actually been peaceful and nice, but I am wondering how long it will last.
Our dog has been fine since, but on a few occasions while napping in the front room, she has hopped up in a very alert manner and given what I describe as a very low half bark/growl towards their side. When I listen intently I could hear a particular person moving outside/talking even lowly, I didn't even hear it until I paid attention. I think she doesn't like that person now, she didnt really do this before and growled in the direction of the dividing wall a few times. Other than one or two occasions, She did not do this before so I think it points to that something did happen.