Ten Tips for Avoiding Having a Dog That’s a Neighborhood Nuisance

Have you ever had a neighbor whose dog frustrates you? We’ve all had experiences with dogs that won’t stop barking, act aggressively, get loose and attack your pets, damage your yard, or use your yard as a bathroom. You don’t want to create friction between neighbors, but you also want to remedy the issues.

What if it’s your dog that’s the neighborhood nuisance? How do you take care of the issues your dog is causing? Here are some tips on how to ensure your dog doesn’t become an annoyance.

Make Sure Your Dog’s Veterinary Care Is Up-to-Date

Do you take your dog for a veterinary check-up each year? You need to do this to ensure vaccinations are current and that there are no underlying health issues that could be passed on to other animals in the neighborhood.

If you take your dog to doggy daycare, kennel cough is one of the more common communicable diseases. Your neighbors won’t be pleased if you spread it to other dogs, so make sure you’re keeping your dog from other neighborhood dogs.

While the Bordetella vaccination helps lower the risk, it’s not foolproof. If you know your dog has been around another dog with kennel cough, avoid a neighborhood dog park and alert other pet owners when you’re out walking, until your dog is healthy or you’re certain your dog didn’t contract it.

Burn Off Your Dog’s Excess Energy

Keep your dog from wanting to run around the neighborhood or trying to escape by making sure your dog’s energy is burned off every day. Take half an hour to play fetch or run your dog around the yard.  Some breeds may need more exercise than that.

For breeds that need to be kept busy, such as a border collie, consider setting up an agility course in your yard and teach the dog how to run through a tunnel, weave around posts, or navigate a ramp.

If your dog does a lot of digging, it can be a sign of boredom. Create a separate area in the yard for the dog to dig. A sandbox area where the dog finds toys and other enticing items encourages digging in a safe, appropriate area, which can help burn off energy.

Socialize Your Dog

Make sure your dog is socialized. If you’re in a situation where your dog doesn’t see other dogs or people often and shows signs of fear or aggression, you need to socialize your dog. Sign up for obedience classes that focus on socializing animals.

Take your dog out more often and get your dog used to seeing other dogs and people. Keep your dog on a leash and be ready to correct behavior when it happens. As your dog becomes more comfortable, have people slowly approach him with a favorite toy or treat. Your dog will become accustomed to seeing other people and their pets as being a good thing.

While socializing your dog, make sure you include kids in that training. A dog may be fine with adults but not with children who move faster and may not know to be as gentle. You do not want your dog biting a child out of fear. Always socialize your dog with children and never leave your dog unsupervised when there are children, even your own, around.

Introduce Your Dog to Your Neighbors

After your dog has been socialized. Introduce your dog to your neighbors and their pets. Make sure they know your dog to ensure that your dog doesn’t scare them if your dog does happen to escape your yard. If you have contractors in your home and they accidentally leave a door open, your dog knows your neighbors and won’t be a problem.

Break Your Dog of the Chase Instinct

If you’re walking your dog around the neighborhood, is your dog notorious for trying to chase animals, kids, people, or cars? The second your dog stops listening to you and pulls at the leash, there’s the risk of your dog slipping a harness or collar.

What if your dog jumps out into traffic? Not only is your dog at risk of an injury, but you could cause a car to crash or swerve off the road and into a neighbor’s property. Take measures to break your dog’s chase instinct as soon as possible.

Read Up on Town or City Ordinances

Follow ordinances or risk being fined or even having a pet taken away. Some areas have a limit on the number of pets that you can have. You may have rules regarding nuisance barking, specifically during certain hours of the day.

Most states require a current rabies vaccination on file. You have to go to the town or city clerk with a copy of the current rabies certificate and get a dog license. This is another reason you need to know your area ordinances.

Don’t Leave Your Dog Unattended Outside

Your dog shouldn’t be unattended outside for more than a few minutes. If you have to run inside for more than a quick task, bring your dog inside. Unattended dogs are more likely to become nuisances with non-stop barking, escape attempts, and even rushing to a fence line and acting aggressively toward someone walking by.

Keep Your Dog Out of Sight of Busier Areas

If your dog is reactive and runs for a fence when someone is walking by or a neighbor’s kid is riding a bike or using a scooter, consider confining your dog to the backyard and away from sidewalks and roads. If your dog is known to run rapidly towards people, you can avoid complaints by making sure the dog isn’t able to run that close to a sidewalk or roadway.

Sign Up for Basic Obedience

Basic obedience classes help teach your dog important manners. Ideally, it can help with commands like sit, stay, come, and heel. Those are key commands to teach your dog. You also want to make sure your dog walks well on a leash and doesn’t pull or try to chase others who are walking nearby.

Install Secure, Escape-Proof Fencing

If your dog escapes, what happens? Does your dog run around and come home when he’s tired or does he chase your neighbors’ pets or livestock? In many areas, landowners have the right to take steps to protect their pets and farm animals. If your dog is chasing or even attacking a farmer’s sheep, you risk your dog’s well-being. You need to keep your dog on your property.

Eliminate any worries by making sure you have escape-proof, secure fencing for your dog. Dogs can scale wooden fences or dig under them, and underground fences are also easy for some dogs to escape. Your dog needs a fence that it cannot escape. You need the DIY dog fence kit from Pet Playgrounds.

Pet Playgrounds polypropylene mesh fences are easy to install and stand up to 1,100 pounds of force. If you invest in a rubber-coated steel mesh fence, it withstands up to 1,800 pounds. Your dog isn’t likely to escape this fence, as long as you make sure you purchase the right height. Due to the strength, it’s not a fence your dog will be able to chew through or break a hole in.

With fences as tall as seven feet in height, even the best jumper is unlikely to get over this fence. Our DIY dog fences can be attached to existing trees or to the included posts that are installed in the ground without needing a post hole digger or cement. Once installed, our fences last between 10 and 15 years, even longer in some cases.

How are Pet Playgrounds fences escape-proof? First, the fence has an extension that lays flat on the ground to prevent digging. Second, the five-foot, six-foot, or seven-foot fencing is flexible, which makes it impossible for a dog to use it like a ladder. It’s strong but flexible so your dog can’t go over, under, or through it. Call us with questions or get on-screen pricing by completing a quick form.