Neighbor's dog running loose (farmer, acre, house, quiet)

[outdoorman]

I bought some wooded acreage for hunting which happens to be part of in a small rural neighborhood.
The neighborhood is very quiet, hardly ever see anyone there when I go there.
Recently, a new resident moved in across the road onto a (2 or 3-acre) parcel with a fixer upper small home.
I only seen him once just before he moved into the house but now I see his dog everytime I go to my property.
His dog pops up out of nowhere and barks at me like I'm the intruder. Pretty scary dog though because all I have to do is stop my feet and it runs off.
I don't like it running free onto my property because it can scare off deer and other wildlife.
I just put up game cameras this past weekend and what do I see but that miserable dog on my property at all different hours of the day and night.
It shows it taking a **** right where I see a deer in a previous video and right where I put out deer corn.
Before I saw the videos of the dog, I was just going to send an anomynous letter to the owner asking him to keep his dog under control and on his property but now I'm really peed off and am thinking of contacting animal control (sheriff's office) or worse.
Any suggestions?

[WILWRadio]

Send him a note explaining the problem. Ask him to keep this dog on his property. If the dog continues to roam onto your property then contact Animal Control to handle it. Get photographic evidence to support your claim.

[Danica32]

First, check your local animal control ordinances. It's likely that its a violation to allow the dog off their property, it's like that most everywhere. Many people are clueless, and think "oh my dog will figure out where the property lines are and won't go out of those lines". What a joke, without a lot of training or an electric fence, the dog will roam and will consider the entire area it's property, so it will assume you are the intruder and will "defend" it's property, even though its actually your property.


First, tell the neighbor that his dog is on your property and is behaving in an aggressive fashion toward you.
If he ignores you (my money is on this) call animal control, tell them you have video and have talked to the dog owner without success. They will make contact with him, set him straight.

Good luck, its a pain to deal with.

[fisheye]

People do this because they are lazy. They don't want their dog's poop on their own property. They would prefer if you stepped in it before you walk into your house.

First learn the laws; like others have already pointed out. You could even call the dog warden and ask what rights you have and if there is anything he/she can do to help. Do not take any action at this point. Try approaching your neighbor on friendly grounds. Find out as much as you can about them before you mention their dog. That can give you a better sense of who you are dealing with and possibly warn you of future problems. If you do get along with them; they would be more willing to accommodate your wish to keep their dog home. If they are not willing to comply, depending on who you are dealing with, you might chose to simply tell them to keep their animal home or you might want to go back and get a lot of photographs first proving the dog is on your property. If you think they are trouble document everything and use it against them when you feel the opportunity is right.

If you warn them you are going to take pictures; they might simply let their animal run at night. Of course you could still catch it on game cameras; but it makes the proof harder to obtain. If there are banjos playing in the background; you might lose your trail cameras or suffer damage to your property. Documentation is very important and can make prosecution so much easier and successful. Keep a file on everything on your computer - just in case.

[grouse789]

You have a few options .
First off, check what your local laws are on people owning dogs. Here in lower NY, they are to be on their property. Leashed if off property.
Does this dog have tags?
Do you have children? You do have the right to protect them from feral animals.
Your property is your investment, not theirs. Protect it.
Read between the lines. If that dog has no tags, catch it and take it to an animal shelter.
Sorry to sound cold, but I can't stand irresponsible pet owners, I don't have time to plead or beg with people who think it's perfectly acceptable to let their animals on my property.

[writerwife]

I say talk to the neighbor, tell him what you told us here.. what you like/want to do with your property and the dog is interfering. It is possible, like where I lived for the past 23 yrs... that they just think in the country you can let your dog roam. Where I am there is no animal control but people will shoot a dog that might be running their cattle, getting their chickens or interfering with their life somehow.

I once had a malamute that escaped a few times. A farmer up the road drove him back in his pickup and said.. He's a beautiful dog and I'd hate to have to shoot him but he's running my cattle and making them lose weight and it's my livelyhood. So, we did everything we could to make sure the dog didn't escape again. Which wasn't easy... he dug under every fence even while yiping with electric wire running across his snout.
I hate to see a dog suffer or be punished for being a dog.

Tell the neighbor that you would have to call animal control if the dog isn't contained but that you're talking to him now hoping to avoid that situation. If the guy cares about his dog, he'll do something.
It sounds like you're not actually living there but go there now and again. The dog probably thinks it's his territory and that's why he's barking at you since you're not always there.

[blueherons]

Poor dog. It isn't doing anything dogs don't instinctively do yet the dog will end up as the loser in this situation.

[rodentraiser]

Neighbor's dog on my property.

Dog trap on my property.

Neighbor's dog at the local dog pound.

[NYC refugee]

Tell the neighbor you hunt on your property and it's dangerous for their dog. I agree with checking the local law and talking to them first to see if they're good or bad neighbors. Good ones, and hopefully you're set. Bad ones, call someone to deal with the problem.

[Larry Caldwell]

If we can catch the dog, it gets a free ride to the dog pound. If we can't catch the dog, we shoot it.