Dogs In Front Yards

[coogie]

Our dogs can be contained in the back yard by side gates we have put in, and don't go out the front if we are not home. They might make a nuisance of themselves as although the fence is very safe they can see between the gaps in the timber and would most likely bark if another dog went past and we were not there to correct them. We have a number of serial complainers in our street who complain about everything from the "younguns" up the road having the occasional Saturday night party to the kids playing in the street early in the morning/late in the evening. They wouldn't hesitate to report a barking dog however safe the fence might be - not worth the risk IMHO.

If I am home but not in the front yard I open the door but put up a baby gate so the dogs can see what is going on but can't go to the fence.

The other reason they are contained is for their own safety as in spite of the fact we have a buzzer that is well lit at night and highly visible during the day plus a sign stating there may be dogs loose in the yard, idiots STILL seem compelled to open the gate and walk in, last weekend it was some Jehovah's Witnesses and before that a delivery person who kindly left the gate open when they left. We can't padlock the front gate due to the location of the meter and I would terrified someone would let them out if they were out the front.

After Issy's surgery last Christmas she had to do short leash walks only and quite frankly it was awful walking an injured dog past other dogs hurling themselves at their fences, the only dog that was actually loose was a Jack Russell that rushed us, it was small so easily dealt with with a kick, the owner was watching from the verandah and started to abuse me for kicking her dog. I pointed out Issy's leg and gave her an earful about the risk to her dog as well as mine. She has been reported by a few people but it doesn't seem to make any difference, the dog is still loose.

We now drive to the park to walk both the dogs but I can empathise with those who have to walk their dogs in the local streets and have no choice but to run the gauntlet, it's not always as easy as crossing the street - we have dogs on both sides of our street that are as bad as each other and it is very intimidating to have to pass them.

[Skruffy n Flea]

subjects such as this should be constructive and informative and not denigrate to a pissing match --- it's bloody annoying how some of you carry on!

and for those generalised comments about swfs, GFY!

irrespective...

jules, i appreciate where you're coming from: just this past week while i walked my 2 swf, a medium-sized BCx was inexplicably out the front of it's owner's unfenced property! as soon as i appeared with my dogs, it rushed at full speed and as i grabbed my two by a very short leash and stepped forward yelling 'hey, hey, hey', it miraculously stopped at it's boundary and turned away --- but it didn't stop my heart pounding nor did it stop me hearing some male come to the front door of that house saying to that dog 'ooh, what was all that noise you were making you silly thing, come here, come back inside', nor did it stop another neighbour several doors away enquire with me as to what was wrong...

edited: i clicked a button or something inadvertently

Edited November 9, 2012 by Skruffy n Flea

[Skruffy n Flea]

unfinished post

for all the dogs i see behind gates on my walks, i would likely see only .1% [that's zero point one percent] being walked. very sad to say the very least...

dogs bark; it's natural and in most cases, it's because they are protecting their territory and here's what i understand perpetuates it:

when a dog, in it's own territory, sees or hears 'something' near its territory [whether this side, or that side of the street, or over the back or side fence], it barks to let whatever it is know that this is their turf. while the dog barks, the 'something' passes by or skitters off, and so the act of barking 'rewards' the dog because it's barking succeeded in removing the threat. it's natural!

there are only three houses in my local walking area that allow their dogs in front yards [or close to] and each of them contain animals that i believe, from their behaviour, would do harm to my dogs if they had the chance. i avoid those houses. apparently the german shepherd just a few houses up from me jumped it's fence, attacked and nearly killed the small fox terrier type dog living diagonally across the road from me [as told by another neighbour]. the GS's owner occasionally leaves his electronically powered front gate open. i don't know what i'm waiting for...

at another of those three houses, there's two dogs that go fiercly nuts and one of them starts to attack the other, so much so that one day i walked up and pounded on the fence to distract them, feeling afraid for the other dog.

other dogs in the area are contained in back yards that have visual aspects of footpaths. those dogs bark too when we pass by.

as for state legislation and local council laws, i do believe that in NSW it is an offence if your dog rushes its fence as you walk by, and there is also a 'dog barking' time limit and time of day constraint that if exceeded, provides neighbours opportunity to lodge legitimate disturbance complaints.

my boy, a rescue, is reactive, and i do all i can to avoid situations that heightens his awareness level but it's certainly not always possible --- curiously tho, when he's allowed to greet the other dog and when he's at the park, he's as soft a cotton...

efs

Edited November 9, 2012 by Skruffy n Flea

[Guest donatella]

This scares the beejebus out of me when I walked Lucy solo.

Particulary the gorgeous stuffy X that I saw in a small courtyard as a pup walking past (friendly sniffing under the fence) to the aggressive dog who digs and barks and snarls if we were to walk past (doesn't help that Lucy barks and eggs it on as well). Its the sort of fence I walk past and keep turning back to make sure the dog hasnt escaped as so desperately trying.

Since when has walking your dog been so blooming risky or maybe I'm just paranoid

[Steph M]

I'd be worried not just about others, but about your dog. I'd expect them to have a bit of a chat through the fence sometimes, but someone who isn't much of a dog person, or is a bit off-kilter could just as easily throw something over the fence, open the gate or give them a whack, which would be horrible.

We have one here who's on a balcony above the street and just lets loose! You can see he's chewed a hole through the bamboo matting they have up, but he's a tiny dog, if that hole gets much bigger he could quite easily topple down.

[Henrietta]

I personally prefer to have my dogs securely fenced off from the front. That way people can have clear access to my front door and the electricity people can read the meter without being harassed by my crew. I have one dog that is reactive to strangers and dogs and who would drive my neighbourhood to the brink of madness if she were left out in the front yard with a full view. Yes, I can and do minimise the barking by ensuring she is well-exercised and well-stimulated (tired) and as far as I know I haven't had any issues. My neighbours are awesome and I've always told them to let me know if there was a problem. But I honestly can't imagine how she'd go with left in the front yard with lots of pedestrian traffic. The other dog would let anyone onto the property and happily show them around. For their own safety though, I prefer them securely out the back and away from front boundary fences. I'm lucky that were I have lived, this has been simply arranged.

[korbin13]

unfinished post

for all the dogs i see behind gates on my walks, i would likely see only .1% [that's zero point one percent] being walked. very sad to say the very least...

Not having a go but would like to say that if you walked passed my house you would see my dogs in the (fenced) front yard and you also wouldn't see them being walked.

I drive my dogs to where I walk them and quite often I take one at a time as I do one on one training, so I am driving back and forward twice.

Sorry, just want to put it out there that just because you don't see dogs walking in your area, doesn't mean that they aren't being walked somewhere. I have a SBT and a rescue mutt and live in a house we are renovating, so people often think that young 'bogans' live at the house, when we are a middle aged couple whose kids have left home. People are very quick to judge. :laugh:

My dogs are kept out the back when we aren't home and left to roam around the whole house when we are there. We do lock the front gate. Quite a few people here leave the dogs out the front for security and I can understand why, but my dogs are too important to me to risk anything happen to them.

[Sheridan]

unfinished post

for all the dogs i see behind gates on my walks, i would likely see only .1% [that's zero point one percent] being walked. very sad to say the very least...

Not having a go but would like to say that if you walked passed my house you would see my dogs in the (fenced) front yard and you also wouldn't see them being walked.

I drive my dogs to where I walk them and quite often I take one at a time as I do one on one training, so I am driving back and forward twice.

Sorry, just want to put it out there that just because you don't see dogs walking in your area, doesn't mean that they aren't being walked somewhere. I have a SBT and a rescue mutt and live in a house we are renovating, so people often think that young 'bogans' live at the house, when we are a middle aged couple whose kids have left home. People are very quick to judge. :laugh:

My dogs are kept out the back when we aren't home and left to roam around the whole house when we are there. We do lock the front gate. Quite a few people here leave the dogs out the front for security and I can understand why, but my dogs are too important to me to risk anything happen to them.

Including someone chucking over bait into the front yard where your dogs are free to roam?

[Loving my Oldies]

Sorry, just want to put it out there that just because you don't see dogs walking in your area, doesn't mean that they aren't being walked somewhere.

Exactly. But maybe scruffy n flea has been sitting outside these houses for 24 hours otherwise how else could she make such an assertion? :D :D

[mixeduppup]

People think I don't walk my dogs, but I take them out to my friend's property and run them there most of the time.

[korbin13]

unfinished post

for all the dogs i see behind gates on my walks, i would likely see only .1% [that's zero point one percent] being walked. very sad to say the very least...

Not having a go but would like to say that if you walked passed my house you would see my dogs in the (fenced) front yard and you also wouldn't see them being walked.

I drive my dogs to where I walk them and quite often I take one at a time as I do one on one training, so I am driving back and forward twice.

Sorry, just want to put it out there that just because you don't see dogs walking in your area, doesn't mean that they aren't being walked somewhere. I have a SBT and a rescue mutt and live in a house we are renovating, so people often think that young 'bogans' live at the house, when we are a middle aged couple whose kids have left home. People are very quick to judge. :laugh:

My dogs are kept out the back when we aren't home and left to roam around the whole house when we are there. We do lock the front gate. Quite a few people here leave the dogs out the front for security and I can understand why, but my dogs are too important to me to risk anything happen to them.

Including someone chucking over bait into the front yard where your dogs are free to roam?

Unfortunately, people can throw bait from almost anywhere and have it land in our yard, back and front. Our town has laneways in the back for a lot of the area, so most people are in the same boat, which is why they also have fenced front yards. And why the gates are locked.

I suppose if someone is determined to do the wrong thing they will, but we have lived here for four years now and haven't had any problems, fingers crossed.

[SunnyCoastCav]

I think most people who leave dogs in the front yard do so because they don't want their back yards messed up. As someone who does not drive so therefore is a pedestrian (and now a dog owner), dogs in the front yards are mostly nuisances, as they react to every constant thing that goes past them, or gets out. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have had a dog come flying after me after its owner is just casually letting it wander in and out of the front yard. It terrifies me that one day I will get attacked. The owners tend to laugh and say "oh they won't hurt you ", and we all know every dog owner thinks that. I seem to notice that dogs kept in the front yards are the ones who are the most disruptive and noisy, as they go off at everything they see and goes past, maybe they'd be quieter in the back yard where there's not so much stimulus? I have seen them jump over the front fence, and I would be worried someone could just reach in and bait or grab the dog. In the back it's still possible but maybe not so obvious.

Just my thoughts.

Edited November 13, 2012 by SunnyCoastCav

[mixeduppup]

As long as the fences are safe I don't see the issue. People should be allowed to have their dogs in the front yard. This has become the age of issues, everyone has a need for something to complain about. Getting barked at by a dog behind a secure fence is part of going for a walk, as long as the dog is secure then I don't see the problem. if the fence is shit or too low, then naturally there is a problem

[kayla1]

Sometimes fences appear adequate but are not. The American bulldog that got out nearby to attack another dog, broke through a 6ft wooden gate. Someone walking past may not even know there is a problem until it is too late.

Like others I drive my dogs to various places to walk, and no longer walk in the local area.

[sas]

My dogs hang out in the front yard when I'm home and will occassional bark at people/dogs going by. They're not creating any frustration that would cause them to attack off property as that is simply not their temperament.

My Dane is ovbiously a big dog and her bark may intimidate her but she's not doing anything wrong and neither am I as I am home when they are out there and they are not being aggressive.

We do have dogs in our neighbourhood who are very aggressive behind fences.....we simply cross the road or go wide if we don't want to deal with them, I suggest you do the same rather than complainign to council which I think is a pretty nasty think to do without first speaking to the owner unless of course you truely fear for your safety.

[Crisovar]

It is pretty sad when people cannot use their entire yard for their own use and quiet enjoyment without passers by having a whinge.

As an aside none of my neighbours are up early enough to see when my dogs are exercised so I guess they think mine are neglected yard bound savages too.

[SunnyCoastCav]

It's also annoying for neighbours who have to put up with a bored dog who barks at everything that goes past its front fence. Getting startled by a dog barking its head off at you on your walks is no fun either. I have a smaller breed dog who in a few weeks i would like to take on walks around here, but too many dogs are left in the front yard that get out. And big dogs too.

[LizT]

My dogs are well exercised, stimulated and get heaps of attention.

They will still bark at you, regardless of whether you have a dog with you, are on horseback or riding a bycycle when you go past our property.

They are dogs, it's what they do! I am happy that they will alert me to the fact someone is there.

[corvus]

I know of a little girl who lost 2 1/2 fingers I believe because she ran her hand along the front fence of a property and the dog inside caught her fingers as they popped through the gaps in the fence. It was pool fencing, I was told. People in animal management in local councils generally try to prevent disasters from happening if they can. In some areas kids are encouraged to report dogs that frighten them. I think it's fair that the kiddies should be able to walk to school or to the bus stop without being scared of someone's dog.

Incidentally, mine were in the backyard because I thought they'd be safer there. One day I came home to a traumatised dog panic barking himself hoarse. He did the same thing the whole of the next day, I am told. I do not know what happened to him in that yard, but to this day he panics if I shut him in there.

[skelp2]

As long as the fences are safe I don't see the issue. People should be allowed to have their dogs in the front yard. This has become the age of issues, everyone has a need for something to complain about. Getting barked at by a dog behind a secure fence is part of going for a walk, as long as the dog is secure then I don't see the problem. if the fence is shit or too low, then naturally there is a problem

My sister has an issue with one local dog that barks aggressively at her and her dogs every time she walks past that house. The yard is fenced but is only about chest high and has nothing to define front and back yards. It wouldn't matter if the fence was higher, the aggression from this dog has traumatised one of her dogs, to the point where she can't walk anywhere near that street anymore, as her dog puts on the brakes and will not go any further. This limits and restricts her to walking her dogs on the same route every day. It may be fine to keep a dog in the front yard if that dog does not react to the other dogs, but when they do, it can impact on others, especially those who have timid dogs that don't cope well with barking and aggression from other dogs.