# Opinions: Dogs That Bark At Strangers Through the Fence



## Real Hawkeye (Jul 5, 2005)

My previous dog, who sadly passed away at the age of twelve in July, didn't bark much at people if they were just passing by the fence in the front yard, but if they approached the gate as if to enter, he'd give a lack luster bark just for good form. He liked people too much to take his security job very seriously. 

My new dog, about fifteen months old, hadn't cared about people near the fence till yesterday when a jogger ran past at night. Suddenly, she charged the fence barking with all seriousness at him. The jogger became annoyed and made a nasty comment towards me which I couldn't make out. When I asked him to repeat it because I didn't hear it, he just looked forward and kept going. I think he said, "You're lucky that dog didn't clear the fence." 

My question is, is this a problem behavior that needs correcting, or is it a desirable behavior since it's a deterrence to burglary? Keep in mind that in the last year there have been three daytime burglaries in my neighborhood. Thanks.


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

It needs curbing, especially if you have neighbors.

We have new neighbors with a fenceline barker. I have a child who would like to enjoy his backyard. They stand there and whine "Carlieeeeeee" at her but it does nothing. You cannot go into the backyard at either set of my inlaws without being either yipyapped into mental breakdown by a handful of westies, or arfed into deafness by a pitt.

You do not want a dog charging your fence at a passerby. Especially not at a child. Fenceline aggression is not to be encouraged. It starts with a run and bark and can quickly escalate into the dog going into a rather aggressive threat mode at anything that dares walk past.

Innocent neighbors/passerby should not be subjected to such. Sorry about your crime rate, though.

Once upon a time I had a pair of half pitt brothers. Fence aggression was NOT okay with me. Our neighbors had a bulldog and they encouraged theirs to fight mine through our wood privacy fence. I was very grateful my boys knew that fence barking was a no-go. However, the dog eventually broke through our fence and tore into the smaller of my two, and his big gentle brother took exception to the intrusion. He sent the dog with thirty pounds on him crying home to his mama. He also pinned an intruding man against the fence; did not damage him, but held him arm and waited until DH came out and called him off. So despite not being allowed to act a fool at the fence, he still handled intruders well.

People who passed generally got ignored or a happy bounce and wagging tail. Everyone knew they were there without them being an annoyance.


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## rabbitpatch (Jan 14, 2008)

I don't want my dogs charging a fence, door, etc. unless someone actually comes through it, and I want them to stop instantly if I call them off.

My reason: If my dog charges the fence, door, etc. and an AC or other law enforcement officer witnesses it, or if my neighbors witness it frequently, then my dog may be labeled as "vicious." My dog does not bite but her bark will sure make you think she does and I don't tell people that she doesn't bite because I can't swear that she would never bite an intruder - if I'm not home and someone comes in my house, I _want_ her to bite them. However - if my neighbors see my dog charging the door or fence "all the time" and by some freak accident my dog were to bite someone who happened to be walking by minding their own business, then when AC comes to investigate and my neighbors say "oh that dog is vicious, she charges people all the time" then I would be in all sorts of trouble (not to mention likely losing my dog).

I don't want the mail man to be afraid to leave packages on my porch because my dog charges the door. I don't want the Girl Scouts to be afraid to knock on my door and sell cookies because my dog charges the door. I might want the JW's to stop knocking on my door but my dog doesn't know the difference between them and the mail man or the Girl Scouts. My dog cannot look through the window and determine the door knocker's purpose for being there so I do not want her to charge the door. My dog CAN however determine that someone unfamiliar to her has entered my home without being invited, so that is where I draw the line for her. She can bark and growl but she must not charge the door and she must cease and desist instantaneously when I call her off.

Now, my dog knows my rules but we are still working on the part about ceasing instantly. :viking:

ETA: I should note that my dog did bite someone, one time. We have a nosy neighbor that decided for some still unknown reason to visit my back yard while we were not home. My dog bit his hand but barely broke the skin. The Health Dept. came by to see my dog, checked with my vet to see that she was UTD on rabies, and came by again about 10 days later for a 2nd "visual" of my dog per their policy. No charges were filed, no action was taken against us, and the case was closed. Said neighbor also does not "visit" our property any more, so my dog did her job.


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## bluemoonluck (Oct 28, 2008)

My Rottie will bark at people who pass by, but he's an indoor dog and if he's out in the yard I'm home to deal with him. Note he doesn't charge the fence snarling and foaming at the mouth - he sees people and he will slowly trot to about 10 feet from the fence, barking to let them know he sees them. 

My neighbors are rarely outside in their backyard...when they are, Dawson barks at them, and I just bring him in the house. Problem solved. 

To me, my Rottie's behavior is exactly what I want - he's alerting me that there's someone out there, and he's alerting the passerby that he's there. But he's doing it nicely  and not acting like he's going to rip their throat out.

Now if your dog is outside when you aren't home, or you're unwilling to bring him in when your neighbors are using their yard, or he's flying at the fence with teeth bared and snarling, then you need to break the dog of this IMMEDIATELY.


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## Wanderer (Aug 22, 2011)

As an owner of a large dog with a loud bark, I can say that no one walking or jogging in front of my place should be subject to a barking dog. Especially one who charges the fence. A man in the next town over was charged that way by a large dog barking so loud it startled him into having a heart attack. The dog was shot by the local sheriff as a nuisance. That is not the kind of thing any pet owner wants to have happen. Nor is it fair to passerbys who are on their side of the fence. I would encourage you to curtail the behaviour now before it becomes engrained.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I personally would get a good electric, underground or wireless fence and collar in addition to your physical fence. Change the battery the first of every month when you do heartworm prevention and flea prevention.

What your dog does in your yard is your business. But you cannot take a chance on it getting out and knocking someone down or biting them. And you do need to protect your dog and yourself by having another deterrent at the fence. I would also put up beware of dog signs.

But the best part about this, is that you won't have issues with intruders as long as the dog can get around the whole property in the fence.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Wanderer said:


> A man in the next town over was charged that way by a large dog barking so loud it startled him into having a heart attack. The dog was shot by the local sheriff as a nuisance. That is not the kind of thing any pet owner wants to have happen.


That is tragic. As long as the dog is contained, you are not in trouble for anything here. I mean if a passerby looks in my window, sees a horror movie on TV and croaks from fear is that my fault? It's my property.


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## rabbitpatch (Jan 14, 2008)

mekasmom said:


> I would also put up beware of dog signs.


I would advise against this. My dad used to work in law enforcement and advised me to put up a No Trespassing sign rather than a Beware of Dog sign. Beware of Dog is admitting you have a dangerous dog, whereas No Trespassing just means you don't want people on your property. 

If someone ignores the Beware of Dog sign and gets bit, then you are still at fault for having a "dangerous" dog. However, if someone ignores the No Trespassing sign and gets bit on your property then it is their fault because they trespassed.

A Beware of Dog sign is best used by someone who has no dog. Think about it....if you walk up to a gate with a Beware of Dog sign on it but you don't _see_ the dog, are you going to walk through the gate? I know I'm not....that unseen dog under the porch might eat me before I can jump back over the fence!


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Your dog saw something different and he responded. This is not a bad dog. The jogger became hostile because he is afraid of the dog, he gave you a "threat display".

If your dog now starts charging at every pedestrian, you have a problem. If he does this, you need to train him to a system that works for the both of you. You can train him to bark from the middle of the yard- so bad people know he's there and good people don't fear he will jump the fence and attack. You can also train him to bark twice, then go to the back door. Again, bad people know he is there, but others won't fear he'll jump the fence and attack. 

You don't want to remove the bark, it is a strong deterrent, you just want to control it.


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## rabbitpatch (Jan 14, 2008)

Maura said:


> You don't want to remove the bark, it is a strong deterrent, you just want to control it.


Geez...you go and say pretty much what I was trying to say in my long answer, except you summed it up in one sentence. LOL :nanner:


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

rabbitpatch said:


> I would advise against this. My dad used to work in law enforcement and advised me to put up a No Trespassing sign rather than a Beware of Dog sign. Beware of Dog is admitting you have a dangerous dog, whereas No Trespassing just means you don't want people on your property.


That's really wise. I agree with rabbitpatch! Get a no trespassing sign.


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

I have one that does charge the fence when someone comes in my drive. If it's someone we want in I will put her up. The other two don't do that. At least she has a reputation so no one comes in our yard when we are not here. 

She is a small dog, only 20 lbs., and does have some issues. But we love her very much.


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## Real Hawkeye (Jul 5, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. That was the first time she ever did that, and I think it was because it was at night and the guy was running past, but I will try to correct the behavior next time I catch it. 

Also, she's only outside in the yard for short periods to relieve herself or play fetch with me. Otherwise, she's a house dog. Most especially, if I'm not home, she's locked in the house. 

I think I'll try to catch that guy jogging past my house, apologize to him, and offer to introduce him to my dog so he will just have to call her name and talk baby talk next time she barks. I can understand his being startled. She can look very scary when she wants to.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

I had a german shepherd for 12 years. One day it keeled over. I think it was poisoned. She was a fence barker. Loved it actually. We are so far out and have such little traffic. I just didn't see it as a problem. I think someone else did. I wont let my next dog do that. We do have people that occasionally ride bicycles. We haven't had any bike riders since that happened.

ETA: I didn't let her bark unceasingly at the neighbors, I wish they would extend the same courtesy to me though.


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## Real Hawkeye (Jul 5, 2005)

Trinity3 said:


> I had a german shepherd for 12 years. One day it keeled over. I think it was poisoned. She was a fence barker. Loved it actually. We are so far out and have such little traffic. I just didn't see it as a problem. I think someone else did. I wont let my next dog do that. We do have people that occasionally ride bicycles. We haven't had any bike riders since that happened.
> 
> ETA: I didn't let her bark unceasingly at the neighbors, I wish they would extend the same courtesy to me though.


Another option is to only allow her in the back yard. My property is divided up into three fenced in sections, only requiring the closing of gates. 

PS Poisoning was my concern as well, after I saw this guy's reaction. Especially after reading on other sites the insane hatred many folk seem self-righteously to feel towards Pitbulls or any mix with Pitbulls, or anything that looks like a Pitbull.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I absolutely will not tolerate it. The rule is firm, no barking at the fence, no exceptions.

If my dogs want to run the fence, they can do so, as long as they don't make any noise while they do it. However, they are not allowed out into the yard where the fence is along the road unless I am outside with them.

They are encouraged to bark if anyone comes onto the property and then they must stop immediately when I tell them "enough".


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

Another thing, since the guy smarted off something, the dog may have sensed a bad vib from him. I always trust them. They can sense fear but they can also sense evil. If you do try to introduce the dog to him and the dog acts the same way, go with what the dog is feeling.


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## Real Hawkeye (Jul 5, 2005)

OK, after our evening walk (we take a morning and an evening walk every day), I waited with her in the front yard for the jogger. My neighbor from across the street came out to get his mail and we were talking by the fence. At first, my dog was barking at him, but I asked him to talk nice to her, and he did, and she wagged her tail and stopped barking. Then, while we were talking, the jogger came by and she barked at him, but responded when I told her to stop. He stayed and talked with us for a few minutes, and she was not barking the whole time. He seemed an OK person, and we exchanged introductions.


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## blynn (Oct 16, 2006)

Ugg. My husband and I used to talk long walks in our old town. There was one block near our home where we finally had to stop walking by. There was a large pit mix and he was a bad fence lunger, snarling and vicious, and the fence wasn't very well maintained, lower in some areas than others. We were afraid he would get over one time. We rarely walked by, but one time it was the quickest route home and I kinda had to pee...this is what happened that day. There were several adults sitting on the deck, and several small children playing near the gate, with the gate open. The dog was in the yard with the kids. I saw this from about a half block away, and I called out to one of the little girls and said 'sweetie, will you please close the gate?' and one of the adults told her not to, that it was fine. I said to the adult 'no, you really need to close that gate'. So the kid closed the gate, and the dog went nuts and lunged and growled and snarled the whole time we walked past, and the adults did absolutely nothing to correct it. And they live a block away from the middle school, and two blocks away from an elementary school. My husband and I were pretty upset. We got home and talked about it for a while, and finally decided to call the police. They said that they would go over and talk to them about it. We aren't the police calling type usually, but ultimately decided that the dog had aggression issues, and wanted it to at least be on record, with them being right in the school zone. I really believe we'd have been attacked if we'd walked by with the gate open like it was.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Ruby said:


> Another thing, since the guy smarted off something, the dog may have sensed a bad vib from him. I always trust them. They can sense fear but they can also sense evil. If you do try to introduce the dog to him and the dog acts the same way, go with what the dog is feeling.


I agree with this too. I know there is one guy from down the road the the GP bark at ferociously. They have never barked at any other human. So I just don't trust this one guy.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Charging I absolutely do not allow; fence, leash, or nothing. Someone better be coming at me with intent and a weapon to cause that reaction from my dogs. I do fully expect my akita to bark when she sees someone go by and I don't care how many people go by but it does not continue past getting my attention or she's in trouble. "Bark, bark. ok everyone knows someone is there now I'm going back to what I was doing." Then there is the really serious someone just invaded our property with no warning and you might not be aware of it or they look extra dangerous bark that usually sends everyone flying back out the way they came. That's when I know I better step in cause if that person hasn't decided to at least stop the warning is going to escalate until she finds exactly what it takes to stop them. She listens the instant I answer her though. 

Right now she's suffering an inner ear and sinus problem (all of her dad's line is having trouble with the dry weather and a sensitivity to something growing in the area) so her hearing isn't that great and has her on edge. We came up the stairs and opened the door to the hallway which sits at a right angle on the same corner as our condo door and 6' across from the neighbors. It so happens I opened the door to be faced with our new neighbor who we've never met walking quickly at us to get to their door and my akita was unable to hear them ahead of time. The rushed body language set her off, she let out her most serious bark, he did not even slow down, I yelled "hey, hey! You are fine", *stop a few feet in front and give half hearted uncertain bark*, "Hey!, stop", and that was it. She let him go in his door and she went in her door. However I do question the intelligence of someone who does not even slow down when faced with 80lbs of dog that is obviously serious about protecting their owner.

Now the shiba on the other hand I threaten to get out the electronic collar on a weekly basis but then she'd probably just howl and scream for the next 10 mins after it went off. Luckily she loves people because when she starts barking over something I usually have to go grab her by the muzzle and tell her "NO! STOP!" before she takes it seriously and quits. Then the little drama queen sometimes starts screaming like I'm seriously injuring her nose only to attack my hand in play when I let go of her mouth. It's more effective to just throw a ball. Her attention span is about 2seconds long and she'll have forgotten she wanted to bark by the time she retrieves the ball.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

I used to have horses and have been chased more than a few times.(out of the yard,down the road chased)
I wouldn't let her chase/run the fence on people walking,or horses. Most people out here do let their dogs chase people going by the fence,relentlessly.
Cars okay. Bicycles maybe. We have one guy up the road who rides everyday. He said it didn't bother him and that he would stop and play with her, so I let that go. Then we got a few others. I kept an eye on them initially.It didn't seem to bother them. 
She wouldn't take food from strangers. Im pretty sure she wouldn't eat anything tossed in the yard.
I wasn't here at the time. Maybe she did die of old age. She was awfully healthy to just up and keel over though.


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## tailwagging (Jan 6, 2005)

mekasmom said:


> That's really wise. I agree with rabbitpatch! Get a no trespassing sign.


that is what I have and yet a man from the phone company came in the gate the other day to ask if my E fence was on. My big LGD (110lbs) was in the house with me. I opened the door and said "I wouldn't come in here!" and he said " i just want to ask a question" like that made it alright. Gheee

I thought it over then called the company and told them that they need to explain what no trespassing means to their employes.


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## Real Hawkeye (Jul 5, 2005)

tailwagging said:


> that is what I have and yet a man from the phone company came in the gate the other day to ask if my E fence was on. My big LGD (110lbs) was in the house with me. I opened the door and said "I wouldn't come in here!" and he said " i just want to ask a question" like that made it alright. Gheee
> 
> I thought it over then called the company and told them that they need to explain what no trespassing means to their employes.


My mailbox is on the street, outside my (locked gate) fenced yard, and yet when they have a substitute mail delivery guy he will jump the fence to deliver the mail to my door, despite the large Beware Of Dog sign which is prominently displayed over my carport facing the road (smaller one on the gate). Annoys the heck out of me, because although my previous dog was too friendly to harm someone for no good reason, my concern was that a startled man could easily harm my dog thinking he was defending himself from impending attack.


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## rabbitpatch (Jan 14, 2008)

tailwagging said:


> that is what I have and yet a man from the phone company came in the gate the other day to ask if my E fence was on. My big LGD (110lbs) was in the house with me. I opened the door and said "I wouldn't come in here!" and he said " i just want to ask a question" like that made it alright. Gheee
> 
> I thought it over then called the company and told them that they need to explain what no trespassing means to their employes.


Yeah, unfortunately some people just don't read signs...or they do and assume it applies to someone else besides them. Thus why the No Trespassing sign is better. That way if they ignore it and your dog does his/her job, you can always point to the sign and say "well you shouldn't have been here to begin with!"


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

Real Hawkeye said:


> My mailbox is on the street, outside my (locked gate) fenced yard, and yet when they have a substitute mail delivery guy he will jump the fence to deliver the mail to my door, despite the large Beware Of Dog sign which is prominently displayed over my carport facing the road (smaller one on the gate). Annoys the heck out of me, because although my previous dog was too friendly to harm someone for no good reason, my concern was that a startled man could easily harm my dog thinking he was defending himself from impending attack.


Oh I have so BTDT!

Our neighbor dropped a tree on our fence. Instead of coming to tell me, he proceeded to attempt to cut it up. So he a) breaks the fence and b) enters my yard with a roaring chainsaw. My dog, the pitt/GSD/lab mix, and his brother were out there. I heard the saw but figured he was in his own yard. Then I heard this urgent barking that rapidly turned into "I am about to END you!" barking. I ran out, to see my dog with eveyr hair on his back straight up, snarling and barking at the guy. I asked "Do you not SEE this dog?!" His response? "Oh, he ain't botherin' me."

My big sweet lap dog was frightening ME. I have never seen a dog so angry in my life. I had hold of his collar and he (I was pregnant he had turned into a canine nanny) still was standing between me and Mr. Neighbor, showing every tooth in his head. I suppose the man was willing to turn the saw on my dog rather than come tell me what he'd done. I was furious. I don't care about the fence, we can fix that, but you hurt my dog/get him PTS because you're a trespassing idiot and the game changes a bit.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

Our fenced yard is in back, and the dogs DO bark like mad when they see someone walking down the lane, but they are so far back they do no damage and no one is afraid, in other words, they see them and can hear them but the dogs are no threat whatsoever. If someone DOES approach the back yard fence, they get an earful from the dogs; I am actually OK with that since there is NO REASON for anyone to be that close to my back door. If someone is fool enough to hop that back fence or try to sneak in the back gate to get to the back door, well...RIP, fellow. I got one GSD who is still huge despite being old, and he isn't letting you past him unless I am there...then I have a chow who is DEFINITELY not letting you past unless I am there...and Brandy (formerly No-Name) is showing some pretty good guard tendancies even early on. I am fine with this, but my set up is a lot different.


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## jkmlad (Jun 18, 2009)

I'm home alone alot... in an area where I could scream bloody murder and no one would ever hear me. My GSD runs along the fence line barking at the few walkers, joggers and bike riders who come down the road. This is a great comfort to me. If someone pulls up by drive, I know it. Whoever it is is aware that a large dog is in the yard. This is also comforting to me. However: I would never post a Beware of Dog sign b/c of the liability. His bark is enough to tell reasonable people to steer clear. If you are in a town, and especially if there is a sidewalk on the other side of your fence, I like the idea of doing something electric to keep her several feet from the fence... just so she doesn't reach over it. Even if she never bites anyone, people might hurt themselves somehow trying to escape her reach. The best thing you can do is to train with your dog so you have instant recall. She sounds very smart and insightful, so this should be do-able. Good luck.


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## sherry in Maine (Nov 22, 2007)

of course if you have neighbors, that isn't a good idea.

Let me point out, that sometimes people will 'stare' at a dog. Some dogs can deal with strangers staring at them, but other dogs dont like it, and see it as an act of aggression.

My dog never barked at our neighbors; except one man and his 4 boys. Every saturday, they'd walk by my fence, giving my dog the 'evil eye' (I saw them staring at her while looking out the window.) immediately, her fur would bristle, and she'd commence barking. That's the only display I ever saw toward anyone who'd walk or ride by. (except an obnoxious teen who'd skateboard by at 5:00 a.m.)

One day I was out doors working while those turkeys walked by, and the father said 'that dog is vicious' I said 'did you know that staring at a dog is considered a threat to that dog? Not all dogs, but this dog, anyway' No, he didn't know.
From then on, they walked by, looking straight ahead- no more barking by my dog.

Of course barking at everything is wrong.
I like mine to bark if I'm at home. (then I want them to 'quiet, no bark' :0))


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

This kind of stuff gives a dog a sense of approval for stranger agression, and it's dangerous. Reminds me of the case in San Francisco where a woman with two pressa carnarios in an apartment building didn't like one of her neighbors. One day the dogs "got loose" and mauled the neighbor, a young woman, to death right in her own hallway.

You did the right thing to contact the police. Dogs can scale fences people think are higher than they can jump over. It's sadly too common for people to like their dogs to show agression.



blynn said:


> Ugg. My husband and I used to talk long walks in our old town. There was one block near our home where we finally had to stop walking by. There was a large pit mix and he was a bad fence lunger, snarling and vicious, and the fence wasn't very well maintained, lower in some areas than others. We were afraid he would get over one time. We rarely walked by, but one time it was the quickest route home and I kinda had to pee...this is what happened that day. There were several adults sitting on the deck, and several small children playing near the gate, with the gate open. The dog was in the yard with the kids. I saw this from about a half block away, and I called out to one of the little girls and said 'sweetie, will you please close the gate?' and one of the adults told her not to, that it was fine. I said to the adult 'no, you really need to close that gate'. So the kid closed the gate, and the dog went nuts and lunged and growled and snarled the whole time we walked past, and the adults did absolutely nothing to correct it. And they live a block away from the middle school, and two blocks away from an elementary school. My husband and I were pretty upset. We got home and talked about it for a while, and finally decided to call the police. They said that they would go over and talk to them about it. We aren't the police calling type usually, but ultimately decided that the dog had aggression issues, and wanted it to at least be on record, with them being right in the school zone. I really believe we'd have been attacked if we'd walked by with the gate open like it was.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

> I really believe we'd have been attacked if we'd walked by with the gate open like it was.


Some dogs are actually only aggressive when confined. If you greet them in the open they are fine but if you put them behind a fence or on a leash they go nuts. One reason it's suggested to let dogs meet off leash instead of sniff each other while leashed. They tend to feel more protective and defensive when they are restricted.


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## PulpFaction (Jul 23, 2009)

There are a few things even a calm, but protective dog, will usually react to if not desensitized to it, running is one of them. Others will react to cyclists. My dog does not like people wearing hoods or otherwise obscuring their face. We live on an alley in a weird part of town, our neighbors are a half-way house for the mentally ill and a soup kitchen. We don't have much traffic, but the traffic we do have is...shall we say unsavory.

She can bark at passers-by all she wants as far as I'm concerned.  I know she's all bark and no bite, but she's a 100 lb werewolf looking beast, nobody else needs to know!

Also, she has been desensitized to our neighbors and will not bark at them.

My point is, a lot of it depends on your neighborhood. In my case, a barking dog to make sure everyone's moving along is a GOOD thing. If you have higher traffic of a more benign type and your dog truly becomes a nuisance barker, that is probably something to correct!


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

But that was the dog owners fault. If I remember correctly the woman was prosacuted for letting the dogs maul the lady. The dog owner stood by and didn't try to do anything.

That is completely different than a dog barking at passersby. With my yard they have to come about 100 feet at least from the road to get close to my fence. 





RedDirt Cowgirl said:


> This kind of stuff gives a dog a sense of approval for stranger agression, and it's dangerous. Reminds me of the case in San Francisco where a woman with two pressa carnarios in an apartment building didn't like one of her neighbors. One day the dogs "got loose" and mauled the neighbor, a young woman, to death right in her own hallway.
> 
> You did the right thing to contact the police. Dogs can scale fences people think are higher than they can jump over. It's sadly too common for people to like their dogs to show agression.


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## blynn (Oct 16, 2006)

akane said:


> Some dogs are actually only aggressive when confined. If you greet them in the open they are fine but if you put them behind a fence or on a leash they go nuts. One reason it's suggested to let dogs meet off leash instead of sniff each other while leashed. They tend to feel more protective and defensive when they are restricted.


I'd believe that, but I sure wasn't going to test it with the open gate in this case! We found out later that the owner of the house was something of a local thug, arrest record, stuff like that. Probably felt he needed the protection what with associating with the other local criminals in town. SO glad we moved...


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## Real Hawkeye (Jul 5, 2005)

beccachow said:


> Our fenced yard is in back, and the dogs DO bark like mad when they see someone walking down the lane, but they are so far back they do no damage and no one is afraid, in other words, they see them and can hear them but the dogs are no threat whatsoever. If someone DOES approach the back yard fence, they get an earful from the dogs; I am actually OK with that since there is NO REASON for anyone to be that close to my back door. If someone is fool enough to hop that back fence or try to sneak in the back gate to get to the back door, well...RIP, fellow. I got one GSD who is still huge despite being old, and he isn't letting you past him unless I am there...then I have a chow who is DEFINITELY not letting you past unless I am there...and Brandy (formerly No-Name) is showing some pretty good guard tendancies even early on. I am fine with this, but my set up is a lot different.


In my old house we had a similar situation, i.e., only the back yard was fenced (six foot tall wood), and we had one Doberman and one Pit/Lab mix. They were quite a team when it came to defending their yard. Twice, workmen presumed to "pick the lock" to the gate to start working without first letting us know they were here so we could put the dogs up. Both times the workman (two different workman, two different times, unrelated work) had to jump the fence because that was the shortest route to escape two very pizzed off dogs charging towards them.


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## Real Hawkeye (Jul 5, 2005)

jkmlad said:


> I'm home alone alot... in an area where I could scream bloody murder and no one would ever hear me. My GSD runs along the fence line barking at the few walkers, joggers and bike riders who come down the road. This is a great comfort to me. If someone pulls up by drive, I know it. Whoever it is is aware that a large dog is in the yard. This is also comforting to me. However: I would never post a Beware of Dog sign b/c of the liability. His bark is enough to tell reasonable people to steer clear. If you are in a town, and especially if there is a sidewalk on the other side of your fence, I like the idea of doing something electric to keep her several feet from the fence... just so she doesn't reach over it. Even if she never bites anyone, people might hurt themselves somehow trying to escape her reach. The best thing you can do is to train with your dog so you have instant recall. She sounds very smart and insightful, so this should be do-able. Good luck.


No sidewalk. There's a strip of grass outside the fence which belongs to me that goes to the curb, then the street. Also, she's a small dog, and doesn't jump up while barking, so there's little chance of her head exiting the fenced yard to snatch someone. She'd have to jump the fence first, which I'm sure she's physically capable of, but not psychologically capable of, i.e., she has no clue that she's physically capable of jumping a fence, and I don't intend for her ever to learn otherwise. No hurdling exercises for her.


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