Staffi & our neighbours dog

We have an 8ish year old staffi girl who is becoming increasing wound up & extremely reactive to our neighbours dog (a staffi, Labrador possibly something else cross, 11yrs old). We moved into the house last year & initially she ignored him but after several months of his barking (at EVERYTHING & anything), spraying her through the fence, flinging himself at the fence towards her etc etc she is increasingly reacting very aggressively to him.

When the adult owners are there it's manageable as they bring him in, but when it's their children (18 & 21) they leave him out to bark his head off all day long which makes our garden completely off limits for our own dog who I can't even let out for a pee.

She's now completely trying to get at him & if left her I'm sure she'd be through the fence in 10minutes. She's hurting her paws, chin, underbelly etc scrabbling to respond to him & getting her in / out for a walk past "his" fence is like dragging a small snarling tank. On the rare (twice) the dogs met he's absolutely silent & backs down behind his owner's legs but the minute the gate is closed he goes mad at her.

We've spoken to them (no help) & tried distracting her away from the fence, but nothing seems to be working & it's worrying me as it's getting worse. She's SO wound up by him she isn't interested in any treat when he's there. We paid £1070 when we first moved in   on new 6ft fencing, concrete pillars etc to keep them both safe (& they went halves) but it's really getting me down.

Any helpful ideas gratefully received.

Hmmm, I can see why this would get you down, it would me too.

Gonna throw something out there that might or might not be a Good idea and will happily be corrected. Would socialisation be an option ? Get the two of them to meet somewhere outside of their own territory and see how they interact.

If that works out ok, then build it up with more off territory walks.

If your neighbours are up for it, it might be an option. I'm sure it must drive them nuts too.

Thanks for the reply. I think socialisation could be a good idea but the practicalities of the neighbours with their work, reluctance etc make it difficult. We met up once - both on leads in our garden - but they wouldn't do it again !

You know, the post got 50 views but only 1 reply so I think maybe it's just EXTREMELY blumin difficult trying to get an adult staffi to "play nice" with a yampy aggressive neighbour's dog.  

Our girl's absolutely gorgeous & we love her to bits; she's fantastic with people but when it comes to dogs she is not very tolerant.

Ians idea is the best way but must be on neutral ground. Ask the neighbours again and perhaps set a regular time every week   

Think this may be a bit complex as it's been left to go on for so long, it's become a practised reaction between them. It sounds entirely territorial which is tough to work with, especially with terriers. I think your only option is Ian's suggestion to socialize really! It's a shame that she can't enjoy her garden, it sounds like both dogs are very stressed by the interaction so perhaps try and approach it from that angle. They sound a little irresponsible unfortunately

Really tricky problem. Is there a part of the Fence where they are face to face i.e. a barred gate rather than an solid wooden fence. It would be interesting to know their reactions if they were able to see and sniff each other if they have met already elsewhere.

Thanks for the replies. We changed the barred gate for a 6ft close board bolted one as unfortunately the reaction when he could see our dog was "let me at her" & we genuinely worried they would scratch / bite each other through the bars, (that ole staffi persistence yet again) He's absolutely silent and cowed towards her if he sees her out & about but the minute he's through their gate he's off.

I wedged the wheelie bins down the passage way yesterday, effectively cutting off the narrow run (so I can grab her easier for a quick toilet trip). I check if he's out before moving it for a walk.

Honestly it's good just to vent sometime. I know their dog can't help it but he's such a loud stupid mut!!!  
I took her for a walk today & thought "right that's it I'm trading you in for a small spaniel"  ;-) .. no chance we love her to bits, gorgeous girl

I can sympathise.

I don't know a lot about persistent barking but it does not seem to be a good sign in any dog - it is stressful not just for your own to dog but for everyone living in your neighbourhood. You could call council about this from a noise control perspective. That dog can't be happy barking all day.

Anyway, it sounds a bit familiar. My neighbour's garden backs onto my kitchen and their norfolk terrier is constantly trying to get into my kitchen whenever the window is open, which is quite often when it is warm. The terrier is also left to just sit outside and bark forever and so naturally he is desperate for some affection or attention which he hopes to get in my kitchen...

I was worried that there would be a problem (two male terriers) so right from the start I have been training my neighbour's dog to sit down and stop barking when he is by my window. I make him sit and I make my own dog sit and they then both get a treat. This has meant that my dog hasn't had much of a reaction to the little scrappy intruder even though scrappy intruder snarls at him and barks until I tell him off - I think it has helped that I have made norfolk terrier answerable to me too, rather than ask the neighbours to do something about the barking - unlikely they would as theyve had many pleas from people all down the street.


I would not tolerate any aggression from your dog at all. Your neighbours are unhelpful and constant barking is unacceptable - no wonder it winds your dog up.

chester has an issue with next door neighbours italian mastiff they nearly go through the fence sometimes weve had to re enforce parts of our fence! its not so bad in the winter as they are not out as much but its started up again now the weather is improving chester gets water sprayed and brought in and my neighbour is very good and gets her dog in last year this is how we carried on and eventually on the whole chester could resist attacking the fence but it took persistance and hes forgotten this since last year so we are back to water spray and in   ! if their dog is constantly barking though and u cant speak to owners u should contact your council, that dog shouldnt b left out all day anyway!