pet care and neighbours and dilemmas

[TrekDianna]

Saying that your building kills more birds than your cats do is like saying heart disease kills more people than cancer. Both are terrible and something needs to be done about both. Outdoor cats is not good for the cats or the wildlife, especially songbirds. They have decimated many populations of birds and there are a lot of studies on it. I also agree that many of these buildings need to do something to protect migrating birds. It's also a problem.

If you don't care about the wildlife there's the issue of the things that can happen to your outdoor cat. It's not healthy for them. Then there's the issue that you can't keep a cat in just your yard. Is it fair that your neighbor should have to put up with your pet in their yard? I'm sure if their dog was in your yard you wouldn't be too happy about it. Why should it be any different for cats?

And in case anyone thinks I'm a cat hater, I have 2 cats.

I have a bit over 6 acres, there are a few interior acres all fenced and cantilevered to keep the cats in (and it keeps the cougars out of the yard and the coyotes away from the chickens) My cats do not bother my neighbors at all. They would have to hike over a mile to do so. I also happen to be married to a wildlife biologist. I think it depends on area. Mine catch mice and voles. I've rarely seen them catch birds. There are too many rodents in the barn near the feed to bother with something that flies away.

[OakLeaf]

Well now I've got an issue along these lines, and it's kind of complicated ...

Our house shares a lane with two other households. The first house is along the main lane, so everyone has to pass it going in, then it forks and we're at the end of one fork and another house is at the end of the other.

So the house on the main lane has a dog. No big deal. She's wary of people, will bark at anyone who goes by, but generally well behaved.

Then other neighborhood dogs started showing up to play with the dog that's actually theirs. One of them chases cars. Kind of a PITA when you're trying to get somewhere in a hurry, but still not that huge of a deal. This dog was eventually abandoned by his owners who moved out, and now my neighbor feeds him. She tried to bring him into her house, but he isn't housebroken, and at probably 6-7 years old, he wasn't interested in learning and she wasn't interested in cleaning up after him.

Lately yet another older dog showed up at their house that no one knows where he came from. He was near-starving and had an infected eye and ear. Now he's got a pack to play with and shared bowls to eat and drink from and no interest in leaving, and soft touch that my neighbor is (I'd do the same, no criticism to her) she decided against taking him to the pound and accepted him into their outdoor "household" too, got his eye and ear taken care of, got them all their shots, etc.

But. The latest dog, when he first showed up all sick and weak, let me skritch his ears. But as he became integrated into the neighbor's "pack," he became as wary of me as the other two. I've tried to coax them to me many times as I pass their house when I run, but they're just not interested. Fine if they don't want to be my friends. But the latest dog has started chasing me the length of their property, like 1/4 mile of rough gravel, climbing up on my heels, and the other day he actually nipped me in the butt. Slightly broke the skin. That is NOT okay. And worse, now I'm a little scared to go by there, though I've passed him twice now without him trying to bite again.

I haven't seen my neighbors to speak to them since this happened. I'm not quite sure what to say. It's still not really "their" dog and they've never had much control over the two that aren't really theirs. They've got a young daughter who loves all the dogs. A couple of years ago our other neighbor shot another semi-feral dog that hung out there, after he says it started killing feral cats, and that was a major incident between the two families. Animal control doesn't even bother with country dogs, it's on us to either shoot the dog or deal with it, and I'm not going to shoot him no matter what. Anyone have any better suggestions???

[malkin]

That sounds awful.
Can you conspire with your neighbor to train the dogs to expect food/treats from you? Be the strictest behaviorist that you can be and make sure that the dogs get their treat immediately when they are performing a behavior that you want to promote.

[Blueberry]

This is probably a no, but would they be willing to confine the dogs? Like a fence?

Really sorry you're dealing with this - how frustrating!

[zoom-zoom]

Saying that your building kills more birds than your cats do is like saying heart disease kills more people than cancer. Both are terrible and something needs to be done about both. Outdoor cats is not good for the cats or the wildlife, especially songbirds. They have decimated many populations of birds and there are a lot of studies on it. I also agree that many of these buildings need to do something to protect migrating birds. It's also a problem.

If you don't care about the wildlife there's the issue of the things that can happen to your outdoor cat. It's not healthy for them. Then there's the issue that you can't keep a cat in just your yard. Is it fair that your neighbor should have to put up with your pet in their yard? I'm sure if their dog was in your yard you wouldn't be too happy about it. Why should it be any different for cats?

And in case anyone thinks I'm a cat hater, I have 2 cats.

Ditto every word -- but I have 3 cats and have had as many as 4. A childhood cat lost a hind leg to a dog attack. No one has had an outdoor cat in our family ever since. Our neighbor's roaming cats drive me nuts. They hunt at our bird feeder and stress our cats out, since they feel that their territory is threatened. One of our late cats used to pee around the doors and windows in an effort to help mark his territory, all because neighbors felt that their cats' wants outweighed everyone else's needs and wants.

[lph]

So sorry you have this dog trouble, Oak. I guess I would try to talk to the neighbour too, to see if you can tame these dogs together. It's funny, here outdoor cats are pretty much the norm unless you live in the city, but loose dogs are very frowned upon, and I've never heard of a dog going feral. Maybe because it's mandatory to keep your dog on a leash most of the summer months.

[malkin]

Thirty or forty years ago it was pretty common practice to let dogs roam in suburban neighborhoods. Maybe in another 30 years we'll all be enlightened about cats.

[smilingcat]

If the dog chased me and tried to bite me, I think I would carry a can of pepper spray in my hand and ready to shoot when I go by the offending dog/house. Then put away the spray. Throwing super yummy treat like piece of hot dog to distract him away from you only encourages him more so pepper spray is a better bet.

Or if you have lots of patience, meet the offending dog in your running cloth and train him not to chase.

Maybe someone who is trained/certified dog trainer can chime in.

Having a dog pack is not a good thing.

[Irulan]

... Then there's the issue that you can't keep a cat in just your yard. Is it fair that your neighbor should have to put up with your pet in their yard? I'm sure if their dog was in your yard you wouldn't be too happy about it. Why should it be any different for cats?

And in case anyone thinks I'm a cat hater, I have 2 cats.

I've taken to throwing the cat poop back into their yard with a shovel whenever I find it in my flower beds. I seem to recall that when we had a dog, she asked me to come clean up after it if he pooped on her front lawn. - which I did without complaint, of course.