I have an unusual problem. Basically I have a dog from the rspca who was with a family, but was handed back to the rspca as they did not want him anymore. I was told by the rspca they where lively characters and it just looked like the dog never settled with them. I was told they did actually live in my area. I had never seen the dog before thought. Well I have new neighbours on my street and it's the family that used to own the dog!
They recognise him and I have been getting hassle off them and there children. They keep mobbing me on walks and it winds the poor dog up.

What can I do?
I have told the children that I don't mind them saying hello to him but they have to be gentle and quieter as they are winding him up. They then told there parents and I had a very vocal woman round my house telling me to mind my own business and they know the dog well. The dog was not in the best condition when he came to me. it was evident he had been hit and after seeing the way they handle there other dogs I know why he is like this they apparently lost interest in him. However I recon they just beat him so much and he is so sensitive it basically screwed him up. He had really started to settle and has put weight on and has started to blossom into a lovely young adult. However when ever he sees these people it seems to set him back for a few days. it has also go tht epoint where the children are waiting for us outside my front door and are callign him over my back yard wall.
What can I do?

I would tell them quite firmly that he is YOUR dog and you do not want them hassling you or you will report them to the Police.

He is none of their business now and you will choose his and your friends yourself.

They are simply harassing you and that is illegal.

Oh dear, isn't that a worst case scenario! :-(

You only have one choice, you have to tell them to leave you and your dog alone. Stop being polite and try not to care what they think. Not just for your benefit, but for your Boxer's. I wouldn't let the children come near your home or the mother, they do not sound very nice people.  Just tell them in as polite a way as possible.  (If they did beat him, he will certainly remember them, he may even fear a return is on the cards)

I really feel for you, it is a very awkward situation, but to hell with the neighbours your dogs sanity is much more important, don't be a soft touch with them, make it very clear that the past is the past and you are now his owner.

What a difficult situation but I think you have some sound advice here.  But I would also add I think some advice from RSPCA might come in useful.  They may well have encountered this problem before.

Louise

What a difficult situation! I certainly think that the dog is yours now and that they have no business trying to stroke him or pat him - I think you have to protect him from them. I'd agree, chat to the RSPCA as they may have some ideas.

Lindsay
x

Oh dear, Wolfwoman - nothing comes easy to you, does it? :(

No suggestions to make - but I do hope that you can resolve this problem speedily!

All the best

Margot

Of all the streets for them to move onto! :(
I do sympathise and hope you can get them to leave you alone quickly.

Just another thought, simply tell them they are mistaken it is not the dog they knew, and you want them to leave you and him alone.  This is a young dog, could easily be any boxer.

My friend bought a Golden Retriever at a year old from some people and they too wanted to mess her about when they saw her out on walks (of course they had no way of saying it was a different dog as it came from them direct).  My elderly friend just told them in no uncertain terms that they had sold the dog, and she was nothing to do with them any more. 

The dog wasn't hapy when they tried to pet her either.

Have you already told them that he came from the RSPCA and was their dog?

Only, if I were you, I'd have used a little white lie, and just said that it couldn't possibly have been their dog because I got him from a breeder at 7 wks old, and he must just look like their dog.

That would have stopped things before they started.  But if they already know from you his history, then....

Oh, brainless has had the same idea...

They moved on to my street with 2 dogs and I bumped into them one day. Both there dogs came from a rescue so they got talking about rescues and I then said how my boxer came from a rescue as well. Namely the RSPCA. They asked when I got him and I said and also which branch and how he was called this weird name witch I changed because he did not seem to even know it. I never dreamt in a million years it would of turned out to be the family who used to own him.

I was about to say how a family had him but handed him back, when they said they used to own him.

They then brought out pictures and it was indeed the same dog!
Same markings and everything!

The kids went mad, throwing there arms round him and I was like "wow hang on a min"

The boxer seemed a bit confused to begin with, and I thought that sit now they didn't want the dog, and apart from the odd hi , they wont bother us. How wrong was i.
When ever I went out walking they would call out the name they used to call him, and he would go all loopy. He was highly strung when we got him, but only because I feel he was never set boundaries and after seeing the way these people live I'm not surprised. All out on the street from dawn to dusk drinking and drunk. There kids screaming and causing riot all day.

So I changed my route but they got wise to the idea I have no other way of getting gout with out them seeing me.

My little dog puepa hates them, something about the family that sends her mad, and she always barks and snarls at them. So at least I have a bit of an excuse for them not to come near.

However what else I can do I don't know. Not with out causing sour grapes

Well, it's an object lesson:  never give out too much information until you know to whom you are giving it!

Margot

What about giving your local PC Plod a call and finding out where you stand on this and take it from there.

It's a shame, given the confidentiality that rescue organisations try and achieve, that you've managed to give your dog's history to these people chapter and verse! But hindsight is a wonderful thing and now the deed is done you may well just have to live with the consequences unless these people cross the line between "more interested than you'd like" and "harassment".  The best thing to do is to try and give them as wide a berth as possible but also keep a diary of any encounters. That way you've got evidence to take to the police if necessary. Hopefully, the novelty of finding their previously discarded dog will soon wear off though.

I know just about all the "ins and outs "of every dog I have met on walks. Owners are only to happy and willing to share the story of where the dog came from, funny little stories and ways of them, just as many of us do on here. . These people built my trust in them by telling me how they got there dogs from rescue; we had several lengthy conversations before they discovered the true identity of my boxer. It's not like I go out and tell my dog's life story to everyone at the drop of a hat. They asked how long I had my dogs and had I had them as pups and 2 of them I had, but the boxer I had not. So I said he was from the rspca. It's the truth,

We got on to the subject of names and I said how he came with a weird name when I got him, and it was at that point I think the penny dropped for them.

What a situation.  If I were you, I'd walk the boxer on his own, early in the morning or in a place where you know you won't run into them.  Then walk your other 2 separately, at the normal time.  If you run into them and they ask where the boxer is, you could say something like "He's really nervous and having a hard time at the moment with people wanting to come up and pat him everywhere we go, so I'm trying to walk him in quieter places.  It really sets him back when people get him over-excited etc"  HINT HINT   If you do this for a while, and let them see you out with just your other 2, they might stop looking out for you.  (Especially if Puepa hates them!)

Hanging out waiting for you outside your house or looking over fences etc, is not on at all.  If that sort of thing carries on, I would go round and speak to the parents about it, explain that he's your dog now and they gave him up, and you just want some peace and quiet.  If it carries on - dog warden, then police....

Maybe you should speak to the RSPCA and get their advice? I thought he was going back to them anyway, did I miss something? Sounds like these people think they've found the perfect way to have the dog -just enjoy him when they see him and let somebody else do all the hard work.......

A question,
Is this sonny jim you are having problems with or have you got another boxer?????
Lea :)

no this is a diffrent dog alltogether to the other boxer i used to have called sunny.
sunny i got off a friend who got him off people who got him from the rspca but sold him on to my friend and my friend did not know he was from th e rspca. i took him on as she was not lookign after him properly and then he turned on my little girl so he went back to the rspca.
the dog i have now sonny jim is a boxer that the rspca had in from a family who no longer wanted him, but he had been round children since he was homed from the rspca at 3 months old. i had a home check and adopted him properly. this is the dog i am on about.

Ok, thanks for clarifying that.
I looked at your website which contradicts your answer but you probably put things in the wrong place.
I see now you have removed your URL to stop further confusion.;)
Lea :)

no i removed the url becasue i know the family have access to the web and they may come on here and identify me by looking at my url. dont see how the url contradicts what i said thougth??

i dont understand where the confusion is?

I think all Lea meant was there is confusion with your new dog Sunny and your previous dog, erm Sunny....!! They do look pretty similar too - are they related??

i have already ezplained this before, and i hate talking about it all the time.

the rspca seized several btiches with pups from a puppy farmer in blackpool last year. they dogs where all distributed between the northern rspca branches. i only found this out when i went to the rspca to hand back a boxer that i took in off a friend. my friend took on a boxer from people she knew, however they failed to tell her the dog was from the rspca. she did eventually find out and there was a load of "hoo haa" about the fact the dog should not of been passed on. regardless i had been walking the dog for her as she works and eventually she said i could have him as she did not want him any more. he then went for my little girl, witch came as a complete shock becasue i had knwo n this dog and had walked him with my little girl for a while. this dog was called SUNNY DELIGHT becasue of his intense orange colouring! we all called him sunny.

the day he went for my little girl i contacted my vet for advice who then told me that really he shoudl be returnued to the rspca as they would knwo his history and really speaking i shoudl not have him.

so i contacted the rspca who where furious the dog had been passed on and as they had only ever known him to be in one home from the time he left as a pup they did not know weather he was good with children or not.

i had to take him back and when i went there they asked me if i was still looking for another dog becasue they also had a boxer that had come in from a family home, that was excerllent with children . he needed a family home with someone home and i fitted the bill. i went to have a look and thats when i saw the young boxer called jiminey cricket!

it was then i was told that the boxer i had problems with and the boxer jiminey had both come in from the same cruelty case but where from diffrent litters. althoguth it was probable they had the same father. both bitches looked where similar and in fact they said that both bitches had come in with litters of 6 pups each and all the pups where chestnut and white!

i showed my intrest brought my girl to the rspca as well as my partner to meet this dog jiminey, we also had to take out current dogs to meet him witch all went well. we then had a home check and filled out adoption papers.

it was diffrent with this pup however becasue the family that took him on from the rspca took him when he was 3 months old and they had apparently rehomed him to another family member but it had nto worked out and they then handed him back to the rspca.
so we are his 5th home.

my little girl started to call him sunny as he looked liek the other dog we had, and as she has cerebral palsy and poor understanding we decided to rename the boxer SONNY jIM that way keeping a bit of the name he came with but being called SONNY , obviosuly spelt a diffrent way and meaning a diffrent thing.

that is the story!

i dont liek to think of the other boxer becasue it was a very horribe thign that happened. apparently he has been rehomed but to a child free house hold. they dont say anythign else as by law they are not allowed. the confusion may be that both dogs are chestnut and white male boxers of the same age. but now i hope i have for the last time cleared up why thsi is the case.

I think confusion arises due to your previous posts which do seem to contradict what you say sometimes! i.e.

on 18/4/06 "a good friend of mine has recently become the proud owner of a 8 month old boxer." then:

on 3/6/06 "I have a 10 month old castrated boxer dog.
He has been with me now for 2 months. I got him from the rspca" and "a friend of mine got a young boxer dog of a family locally.   i used to walk him most of the time as my friend really was not all that intrested in him and eventually she said i could have him if i wanted, becasue she just did not get on with him." So I think confusion of the original post of  18/4 with your 'friend' having a boxer and with your post above stating you had had him for two months just doesn't add up. 

Also you posted on 5/7/06 "jim has been taking a lot more intrest to lupin and has been tryign to mount her (he is castrated was done when he was 4/5 months old)"  when puepa was in her first season we got jim around that time and puepa was very clingy to jim, but he showed no intrest in her."  and as you posted on 13/05/06 "she [Puepa] has been like it since she finished her first season."

But then today you posted "regardless i had been walking the dog for her as she works and eventually she said i could have him as she did not want him any more. he then went for my little girl, witch came as a complete shock becasue i had knwo n this dog and had walked him with my little girl for a while. this dog was called SUNNY DELIGHT becasue of his intense orange colouring! we all called him sunny."

Also you have posted a picture of the original Sunny Delight and he does look almost identical to the Sonny you have now......So going on your above posts, Puepa had her first season before 13/5/06 but yet you said on 5/7/06  "when puepa was in her first season we got jim around that time and puepa was very clingy to jim, but he showed no intrest in her."  Which would mean that you had Sunny Jim before 13/5/06 which would indeed make it that you had Sunny Jim before you had Sunny Delight which is just not possible according to your posts. 

It just doesn't seem to add up to me???   Before you start posting about how mean I am,  I am just trying to clarify what dog is what so we are not confusing traits and behaviours of previous dogs when trying to help you.

well i never posted pics of the other boxer so i cant see how you can say they look similar?
i only had him from my friend officially for just over a week, i knew him longer thougth as i walked him for my friend. however it isnt in my nature to post pictuers on the internet of other peoples dogs. and so i have not posted any. he isnt even mentioned on my website either. yes they do look very similar, but then again under the circumtances this isnt all that unusual either.

Just thought you'd like to know officially Boxer Colours are
Red (varies in shading from Fawn to Stag red)
Brindle (varies in shading)
Both the above can have white markings
White
Can also have colour patches of either red or brindle.

Hope this helps :)

yes sorry, im a horse person see, so i called the coluring chestnut becasue this is the term i use to describe this colouring. looking at his adoption papers he is identified and red and white.

That's funny you said you only had him for a week as you said on another website "no one knows this but 5 weeks ago i took on a young castrated male boxer dog"...... You also posted a picture of him so I can see they look the same.

Edited because I can't spell

I would go down the polite route first asking for the dogs sake that they keep away from him and not approach him as your trying to get him settled and seeing them is just confusing him. For whatever reason they took the dog back, ask them to respect your wishes.
If they do not back off then I would go down the other route (after checking things with the RSPCA) and if need be contact either the police or a firm solicitors letter.
The dog is your property now (hate calling a dog property but in the eyes of the law they are), therefore you are being harrassed by the children and their parents.

k