maybe have a word with the dog warden then it doesn't have to come directly from you :)
liz

Hi Liz, thanks for the reply. There probably is a dog warden somewhere, but I suspect that if I called him/her for one wee yapping terrier I'd not only be a laughing stock, I'd also be rather unpopular with more than the people I'd be complaing about :-).

A friend of mine in same position called the dog warden saying(not entirely true but going for shock tactics!) she had just avoided a nasty car accident involving a stray labrador on a busy road. Gave the details & the warden was there in a flash. The owners were a lot more careful about where their dog wandered after that

Sharon,

If you do contact the dog warden (and I would have no reservations myself), and a visit is made to the owners of the houdini terrors, your name should not come up, as it is a breach of confidentiality. I would contact the warden, saying the dogs are running loose and you are scared there may be an accident, either car or small child, and stress that you do not want your name mentioned. There should be a dog warden in the Environmental Health Dept of your local council.

Jean

Hi Jean & Sam, thanks, but I don't think I'll go the dog warden route. My lot have a dawn & dusk howling concert. It doesn't last long (less than a minute) but I daresay some busybody could report me for that and I wouldn't appreciate it one little bit!

Could you turn the hose on the little darlings?

;)

Melody

Melody,
That's exactly what I was thinking :)
Hopefully they'd soon learn to avoid your garden.
Dot

Melody & Dot, think I'll try that :-).

If you put it to them that your concern is for their dogs welfare if it did get into your property as opposed to the fact that the thing is a pain in the butt :) then perhaps they might take notice with out taking offence.
Of course Melodys option of the hose is much more fun and probably just as effective!! :D

Murphy's law ---the annoying little yapper dog will probably LOVE the water :rolleyes:
Does your animal control have any dog catcher traps? You could always set one up then, catch the dog, and show up at the most inconvienent times like 5am or midnight? ;) :D I know, Crazy and obnoxious :) :)

Hi Julie, that's what I did when I had the "low key word". Earlier, driven to distraction and ready to have a higher key word, I was thinking along the lines of "if you don't keep that yappy wee brute under control you won't have to worry about it getting in to the big ones because I'll feed it to them next time!" :Dl

At least your crew will naturally "hide" the evidence if they (ahem) consume the brat ;) :) :) But aren't you encouraging doggy canniblism then? ;) :D

LOL @ Sara.

Had a similar problem with the ecs from the cottage up the lane, and of course my lot go hell for leather at the gate when it comes down to annoy them each morning. It then started getting in the field and annoying the horse so i pointed out to the owners (politely) that two iron horse shoes making contact with their spaniels head wasn't a healthy idea, but that was what would happen if they didn't sort it out. Then I started making very exagerated shouting to their spaniel over the gate.....suggesting that it would not survive if it got any closer to my pack! I also found that sounding the horn LOUDLY outside their cottage every time it ran out barking into the lane at the farm vehicles worked a treat! After a while they got some better wire fencing!

Sorry to be ignorant, but living in Ireland I don't know much about UK laws.

Do you not have a control of dogs act which states that the dog must be under control at all times in public?

Theresa

Will try some of those suggestions Sam, but I think I'll have a go with the hose too :-).

Perhaps if you attach the hose to a pressure washer it may deter them better? Wouldn't want to advocate hurting them of course.

WL, I had one not very bright hound that liked to catch a jet from the pressure hose in its mouth, but these terriers are small and I would be worried about hurting them. Will give it some thought if the non-pressurised version doesn't work though.

Goodness Sharon, you are just 1 moral dilemma after another. :P
No, seriously, it is an unpleasant situation to be in, I don't envy you.
We had a similar prob here when our new neighbours came in March. We share a drive wth one other house so they are the only neighbours we have and they arrived from a farm with an old farm collie in tow. The collie was an outdoor dog (it lived in the husbands van) and was always loose in the drive (ours are securely fenced) which did cause probs with our dogs, particularly Six! :rolleyes: But the worst of it was whenever we came home parked up and walked across to our house it would fly out from the van and go for us (with or without dogs in tow). :(
Now we have a nine year old son who plays in our garden and in the drive and I had to tell him to keep away from this dog. One Saturday though Jack (son) was helping the new neighbour to move some topsoil we had left over from a delivery and although I wasn't terribly comfortable I let him go. About half an hour later the wife knocked at the door and said that the collie had bitten Jack on the tummy (quite nasty bite) and that the husband had taken it immediately to be PTS. :(
Although I felt bad I must admit I was very relieved as imho it was only gonna be a matter of time before it bit one of us.
We were lucky that our neighbours realised their dog was a prob without us having to have words.
I think you should go and tell your new neighbours that you can't be responsible for any harm that might befall the wandering terriers should it/they get in with your lot and that therefore keeping them on their own property would be advisable.
Nicky

Hi Nicky, I'd be lying if I said it was a moral dilemma :-). I just don't want a row and round here asking officialdom to intervene over small matters goes down like a lead balloon (must be a throwback to the Border Riever tradition :-)). I wouldn't hesitate if I thought the we dog had bitten a child or was a danger to anything except itself and my nerves, but its people friendly and a nice enough wee thing. Glad you got the collie sorted out without having to take action yourself.

Sharon, you could always borrow Jack to see if the terrier would bite him! ;)
Nicky

LOL @ Nicky.

PS - Did Jack volunteer for this job ;-)?

Yep.
And he'll cut your grass while he's there! :D
Jack is not as other 9 year olds, but you have to meet him to believe him!
Nicky

Nicky, Jack sounds like a wonderful kid. He's very welcome to visit, but you'll have to tell him that being bitten is out. He can't cut grass either I'm afraid, since Ian loves chuntering round on his sit-on so much. But if he'd like to do some housework .......... :-)?

OOOOOOH, a ride on mower is one of the things Jack dreams about! :D
Don't think he'd have much chance being bitten realistically. ;) He's only ever been bitten by Collies. (Sorry Collie Owners/Lovers no offence intended).
Nicky