How do you deal with annoying neighbors?

Question

I have a 2yo, male Great Pyrenees. I adopted him to train as a mobility service dog for me. The former was "less than honest" about his past, and I have had to deal with his issues of abuse (mainly, from what we can tell, being chained, being teased by having other dogs walk by, and being hit). I had him temperament tested, and my trainer thinks he'll make a good dog, he just needs to spend more time getting to know people and having them treat him so he's not afraid of them, something I had already started with him.

Now comes the neighbors... they recently adopted an 8 week old lhasa/pom cross. They said they weren't going to let their dog do all of the things little dogs get away with (growling, snapping, barking...) and sure enough it's starting. My Pyr has issues with this dog climbing on him and using him as a chew toy. Most of the time I sit away from the main action outside and have no problem with it, but when the puppy comes over, I'm expected to keep my dog under control. I should mention that this puppy also annoys my landlord's 6yo Chesapeake to the point he never comes close anymore, and my 9yo German Shorthair gets up and moves *most* of the time, but will sometimes try to correct him. That's when things start to go wrong.

Now it's, "Don't let your dog (GSP) bite mine!". She "raised" another pup that was a single and had to teach her all of the pack order vocabulary, so I'm not worried about her injuring the pup. She shows her lips, growls, then does a mild snap. She's NEVER hurt the pup, just disciplined him. And "If your dog (Pyr) bites my puppy, I'm gunna kill him!" I have a basket muzzle for just such occasions when the puppy starts getting overly playful with my dog because NO WAY am I going to take the chance that this dog would hurt anything or anybody.

So, last point. I come home from the temperament test yesterday feeling pretty good about my dog, and when I pull in, my (now drunk) neighbor shoves the puppy in the Pyr's face!

I should mention that these people have lived here 8 years and the guy is currently in charge of maintainence, so having a shouting match would not be good for me. I have tried being as polite as I can about keeping my dog(s) under control, but now I'm to the point of just hiding in my apartment and only coming out when they are gone. I don't need a "you're dog is meaner than my dog" argument started.

Any other suggestions?

Answer 1

I strongly believe good fences make good neighbors but it sounds like your not in a position for a fence.  I would just ignore the neighbor.  If he sees he's getting to you, he'll just keep it up.  If you just ignore him he'll get tired of trying to get under your skin and give up.  Be polite, say hi and totally ignore everything else.  Good luck.  I know the feeling of bad neighbors.

Answer 2

Since I have raised and trained Pyr's I can tell you that they will only put up with so much. I have a LOT of experience with Pyr's and they are great dogs. If that STUPID neighbor pushes his little dog in your dog's face, sooner or later, your dog will retaliate, and it will not be pretty. Pry's can kill coyotes when they threaten their flocks. If your Pyr thinks that the litle neighbor's dog is a threat to you, it is in serious trouble. Pyr's bond with either their owner, or the flock they are protecting, and will do what they think is necessary to protect them. Explain this to your neighbor in a nice way. He is obviously asking for big trouble, but knows nothing about the breed. If you need more info, feel free to email me.

Answer 3

Please join the pyr group below.  You need support of people in your situation.  In group you can talk to Cat07 who's pyr is a service dog, and Carol who bred this fine pyr, as well as others who can help you with learning how to train your dog to be a service dog.

They can tell you more about how to get your dog his Service Dog in Training vest and tell you what you can say to people to get them to respect your dog.  There are regulations in place on how service dogs are to be treated, and I'm sure the people in the group who've been through training their service dog can help you.  There are also links at the group to information websites on service dog training.  

So please join.  Maybe we can help you in group, but you do have a problem with an alcoholic manager who's got a combative personality and a dog to match.  Possibly you could talk to the building owner.  You should not have to hide in your apartment because the drunk manager likes to harrass you and your dog.  

I'm not sure what GSP is, but if this is your prior service dog, than it has a right as a service dog to be with you in any apartment, I believe, according to the regulations on Service Dogs and where they are allowed even when other dogs are not.

You need ways to deal with this pup without trying to muzzle your dog.  A muzzle will simply make the situation worse.  Pyrs make wonderful mobility service dogs, and they tend to be pretty tolerant of little dogs, but you need to have a way to get the pup to respect your dog as alpha over it so it stops being rude to your dog.  I think I'll also give you links to some websites that help in understanding dog communication, and I believe one gives you signals you can use with dogs as calming signals.  -!-

Answer 4

tell them or just dont care, id move ive also noticed dogs notice when dogs are crazy, my friend has a golden who is a mad underbred mess, my dog gives him lip and berks threateningly because the dog is just crazy

Answer 5

Good luck with this one!

why are the dogs allowed to be in the same yard as your neighbors? Are you living in a duplex or something? Why doesn't your landlord have any pet policies? I think if I owned the place, I wouldn't want to let more than one tenant have a pet unless one was a cat and kept indoors or something just to avoid situations like these. It sounds very stressful for both you and your pets.

Would you consider moving?  

Answer 6

Honestly, I would keep my dogs away from this one.  It isn't fair to you or your dogs to have this untrained little hellion bothering them.  Like you know, if yours snaps, you'll get blamed for having a big vicious dog, which isn't the case.

What I've done in similar situations is use my dog as the excuse.  People that come up with their jumping dogs, I pull mine away and say "sorry, she is a little too skittish around other dogs".  Is it true?  No.  But I have a Lab Mix (possibly with Pittie) that will get blamed no matter what.  She is a Canine Good Citizen and everything, but they don't need to know that.

Answer 7

I've bred, raised and trained Service Dogs...

I've found "Please keep your dog under control." to be effective, unless the owner is an idiot.  That dog does not need to socialize with your working dog.

Personally, if you are that unsure of whether your Pyr will be aggressive I would keep him out of the situation.  Using a muzzle doesn't stop the issue of having a fearful temperament (which is the issue you're having -- if the dog had a sound temperament this would not be occurring whether the dog was abused in the past or not-- dogs of sound temperament get over abuse issues easily since they live in the moment)... all the muzzle does is keep harm from being done-- it does not alleviate the behavior, nor does it teach him that the behavior is unacceptable.

You need to consider whether a dog with fear issues is the right choice for a Service Dog.