Blasted dogs and fencing!

Last night, OH was mowing the lawn (I was locked in the bedroom with severe hayfever ) when our other next door neighbour shouted at him (not the ones we've had trouble with before)

Apparantly Murphy has been escaping into their garden and running round like a loon and then coming back and the neighbour is sick of it

The only time I know of that he has done that was last November, when a cat was in our garden, and he chased it and vaulted 2 3ft fences into the neighbours garden. I called him back (as I was outside at the time) and he came back. We've since altered the fencing so he can't do it.

According to the neighbour, he has been getting through elsewhere. There is a 3.5ft solid wooden fence on their side, and on our side there is a hedge made of conifers which is 2m tall and 2ft thick. It's so thick that I can't get my arm through it, and there is hardly a gap underneath.

But apparantly Murphy has found some way of getting into the hedge and over the fence at the same time

The neighbour was very agitated and said it had been going on for 3 or 4 months. My OH questioned why he had not told us when it happened the first time. If we don't know he is doing it, how can we stop him?

The neighbour got very agitated and angry about it and started shouting that we shouldn't have the dogs if we don't look after them

He's said we need to replace the hedge with "proper fencing" and be "more responsible"

We've never noticed Murphy go missing, he always comes straight back when called.

Also, since the hedge in question is about 400ft long, there isn't a hope in h*ll of chopping it down and replacing it with a fence (for cost reasons).

Luckily OH kept his cool and said we'd do some repairs and have a look at the hedge to see where he was getting through. He is going to do that tonight.

Argh! If they don't tell me that my dog can get into their garden, how do I flipping know???

Neighbours eh! but can not understand why they didn't tell you sooner.
Puts me in mind of the time our neighbour came round screaming and shouting abuse/fowl language that one of our rabbits was eating thier salad crop....couldn't get a word in edgeways with him.....finally when he calmed down I had to physically show him where my rabbits were

Oh! not yours then......................

and walked off

Still waiting for the apology....that was three years ago though

Sorry but I`m with the neighbour! If your dog has been getting out and you haven`t noticed there is a real danger - he could be stolen, run over, kill someone`s cat - anything. A cheap possibility is to put chickenwire attached to posts along the hedge. The hedge should grow through and cover it if you feel it`s unsightly. And if your dog can jump 3ft. (and most dogs can) consider an overhang to prevent it - this is a slanted piece at the top of the fence whic stops them scaling it.

Neighbours... I can't stand mine!! We had to replace their fence when it fell down, they were prepared to leave it, but not us because of Jamie.... Could you put some weldmesh behind the hedge? Shame they didn't tell you before though, if its been going on for months

Having had a dog who uesd to get out via the hedge quite often I can understand, Storm used to get under the hedge and navigate his way lengh ways until he found an exit. While your neighbour has a point its bloody stupid not to tell you.

We used chicken wire at first but he just managed to land on it and squash it down . We went along and looked for the main holes and put some of the old hedges(dug up for a fence) in and that seemed to stop it.

mmm kinda with the nieghbours and you..they really should have mentioned it earlier!

The hedge overhangs their fence by another half a foot or so, and it's one of those fences with concrete panels at the bottom and concrete posts between panels. It's fairly new I think, so isn't in disrepair.

We can't get to either side of the fence to slide anything behind because of the overhang of the hedge (about a foot on their side and 2ft on our side)

Don't get me wrong, I'm mortified that Murphy has done this, and horrified that he can get out somewhere that (for the last 18 months) has not been a cause for concern (e.g. Max has never got out that way, not even been bothered by next door)

Like Stormey's dog, Murphy just walks through chicken wire or similar, or eats it

I don't have my land fenced (but I have no neighbours either, luckily!) even with about three cars a day coming down the lane it's a real worry about them going where they shouldn't so I am out with them all the time. If they go "off limits" they get recalled and they now know how far they can go, although I still go out with them every time.
I would be irritated that there was a situation annoying someone which had been going on for ages before they brought it to my attention, perhaps if he had done so sooner he would have been less agitated about it and it would be a more minor incident. With my breed I would say four feet is the minimum but they tend to dig under rather than jump over.
Is there a way of cheaply cordoning off part of the garden as a temporary run, and move it every so often so the dogs can't even get to the boundary? Just a thought....

This is generally what is annoying me... we'll fix the fence problem somehow (or rather, my OH will!)

What I can't understand is why they haven't said anything to us sooner. We always say hello when we see them, I've taken them eggs from our chickens in the last couple of weeks, so they've had plenty of opportunities to have a "quiet word" rather than going ballistic at my OH....

maybe the just hadd a REALLY bad day...and flipped...