how do you keep ppl out your yard??

[Gevaudan_Jo]

We have a privacy fence, so LUCKILY, nobody can get their hands in our fence... BUT, children would often lose their balls in the yard WHEN PLAYING STREET HOCKEY- what are you thinking  anyways, we have REALLY bad neighbour kids and VERY ignorant neighbour parents... 3 kids across from us, 3 up the hill, one next door to that, and three down the street one way, one down the street another way... they ALL play infront of our fence...  one time, the youngest kid came to my yard while i had Zero and Tribute outside. now, i know i should, but, my  dogs are NOT socialized with small children. Because, i have none, and, am never around any, so neither are they! So zero was barking strange, and so i looked out side and saw him circling the neighbour kid... i ran out there, grabbed zero and tribute by their collars (one of the few times they HAD a collar on) and FREAKED OUT at this child. i told him he does NOT know my dogs, my dogs dont know him. They could have seriously hurt him. HE DIDNT CARE! i told him to NEVER come into my yard ever again. and if his toys scaled the fence to come Ask me to get it personally... i got a huge padlock, and locked our gate. we use our rear entrance so its fine anyway, i talked to the parents, they were "happy" i told them, but i am sure they were ticked off... but i was mad for a few reasons... not only if the dogs were to bite the kid... but, if the kid were to hurt the dogs, or let them out of the gate (we live beside a Winding road right in the middle of town, big blind spot). so i was just freaking out. They have NEVER came into our yard. i think they told their friends to stay away too

[schelmischekitty]

ha ha that's too funny!  yesterday, a mom and her daughter went in our yard looking for their cats, and even had the balls the check in OUR crawl space!  i couldn't believe it!  if i had gotten into jeans and a shirt fast enough (i was in PJ's) i'd have made a scene.  everybody's cats avoid our yard like the plague, they should have known that when they saw my dogs.  i guess it didn't help that i gave caine a piece of meat i had dropped when i was cooking    haha  maybe they thought it was what was left of their cat???

[The Brindle Pack]

This thread has been a real eye opener.  I still find it difficult to believe that there are so many ignorant people out there.  We have "Beware of Dog" signs and we keep the back gate locked.  I REALLY hope that people would think twice about coming in our yard.

For the most part when the dogs are outside we are with them.  When we are not home they only have outside access to the "square".  It's off their room with six-foot block walls and 18" concrete footers.

[schelmischekitty]

everywhere i've ever lived i've always had this happen, but up until now it hasn't been a problem because when i lived with my mom we had tiny paws and a 6ft privacy fence.  then when i lived at bragg, the dogs just stayed inside, until we got the 20ftx20ft and 6ft tall "dog run" and everyone knew they were there.  here its a big problem because we're new, and also because the dogs are maturing, and they've gotten the concept that this is OUR yard, and not a community one like at bragg.   people can be very ignorant, and honestly, it's quite annoying!

[kathryn]

I haven't had this problem but I have had the problem of the neighborhood kids running up to my Boston Terrier when she was alive.  I've had cops tell me that the Beware of Dog signs imply that you know that your dogs are dangerous so you want to use No Trespassing signs instead.  I have had the Beware Electric Fence signs up before and No Trespassing but that's it.  A little something picked up from the zoo industry, you want to have the pictures on your signs also.  That way no one can say that they can't read or don't read English or whatever because it's drawn out for them.  Apparently we are all supposed to make allowances for stupidity instead of making it a learning curve. 

[mynameislola]

Ditto the No Trespassing signs instead of the Beware of Dog.  Legally it is a huge distinction.  The picture is also a good idea.

Check that hot wires are legal in your area and not a violation of the terms of your home insurance.

Our local fence company sells inexpensive recycled fencing.  Maybe yours does too.  The auger, stretcher, and cement mixer can be rented.  Have a party to put it up.  Invite lots of friends with strong teenaged kids.

We have signs that says Trespassers Will be Eaten on 6' chain link around about half of our five acres.  The locks are a pain but well worth it.  We have been here since the late 1970s and have never had a kid in the yard.

Now if only their cats could read...

[Lyn]

We had a 'beware of dog' sign on our fence but I took it off because the guy that reads the gas meter complained to me that the sign means I know I have aggressive dogs. Bubba will carry on barking like he's Bubba bad 'butt' lol if he's outside when he comes to read the meter. But Bubba's in the fence and the meter is around the side of the house. It's not like he has to open the gate and go in the fence at all. It's a chain-link fence.. so it's not like Bubba surprises him. If he's out there you can't miss him. LOL Plus he can go around the back and avoid the fenced area all together. I honestly think he's just terrified of dogs and I can't blame him. I imagine with his job he get's confronted by territorial dogs quite often.

Our gate has always been padlocked though. Mainly because of my neighbor. He's tried to let Bubba out and he's tried to put his dog in our yard. He's not all there.

[schelmischekitty]

glad our neighbors are not like that!  our neighbors are very respectful, all of us just ignore each others dogs, and nobody complains about the others dog barking at them, etc.  they're really so nice!  the ones behind us are quite aggrivating though petting the dogs through the fence (i wouldn't mind, but diesel and axle are the only ones who go up for petting, everybody else barks)  our problem is the OTHER people around us.  i saw i sign that says "i can make it to the fence in X seconds, can you??" or something like that, i can't remember how many seconds it says. 

[mynameislola]

We don't let the meter reader in the yard.  After keeping the gates locked and ignoring them for several months, they processed our request for one of those fancy meters they read from the street with a radio.  They are free here.