How to keep a Chihuahua out of my yard?

chihuahuas are VERY willful AND affectionate, but they are also dog-aggressive...

I have the EXACT problem, except it is MY 3 chihuahuas that are the pain in the arse for my neighbors, I try to keep an eye on the dogs but sometimes they get out & harass their dog (which is big enough to eat them all in 1 bite), and i KNOW it is extremely irritating because the female is a 'yipper'... the little guys don't have a problem when the neighbor's dog is NOT leashed, only when it isn't allowed to run free & play with them

the only thing I can say is that it is NOT the dog's fault, it is your neighbor's fault, the only thing that works for me is asserting that I am the one IN CHARGE, not the animals

bad thing is, if their dog comes into your yard & harasses your dog to its breaking point & it then attacks and injures it, you can be held responsible... (our fine fine justice system @ work )

So the thing is that I really don't want to take this to animal control, the neighbor's are old fashioned and I don't want to be the neighbor who creates a ruckus.

As far as the fence, we have farm fencing which is plenty adequate to keep our dog's in, but that little bugger can come right through it! He does have one particular spot though, I think I will try the chili powder there.

My big concern is that the dog will get my am staff so riled up that he charges through the fence in that corner. Once he is out.. anything that happens I would be liable for. The thing that irritates me is.. if that dog just stayed out of the yard my dog's would have no issue. Even if he was right on the other side of the fence they would be fine.

As far as the owner, they have said "Oh, just let them play!". It is not like that, at all! The Chihuahua does not want to play, he just want's to come in and bark at our house... Uggg...

Thanks for the tips so far!

What do you guys think of running a hot wire around the bottom?

KC8UXU said:

Bad idea. Once again you leave yourself up to liability. Someone could get hurt.

Fix your fence. I have 4 Chihuahuas mixes and have no problem keeping them in the yard.

Air horn will just annoy everyone that lives around you. Chili powders and squirt guns may keep it out but why not roll up your sleeves and go outside and fix the root of your problem...the fence. This is a Prepared forum. Prepare your fence to keep intruders, Small Dog, out off of your property.

Click to expand...

The fence is not broken, It works perfectly fine for what it's purpose is, keeping my dogs in my yard. It is the kind of fence you would see for a pasture, the wire kind. I would have to re-fence our entire piece of property, which quite frankly I don't have that kind of money to be spending, your looking at hundred's plus.

With the hot wire, if it is on my side of the fence and he get's through and zapped, why would I be liable for the dog's condition? If there is a leash law, and they are breaking it, their fault, is it not? I guess this would be something to check with my local law enforcement.

Long story short, I just wish people who had dogs would KEEP THEM IN THEIR YARDS!! There are other dog's in the neighborhood that roam as well, but they are of the size that can not go through our fence.

There is another option that hasn't been listed ... animal trap. One of those "safe" traps that will capture the animal and keep it alive till such time as you can remove it - permanently ...

You can get them for all kinds of sizes - find one that will trap rats. Once it is baited and the dog is trapped inside - take the dog for a tour of a neighboring farm - and leave it there.

If the owners are not capable of controlling their animal - they are not worthy of owning such a pet.

I have used several methods of controlling the neighbors - and - to an extent they seem to work.

I had a neighbor kid who threw their dogs crap into my yard - I got fed up with it and after ringing the doorbell threw all the crap into their house and made sure that that it made a good sized mess inside. The kid never threw anything into my yard again (I must have made a good impression).

I had a neighbor who let their dog roam all the time. Their dog loved to crap in my yard. A sling-shot did a great job of controlling their dog after many requests to keep their dog at home. Yes - I returned the crap to their house too - several times.

I had a very noisy neighbor's dog that couldn't figure that barking wasn't required all day - all night - every day. Air-soft pellets did wonders.

Finally - before someone jumps on me for animal (human) cruelty - I have trained hundreds of dog (my own and others) to be perfect pets. I combine praise with pain to train the dogs. I will only work with one dog at a time - puppies to full grown abused dogs for a couple of weeks, when I am happy with their progress, the dogs are taken back to their owners and then I train the owners.

When it is with regards to rescue dogs, I work with the shelter to pick a family, then I train them as well. I have rarely needed to retrain a dog.

in my experience, when an animal 'fails' obedience training it is almost always a failure of the owners... NOT the dogs themselves, people don't seem to realize that dogs pretty much have two modes: ALWAYS & NEVER, either they are always allowed to do fill-in-the-blank or they are never allowed to, & as soon as you slip up as an owner by letting them do something once it is SO much harder to get them to stop (basically retraining them, which isn't very fair to the animal for YOUR laxness, is it?)

living out in the country, not totally isolated, but still pretty laid back: when a neighbor's dog craps in my lawn it doesn't really bother me; dogs crap, they're good at it the next rain will wash most of it into the ground, not such a big deal... except for maybe the one neighbor's mastiff

if you have a have-a-heart trap in your yard for 'pests' & you 'just happen' to catch your neighbor's dog... call animal control, you have proof the dog is not 'under command' & it would seem to be a LOT 'less confrontational' than other methods (except maybe the super soaker squirt gun, i LIKE that one)

or choose another solution & GO with it, without knowing your EXACT circumstances, total strangers online are NOT going to be able to give you a 'perfect' solution for YOUR unique situation