Training Lesson

I ran into a neighbor at the store last week. He lives kitty-corner across the back fence from me, but since his kids grew older and my hazelnut hedge grew up, we haven't seen much of each other lately. After a quick catch-up on news, he told me a story.

Each of us shares a property line boundary with a third neighbor. This neighbor owns a pair of boxers. As in dogs, not as in boxers-or-briefs.  I have no information on the latter.

I do have plenty of information on the dogs. The female of the pair has learned to jump the fence, 4 feet of chain link, into our yard. Fred is game to play, but she intimidates the hell out of Koda, so I'm not well pleased. It's best if the dogs all run up and down the mutual fence line, bark at each other all they want, and leave it at that. Good exercise.

She doesn't intimidate me. When she hops the fence, I just go all alpha dog on her, knowing I'm in command, and yell at her to go home. She does.

I've heard stories about the dogs both jumping the fence around the rest of their yard; not, I might add, a 4' chain link one. Folks about town have variously called them in to the local sheriff's department as escaped pit bulls or whatever else comes to mind that sounds scary enough to get some attention.

My neighbor informed me of his own recent experience with the dogs. His daughter was home on break from college, minding her own business in the back yard, when one of the dogs jumped the fence and approached her aggressively. He called the sheriff's office.

When the deputy arrived, he informed my neighbor that this was not the first nor even the second complaint about these dogs. He suggested they head out to the back yard and see what happened. Sure enough, one of the dogs jumped the fence again, and approached the two men, growling. The deputy calmly reached into his back pocket, pulled out his tazer, and ...zapppp!

While the dog was down and disabled, each took two of its legs, lifted it up and over the fence, and dumped it unceremoniously back on its own side of the fence. Once it was finally able to, the dog retreated towards its house.

It hasn't jumped into the neighbor's yard since. Nor, come to think of it, have I seen it in ours lately. My neighbor's still not taking any chances, though. He carries pepper spray in a pocket when he's out in his back yard.