I need a bit of guidance on how to approach a neighbour or where to go to get official advice concerning our new neighbour's problem dogs please.
We are in a rural area where most properties tend to be reasonably large and there is a good incidence of dog ownership. Almost all folks here are long-term dog owners and walk or exercise them responsibly. Fencing tends to be for privacy from humans and cattle rather than for excluding small animals. We have standard 4" horse fencing around all sides of our 0.5 Acre property and it is open to the communal private lane like all other dwellings bar one.
Next to us used to be a 2.7 Acre vacant plot which was developed recently to a 4-bed bungalow right next to ours and a large, long thin wooded garden following the line of the lane. The communal fence between us is a normal horse fence as there were no dogs there when it was built.
The new owner of the property used to live in a large farm and brought her slightly elderly short-legged lab bitch who is very territorial and clearly used to a larger property. While not aggressive, she has a loud, assertive and persistent bark and is on a hair trigger for anyone walking their dogs or horses past the property on the right of way as well as at me when I use my own garden which is in full view. A short while ago she also bought a pair of dachsund puppies for her kids and they too are untrained and excessively noisy.
The dachsunds have taken to limbo-dancing under the horse fence and treating my garden as though it is part of theirs and the lab bitch can squeeze through a few low dips under the fence and accompany them. All three dogs routinely use my property as an extension of their unsupervised latrine area and have been going in my raised beds, on my decking and on my gravel driveway. They are not being encouraged to do this by the owner - they are just totally unsupervised.
The dachsunds have now taken to barking at me through my patio windows which reach down to the floor when they see me inside. If I go outside and confront them, they retreat, barking furiously and normally head back to their own garden so they know they are not supposed to be over here.
I have not yet spoken to the new owner about this issue as she is rarely outside at her property. The dogs are not taken on walks for latrine purposes at all and I rarely see them with the owner. They are off the leash at all times when not indoors, have no collars and left alone most of the day.
I am wondering if I am allowed to ask the owner that if the dogs are outdoors unsupervised that she confine them to her own property. This is in Scotland if the rules of dog ownership vary around the country.
What are your thoughts on this situation?
