I'm getting calls from the neighbors about my tenants aggressive dogs jumping the fence and scaring them. I called animal control and there have been a bunch of complaints, which I didn't realize. I've already called the tenant but of course they didn't do anything wrong. I talked to another landlord who said it's tough to evict for this because of a lack of proof. I need to turn up the heat, looking for advice. I would like to sell the house and the current tenant

Dog and their owners....oi weh. For every "good" owner/dog pair, seems like there's a bad one (or two).

Deterrence might work. If you go online, there are many sites that list deterrent recipes you can create that might cause a dog to shy away from a property boundary. Many of them involve high-capsaicin content peppers, like Jalapenos and/or Cayenne. If you really want to turn up the heat, try Habanero. May or may not work, and unfortunately rain washes it away, so it has to be reapplied.

Plant a hedge row with thorny bushes that would poke thru the fence (chain link, I'm guessing)?

Privacy fence maybe?

One guy I know used high grade cattle fence wire and hooked a deep cycle marine battery to it. Threw the dog back several feet the first time he touched it. Downside to this strategy is what happens if a human touches it....liability?

I've heard of some other pretty nasty ways of getting rid of bothersome dogs, but wouldn't recommend. Seems cruel, even for a potentially vicious dog. That said, I carry personal safety implements with me while running in the neighborhood, and if someone can't be bothered to keep their dog from nipping at my ankles, they will need to figure out how to tell the rest of the family that "Fluffy must have run off"....catch my drift?

Three options for them:

1) Enroll in obedience classes (the very next available)and show proper pet ownership skills by ( date - SOON). They need to pay for whatever it takes to contain their dog - assuming there are no holes in the fence, and it would contain any reasonably well-behaved animal, etc.

2) Give away the dog.

3) Leave the home.

They need to respond in 24 hrs, or YOU make the choice & give notice.

It looks like you have cause to evict, with plenty of proof from the Animal Control as well as neighbors. Get written copies of everything, of course. If the scared neighbor will, perhaps they can also get photos and video of the offenses, to make your case even stronger. Also, document that it IS a good fence and anything else you can think of.

Inspect the rest of the property, too. I bet there is more damage that needs to be repaired and billed.

I had the opposite problem, the neighbors rental tenants allowed their dogs to jump the fence over to my apartment rental and scaring my tenants silly. They would park their cars near to the fence and their dogs managed to jump on the cars and jump over the fence.

So I added to the top of my fence, using angular metal spikes to keep all from climbing over the fence.

The the neighbors contacted "Building and Safety", "Housing" and Animal control. How dare I put up a stop measure that could injure the pets!

There are ways to keep jumping dogs in. An invisible fence on top of the existing fence will stop a dog from jumping out. but the tenant would have to keep the battery on the dog's collar charged.

Coyote rollers on top of the fence stop a dog from jumping out. Not too terribly expensive if you build your own.

No matter what, you need to get rid of this tenant. non-renew if they are on a lease or give the notice to vacate if they are month to month.

Steve,

You do not have a dog problem. You have a people problem.

Talk is not going to fix this problem.

I also suggest an immediate inspection. I suspect you’ll be surprise at the condition of your rental.

I would give them a three day text to remove the dogs or face sheriff eviction.