I think a 6' fence with locked gates is sufficient to indicate that people are not welcome there unless invited. You could probably install some razor wire on top, but it is likely to violate HOA rules, and will definitely mark you as crazy fucker on the block.
I do not like the "beware of dog" sign, not because it flags your house as a target, but because it paints you and your dog in a certain light. It comes off as your dog being a threat, instead of "stay out and leave us and our dog in peace". I don't expect anyone other than dog owners to understand. I know of no situation where a cat has been destroyed by the state at the behest of 3rd parties. My dog isn't a threat, but when strangers trespass into his space then shit may happen and it wouldn't have if they weren't there.
He wants to tell people to stay the fuck out of his backyard or, kindly please knock, and if the gate is locked then it is for a good reason. He is not trying to say he has a slavering beast back here that will bite your face off.
I'd beef up the latching/locking mechanism and put up a "no trespassing" sign or a sticker on the gates saying "proud dog owner" or something.
Talking to the league is not a bad idea, but you need to talk to someone who might actually say something to the other members. Most people of these types of groups are participants and not leaders. If you can talk to one of the organizers, one of the people who goes to every event and addresses everyone at meets (is responsible for giving notices or setting itinerary), then you can make the point that they really shouldn't be entering backyards, particularly ones where the owner has taken pains to prevent trespassing, or those that have animals loose in the back.
I don't think an owner has to apologize in advance for the potential behavior of his animal if he is keeping him safe in a controlled environment. Non-residents jumping over locked fences is both un-neighborly and illegal; owning a dog isn't. Instead of "Beware of Dog" you need a "Stay the Fuck Out" sign, but not sure how to do that without coming off as a nutter.
i would go with a no trespassing sign, and if it happens again after you talked with the league about your concerns, call the cops. I'm betting this will not be a common occurrence, but nothing wrong with getting your ducks in a row.
0
EncA Fool with CompassionPronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered Userregular
Best solution here? Make yourself known to the people who play regularly in that field. Walk over and introduce yourself, say which house you live at, and explain that you have a dog and have to keep the backyard locked up. Also explain that if they end up with the ball in your yard all they have to do is knock on your front door and you'll get it for them.
It's polite, it solves the problem, and no one ends up being a jerk to eachother. The city and the police do not need to be involved to be a good neighbor. All you gotta do is lay down some boundaries and be helpful for the problem. Balls get tossed over fences. It happens (especially if you live next door to the local sporting field). If you want to be totally passive in this, put a sign up on the outside of your fence that faces the field that says: "Lose your ball? Knock on our front door and we'll grab it for you!"
I guess what boggles me about this is the level of escalation for what is really an extremely common deal in modern suburbia. If this happened in Florida I would 100% expect the police to laugh in your face. You have a right to privacy on your own land, yeah, but the odds of that privacy never being violated (ever) for something like this is nonexistent.
They mentioned a few things.
1: Yes, the police were just flat out lying when they said that they couldn't file a report or do anything, they should've filed a report, and the city now has the incident on file.
2: The leagues have really strict agreements with the city to ensure that shit like this doesn't happen, which includes stuff up to an including having leagues lose their privilege to use the field if they're getting complaints about pretty much anything from the residents.
3: This is not the first time that groups using the fields have had complaints against them.
4: The league didn't even bother to reserve the field for the day, which they're also required to do.
5:They sent an email to all the different sports leagues reminding them that they are playing adjacent to private property and they only are using the fields with the understanding that they're not going to do anything that warrants complaints from the owners.
We still haven't heard back from the league themselves, which doesn't exactly paint them in any better light than what the city mentioned.
Best solution here? Make yourself known to the people who play regularly in that field. Walk over and introduce yourself, say which house you live at, and explain that you have a dog and have to keep the backyard locked up. Also explain that if they end up with the ball in your yard all they have to do is knock on your front door and you'll get it for them.
It's polite, it solves the problem, and no one ends up being a jerk to eachother. The city and the police do not need to be involved to be a good neighbor. All you gotta do is lay down some boundaries and be helpful for the problem. Balls get tossed over fences. It happens (especially if you live next door to the local sporting field). If you want to be totally passive in this, put a sign up on the outside of your fence that faces the field that says: "Lose your ball? Knock on our front door and we'll grab it for you!"
I guess what boggles me about this is the level of escalation for what is really an extremely common deal in modern suburbia. If this happened in Florida I would 100% expect the police to laugh in your face. You have a right to privacy on your own land, yeah, but the odds of that privacy never being violated (ever) for something like this is nonexistent.
I think the reason you're boggled is that you've constructed a situation wildly different than the actual situation.
1: There are multiple softball games about every weekend and some afternoons/evenings on weekdays. There just started to be soccer games as well. I don't know who is playing when, I don't know how many different leagues there are that are organizing things, and I don't know how often specific groups are playing.
2: Nobody playing in the fields that I know of are from my neighbourhood. I have no neighbours there, I have nobody I ever interact with there. In fact, the league we just had a problem with are from another suburb about a 15-20 minute drive away and over a bridge. Why were they playing over in this specific field? I have no idea.
3: We have boundaries. The leagues have an agreement with the city not to mess with the residents, including not trespassing. We also have a literal, physical boundary in a 6 foot tall fence that an adult had to help the child over. I do not understand why this is a difficult concept.
4: Maybe I should also bring up that during the time where a complete stranger grown-assed man was arguing with us that a: we were being unreasonable for telling him that he was not welcome to break into our yard and b: that we were being extra unreasonable telling the kid to get out of the yard because how could we expect the kid to get out when the gate was locked, there was no ball in sight. It had lodged itself in a bush which was right next to the side of the house. The kid couldn't see it, the adult couldn't see it, and while he was telling us that he just sent the kid over to get his ball back, we couldn't see it. Only about 15 minutes later from the back balcony looking down could I see the ball.
And perhaps most importantly, I should not have to go over and specifically, politely ask random strangers several times a week not to break into my yard. What kind of crazy person thinks that would be an acceptable way to resolve this
The idea that some local, neighbourhood kid lost his ball into the middle of our yard, was too scared to knock on the door, and decided to just step over a little picket fence to get it back only to have us call the police on him is simply not what happened.
Anyways, the city was very helpful about the whole thing, and was very understanding, having mentioned that yes, they're already told that they're not to pull that kind of shit, and yes, they've already been warned over other similar incidents, and yes the police should've filed a report like we asked, and yes, it's good that we contacted them about this.
We're holding the sign as an option, but yeah, I really just don't like that idea of putting up an extra sign either making my dog out to seem vicious, since he's really not, or putting up an extra sign to remind people not to break the law.
Definitely going to call the league back if they don't respond soon though.
Nice to see that it's turning out well enough for you. It might very well have gone the other way if they dog had bitten the kid though- In cases like this it seems like the authorities have a tendency to just believe whoever contacts them first, so if the kid's father had gone to them screaming about the crazy man who lets a rabid dog run loose right next to where all the little children are playing...
And perhaps most importantly, I should not have to go over and specifically, politely ask random strangers several times a week not to break into my yard. What kind of crazy person thinks that would be an acceptable way to resolve this.
this
Jesus fucking Christ the majority of this thread (especially the first page) is plain ridiculous
"OP is an unreasonable crazy psycho asshole for wanting to protect his dog" "you should put up an 'our dog is dangerous and we're rich so you should come rob us' sign" "you should be go introduce yourself to every single person who might potentially break into your yard and tell them not to break into your yard" "THINK OF THE CHILDREN (but forget about the asshole parent who initiated all this in the first place)"
If this happened in Florida I would 100% expect the police to laugh in your face.
If this happened in Florida, OP probably would have just shot the kid & parent in the face and that'd pretty much be the end of it. I'm not really sure what your point here is.
+1
ceresWhen the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderatormod
I think we're done here.
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
Posts
This is what I mean about escalating wayyyy out of proportion =\
I do not like the "beware of dog" sign, not because it flags your house as a target, but because it paints you and your dog in a certain light. It comes off as your dog being a threat, instead of "stay out and leave us and our dog in peace". I don't expect anyone other than dog owners to understand. I know of no situation where a cat has been destroyed by the state at the behest of 3rd parties. My dog isn't a threat, but when strangers trespass into his space then shit may happen and it wouldn't have if they weren't there.
He wants to tell people to stay the fuck out of his backyard or, kindly please knock, and if the gate is locked then it is for a good reason. He is not trying to say he has a slavering beast back here that will bite your face off.
I'd beef up the latching/locking mechanism and put up a "no trespassing" sign or a sticker on the gates saying "proud dog owner" or something.
Talking to the league is not a bad idea, but you need to talk to someone who might actually say something to the other members. Most people of these types of groups are participants and not leaders. If you can talk to one of the organizers, one of the people who goes to every event and addresses everyone at meets (is responsible for giving notices or setting itinerary), then you can make the point that they really shouldn't be entering backyards, particularly ones where the owner has taken pains to prevent trespassing, or those that have animals loose in the back.
I don't think an owner has to apologize in advance for the potential behavior of his animal if he is keeping him safe in a controlled environment. Non-residents jumping over locked fences is both un-neighborly and illegal; owning a dog isn't. Instead of "Beware of Dog" you need a "Stay the Fuck Out" sign, but not sure how to do that without coming off as a nutter.
It's polite, it solves the problem, and no one ends up being a jerk to eachother. The city and the police do not need to be involved to be a good neighbor. All you gotta do is lay down some boundaries and be helpful for the problem. Balls get tossed over fences. It happens (especially if you live next door to the local sporting field). If you want to be totally passive in this, put a sign up on the outside of your fence that faces the field that says: "Lose your ball? Knock on our front door and we'll grab it for you!"
I guess what boggles me about this is the level of escalation for what is really an extremely common deal in modern suburbia. If this happened in Florida I would 100% expect the police to laugh in your face. You have a right to privacy on your own land, yeah, but the odds of that privacy never being violated (ever) for something like this is nonexistent.
They mentioned a few things.
1: Yes, the police were just flat out lying when they said that they couldn't file a report or do anything, they should've filed a report, and the city now has the incident on file.
2: The leagues have really strict agreements with the city to ensure that shit like this doesn't happen, which includes stuff up to an including having leagues lose their privilege to use the field if they're getting complaints about pretty much anything from the residents.
3: This is not the first time that groups using the fields have had complaints against them.
4: The league didn't even bother to reserve the field for the day, which they're also required to do.
5:They sent an email to all the different sports leagues reminding them that they are playing adjacent to private property and they only are using the fields with the understanding that they're not going to do anything that warrants complaints from the owners.
We still haven't heard back from the league themselves, which doesn't exactly paint them in any better light than what the city mentioned.
I think the reason you're boggled is that you've constructed a situation wildly different than the actual situation.
1: There are multiple softball games about every weekend and some afternoons/evenings on weekdays. There just started to be soccer games as well. I don't know who is playing when, I don't know how many different leagues there are that are organizing things, and I don't know how often specific groups are playing.
2: Nobody playing in the fields that I know of are from my neighbourhood. I have no neighbours there, I have nobody I ever interact with there. In fact, the league we just had a problem with are from another suburb about a 15-20 minute drive away and over a bridge. Why were they playing over in this specific field? I have no idea.
3: We have boundaries. The leagues have an agreement with the city not to mess with the residents, including not trespassing. We also have a literal, physical boundary in a 6 foot tall fence that an adult had to help the child over. I do not understand why this is a difficult concept.
4: Maybe I should also bring up that during the time where a complete stranger grown-assed man was arguing with us that a: we were being unreasonable for telling him that he was not welcome to break into our yard and b: that we were being extra unreasonable telling the kid to get out of the yard because how could we expect the kid to get out when the gate was locked, there was no ball in sight. It had lodged itself in a bush which was right next to the side of the house. The kid couldn't see it, the adult couldn't see it, and while he was telling us that he just sent the kid over to get his ball back, we couldn't see it. Only about 15 minutes later from the back balcony looking down could I see the ball.
And perhaps most importantly, I should not have to go over and specifically, politely ask random strangers several times a week not to break into my yard. What kind of crazy person thinks that would be an acceptable way to resolve this
The idea that some local, neighbourhood kid lost his ball into the middle of our yard, was too scared to knock on the door, and decided to just step over a little picket fence to get it back only to have us call the police on him is simply not what happened.
Anyways, the city was very helpful about the whole thing, and was very understanding, having mentioned that yes, they're already told that they're not to pull that kind of shit, and yes, they've already been warned over other similar incidents, and yes the police should've filed a report like we asked, and yes, it's good that we contacted them about this.
We're holding the sign as an option, but yeah, I really just don't like that idea of putting up an extra sign either making my dog out to seem vicious, since he's really not, or putting up an extra sign to remind people not to break the law.
Definitely going to call the league back if they don't respond soon though.
Keep us updated!
Also,
this
Jesus fucking Christ the majority of this thread (especially the first page) is plain ridiculous
"OP is an unreasonable crazy psycho asshole for wanting to protect his dog" "you should put up an 'our dog is dangerous and we're rich so you should come rob us' sign" "you should be go introduce yourself to every single person who might potentially break into your yard and tell them not to break into your yard" "THINK OF THE CHILDREN (but forget about the asshole parent who initiated all this in the first place)"