Thread: Would you put decorations out even if having a neighbor dispute?

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I really want to put out my stuff this year BUT I'm having problems with my neighbor. She moved in 2 years ago on Halloween night & all was fine until a week later she brought the dog. A pit bull that has proved to be very aggressive, snarls, barks, crashes itself at the front window if it sees me outside, jumps on the fence, etc. We've asked the woman nicely many times to keep the dog quiet after 8pm so my kid can sleep. My house is only 8 feet away from the fence where the dog is & the owner doesn't have a fenced area on the other side of her house. But the dog's owner lets it bark (& it is a loud bark) as late as 11:20 pm sometimes. The barking has woken us up many times, even as early as 6 am on a Sunday morning. I've never seen the neighbor walk the dog or give it any kind of exercise. On nice days it is left outside all day to bark. I've spoken to the authorities but unless I want to get ugly about it nothing can be done.

This neighbor doesn't hand out candy but will take her son trick or treating

My concern is putting out my decorations & her (or her friends) vandalizing. We got TPd about a month ago right after the night of my yelling over the fence to keep the dog quiet.

People have commented that they come back to my house every year to see the decorations & most of the kids seem to appreciate the display as there are only about 4 of us in the entire neighborhood that actually put out a huge set up. Have thought about getting a camera system but cannot really afford to do so. I don't put out the "good" props until Halloween day but do have out quite a bit of stuff most of October.

What would you do?

I am a hardcore dog lover, but Pit Bulls scare the crap outta me... and so do their owners.

I usually go by the motto: 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. Maybe invite the neighbor over for drinks, slip something in it, she passes out, you go outside, leash up the dog, then haul him to the pound. lol j/k

Have only had my house t.p.'ed once.. what a mess.. Cop came; accused my daughter's friends of doing it; found out it was my friends. Pay back for all I'd done to them. lol

But, good luck. Hope it all works out.

Sounds like a single/divorced mom?

You don't know the whole situation, what her husband/child's father is like, etc. Maybe the dog makes her feel safe. Maybe she really doesn't have time to take it on walks, etc. Single, working, with a child. And, if you're not home, it's impossible to train a dog.

Personally, given the choice between handing out candy, or letting my children experience Halloween, the kids come first. So, she should take her son around instead of staying home, IMO. Since we don't know her financial situation, buying extra candy to hand out when she gets back may not be feasible either.

Maybe you could take a different tack? Offer to walk the dog for her, give it treats so it stops barking AT YOU, perhaps you have a fenced yard it could use during the day? These get it to recognize YOU as alpha, thus it will listen to YOU, no need for her intervention. Heck, having a neighbor's barking dog to warn me if someone is snooping in my yard would be great.

Having fought my neighbor's on Halloween decor for years, I managed to sway them over to my side: The only way to change your neighbor is to change yourself.


But, I wouldn't let any of this alter how I celebrated the holiday.

Regardless of whether she's a single mom or not, leaving the dog barking outside that late at night is quite rude and would certainly pluck my nerves too. But I do agree that maybe if you tried a different approach things could turn around. Like UnOrthodOx suggested, giving the pooch treats (per owner's approval) or maybe inviting her over for coffee one day (your neighbor, not the doggie lol). If leaving your decor outside is still a major concern after you've tried to make nice, then I'd wait till Halloween to put everything out and take it all down that night. Kinda stinks to have to do that, but if it were me, I wouldn't want my precious things ruined of stolen

Originally Posted by MissMandy

Regardless of whether she's a single mom or not, leaving the dog barking outside that late at night is quite rude and would certainly pluck my nerves too. But I do agree that maybe if you tried a different approach things could turn around. Like UnOrthodOx suggested, giving the pooch treats (per owner's approval) or maybe inviting her over for coffee one day (your neighbor, not the doggie lol). If leaving your decor outside is still a major concern after you've tried to make nice, then I'd wait till Halloween to put everything out and take it all down that night. Kinda stinks to have to do that, but if it were me, I wouldn't want my precious things ruined of stolen

I have to agree - if you cannot devote the time & attention the dog needs, they are doing a HUGE disservice to the dog & neighbors.

That said, when I first moved into my house, the neighbor's dog barked at me too (sounded mean to me!) so with her permission I bought dog biscuits & gave them to the dog to make friends. Now the dog greets me & likes me & doesn't bark as much. She still does bark & with their yard pretty close to my house, I'm glad she is so attentive. But if she's barking excessively at nothing I can call her by name & tell her to hush if I happen to be outside.

Thanks for the input. I've tried most of the suggestions y'all have made (expect offering to walk the dog or provide it my yard, LOL). She is divorced, seems to have plenty of money & enough time to take care of the dog properly, & we've tried the friendly approach.

To give you an idea of her behavior, we are in a very bad drought with high temps & city imposed water restrictions (mailed notices, notices left on the trash cans, daily news reports on water restrictions). She has continued to run her sprinklers DAILY at noon time. Plus she has a broken sprinkler line & it will flood my yard. Told her about the broken sprinkler pipe & the HUGE wasp nest on her house & she has done nothing about it.

The dog is obviously not getting what it needs to be happy.

That's rotten. Bad neighbors can just ruin your life! And when kids or dogs are involved, you feel bad/sad/mad/scared.

When I was a teen, our neighbor had a big white pitbull that often got off it's leash and ran free in our area. It was mean. It was so scary, and nobody ever did anything to stop the jerks from letting their dog roam. I love all dogs, but big mean dogs need to be taken care of by their owners.

If it were me, I'd put stuff out the day before of so...put stuff on the porch, if you have one, or in the windows of your home. Or, set up a smaller display you can bring in at night.

do your decorations as you please and call the water company about her busted pipe

then toss the dog a hot dog with a benadryl in it wont hurt the dog and will calm him down for a bit

Originally Posted by HallowweenKat

Thanks for the input. I've tried most of the suggestions y'all have made (expect offering to walk the dog or provide it my yard, LOL). She is divorced, seems to have plenty of money & enough time to take care of the dog properly, & we've tried the friendly approach.

To give you an idea of her behavior, we are in a very bad drought with high temps & city imposed water restrictions (mailed notices, notices left on the trash cans, daily news reports on water restrictions). She has continued to run her sprinklers DAILY at noon time. Plus she has a broken sprinkler line & it will flood my yard. Told her about the broken sprinkler pipe & the HUGE wasp nest on her house & she has done nothing about it.

The dog is obviously not getting what it needs to be happy.

Ah! Well some people are just................................how they are (trying to put it nicely).....hope you get some suggestions!

you can also put up fake cameras that look pretty real and casually mention after the TP incident that you had them installed.