I've turned into "that" neighbor.

I just had words with a group of boys from down the block. I actually said the words "stay off of my lawn". Sigh.

It started last week when they would stand in front of my neighbor's fence, taunting their barking dog. The dog barks at everything, he doesn't need any help. But he was really going at it, and the kids were standing around, laughing.

My neighbor came out into her backyard, said something to them and they walked away. And came right back 2 minutes later, whizzing by on their bikes, at least 5 more times to get the dog going.

Today, I hear the dog furiously barking again and there they are, with long sticks, smacking the fence and poking the stick through it at the dog. I was ready to open the window and say something when they took off, straight through my garden, not five feet from the front of my house and hid in my bushes.

I had had enough and spoke to them through the window about being on my property. They walked away, talked to one of their friends on a bike, and this kid rode his bike slowly up my driveway. I admit, I lost it a little, went out, told them to stop taunting the dog, stop running across my lawn, stop riding up my driveway or I was going to find out where they lived and talk to their parents.

I'm not proud of "how" I spoke to them, but not five minutes later, the same boys are walking up and down the block, yelling songs. My neighbor put their dog inside, or I'm sure they would have been over there again.

Apparently, I've turned into "that" neighbor. All the other kids around here are sweet and friendly. I give the little girls flowers from my garden, I support their lemonade stands, they pet our dogs when we take them for walks, and I'm friends with their parents. I'm really not the hated neighbor. Or at least I wasn't before.

Re: I've turned into "that" neighbor.

i dont think youre "that" neighbor... i think those kids were being "those" kids...

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Re: I've turned into "that" neighbor.

I feel a little bit better that you said that. I remember how tolerant my mother was with the kids around the neighborhood and that everyone's yards were free-for-alls for hide and go seek. I didn't want to be snippy but the taunting of the dog gets to me. I taunted my aunt's dog, it got out, and I still have the scars on the backs of my legs to show for it. And yes, I worry about the kids hurting themselves on my property.

I thought about it and next time, I'm going to approach the kids themselves, see if they have an ounce of good sense. If I'm the crazy lady that yells, they're going to dismiss me. Maybe if I'm the adult that talks to them, it might make them think twice next time.

Or, it will just be a second step to finding out where they live. But I'd like to be able to say I gave it a chance before I did that.

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its one thing to tolerate kids just being there... i was always one of those kids too...

but you said they were basically torturing and taunting your neighbors dog... id have totally flipped on them too...

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Re: I've turned into "that" neighbor.

my parents & my friends parents raised us to respect other people's property...you did not go on other people's lawns & driveways ...we used to feel bad about hopping the neighbor's fence to get a ball and did it as quickly as we could...you are not "that" neighbor...these kids need to learn respect and boundaries...and hell, if you are the one to teach them god bless! You can bet i'd be out there yelling, especially if teasing an animal is involved...

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Thanks everyone. No sign of the kids this afternoon, so maybe I'll only have to deal with potential problems on weekends when I'll be outside gardening anyway.

Re: I've turned into "that" neighbor.

Posted by KittyKatCopper

my parents & my friends parents raised us to respect other people's property...you did not go on other people's lawns & driveways ...we used to feel bad about hopping the neighbor's fence to get a ball and did it as quickly as we could...you are not "that" neighbor...these kids need to learn respect and boundaries...and hell, if you are the one to teach them god bless! You can bet i'd be out there yelling, especially if teasing an animal is involved...

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Not at all.

Those are dreadful bratty children that deserve to be reprimanded.

That's an awful story. They sound like bored degenerates. They must not have anything better to do than to harass a dog. Terrible. Don't let these brats ruin it... I'm sure you are still nice to everyone else. And you have valid reason to yell at these brats.

Re: I've turned into "that" neighbor.

You are most certainly NOT that neighbor. Taunting your dog is completely out of line.

I had the same problems in the past - we are on a corner - before when I just had 2 dogs (1 was 110 lbs - A Shepherd mix and the other 80lbs - A Rottie)

I heard the dogs going crazy in my yard, looked out the window and some of the kids (10-12 years old) were throwing rocks at my dogs from the street. I snuck outside, picked up one of the rocks and threw it in the street, no where near them, but they saw it. I went out of the yard and asked them how they liked it. I also told them that taunting almost 200 lbs of dog probably wasn't the brightest idea, if they got out, I thought my dogs could run faster.

My neighbors ratted the kids out to me numerous times (I live on a dead end as well - the neighbor told me which house the kids came from), plus she photographed some of the older teens jumping my 6' chain link fence and banging on my sliders to get the dogs barking. I went down the dead end street to every house with the pics, introduced myself, said I didn't want to be "that neighbor" at the corner of the street, but I can't reason with my dogs not to bark, you can reason with your kids not to throw rocks and stay out of my yard and - just an FYI for everyone since the summer is coming - it's a FELONY for anyone 16+ to go over a locked fence on your property - it's called felony trespass. ANything under 16 is a misdeameanor. Yes, my DH is a police officer.

I told them I really don't want to be "that neighbor", I've tried asking nicely for awhile, tried winging the rock out and pointing out the size of the dogs, but the boys in these pictures are giving me no choice (plus they broke a window) , so if any of these are your boys, please talk to them or if you know them, please talk to them, becuase the next time I will call SCPD.

Of coure, it all stopped because I had pics. But it sux it had to come to that.

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WOW. That's quite a story! I was getting more and more angry, reading it!! I would go crazy if someone tried to hurt one of my dogs, bravo for keeping your cool.

My dogs don't really bark (thank God, or they would be answering my neighbor's dog all day) so the kids probably don't even know they're there. I'm glad, because it seems that getting a rise out of anyone - dog or human - is really the point of it.

I've been driving up the block different times of day to look for these kids. Haven't seen them at all since I posted, another small miracle. I'm going to see if I can catch my neighbor outside (the one with the barking dog) to see if they know anything about them. I've actually always wanted to meet their dog, figuring it might not bark at me if it "knows" me and that I'm not a threat.

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LOL, you are like Mr. Wilson from Dennis the Menace. Just kidding, I would have done the same thing. Not long ago, these boys were maybe 12 yrs old and they thought they were being funny by jumping out in front of cars, causing the cars to swerve to avoid hitting them, and they took off running and laughing.

Well, they did this to me, I almost shitt my pants, because I almost hit one, and got so pisssed at them. I busted a U-turn half on someone's lawn and chased them down. I got out of the car and ran after them. Then I went home and made DH get back in the car with me to go look for them.

I was a lunatic. You did the right thing!

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You are definitely not "that neighbor", those kids are completely disrespectful and needed to be spoken to.

If my son ever does anything like that when he's older, I would appreciate a neighbor telling me about it. I would probably appreciate you telling him to knock it off as well.

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i don't think you were wrong at all.. i just feel so bad for that poor dog