My neighbor wants to connect our yards so our dogs can play

[Toomuchstuff]

Our dogs LOVE each other !!!! We both got the same age Rescues from different places - at just about the same time,too . When we introduced them ... it was like they knew each other forever . I've never seen dogs play so nice together ! It just melts our hearts to watch them and I swear , we smile for days because of them !!!! My neighbor suggested she put a gate between our yards and leave it open so they run into both yards and play together. It sounds just great ...... BUT .... I'm trying to think of a realistic downside to this idea. Can you think of any ?

Neither one of us care about picking up poop from another dog .... is there anything else that I might consider before going along
with installing a gate ? I need your brains to help me ! LOL

 

[SeaBreeze]

I personally wouldn't like that, because I'm a very private person and I want my yard to be my yard only. I would much rather prefer just an arranged playtime where the dog comes over for a couple of hours, then is picked up or taken back home.

Would there be a way to lock and open the gate from either side? Do you think there would be a disturbance is your neighbor wanted the gate open, and for any reason, you wanted it closed to be alone with your dog in the yard or inside? Would it create bad feeling between you and the neighbor?

These are just hypothetical situations of possible downsides.

What if your dog didn't want to come back through the gate into your yard, say for the night or for anytime you wanted the gate close and be with him alone? Would you then have to force him through the gate and have him resent you for taking him away from his buddy? What if the other dog didn't want to go back home, say at night?

What if your dog is in their yard and they have company. Their garage or front door is left open by one of their visitors and he takes off.

If the gate is big enough for the dogs to go through, it's that much easier for a person on their side of the fence, maybe a visitor, to enter your yard with no effort.

I think your dog would bond with you better and feel that he really has his own home and yard to enjoy or protect, as opposed to a community yard.

What if you both decide to close the gate, and the dogs are so used to it already that they start digging under it or clawing at it to get it open so they can be with each other. Once they're introduced to that arrangement, they may object to it being closed.

There's a saying that fences make good neighbors, this isn't a total fence, just a gate, but it is an opening nevertheless.

In my opinion, Hunter needs to feel secure in his own home and in his own yard with his mom. Visiting can be done by mutual agreement at any time, and then the dogs go back to their respective homes/yards. The yard will lead to time inside your house, not realistic to think it won't. You can't go inside with Hunter for any reason without the neighbor's dog outside in your yard making a fuss, or your dog on the inside whining to get out to his friend.

Many years ago we had a neighbor that said if we ever wanted to go on vacation for a few weeks, he would just take off a few planks of our fence and let him go to their house like that, or their dogs in our yard to be with him. I thanked him for the offer, but never took him up on it, too weird for my comfort.

If I were you I'd really think about this before agreeing to it.

 

[Keesha]

I personally wouldn't like that, because I'm a very private person and I want my yard to be my yard only. I would much rather prefer just an arranged playtime where the dog comes over for a couple of hours, then is picked up or taken back home.

Would there be a way to lock and open the gate from either side? Do you think there would be a disturbance is your neighbor wanted the gate open, and for any reason, you wanted it closed to be alone with your dog in the yard or inside? Would it create bad feeling between you and the neighbor?
...

What a fabulous answer.

 

[Meanderer]

 

[Mizzkitt]

Seabreeze made an excellent post. All I can add is what happens if one neighbor moves, the other dog will continue to be a nuisance to the new neighbor expecting the open door policy continues in an attempt to look for his pal.

Is there a dog park nearby where both dogs could be taken?

 

[Toomuchstuff]

EXCELLENT replies !!!! That's a lot of stuff I never thought of . I knew I found the right people to ask After reading all that , I think I might suggest that things stay the way they are . They can still play together but won't have free access .

***Thank You !!!!****

 

[twinkles]

i agree with seabreeze--- when i had my own place my dog would play with the neighbors dog---- they would run along the fence till they got tired--they had a good time together thru the fence

 

[jujube]

Whose fence is it?

When my daughter was a pre-teen, we were renting a house next door to some lovely neighbors who we had a fantastic relationship with. Their daughter and mine were inseparable, usually spending most of their time at one house or the other. The wife became my best friend. I loved her husband like a brother. The neighbors put in a pool because, as the dad said, he wanted to keep the girls "at home". He also put in a gate in the fence (it was his fence on his property) so we could pass through easily to use the pool.

Our landlords (the landlords from hell) had a bloody tantrum about it: How dare he? He couldn't do that!!!! They put a chain and padlock on the fence one day when we were out. The neighbor told them to remove it. They didn't. He cut it off with a bolt cutter. Then they wired a piece of chain link fence over the gate on our side. He removed it. Then they came by one day and planted a bush directly in front of the gate. Not surprisingly, the bush died (it's amazing how much damage a lot of salt water poured on the roots of a bush can do.....not that I'd know, of course....) We told them that we really wanted the gate there, but they were adamant that HE COULD NOT DO THAT!

Finally, they came and installed a six-foot section of their own fence as close to the gate as they could while on their own property. THAT, I couldn't do anything about. All that pissiness just because he hadn't asked them first for their "permission" to put in the gate IN HIS FENCE. Their formal explanation? They felt that there would be a path worn in that area in the grass. The grass in the back yard was the usual scrubby Florida St. Augustine grass that looks bad to begin with and really can't be made to look any worse.

So, we just enjoyed the pool anyway, having to walk a little farther to get there. After another year, we just couldn't take the landlords any longer and left at the end of our lease.