HELP! New nieghboors with big dogs urinating on my plants

Hello friends.
I can't believe this turn of events. Let me start off by saying I am a dog person bigtime. We have 2 Australian Blue Heeler's and have been breeding this bloodline for many years. We have taught our dog's that the gardens(even beds on the fenceline) are off limits period. Our gardens and dogs have done well for many many years. My old neighbor's built beds that mirrored our fenceline that made for a beautiful yard and fenceline.
My nextdoor neighbors just moved and the new owner's decided to rent the house. So... Now we have new people next door with 3, very large male dog's. Now all hell has broken loose. These dog's are constantly running my fence and barking like mad trying to engage my dog's in the chaos. These poor dog's haven't been trained much at all and don't seem to get any attention or exercise other than running our fenceline.
Now I'm seeing massive plant damage due to the new dog's urinating all over everything they can reach. The gardens have barely started growing, I can't imagine what it's going to look like when the rest of the plants come up.
So, now I'm looking for some kind of way to keep this from becoming a potential disaster.
Does anyone know of a product that actually keeps dog's away from certain area's? I've seen some product's that claim to do this but I've yet to see one that actually works as advertised. I'm praying for some sort of miracle short of putting up a privacy fence or making enemies of the new neighbors. If anyone has any advice, PLEASE let me know ASAP. My poor wife keeps coming to me for an answer to this problem, she thinks I can fix anything and I'd hate to loose that status;).
Thanks for your help in advance.
JD

My sympathies. You're being very reasonable about this. I wish people would be responsible about... well, their responsibilities. :)

There are small-scale sprinkler systems that are triggered by motion detectors... this might be a deterrent. Here's one I just found with a random Amazon search:
http://www.amazon.com/Contech-Electronics-Scarecrow-Motion-Activated-CRO101/dp/B000071NUS
Good luck!

I would contact the people who actually own the house and explain the problem, then insist that they split the cost with you of putting up a privacy fence or do something about their tenants, or else you'll take them to small claims court for the cost of replacing the plants that get killed. And since you now can't use that part of your property for a garden anymore you may be able to sue them for more than that too if it comes to it (hopefully it doesn't get that far though!)

What kind of fence is there now? If it's chain link, you can buy rolled bamboo fencing fairly cheap (~$50 for a 13' long by 6' high section) and attach that to your side of the chain link, it's not 100% pee-proof but it should prevent most of it from getting on your plants.

The sprinklers are a good idea, or you can also try something like this
http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=0&mscssid=VGAQ996EGR188PNS643BD1C4NW1D4XAF&pf_id=2117
Since it's odor-based, you can put it on your side of the fence right on the fenceline and that may keep them away (no personal experience with it though). Or here's some treats you can toss over the fence, it's supposed to make it so the dog's pee won't burn the lawn, so I assume it might also work to decrease the damage to the plants (although be careful with this approach--could get yourself in some trouble if the neighbors don't appreciate you feeding stuff to their dogs!)
http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=0&mscssid=VGAQ996EGR188PNS643BD1C4NW1D4XAF

My first thought when I read this, was a ball bat! I'm sorry I know that's not nice, but it's so frustrating!!! My problems are neighbors cats, using beds as litter boxes, and laying on plants. Cats are pretty animals as long as their not in the flower beds. I'm a dog owner and know the damage that a dog can do. I feel for you. I'm glad I read this, I think the sprinklers are a great idea! I would never, ever hurt an animal. Man , I just get so darned mad at the damage they cause. I'm with ecrane, I would contact the owner, see if you can come to some solution. We spend alot of time, labor, and money, just to see it destoyed.

Just electrify the fence. Fairly low voltage, like a pasture fence. Urine is a conductor, even better than water is. One pee agaist that new fence and no more problem!

Thanks everyone for all your input. Many great ideas, mild violence or a hotfence were my 1st thoughts. Sadly a hotfence wouldn't work due to any plant growth that touched the wire would short/ground out the system. I have so many passion flowers, clematis and other crazy vines that would wrap around that wire almost daily otherwise I'd be all over it.
I also kinda like the idea of a super low power bb gun that wouldn't leave a mark, just startle the heck out of them. I know people that have used bb guns for other issues and after the 1st shot that hits its mark, the noise alone will repel them.
I talked with the people and they said they'd try to make an effort. Sadly they are pretty lazy and rarely leave the couch from what I can tell. Time will tell I reckon.
Thanks for all your input and thoughts;)
JD

I cannot get my own dog to stop watering my own plants. He seems to like this one area where we wanted to plant a small tree. After 2 dead trees, I put up a cedar pole with 2 small birdhouses on it, in that same spot. (it was either that or a fire hydrant). Now he goes to the next tree. There is a cedar pole in the front yard that he seems to like. Told DH he should "scent"it to get him started. Now the DH and the dog are not cooperating.
A neighbor dog would make me furious. But, they are neighbors and could make your life even more miserable, so go easy.

I think on the website I linked to above, there's a thing called a Pee Post which you can put where you want the dog to pee and it has pheromones or something that attract the dog to pee there rather than elsewhere. I didn't suggest it for JLD's original problem since it would have had to be placed somewhere in the neighbor's yard, but for your case it might work fine.

Sounds good. With this dog I didn't think the post needed to be special. I walk him a couple miles a day in the woods and you would wonder where he gets it all from. He has to reply to all the p-mails the wild animals leave him.

LOLOLOL
It's nice to know I'm not alone on this 1. I'll never forget watching and listening to my wife when she was training our dogs to stay out of her/our gardens. Our only borders around the beds are field/limestone pieces we collect on jobsites from newly dug basements or roads. It's maybe 1 foot wide and maybe 6 inches tall and that keeps the mulch from running out of those beds. The beds that run along our fences have no borders of any kind, just a tiny lip to keep the mulch somewhat contained.
I thought my wife was insane when she told me she was going to train our dogs to stay out of the gardens, especially the beds along the fence/property lines. We all have seen the paths that dogs plow into yards along fences on property lines. I don't quite understand exactly how she has pulled it off but she has trained the dogs to stay out 99.999% of the time. It's been a good 3 years now and our breed of dog is very territorial and alpha. They also hunt and catch squirrels and rabbits like mad. She has trained our dogs so well, they'll be on the heels of a rodent and when the prey reaches a garden/bed, THEY STOP!!! They will not cross the invisible garden border all along our fence lines and bordered beds in the yard! I'm still amazed and so impressed at her ability to train them like this. The dogs will run AROUND the beds watching the rabbits trying to spook them into jumping out of the garden so they can continue the chase. I think the main reason this has worked so well is that this breed of dog wants to please their "pack leader"/ owner so badly, they will do anything to gain praise and approval. I've never seen anything like it.
Well I've rambled on and on once again. Me and my marathon posts. LOL
Thanks friends, JD

Hmm. Your wife should be earning money with her technique... I know many gardeners would be delighted to learn it. :)

JLD,

What breed?

We've been working with this bloodline for 5 generations on the male side. They are Austrailian Blue Heelers aka Austrailian Cattle Dogs. I know I'm biased but having been around many breeds in my life, these guys are the smartest and the lowest maintenence breed I've ever seen. As a child, My parents bred German Shepards and they are my 2nd favorite except for the occasional hip displasia many large breeds suffer from. We had to put 1 male down when I was you and that left scars on us for many many years. It took 15 years before my Dad got another dog of his own. Now I have them working with Blue Heeler's too;). My niece takes them to 4 H for agility competition and is doing very well. These guy's are also the ultimate frisbee dog, incredible arial acrobats and you can't wear them out. They do have a small downside in the form of being somewhat over protective and some will not tolerate strange dogs well if at all. They're major pack dogs which I think comes from the large amount of Dingo in them. They really need to know their place in the pack(my family) and won't tolerate any violence at all. I can't even wrestle around with my wife or daughter or tickle them w/o the dogs getting in the middle. They make wonderful babysitters too and if you let your child go out around the nieghborhood with 1 of them, you KNOW they will be safe.
LOLOL I could go on and on. Yet another rambling marathon post I'm infamous for;)
Thanks for putting up with me and my babbling.
JD
Here is a picture of my young stud at about 6 months old, He's much thicker now but this picture kind of explains why they call them Blue(a combo of white and a black undercoat).

I’m familiar with them. My boss owns one and I’ve watched them in competitions on TV. They are a nice breed. Everyone says that the Jack Russell is the smartest, but I’ve never seen one slow down long enough to tell. Nice looking dog!