Scared me half to death!

I actually think its a good idea to go speak to the boy and his parents.  Not to give him a lecture or talking to but to explain the situation with your dogs and how they may bite him.  I think the parents would do the rest of the explaining...  Not all parents are ignorant and my guess is that the dad (unlike mom) had trouble keeping all kids contained.  Not unusual.

I don't think it could hurt to help educate the boy and his parents against approaching strange dogs they don't know. Problem is, children of that age will call a full grown Neapolitan Mastiff a "puppy." Let them know that while your dogs don't usually bite, they too can get excited and accidents can happen to fingers through the fence. Also see to it that they educate the boy to not antagonize dogs.

The boy behind is one I often referred to as the Spawn of Satan. He would poke sticks through the fence at my dog. Once, Shadow broke the stick and the boy said, "He's strong." I said, "Yes, he is." I later spoke to his father about that. I mentioned his boy climbing on the fence, and that could result him falling into our yard. His father looked like I couldn't have possibly bored him anymore. Another time, the boy and his sister called to Shadow who came over. The boy then threw dirt clods at Shadow. I didn't bother with shoes, I walked out there in my socks and confronted the boy (about 8 or 9 at the time). "What has my dog ever done to you to deserve such treatment. If you hit him with something he might get mad. So help me, if you cause any damage to my dog, there will be heck to pay."

Another time, he threw handfuls of dirt at a neighbors' Border Collies. I left them a note wherein I stated that the next time that boy antagonized a dog, I would call the police. They gave the note to the boy's father. There response was to have the kids come into the house or the front yard whenever I stepped into the back yard. The father can't see his son as doing anything wrong. So, I'm the "bad guy."

Lately, though, the boy doesn't bother with my dog.

Turns out our neighbors grandson was having a birthday at the grandparents house and had five friends over along with his sister and one of her friends, and their dog, a britney spaniel got loose and was missing(kids let it loose) and they were all out "searching" for the dog, so the kids were all excited and ampted up about dogs. I explained about how much it scared me, and about our dogs temperments and how they haven't been raised around children and the mom and grandma were horrified at what happened and promised to talk to the boy's parents when they came to pick him up and speak to him when he got back... the one I saw isn't even theres.

The whole thing was rather polite and nice, it's the first time I've met these neighbors and had a real conversation with them and they seemed sincerely glad I came over to talk to them. I'm glad I don't have "satan spawn" living next door though! Yikes.

wow!! that sure IS a scarey situation!!! it's good that you talked to them! and a good thing they are understanding and as concerned as you!

i've had some young boy chasing jason with a stick once. the parents were RIGHT there!!!! i told the boy not to and that my dog would bite him (i rather scare him too much than too little - jason really isnt the most stable of all dogs!) and he ignored me. the parents could HEAR me talking to the boy, still no reaction! finally i told them, if they didnt call their boy back, i would release me dogs on him! of course that was total BS! my dogs wouldnt know what i wanted from them if i told them to attack, lol! but it did the trick, so what do i care!

moral of the story:

consider yourself lucky that you have understanding, reasonable neighbours!!

Wow. My first instinct would be to go to the parents and politely ask them to talk to their children about sticking their hands in your fence, or any other for that matter. But then a "red flag" pops up as this could wind up backfiring on you. These are my thoughts: 1. As people can often be unpredictable and downright strange, they might not like getting "feedback" about their precious child. While your intentions ARE for their safety, they might misinterpret this. And that could lead to, 2. Bringing negative attention on your Dogs! Meaning, they might turn it all around and say, "Our neighbor has vicious Dogs that could harm children. She even came over here and said so herself". They might report the incident or bring way too much drama to it all when you were just trying to be kind and neighborly with concern about their children (as well as your Dogs). sigh. The only remedy is to not allow your Dogs out in the yard unsupervised. I have a large corner property fenced in all the way around but my Dogs often react to people walking by or people with other dogs walking by, so I like to be there to call them off the fence. It is also amazing to me when people walking other dogs actually LINGER by the fence when my Dogs are barking vs. "moving on". They will stand there letting their dog stick his nose between the slats or jumping and barking at my dogs instead of just calming the situation by crossing the street or moving on. Amazing. And these are ADULTS. I trust my Dogs but I don't trust people particularly. Children are notorious for taunting Dogs in yards and what this winds up doing is conditioning the Dog to not trust children. (would you?) The largest percentage of dog bites are inflicted on boys between the ages of 8 & 12 yrs old. It is no wonder. So I feel that I need to protect my Dogs from these types of situations. My dogs are friendly and child friendly but when I walk my dogs uptown I am always cautious with children as sometimes my dogs are approached by them in a way that makes them feel overwhelmed and a bit stressed. When asked, "Do your Dogs bite?" I ALWAYS reply, "All Dogs bite" because that is true. I assume the attitude that "My Dogs are not your child's entertainment nor are my little guys a roving petting zoo", so I choose these social moments with discrimination as well as monitor them very closely. Should one of my dogs "nip" when being startled with a strong "pat" to their hind quarters while a child is hovering over them, I KNOW that there is always a risk that the parents could cause a major problem if this occurs. I don't want my dogs confiscated nor a law suit, so I am extremely cautious and size up each & every situation where a child is involved and respond accordingly. Even though your Dog might be on your property and properly contained, should a bite occur to a child with "sue happy" parents, it could turn into a nightmare. So assume the attitude that you need to protect your Dogs from potential situations like these and keep them supervised as much as possible!

 I tend to agree with Justine on this one.  Many parents believe that it's your obligation to keep their kids safe, and they really don't give a rat's butt what happens to your "aggressive" dogs.  Now, if your dogs really are aggressive, then you have no business letting them be outdoors unattended in an enclosure where people (of any age) could stick their fingers in.  If I were you, I'd erect an interior fence, about a foot away from the current boundary (deer fencing is cheap) that would insure that, even if a kid did do the unthinkable, that their little fingers would be nowhere near your dogs' mouths.  While parents should enlighten kids about not touching anyone else's dogs without permission, children under age 7 are often unable to make the connection anyway, and will often do things that they've been warned against, so don't take the chance IMO.

luvmyswissy

I actually think its a good idea to go speak to the boy and his parents.  Not to give him a lecture or talking to but to explain the situation with your dogs and how they may bite him.  I think the parents would do the rest of the explaining...  Not all parents are ignorant and my guess is that the dad (unlike mom) had trouble keeping all kids contained.  Not unusual.

Great advice.  I really don't think a kid that age is going to respond to (or even understand) a no trespassing sign or take it to mean "don't put your hand through the fence."

Joyce

spiritdogs

If I were you, I'd erect an interior fence, about a foot away from the current boundary (deer fencing is cheap) that would insure that, even if a kid did do the unthinkable, that their little fingers would be nowhere near your dogs' mouths

 

Agree that this would be a good solution.  You will be the one responsible if a child is bitten even though the kid put his fingers through the fence. 

 I read all the replies and I see both sides of this issue.First the desire to educate children (and their parents) while taking precautions against litigious people. There are many parents who simply can't accept any criticism of their children or themselves and those are the ones you have to think twice about approaching.

This post reminded me of when we had a few dogs in the country. The highlight of their day was running to the fence and barking like crazy at joggers etc. Luckily they scared most people and no one approached them. However, the potential was there. If the dogs couldn't get to the passerbys, a couple of them would get in a frenzy & fight among themselves. In retrospect this was not a good situation.  We gave them access to about  1 acre & didn't always watch them. Guess we were lucky nothing did happen.

Now we are surrounded by nearby homes with children and I take precautions. There are 2 levels in the backyard, our dog is restricted to the lower level where no kids play in the adjacent area. If we are away, we keep her in an even more restricted space. She's older now & not the type to try to break down a fence, but I think it's always wise to consider the "what ifs"  and take the proper precautions.