neighbor's pit bull

I tried to post before but it timed out.

How about putting Precious in YOUR yard while you walk your pups? They just let her/him out after you come home. That way there won't be any chance the boys would let her out of their yard before you get back.

OR

How about talking to the family about a cable run for Precious? I get the feeling they wouldn't use it all the time, but it would be there for you to hook her up to it if needed.

jeano, those are EXCELLENT ideas.  And it sounds as if the neighbors are receptive to their concerns, but they are probably overwhelmed with other issues at this point and feel helpless, so I doubt they'd mind someone helping them to keep recious safe.

Also, there's a special kind of lock that you can get for a gate that makes it self closing.  We had to get one because the city requires it on any gate that leads to a yard with a pool. Unless you prop the gate open with something, it just automatically closes & locks.  It's a pretty inexpensive piece of hardware - maybe your neighbors would consider something like that.

Unfortunately she said they have an electric gate that the boys leave open. [sm=sad.gif]
But that would be good if she opts to put the dog in her yard while she takes los perros pequenos for a walk. (little dogs--the chihuahuas)

Never in a million years would I take my dog out if there was a pit pull running loose, friendly or not. These people need to keep that dog in the yard!

ORIGINAL: Auburn

Never in a million years would I take my dog out if there was a pit pull running loose, friendly or not.  These people need to keep that dog in the yard![sm=no%20no%20smiley.gif]

 
I agree that these folks need to keep their dog contained, but what does the dog's breed have to do with it???  It's simple. There's a leash law, and people need to obey it whether they have a Puli, Pointer, or a Pit.

I am just coming into this after much discussion, and  think that the fact that your neighbors are telling you about the trouble with their two sons, it seems that they are trying and don't know what to do.  Yeah, I feel bad for them, I have a friend that has a son that would do stuff like that. BUT don't ever take anything for granted with it comes to your little dogs.     Months ago, my friends friend was taking her little Yorkie for a walk in the early morning as she does every morning.  The little Yorkie loves to bark at every dog it sees, and always barks at a Golden that is tied in his yard.  One day they walked by, Yorkie barked and Annie kept walking and all of a sudden heard someone yell "grab your dog!"  The Golden (probably had enough of Yorkie barking at him) got loose and ran over, grabbed the Yorkie and shook him silly. Annie had blood all over the place, and took Yorkie to a vet where it almost died, in fact they needed to transport the dog to a different vet where it had to have a lung removed among other things.  Many thousand dollars later (the young mother of two young children will probably be in dept the rest of her life over this) the Yorkie is fine.    But its living proof of what can happen when a large and small dog get together.        My son and GF have a chi named Briana, they bring her over and hold her the whole time because she snarls and growls at Bubblegum. It would be nice to try to get them together, but there can be no mistakes in a dog that small, a little nip could turn into a disaster.
I'm not sure what you should do with your neighbor, if their sons are the ones that keep opening the gate for trouble because they are mad, maybe you can wait it out a while, they will eventually stop being mad. Maybe you can ask your neighbor for help on how you yourself can make sure their gate is closed with their dog behind it. They sound kind of nice, if you show them how worried you are and offer to help them help you, maybe you can work it out with them.  If not, I think you have to protect your own dog, and that would be by making them follow the confinment laws of your neighborhood. 

It just gets better and better around here.  Wonderful when the gang bangers move into the neighborhood.
 
The parents, in an effort to - okay, I don't know what - sent flyers around the neighborhood with Precious's pic on it that basically said, "she's 11, she's harmless, if you see her loose, tell her to go home."  I get that they have other problems, but talk about irresponsible.  Apparently the rest of us have to take care of their dog.
 
In the meantime, the boys have passed the word around that anyone seen interfering with their dog will be in trouble, anyone suspected of calling AC will get it - not quite how they worded it - but you get the pic. 
 
When I left my house at 6:30 a.m. this morning, the boys were fighting in the front yard - yelling, screaming, throwing fists, mom was crying and dad looked afraid to interfere.  Where was Precious - sleeping under our tree.  I called the cops, and don't know what happened, but Precious was on her porch, and the yard was securely gated when I got home. 
 
Haven't tried walking my chis past Precious yet.  I think I'll do that tomorrow, one dog at a time so that if I have to swoop them up and get out of there, it'll be easier.  Wish me luck

I'm sorry this is happening to you.......you know, I hate to generalize, but I have noticed that irresponsible pet owners are often irresponsible parents, as well. I see it all the time. I have two neighbors whose dogs seem to "get out" alot and run through the neighborhood, narrowly avoiding getting hit by cars, defecating on people's lawns...guess what? Their kids seem to wander around aimlessly, unsupervised, also.
 
What are they going to do if AC just happens by, or if someone not from the neighborhood drives through and reports a "loose pit bull"? Are they going to come after you?
 
 

You know what,,,,almost the saddest thing in the whole story at this point is, poor Precious!!!!  She sounds like a sweetheart and she probably is, but when you have little dogs like this, how can you possibly take a chance?   I'm getting a feeling that this is not going to have a happy ending,,,  these parents need to take charge and do what is right for your good, the good of all the neighbors and most of all for the good of Precious!!
Yes, you be careful, one dog at a time just like you said,,,so you can swoop him up to safety.
Good luck,,,geez I wish you all good luck.

How did the walk go??

I took Winnie and Petey separately for 20 min each and we didn't see Precious, so it wasn't a problem.  I guess I just have to watch out for her and decided what to do then. 
 
Thanks for all the advice.

Are you able to see always if she is out or not?  I ask that because years ago I had 2 pittys living next to me along with their 12 babies at one point...they had a pen on the back of their house. They were always behind the pen but Sarah the female could jump the fence from a standstill, I was scared to death when I had to walk my dog by them to get in the back for her to do her business. Sarah would jump and bark, and it was a matter of time before she would get over..but she never did.   They didn't live there that long though.   I would look out to see if they were out before I would take my Sammy past her.  Every once in a while I would be way in the back with Sammy (after checking that Sarah wasn't out) and then they would let their dogs out in the pen, I swear I stood in the back behind a tree more than once, crying.