On Tue, 9 Sep 2003 11:47:10 +0100, "AndrewR" <el snippo grande> I've had a ponder, and this is the result. I'd love to go the expected route and suggest a garden based shagging/shitting/puking beer fest - but that really isn't going to help the situation long-term. I spent 20 years mediating neighbour disputes (amongst other things) and I knew from day one that I'd fallen into a job for life as the ignorant, the arrogant and the bloody-minded _always_ end up next door to the decent people. The whines of the put-upon, the harumphing of the unjustly offended, the foot-stamping of the righteous, the incorrigible cursing of the fuckwit; they were all daily soundtracks to my working life. Most people will do anything for a quiet life, tempered with the righteous determination to life their own life the way they want to, within the confines of their income and the fear of being arrested. Neighbour disputes of any kind escalate with the speed of a flock of birds scared by an unexpected motorbike being ridden through them - and the fallout is about as pleasant. There are so many ways to piss off neighbours, intentionally or otherwise - and so many ways to retaliate. Nobody wins, everybody loses. Think of the children, man! Specifically; they have bought themselves a nice house on a nice new estate, just as you have. You may well be living next door to them for a long time. Compromise is the name of the game, even if it means biting your lip and bending more than you want to for the sake of a solution. I fully appreciate that the nub of the problem is that if they had erected the fence that they should have, then Belle wouldn't be upsetting them and further, that the solution is entirely in their hands simply by putting the fucking fence up. They obviously would rather stick their heads in the sand and ignore the lower part of their garden entirely. It doesn't exist, to them - until next door's bloody dog comes in and shits all over it when it becomes the centre of their universe. This is what we call a no-win situation. If you want a solution, it is down to you to facilitate it. I wouldn't want to fork out ~300 quid for a fence that next door prolly won't contribute to as they should. DIY, then. I'd go to a garden centre, or DIY shed and acquire several expanding trellis sections. They fit in the car, they cost about 30 quid to cover the area you want to and will fasten to the existing fence. Get the panels that expand to 2m x 2m and you will have an instant cheap dog-proof fence that is essentially temporary. If your neighbours do then put up a fence of their own choosing, you can easily take down the trellis sections and re-use them elsewhere. I'd do that, mate. Biting a small bullet and sorting the situation is so much easier in the longer term than having this sort of niggle in the back of your mind all the time. Let next door avoid you. Let them dodge eye contact rather than the other way around and you can call that a moral victory. All the best, Andy. U fence safely, now ;-)
