Death threat given to duke

Well, a lot of you helped me with the whole Jack and Duke situation. But for the ones who don't know my Dukie he's a 1 yr old rottie so he's very protective over the yard but when it comes to people coming in the house he is fine except for Jack, duke went off the handle that time. Mainly cause he knows we have accepted them in the house and what not.
So everytime someone goes by and he is outside he will bark...no biggy right? (many dogs on this street bark at ppl going by) Well I have had troubles with the guy next door and his stupid kids. I've had to get rid of my first show dog because he was getting teased to much, we did file a complaint with the cops because it was getting way out of hand.

NOW to yesterday and this death threat! I had Duke outside he was out longer then usual because angle my other dog needed time inside (she can't be with duke she will fight) So I hear Duke barking, I hear agressive clapping and I knew it was James! So I ran to bring him in. Duke was feet away from the fence barking and jumping in circles. He was NOT lunging or fence fighting at all.
Then I get a call asking for my mom. She wasnt here so he asked if it was me and I said yes he said well I guess you'll do..in a snoty type way.
So he said he was worried about duke getting out because summer is coming and his kids are wanting to play in their yard. And he stated SEVERAL times that if my dog was to get out there would be trouble. I told him that Duke wont leave the property he wont jump the fence and james is like well he looks big enough. Duke wont even leave my side because he gets seperation anxioty why the hell would he wonder. James made it clear to me that " just be prepaird that if that dog gets out...."
I said Duke wouldnt do anything and that he's just a guard dog. And he's like well he looks vicious and I said cause now im getting mad at all the times he said "if he gets out" I said YOU don't EVEN KNOW MY DOG! And he gave UHG that kind of laugh like just those "your stupid laugh" you know?

I was soooooo upset I basicly hung up the phone. I was shaking SO freakin bad. Im so glad I was talking to a friend online because he knows exactly how to calm my nerves I adore him so much. Other wise I don't know what I would have done. I then called my mom and we are going to the police AGAIN this time we are taking Duke in to the cops. And I have written down the time/date and convo so we can start documenting it.
Like I said before with the whole Jack thing I would die for Duke and now im prepared to fight for his saftey. I will do whatever it takes to make my baby safe. I mean James basicly said that he's got a gun and knows how to use it he's not going to take on a huge rottie alone. If he does kill my dog or even scrathces my dog. Man I don't even want to say what I would do! Cause id end up in jail...

Can anyone give any advice on this? I know its not illegal to have a dog in your yard that barks! Duke has never once tried to get out of the yard. I wish I could get a restraining order on them to stay away from the fence line, do you think we can get one because he has made a threat to our family? Has anyone gone through this before?

First off, I don't think you can get a restraining order to keep him from going near his own side of the fence.

Secondly, and as a parent, I would be very concerned about a Rottie and my small children. Kids don't have the concept of danger the way adults should (should not necessarily do) and if they are playing in their own yard near your common fence, that could be enough to aggravate a dog, especially if they are playing with a ball or toy.

Third, it is your word against his as to what was said.

Lastly, he may have a claim against your dog for disturbance and being a nuisance.

Is there any place you can put your dog so that it can't approach the fence?

Sounds like a dead dog waiting to happen. You need to make a report to the police that he has made a threat against your property (dog) That way if the dog ends up poisoned you have an official record if any legal action is taken. Keep good documentation of any interaction with him. Write the date on a calendar.
In the mean time maybe it would be a good idea to take your dog in for some obedience training.

That's a good point, Maureen. I never thought of the retaliation on his part.

Ive thought about him throwing a poisened meat across the fence.

The only thing I can do is put hot wire up so he doesnt get to close to the fence. And from now on when ever duke will be outside ill be watching him.

I don't care we havent done anything wrong. Duke isnt a bad dog..he is in training now, my training but I have more experiance/skill then any of the yahoos in this town.

And its not like we just let him bark, when ever he starts barking we call him in.

He still was in the wrong for making a threat.

You have the potential for disaster on your hands, if you posted this on DF I will explain it to you there from a law enforcement perspective.

What is DF?

The dog forum, nevermind I will tell you here. First off if you live within the city limits most towns have ordinances against barking dogs if it is excessive like all day all night sort of thing.
That is not your problem or at least not the most important one. I can tell you from experience with dealing with people like this the outcome is not very good. In order to "prove" it if say he did poison your dog someone has to see him actually do it, a threat to do it is not enough. Been there done that lost 4 dogs over a period of 8 yrs due to a neighbor and nothing could be done.
Now this is the part you are really not going to like and I am terribly sorry for having to tell you this.
I told you on the other forum about Seiko my doberman, what I didn't tell you is we had neighborhood kids around the ages of 10-12 that loved to tease him relentlessly, it got to the point he would run the fence and go nuts over any kid in that age group and it became a major liability on my part as he was fully capable of going over the fence if he chose to. Now we are talking about a dog that my daughter could put in a down / stay with hand signals when she was 3, a dog that had been through advanced obedience and was the perfect companion/family member but due to the teasing his behavior became unpredictable and dangerous. I opted to give him up as opposed to him getting out and attacking a kid, don't ever think Duke won't do it because he is still a dog and if measures aren't taken to prevent it now he will.
While I worked as a police officer I often doubled as animal control on weekends when the regular animal control officer was off duty, I dealt with a fair share of dogs that were wonderful family pets to their owners but were not so nice when it came to strangers or people they felt were a threat( Jack)
One morning as I went to work I got to the dept and was told another officer was out on a vicious dog call..2 rotties had managed to get out of their fenced yard and had a child treed, another kid was bitten numerous of times trying to prevent them from attacking a younger child needless to say when the officer arrived and called at the dogs they turned and came at him in a threatening manner..he shot them both. The owners were very upset and threatened to sue the department however, since this took place in a well populated area and many people seen the whole thing they did not have a case. This is only one instance I have been involved in many more. I am a dog lover, I own them always have always will and yes it is heartbreaking when you are put in a position to make horrible choices but this is the reality of things. If something isn't done and Duke gets out of the yard and attacks someone YOU will be responsible for all medical bills, personal law suits filed against you and fines etc. Not to mention the possibility of your dog being euthanized because it will be declared a vicious animal. And last but not least the emotional trauma and devastation if it did happen and a child was seriously injured or killed.
Like I said I am terribly sorry but as someone with a lot of experience I feel you need to know exactly what is at stake here.

No I understand, but like he isnt barking all night all day he isnt even out in the yard much. I mean I don't even think he gets a 2-3 hours in the yard a day.
But he is fine when people are walking on the trail or come visit its just with certain ppl. Or if the other girl is walking her dog he barks.

Im going to get hotwire up a couple feet away from the fence then im going to get a black canvas stuff like the kind you see at walmart or home depot on their cyclone fences. And I will get pics of that, and I think im going to put up a cheap security cam and then then just tape it when my dogs are out...that way I have some type of evidence if anything happend. That all I can think of doing right now

And now duke isnt allowed out in the yard alone..i'll always be there now. Even when I just let him out the mom started walking up to he fence.... I just stuck my head back in the door cause I don't have anything to say to them.
And that cop did the right thing by shooting those dogs, I can't see how those people would have thought they had a case.

I would do everything you said and a camera is great, it only takes a split second for them to poison a dog. My daughters lab wasn't outside 20 minutes the kids had been playing ball with her came in to get a drink, oldest went back out caught her eating something was too late to get it away from her.... 30 min later she is falling down throwing up, the whites of her eyes are blood red, I rush her to the vet they give her a few shots to counteract whatever it is send her back home tell me if she gets worse bring her back( understand my vet knows me well to know I am not clueless about taking care of her) another 15 min after getting home we are right back she is placed in the hospital put on fluids to flush her system a tox screen is done on her etc..come to find out it was cyanide poisoning an ingredient commonly found in lawn fertilizer want to guess who was a lawn fanatic??? My neighbor grrrrrr.. but because we didn't see them actually tossing whatever it was over the fence not a thing we could do. My vet said with cyanide poisoning there is about a 45 min window if they survive that then they will pull through, sure enough she did but anyhow a camera would have saved us the experience, expenses and I could have filed a report and they would have been charged with animal cruelty.