Leeneia says, "Is it barking at you? If so, approach it slowly, speaking gently, and toss it something nice to eat."

Don't forget the caveat "...with the owner's permission to feed his/her dog." The dog may have a medical problem (diabetes, food allergy, etc.) unknown to you, and you could with all the best intentions be poisoning the dog. Or the owner may have the dog on a strict weight-loss or weight-gain diet prescribed by a vet, and you could inadvertently be undoing the owner's efforts. Or the owner may have trained the dog to guard the property, and your attempt to befriend the dog could be in conflict with that training.

Sharon, only a fool or a brute tries to do amateur guard dog training.
Such dogs are known to be dangerous and often are euthanized.

I don't believe for a moment that two bits of cat food would harm any dog, no matter how fat. If the owners are out, I give the dog a treat when the owner is right there. If the owner isn't there, the dog might be eating mice, bugs, or garbage. (I've seen them do it.)


Leeneia also says, "I have no intention of putting up with an aggressive dog right on my home territory."

Eeeeek!!! "Next door" is not one's own "home territory"! Next door is someone else's home territory!

Sharon, a dog can be over a fence or through it far faster than I could escape from it. In fact, two dogs killed an elderly woman working in her yard in Kansas City Kansas recently. Months before that, two pit bulls attacked a man on the public sidewalk and injured him so badly he was hospitalized for weeks.

Several years ago, two Rottweilers killed a 10-year-old boy in a rural Kansas area near here. An aggressive dog is dangerous. Even a small one.

Leeneia, if your "standard procedure" is to consider the next door neighbor's dachsund to be on your "home territory" when it's barking next door, I'm worried about you.

Sharon, I never said that. But come to think of it, the dog isn't, but the noise is. My neighbors would hate it if I made a loud repetitious grating noise which invaded their living room over and over. But that's what they're doing to me.

I suggest that you seriously consider an attitude adjustment!

Sharon, getting military, are you?

Rather than trying to bribe someone else's dog into betraying its own territorial instincts, I suggest consulting with its owner about befriending and feeding his or her dog (and, if necessary, keeping it off your property).

Sharon, I suggest you start reading and learning about dogs and city life.