A dog owner has been branded "selfish" by her neighbours for putting up a fence in her garden to stop her neighbour's children from scaring her two pooches.
The woman explained that her house previously only had a chainlink fence separating her garden from her neighbour's, and ever since a new family moved into the house next door a year ago, they've had problems with the young children "bothering" the woman's two dogs by yelling and banging on the flimsy fence.
To keep her dogs safe, the woman decided to have a larger "privacy fence" erected on her property so that the children can no longer peer into her garden.
But the move has caused tension with her neighbours, who have claimed their children are "inconsolable" as they believed the dogs were "theirs" and can't bear the thought of not being able to see them through the fence.
In a post on Reddit, the woman claimed: "My husband and I have lived in our house for about five years with our two dogs. Our neighbours moved in about a year and a half ago. It's a couple with two young children, a boy and a girl under the age of five. We both have decent-sized backyards, with a chainlink fence separating the two of them.
"Ever since the neighbours moved in, we have had issues with their kids bothering our dogs through the fence. Our two used to love lounging in the backyard with us, but now I can just barely get them outside to do their business.
"Almost immediately after the dogs are out, the kids come running out too. They rush to the fence and yell and bang on the chain and try to call the dogs over. My boys do not like this at all and will retreat to the furthest side of the lawn or come right back into the house. Their parents never are outside with them but I sometimes see the mum watching them through the window. She never tries to stop them.
"I've tried to be neighbourly about it. I've tried telling the kids, very gently, that they're scaring them. They pay me no mind. I've gone to the door and tried to talk to the parents - repeatedly. They either wave off my concerns or they just curtly say they'll have a talk with them. It hasn't worked.
"After about a year of this, we talked about putting up a larger privacy fence. We were on a waiting list and finally, a few weeks ago, [we were told] we were next on the list and could [have the fence] installed in about a week. We took them up on the offer and took the two dogs out to my sister's farm where they got to run outside unbothered until their hearts were content while the work was being done."
And while the woman thought having the fence built would be the end of her neighbour drama, she was met by a furious mum when she returned home after the construction had finished.
She added: "Momma Bear stormed over after we got home and was absolutely seething. She said her kids were 'absolutely heartbroken' that they couldn't see 'their dogs' anymore because of what we had done.
"Her boy has autism and has apparently been inconsolable and they couldn't get a dog and this was the closest they will ever have. She told me what a selfish a**hole I was. I tried to tell her that I'd been talking to her about this issue for a year and it was a safety concern and never saw any progress and she just continued to yell until I shut the door in her face."
Commenters on the post were firmly on the woman's side, as many pointed out that the neighbours could have approached her about helping to teach their children the correct way to behave around dogs.
One person said: "If she really wanted her boys to be allowed around your dogs she and her partner would have talked to you and your husband about it and taught their children how to behave around the dogs."
While another added: "It's your property, you can put up a privacy fence if you want. They had over a year to address your concerns and respond appropriately, but they didn't. She is to blame for this situation, not you."
And a third posted: "It isn't your responsibility to entertain her kids. It is your responsibility to take care of your pets and you're doing a good job it sounds like."
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