Do they think my signs dont apply to them??

[GatorBytes]

have this made into a no soliciting sign and put on gate

[RowdyDogs]

I never went door-to-door for religious reasons, but when I was younger I was one of those annoying political canvassers for years so I'll tell you some general stuff that was the same in pretty much every state I went to. It won't stop an idiot but it might give you some angles to approach it.

First, we were always trained that "no trespassing" meant "no trespassing." We would enter fenced yards to approach the door, but only if they were not marked like that. I believe this is a legal thing as someone on one of my teams did ignore it and was cited (or at least warned, been years now) by the police for doing so after the homeowner complained.

Do some research into the "beware of dog" signs, as I've heard that in some areas they may open you up to further liability if a bite does happen because it can be read as a sign that your dog is aggressive. I don't think this is universally true though, and some form of warning that there is a dog in the yard may deter people. It deterred us, although on the other hand we were just trying to encourage voter turnout, not on a holy mission.

Absolutely call the police. Call them this time and make a complaint to get it on record. If it happens again, call again. Keep documenting it. Local laws vary on what kind of canvassing is allowed (generally anything political or religious is protected though, it's considered a first amendment right). And don't let yourself be discouraged, but you might find they're on your side--they probably have gotten other complaints about aggressive church folks like that.

As a general thing, don't go with a plain "no soliciting" sign. If you don't want to be bothered by political or religious canvassers, say that explicitly on your sign (they do make them, and we at least mostly respected them--I always did). I can't tell you how many doorbells I rang that said "no soliciting" and were actually really supportive and happy to talk to me, because they just didn't want salespeople. I would imagine it's the same for religious people. Also, for those of you who work at home or have a young child sleeping or work nights and are asleep, a note to that effect on the door will usually be respected by canvassers. Again, may not apply to people on a mission from God but you'll cut down on a lot of doorbell rings.

Anyway, good luck. Sorry if this information is too general for this forum, but I thought it might help to hear some things from the perspective of someone who did go door-to-door.

[wyominggrandma]

I got tired of the people calling about insuring my car, septic tank stuff, whatever, . So, when they would call, I would patiently wait until you could push a button to talk to a human. When they would answer, I would say please do not call me again and blow a whistle into the phone, long and hard. Never got the same call again.
I have also answered the door of religious people and say" I don't believe in your religion, don't come back and slam the door in their faces. Usually worked.

[Liesje]

This is on my doorbell, but people still ring it (I look out the window and then walk away, I don't care if they see me).


People coming through your front gate is BS. The solution is not that you shouldn't have YOUR dog outside in YOUR yard, that's also BS!

I would file a report, call the church again, and maybe add a sign alluding to the presence of the dog.

If it makes you feel better, I know of someone who's dogs got hold of some JW who were on her property on her porch when s/he returned home with the dogs and let the dogs out of the vehicle. The judge totally ruled in the dog owners' favor. You cannot just walk through a closed gate onto someone's property.

[FlyAway]

Originally Posted by Liesje

This is on my doorbell,

That would definitely solve the energy crisis at my house.

[Jag]

I have found that church people don't read signs or pay attention to anything. I had rainbow stickers and all sorts of gay rights stuff on my last truck. They walked right by my truck... once I even saw them look at it. They STILL came to my door even though this particular church views gays as evil. I started answering the door and simply saying "my wife is gay" and shut the door in their faces. I didn't get the same people back, but got others. Shocking. The police is the only way to go. Coming through a fence, especially with your sign is illegal. Period. It's the only way to protect yourself and your dog from being sued. It's sad, but true. It's the most relentless group I've ever come across.

[Lilie]

I lock my front gate. There aren't any questions left unanswered at that point.

[arycrest]

Originally Posted by Matty

Are they coming onto your property because it is a shortcut or to give you fliers? If it's just fliers then I can't be too upset at them. How do you get packages from UPS/Fedex since they come to the front door?

I think having a dog have access to the front yard is just asking for trouble. My dogs only have access to my backyard and the gates are locked so no one can come in. Even if my front yard was locked up I would be afraid that someone would steal one of my dogs or do something bad. There are a lot of bad people out there religious or not.

Can you get a sign that says "No Soliciting" for your front gate? I would hope that would keep those church people out. Rather then call the church how about going down there and asking to speak to the head preacher? Calling on the phone might only get you to a secretary and that probably doesn't go anywhere. Talking to the preacher and explaining the situation in a calm and cool manner could really go a long way.

Sorry, but I tend to disagree with you.

NO TRESPASSING means NO TRESPASSING regardless of where the fence is located ... front yard, back yard, or all around the yard and regardless if the person wants to hand out religious fliers or sell a set of outdated encyclopedias. I also have a yard in which my dogs have access to all four corners, including the front yard. I have several warning signs ... BAD DOG! and DOGS IN YARD! signs plus unlocked chains around the gates. I expected people to respect these signs and not come in anyway just because they think it's God's Will or whatever motivates them to thumb their noses at NO TRESPASSING signs!!!

FWIW UPS, FEDEX, USPS, etc don't come into my yard ... they leave my packages inside the front gate.

And I feel a phone call to the church requesting that their followers not trespass on their property should have been sufficient to stop the trespassing. I agree with the others that the next step should be followed and a trespassing complaint filed with the local police department.

[Liesje]

As far as UPS/FedEx packages I generally print off their pre-sign form since I'm not around to sign anyway, hang it where they can see it/get it and fill out the part that says where to place the package. I had a computer delivered last week and my slip said they could enter the gate and leave it by the side door which they did.

[x0emiroxy0x]

In 1987 when my brother was born and had colic, my parents put a sign ON TOP of the doorbell that said "Please do not ring doorbell. Our baby has colic and never sleeps"

They said they still had door-to-door salesman press the button.

One weekend my grandma was in town babysitting and a salesman rang the doorbell. She got her revolver, opened the front door, and said "Can you not ******* read? There is a newborn baby in here and I will use this gun if you come on my property again"

I guess word got around about my nutty grandma, because my mom and dad said they didn't get solicitors after that.

Do you have a crazy grandma you can use?