How to direct meter readers away from my dogs?

I would also put a lock of some type on the gate, then you have the certified letter receipt, and a locked gate "protecting" anyone from "accidently " going in that gate. "CYA".

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My dogs have a fenced area, that is accessible only from the Ft. door. Even with this the meter reader pulls up ,honks the horn, and will not even leave his car until the dogs are in the house. He has some kind of electric thing (?) because the meter is in enclosed area where the hot tub is. So I Guess this guy just isn't going to take any chances. If i had to, I'd do the send in reading. I have seen a beware of dog sign that says nothing, it just has a doberman with it's teeth showing and saliva dripping off.

My guess is that you're with Alabama power (APCo), who contract out most of the meter reading since they have gotten rid of most of the meter readers, thus the frequent changes. APCo is in the process of replacing the meters with 'smart meters', so I would suggest you contact them to see if they would go ahead and put in your smart meter. Below is the link on the smart meters.
http://www.alabamapower.com/residential/smartmeter.asp

I would suggest you point out that although they don't need to go in a gate, the readers have been opening your gate making it possible for your farm animals to get out or possibly injure them, which might give a priority for your meter to be replaced. Ours was replaced in fall of 2008, but they may not have gotten to your area yet.
Dawn

We have two guard dogs and when we fenced in the acre behind the house, for the sheep, we call the electric company and requested that the meter be changed to a smart meter which is read ofsite. took them 15 mins to install, problem solved.

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we had a similar problem years ago..they maced our dog..in our BACK yard..the meter wasn't in the back yard..ticked me off

I offered to read the meter for the utility. I now email them the reading every month. A couple of times a year they send a meter reader out to make sure my numbers are right. They are. We've been doing this for a few years and it has worked out well. Saves them money too.

When I recently reinstalled our electric I put the meter right next to the road. Now they can see it without getting out of their vehicle. I still do the monthly reading but this means that on that semi-annual in person reading they don't even set foot on our property. Again, it saves them time and thus money while improving things for us too.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
Save 30% off Pastured Pork with free processing: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop

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Since I have been on both sides of this issue, and you need a working answer. I suggest you call the utility company and ask if they can put a smart meter in. If they can not, then I suggest you send them a registered letter as stated above and inform them that the meter is outside the fence. Furthermore, I would place a small sign to the effect "no meters inside the fence"

You can not otherwise protect yourself against one who is not smart enout to figure it out. His being stupid will probaly not protect you in a lawsuit or a criminal complaint.

I was a telephone man. Most dogs can be delt with OK, others are apparently vicious and one decides not to come into the yard unless the owner puts them up. However, there are dog that appear friendly, and will bite one in a minute if you turn your back on them....they are like people..... all different personalities. A worker that comes into your yard (or thinks he must) is trying to concentrate on his job, and if he gets cornered by an apparently vicious dog, he is not going to hesitate to use pepper spray or any other means of defense if the thinks his well being is endangered.

The are some people, whether it is their smell or what, I don't know, that almost no dog will bother. There are others that dogs like to bite...even nice dogs. Please, If you call a utility company for service, and there is any question that your dog will be a problem, confine your dog or make an appointment to be there when the service person arrives.

DH is the meter reader here..... and every month we have a new dog story. (no bites yet!- well, a little dog biting his pants....) What is it about dogs and meter readers, UPS workers, etc? Our dogs, even the old deaf and blind one, can somehow hear the UPS truck.- sounds like you have a lot of good ideas here, now if you can get the meter reader to read them....

Get the smart meter and no one will ever come back in your yard to read the electrical meter. It's worked for me and I love it....................my bill is even cheaper.

..................There are several meters they can install that they can "Read" from at least a quarter mile away ! All they have to do is just stop in front of your road and read your meter . I also , had a meter that was tied into my phone line and at 3AM on the same day each month the power company computer would call on my phone and read my meter . , fordy