My dog just bit someone!

[whitecra]

He is doing what he should be doing and that is guarding your place. Your kids and all. If he is that protective then I don't think anyone would try to kidnap your kids from the yard. That would be a good thing. I have a boxer that I know would bite if someone came in his yard. It is his place and he protects it. Not even the water people can check the metor if he is out. I have to keep him in on the days they check or they won't check it. If he is in his yard then I think that is the persons fault that he bit. If you have beware of dog signs then that should let people know to stay away from the fence if they don't want bit. I am glad my dog protects his yard and us.
Chris

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I've tried to read most of this thread and not miss any opinions before offering my own. My opinion is that dogs are a responsibility in addition to being the joy of a lifetime.

I have Dobies and GSDs. My dogs are all Schutzhund, which means they have all had arm work. They have been systematically taught attack work. This means *I* have a responsibility both to my dogs and to anyone who has legitimate access to my property--people like postal carriers and meter readers. To address that responsibility, at my last place I put my oversized rural mailbox on the opposite side of the street. The mail carrier didn't mind at all, even though it was supposed to be at the end of my drive and she had to cross over just for me. My gate was locked and there was a sign "Blow horn for access." I spent the few extra bucks and had the electric meter moved to a box outside the fence right next to the water meter, so neither of these folks needed to come inside the fence to do their job.

At this new place, I've done things a bit differently. I fenced off the front of the house from the rest of the property. Now people can come to my front door without crossing through the dogs' territory. To get into the dogs' yard, people have to go through a locked gate that bears a "Do Not Enter" sign. Strangers cannot even see my dogs behind their privacy fencing, let alone put hands over or through the fence. That fence is a good 100' inside the property line, so anyone approaching it is already trespassing before they ever get there--and the NO TRESPASSING signs are prominently displayed along the roadside so there can be no doubt about seeing them.

My neighbors KNOW I have dogs and what KIND of dogs I have. When they pull into my drive, they don't get out of their vehicles even though the dogs have no access to this area in front of my house. LOL I guess they are taking no chances. Probably because of the exercise I put on for the local church in which I put the dogs over fences and did a bunch of down work and finally showed the folks some attack exercises.

I did all this because once inside my house, any one of my dogs would lay down his life to protect me. I don't take that kind of loyalty lightly. It is well worth the expense of a thousand feet of privacy fencing so they can have their own yard to run and play and just be dogs. When they are in their yard, they are safe from all the stupid people in the world.

Yes, my arrangements are expensive. But *I* chose protection dogs. In my view their security is part and parcel of my responsibility to them and to protect the general populace of stupid people out there from their own stupidity. BUT god help the person dumb enough to cross my threshold without an invitation. Because, in my view, I've done everything I can to protect those stupid people from my dogs while they are outside, but once they come inside my home, MY safety comes first. That's why I chose protection dogs in the first place.

There is nothing wrong in keeping a dog that knows how to bite, as long as you acknowledge that you do have a responsibility to the stupid people out there to protect them from themselves AND to protect your dog from their stupidity.

Rusty

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
I don't know that the mailman was being stupid by delivering a package to a mailbox outside of the fence line when he was bitten by a dog who was inside the fence...

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Socializing from the very start of puppyhood is one of the most important things anyone can do for their dog to help prevent this sort of behavior.

This is SO very true. You have to take your puppy everywhere with you for a while and let others pet him and talk to him so he knows that people are "ok" And yes, he's protecting your property. And he sees them as a threat to him and your property. The bewared of dogs sign is a bad idea...if someone wanted to sue you the court can say you KNEW the dog was capable of this because you had the sign up. And you will get a huge fine and probably told to put your dog down

It has happened to me as well. I did not socialize my puppy but instead protected him from everyone! I would not let anyone touch him and I was SO sorry I did this. He became mean with anyone who walked by. My dog bit two kids. One who threw a snowball at my daughter and another kid who walked into our back yard. We were ordered to put him down. It was a very sad day and totally my fault. Our next puppy we took everywhere with us and I allowed anyone and everyone to play with him. Today he is the sweetest thing ever to anyone who comes on our property. He does have a BIG bark though so I think people would think twice before approaching him. Good luck!​

 

[Oblio13]

I bet that most of the folks saying there's nothing wrong with dogs biting people, or that it's the victim's fault, or the victim's parents' fault, would have a lawyer on speed-dial if the roles were reversed and they or theirs were bitten.

 

[joebryant]

If I had a dog that even growled at people he'd be gone. Victims of dog bites, even minor ones, are too litigious; who can blame them.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Quote:
I don't know that the mailman was being stupid by delivering a package to a mailbox outside of the fence line when he was bitten by a dog who was inside the fence...

Why was the mailbox there in the first place? Or if it had to be there, then why wasn't it screened so this could not happen? If I can quote myself:

My dogs are all Schutzhund, which means they have all had arm work. They have been systematically taught attack work. This means *I* have a responsibility both to my dogs and to anyone who has legitimate access to my property--people like postal carriers and meter readers.

My dog yard fence is 100' INSIDE my property line because I KNOW what my dogs can do when they think they are protecting their home. Please understand that to a protection dog, "home" includes all the property he has access to. No, it isn't convenient or inexpensive, but it IS part of the responsibility that goes with owning protection dogs.


That's the part people don't want to hear about, however. They want a dog who will chew up an intruder AND they want him to romp and play with every Tom, Dick, and Harry without any supervision on their part. It doesn't work that way.


Rusty​

 

[mrsengeseth]

sorry it happened.

 

[whitecra]

Quote:
This is SO very true. You have to take your puppy everywhere with you for a while and let others pet him and talk to him so he knows that people are "ok" And yes, he's protecting your property. And he sees them as a threat to him and your property. The bewared of dogs sign is a bad idea...if someone wanted to sue you the court can say you KNEW the dog was capable of this because you had the sign up. And you will get a huge fine and probably told to put your dog down

It has happened to me as well. I did not socialize my puppy but instead protected him from everyone! I would not let anyone touch him and I was SO sorry I did this. He became mean with anyone who walked by. My dog bit two kids. One who threw a snowball at my daughter and another kid who walked into our back yard. We were ordered to put him down. It was a very sad day and totally my fault. Our next puppy we took everywhere with us and I allowed anyone and everyone to play with him. Today he is the sweetest thing ever to anyone who comes on our property. He does have a BIG bark though so I think people would think twice before approaching him. Good luck!

In Oklahoma we were told if we didn't have a sign that we could get sued but if we had the sign people know to stay out of the fenced area.
Chris

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Quote:
Hold on there you're making a blanket statement. It is different when a dog bites someone who puts there hands through the fence. As far as getting bit goes my daughter was bit in the face by the neighbors dog. She was at their house. The neighbor knew the dog had some sort of ear issue and was very tender but did not keep the dog away from the kids or tell my daughter not to touch him. She barely brushed up against his ear and he snapped. I made the guy pay the dr bills and that was it. Two days after the bite the dog was loose on my property when it was supposed to be quarantined. I could have sued but didn't.