Dog bite!!

[draggar]

Not us bug a close friend of my wife's.

The facts:

She had her dogs out (she lives on property (1-2 acres) built for horses (including the electric fences). The dogs do not go outside the fence.

A man was on her property, WITHIN the fence and without her permission (a.k.a. trespassing)

One of her dogs bit the man - enough to require medical attention.

She offered to pay for his medical bill.

He is now taking her to court and suing her pants off and requesting that her dogs be destroyed.

</facts>

The dogs:

Dog 1: I'm not sure of her lines but she has obedience titles and is a real sweetheart to her family.

Dog 2: An import from Germany, handsome and extremely sweet. Has a few schutzhund titles on him.

Both dogs are protective of their family and friends. (I twas funny to see the male run off of a schutzhund field during a training only to roll on his back to have one of his friends pet his belly.

So, this person was on her property illegally and her dogs did what they are trained to do - they protected the property. He's suing her now.

Honestly, I think her mistake was offering to pay for the medical bill, IMO that shows guilt / neglect on her part - not the fact that she is an extremely nice person (and that's one hell of an understatement - she quite often lets us use her property for training seminars at no cost).

I hope the case is either thrown out (or maybe her just paying the medical bills - which is what she offered) or the court going down hard on the guy who was on her property.

It's really sad how the laws here protect whoever does things wrong. A few years ago someone's pack of rotties got out of their area and attacked and killed another friend's livestock (3 sheep killed, 2 goats killed, 1 sheep died later, 2 other sheep were injured) and yet the owner of these dogs (who have gotten out on many times and attacked other people and animals) only got slapped with a $500 fine.

[jedimaster91]

Ugh. I hate it when stuff like this happens. I do hope a competent judge hears this case and laughs the trespasser into handcuffs. I'm guessing at least one of the dogs in a German Shepherd, which are very well known to be EXTREMELY protective of their homes and families. Especially with Schutzhund training. You get on their turf without permission, many of them WILL bite and it's your own stupid fault for being where you shouldn't have. Trespasser guy has no excuse for being INSIDE AN ELECTRIC FENCE on someone else's property. He's lucky your friend is so nice and didn't call the cops on him.

Grrr, sorry. Didn't mean to hop on a soap box, but this stuff really pisses me off. Stupid people getting good dogs in trouble. It's not right.

Incidentally, does your friend have any "Beware of the Dog" signs on her property? Just curious since it would add to Trespasser's stupidity.

[draggar]

I forgot to mention that they are both German shepherds.

I think she has a beware of the dog sign but I am not 100% sure and the courts here have already ruled that it is no help if they don't speak English (that court case inbolved a sign that showed a picture of a dog's head with lines coming out of its mouth).

I'll also give you a hint at what these dogs are like and how good their judge of character is:

She and I were driving back to set up for a cookout for a seminar (everyone else was still at the park). I got to her house before she did so I went into the back to start up the gill, get the furniture out.

She came hone, close dthe fences and let the dogs out (loose in the yard). I had met the male once before but the female barked me a little (I ignored her), then went to sniffing me, and when she saw me talking to the owner, she became (in a milisecond) her best friend in the world who wanted nothing more than to play fetch with me.

Obviously she knew enough to be on guard but I wasn't any kind of threat.

[thegiraffe]

I really hope nothing happens to her or the dogs...they did what they're meant to do. Something tells me that guy didn't have the best of intentions when he wound up inside an electric fence, and who in their right mind would approach two German Shepherds? They're amazing dogs, but they have a well-earned reputation.

I really hope this guy gets what's coming to him.

[tropicsgoddess]

I really hope nothing happens to her or the dogs...they did what they're meant to do. Something tells me that guy didn't have the best of intentions when he wound up inside an electric fence, and who in their right mind would approach two German Shepherds? They're amazing dogs, but they have a well-earned reputation.

I really hope this guy gets what's coming to him.

I hope so too. I honestly think that you have to be a complete moron to cross over an electric fence with dogs in it, especially ones that are known to be fiercely protective of their owners and the owner's property.

[It shouldn't]

If this guy has already filed a suit, have her conntact her homeowners insurance. That's what it's for.

Unfortunately it will make her rates go up.

If the dogs are up to date on their shots, they will not get taken away.
Since it happend on her property while the victim was trespassing, she will most likely not get a ticket or citation (dependend on local ordinances)

Have her sit down and write out every minute detail of the incident, while it's still sort of fresh in her head.

[draggar]

I found out that it wasn't a stranger on her property, it was an elderly neighbor (but that shouldn't make a difference, IMO).

She had her day in court last week. Since she offered to pay the medical bill she was admitting to fault (or neglegence) on her end - I guess no good deed goes unpunished.

The judge was going to issue her a $500 fine but due to a very well written letter from my wife as her "professional dog trainer" the fine was reduced to $200.

She is not going to lose the dog but sadly the dog now has a "bite" on her record meaning that if it continues, she may have to be put down. (It was the female who was accused of biting the neighbor).

Honestly - now that I know it was a neighbor, I'm willing to bet that she was getting excited to see him and playful and nipped him (she can get nippy sometimes but it is NEVER an aggressive thing with her).

[Keiara]

That guy is an idiot. He's on a person's property illegally. It's the dog's nature. Unless they know you they will protect their masters and their territory.

Both my dogs bark at people that they don't know. They will bite if someone tries to hurt us.

Stupid guy...