If there are any attorneys in the crowd, what is the current thinking on whether or not you should display "Beware of Dog" signs around your property,home, etc?

Do they help or hurt you?

You might want to check out some of the past threads, too:

http://www.google.com/custom?domains=leerburg.com&q=beware+of+dog+signs&sa=Google+Search&sitesearch=leerburg.com&client=pub-9352112989043417&forid=1&channel=8149920423&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&safe=active&flav=0000&sig=XaJqMPqToCkex0QJ&cof=GALT%3A%23333366%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23999999%3BVLC%3A336633%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3AFF9900%3BALC%3A333366%3BLC%3A333366%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A666666%3BGIMP%3A666666%3BLH%3A86%3BLW%3A100%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.leerburg.com%2FPhotos%2Fheadlogo.jpg%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.leerburg.com%3BLP%3A1%3BFORID%3A1&hl=en

There has been lots of discussion about this.

If I remember past discussions it depends on your state. In Florida I think you can be considered negligent if you don't have one and other states it can hurt you.

You gotta love the courts...........

A former dog catcher from California gave me the advice to put up a sign saying "BAD DOG". That way people are warned but you aren't specifically saying that your dog might attack someone.

This was my PM to Gary earlier today....


In Washington state and here in SD where I live now, if you post a beware of dog sign, you are basically admitting that you know your dog will bite. And therefore set yourself up for a civil court case.

With no signs, it is easier to say, "Geesh, Fluffy has never done that before...." with an air of naivety in your voice.... \

AND for some odd reason (Murphy's Law I suppose) people are more drawn to f'ing with your dog when there is a sign up. They want to really see if they should beware.
Without the signs, there is the underlying "will the dog bite" question in their minds so they do not mess around.

I would check into what your state, county and city ordinances are and also what the law says about dog bites.

\:\)
Just my take on it......

If someone comes, uninvited, into my home then they can get bitten by GSD or they can be shot, or both and I would feel legally fine with either. You don't want to be bitten or shot? Then don't break into my house!

I think the real issue is if you have these signs up and then you don't properly contain your dog and he bites off the property, or bites a jogger or someone walking their dog by your house. Then the lawyers can point to your sign and say that you SHOULD have done more to contain your dog, since you obviously know you have a dog that will bite. And well, in that case they'd be right!

I have a GERMAN SHEPHERD INSIDE sign on my front door. I didn't do this to scare off burglers, I did it because when my husband and I first moved in together (before we had Carbon), his friends were forever "dropping by" and just walking in the house. Nevermind the fact that it's the crack of dawn, or at night, or I'm in the shower and hear the door open or whatever. The combination of the sign and Carbon's barking were enough that now they call first!

Our dog kennels border the front AND back property and we did that on purpose. Anyone thinking about sneaking in our house will be well aware that we have a big GSD before they ever get close enough to read the sign on the door!

 Quote: Amber Morgan

If someone comes, uninvited, into my home then they can get bitten by GSD or they can be shot, or both and I would feel legally fine with either. You don't want to be bitten or shot? Then don't break into my house!

Amen Sister.....I agree.

I have a client whose attorney advised him to post...

No Trespassing
Dog On Property

He has thirty+ of the darn things on the fence around his three acres!

I had a situation with a stray about a year ago where we had been giving water and some food to this dog. It stayed out front over night and in the morning when a woman and her unleashed dog walked by the dogs got into a fight. Well, she called the police and they sent the dogcatcher. Fortuneatly I had posted pics around the neighborhood of the dog because they wanted to press charges for a vicious dog. Anyhow, I have a sign on my gate that says "Beware of dog" with a pic of a doberman on it. The dog catcher told me that posting pics like that could be admitted in court as an admission of owning a vicious dog. I still have that sign on my fence because the dogs that I have are whimps. I had to show him how nice my dogs were, the sign was just a 'hopeful' deterent on my part. Now that I have Levi, I'm wondering what I should do next. Do I take it down or leave it up? Still, if someone is dumb enough to enter your backyard with such a sign up, they deserve what they get...well, maybe in another country, I forget this is America where we support the Criminal Justice System, aka, justice for the criminals. Sometimes I wonder what is happening to my beautiful country.

I think I'll design a pic of a GSD pointing a 44 magnum with the caption under it saying "Nuff Said!!"