Would like to know the views of the board members on the subject of liablity on your dog if a stranger comes on your property with out your knowledge and your dog bites them without provacitation? Do not want to use a breed but will use working breeds. I am one for my dogs protection and my dogs are fenced in to keep them safe and to keep intruders out. Would you let your protection dog run loose on your property unsupervised?

No. As a x-cop for many years. You do not let a protection dog run free unsupervised. The one they get might be a child. evan if there behind a fence, and a kid opens and walks in, your in trouble. NOW bare in mind Im in Calif. and things are differant elseware. But in Calif. you take a BIG chance if you put up a sign "BEWARE OF DOG" becouse your admitting that you have a visious dog, and if bitten they willuse it against you in court. If there is no sign you can argue that they intimidated or teased the dog.
The onlt time you want a dog to bite is when you have a damed good reason and you tell it to bite.

Ron

My Giant is a regestered Threapy dog, they are kept behind locked gates w/ a wood fence. All will have CGC's, the puppy is just getting to be old enough to certify. They do have access to the yard through a doggie door, so to get bit you have to really try. In addition all my dogs are very territorial, so if anyone gets even close they will bark and let the person know that they are there.

Bites are easier to prevent than to deal with, so I take every "reasonable" precaution to keep people away from the dogs if we are not here. The dogs are also "border trained. If they do get out they feel no need to protect and are very social and friendly because they have nothing to protect.

When I lived in CA - I had kennels set up in my fenced back yard. I had a no -trespass sign as well.

Even with a tall fence, I personally would not leave my dogs loose in the yard. They had very large kennels and one of them was a very accomplished escape artist.

Now in TN, where there are no fences around 2.5 acres, I still kennel my dogs when we are not home and they are not training. We have also posted no trespassing signs all over; mostly due to the couple acre fishing pond that is very tempting and can be seen from the road. Kennels are still large, covered, wind breaks and large insulated dog houses (plans from this site). This is also due to the fact of the large amount of loose pet dogs in the neighborhood.

On another dog list, someone was saying that if the "warning" sign you have posted on your fence is one of those funny kinds, then it doesn't hold the same liability. Is this correct? For instance, the ones that say "I can make it to the fence in 3 seconds, can you?". If you had this posted, instead of the regular "beware of dog" sign, and your dog bit someone could a court still hold you responsible for knowing you have a "vicious" dog?
I guess what I'm asking is this...I would feel better with some sort of sign on my fence for the sole reason that I want potential tresspassers, robbers, etc. to see this sign and leave my house alone. Is there anything I can do?

Everyone has different living circumstances and laws. I have meter readers for water and electric and garbage men that need access to my property. My dogs are kept in a secure enclosure and only romp on the property when supervised.

And it is known that some meter readers and postal workers carry mace/pepper spray. I don't want my dog exposed to that!

Consider the circumstances if the police need to pay a visit to your property...like I said, it is different everywhere, but loose dogs rushing an armed officer...sorry, you will lose.

Now, if someone enters the house in the middle of the night.....

Thank you for your input. I like propbaly most all of the board members would try not to let their dogs bite without just cause, but there are people out there that get dogs for protection like the working breeds and do not understand that they are responsible for their dogs actions and will allow their dogs to run free without being supervised.My dogs are fenced in and you would have to go on the back side of my home to get in their areas unless I am at home and put them in the yard for my night time protection.

Alot depends on where you live. Someone that has dogs for protection, should check with a lawyer in thier area to see where they stand, and what they need to do to be covered.

The situation will in a lot of cases dictate the outcome of a dog biting a person while behind a fenced area. If it is your home during the day, or your home at night, or a commercial property renting guard dogs (training issues) and who was it that they bit will be a deciding factor in what you as the owner are liable for. A meter reader in many cases is allowed to enter your property as the are reading thier meter, and in a lot of cases this is agreeded upon with utility companies, so if your dog bites them you maybe in some trouble. If a LEO wants to talk to you, and they get bit, I am not sure where they stand if they are just stopping by. It is of course a different story if they are serving a warrent.

There are many angles that need to be addressed before concluding your liabilty. Sometimes having the dogs loose is just not worth it, other times it maybe.

Shay,

Make up a sign that just says "Dog in Yard". If you also want to convey size you could mention a breed or say "Large Dog in yard". That would convey the information w/o implying that the animal is vicious.

Hello Again Yes you need to check with a lawyer to see how you can protect yourself and after that register your property with the courthouse as posted no trespassing and then post NO TRESPASSING signs on your prorerty in highly visible areas and on both sides of your fence. I was just wanting the boards views because I was picked to go to court as a witness in a dog biting case because a man let his working dog breed run loose while he went fishing and a woman came by and was attacked by his dog an was lucky enough to be able to get away with only minor injuries but she now has a fear of dogs so now we will see what happens in court