My daughter's dog bit the next door neighbor!

[EllenFrasier]

A little background info. My daughter worked at the humane society and adopted a puppy from there about 2 years ago. She moved down to FL when the dog was about 6 months old. This winter, she moved back home and of course brought the dog with her. We have two dogs of our own - one of them loves to play with my daughter's dog, the other one does not but she tolerates her, no fighting or anything. My daugher's dog is on the small/medium size - a border collie mix - skinny dog with a tail that curls up over her back.

My daughter's dog is a barker. She barks when someone comes to the door, when the neighbors go in their yard, when the mailman walks by - well, she barks at just about anything. She's getting a little better, at least now when I tell her to stop, she listens most of the time. There is one boy who lives next door that she does not like for some reason. He has never done anything to her or teased her or anything like that. One day, when I was not at home, my son broke the rules and let the boy come in our yard to play - it was snowing and they wanted to build a fort. All three dogs were outside and my daughter's dog bit the neighbor boy. He was not injured - probably because of the heavy jacket.

So tonight, my son and his friend found a baby squirrel. My son brought the squirrel in the kitchen and we were all paying attention to that and somehow he let the neighbor boy into the kitchen too - and my daughter's dog bit him. This time he had on a t-shirt and he did get hurt. Not a big bite, but a bite just the same. He ran out of the house and I sent my son after him to see if he was okay. He came back crying saying that they were taking him to the hospital to get a tetanus shot (why?) and that the dog probably did not have it's shots, etc. So I told my daughter to get over there to see if he was okay. Of course her dog has all her shots, so that was not a worry, but I wanted to be sure that the boy was okay and that his parents were not upset.

My question is, can we get sued for this? Are we in any danger of having our house taken away from us in a lawsuit if this stupid dog bites this boy again or someone else? My daughter went over to their house right after it happened and apologized and assured them that the dog has had her shots and checked his bite. There was one tiny mark, but it probably still hurt. She asked the boy if he would be willing to come over to our house, another day of course, when she is home and has the dog on a leash so he can feed her some treats and try to "make friends" with her. He said he would be willing to try it. This kid is always over here - he spent a lot of time here last summer because we have a pool and I don't mind if they come over to swim with our kids, but I'm not going to live in fear that this dog will bite him every time he comes over.

Oh, the squirrel? He's in a box with a screen over it so in case he is more lively than he appeared that he cannot get out. Tomorrow morning I am calling some wildlife people in our area until I find someone to take him.

 

[Evi]

Sadly it depends on how badly the dog bit the neighbor and if they would want to pursue it. I'd recommend your daughter photocopy the dogs rabies and vaccination history and bring them a copy so they can see that their child is in no danger of contracting anything from the dog. I'd also suggest that the child no longer come over until your daughter takes her dog for some training or or request that they family call you before the child comes over so you can keep the dog in a part of the house the children do not come into.

Who would sue you all depends on the person. My dog jumped up and pulled on a neighbors pants one time, I picked him up apologized and neighbor walked away. About two hours later the neighbor came by saying he was going to sue me he needed copies of my dogs medical history and showed me a bite mark on his leg. The bite mark was obviously human and fresh it was about 2in wide in the back and arched in a circular fashion no canine marks plus I have a yorkie his mouth is less then a inch wide and hes never bitten anyone before. If you've ever seen a human bite you'd know it was human. I asked him to hold on and I ran into the house got my digital camera and came out with the house phone. I asked him to stay still I wanted to take a picture and I was calling an ambulance to take him to the hospital and the police dept so he could file a police report. He looked dumbstruck. I told him it was obvious he had someone bite him and that I wanted to take a picture and I took one when he was busy talking to df. The guy flipped out and started going off. I told him I was happy to call an ambulance for him and proceeded to call the police dept. When police arrived they also agreed that it was a human bite and offered to drive neighbor to the hospital. Said neighbor said he was fine and walked away. Two days later his wife came down to our house with a letter of apology. But I always wondered if she was the one who bit him and what they truly hoped to gain.

I say hope for the best let them know you care if there is a serious injury I'd call an attorney and I'd offer to cover the medical bill. If dog is really aggressive I'd consider fencing off a dog run for him that's away from neighbors house and taking him to some training classes.

 

[4nana]

Sorry to hear about your son's friend and hope he'll be alright. I'll be curious to see the responses, as I posted on a thread recently about my neighbor's situation. Their dog recently bit a child that happened to be taking a short cut by running through their yard and dog's electrical fence. The child required a hospital visit, but thankfully no stiches. Not to scare or upset you, but in this particular case the family sued neighbor's ins. company for something like $6,000., followed by their homeowners ins. being canceled. Depending on the state/county, sometimes the dog can be ordered quarantined for 10 days at animal shelter and perhaps deemed a dangerous animal.
Good luck, I hope it works out for all involved, it's a tough spot to be in.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

A little background info. My daughter worked at the humane society and adopted a puppy from there about 2 years ago. She moved down to FL when the dog was about 6 months old. This winter, she moved back home and of course brought the dog with her. We have two dogs of our own - one of them loves to play with my daughter's dog, the other one does not but she tolerates her, no fighting or anything. My daugher's dog is on the small/medium size - a border collie mix - skinny dog with a tail that curls up over her back.

My daughter's dog is a barker. She barks when someone comes to the door, when the neighbors go in their yard, when the mailman walks by - well, she barks at just about anything. She's getting a little better, at least now when I tell her to stop, she listens most of the time. There is one boy who lives next door that she does not like for some reason. He has never done anything to her or teased her or anything like that. One day, when I was not at home, my son broke the rules and let the boy come in our yard to play - it was snowing and they wanted to build a fort. All three dogs were outside and my daughter's dog bit the neighbor boy. He was not injured - probably because of the heavy jacket.

So tonight, my son and his friend found a baby squirrel. My son brought the squirrel in the kitchen and we were all paying attention to that and somehow he let the neighbor boy into the kitchen too - and my daughter's dog bit him. This time he had on a t-shirt and he did get hurt. Not a big bite, but a bite just the same. He ran out of the house and I sent my son after him to see if he was okay. He came back crying saying that they were taking him to the hospital to get a tetanus shot (why?) and that the dog probably did not have it's shots, etc. So I told my daughter to get over there to see if he was okay. Of course her dog has all her shots, so that was not a worry, but I wanted to be sure that the boy was okay and that his parents were not upset.

My question is, can we get sued for this? Are we in any danger of having our house taken away from us in a lawsuit if this stupid dog bites this boy again or someone else? My daughter went over to their house right after it happened and apologized and assured them that the dog has had her shots and checked his bite. There was one tiny mark, but it probably still hurt. She asked the boy if he would be willing to come over to our house, another day of course, when she is home and has the dog on a leash so he can feed her some treats and try to "make friends" with her. He said he would be willing to try it. This kid is always over here - he spent a lot of time here last summer because we have a pool and I don't mind if they come over to swim with our kids, but I'm not going to live in fear that this dog will bite him every time he comes over.

Oh, the squirrel? He's in a box with a screen over it so in case he is more lively than he appeared that he cannot get out. Tomorrow morning I am calling some wildlife people in our area until I find someone to take him.

Yes, you can be sued especially if the parents can prove that this is a vicious dog - ie: the second time it has bitten. Probably not a likely scenario.

However, what is more likely to happen is that they will go to the hospital and fill out a dog bite report (mandatory).

The police will come to your house and either take the dog for 10 days or the dog will be put under house quarantine.

You will be cited for having a dog that bites. Depending on the vicious dog laws in your county/state, you can be fined or just receive a warning. Our town has a one warning ordinance; first bite receives a warning, second bite the dog is destroyed. Some towns have a no tolerance policy and a dog that bites will be immediately destroyed. It also depends on whether they will take the word of the family that the dog has bitten the child before. Then your dog will have two strikes against it.

Some other possibilities are that you will be required to build a kennel that will contain the dog at all times and make sure you have a secured facility that can contain the dog and/or have to invest in training with an approved trainer. You might be required to pay all medical costs for the bite.

The most important thing is that you need to know you have a dangerous dog, at least according to authorities. It has bitten twice now. You need to invest in proper training and at the bare minimum, take precautions with the dog. It needs to be crated or put away ANYTIME a child is in your house or yard.

If you do not do anything, since this bite will be on record, the next bite can bring much, much bigger repercussions such as a much bigger possibility of being sued.

As for why would he have a tetanus shot? If your dog broke the skin, that is standard procedure.

 

[bumbershoot]

OK I'd be more worried about the squirrel than the dog, quite frankly. Playing with a squirrel????? Might want to remind the parents of that decision if they are playing around with thinking about the dog biting...


That said, "one boy who lives next door that she does not like for some reason". We can reason with humans, telling, for example, kids that this person is your friend and they are to be polite to them even if they don't like them (though a refresher of Gavin de Becker's books might make you think twice about negating a human's instinctual dislike of another human). We cannot reason with animals. If an animal has already shown that they, for whatever reason, do not like a certain person (or other animal), it really behooves you to keep those two beings AWAY from each other.

It's one thing if it's inside your family. Our last dog bit me, by accident. Some people thought it was a mistake to keep him, but I knew the circumstances, and it was OK. It was mainly my fault, combined with razor sharp puppy teeth. But it was our dog and we could make that decision.

If he'd nipped someone else, I don't think my mom would ever have let that person be near our dog again, just in case.

You can't reason with animals.


And YES dog bites hurt. Even if they make barely a mark! Actually, especially if they barely leave a mark. Dogs bite HARD, create bruises. (one of my dad's ruined-by-him golden retrievers was mouthing my arm b/c she's completely untrained, he even trained her natural human-pleasing instincts out of her, and there was no blood, but it hurt like a hammer on my arm)

She asked the boy if he would be willing to come over to our house, another day of course, when she is home and has the dog on a leash so he can feed her some treats and try to "make friends" with her. He said he would be willing to try it. This kid is always over here - he spent a lot of time here last summer because we have a pool and I don't mind if they come over to swim with our kids, but I'm not going to live in fear that this dog will bite him every time he comes over.

Yeah, that would not be my decision, most definitely. I would be keeping dog and boy apart from each other if it were my dog, and if it were my boy, he wouldn't be visiting anymore, pool or no pool. The dog has made its feelings quite clear!

 

[The Orchid]

Who would sue you all depends on the person. My dog jumped up and pulled on a neighbors pants one time, I picked him up apologized and neighbor walked away. About two hours later the neighbor came by saying he was going to sue me he needed copies of my dogs medical history and showed me a bite mark on his leg. The bite mark was obviously human and fresh it was about 2in wide in the back and arched in a circular fashion no canine marks plus I have a yorkie his mouth is less then a inch wide and hes never bitten anyone before. If you've ever seen a human bite you'd know it was human. I asked him to hold on and I ran into the house got my digital camera and came out with the house phone. I asked him to stay still I wanted to take a picture and I was calling an ambulance to take him to the hospital and the police dept so he could file a police report. He looked dumbstruck. I told him it was obvious he had someone bite him and that I wanted to take a picture and I took one when he was busy talking to df. The guy flipped out and started going off. I told him I was happy to call an ambulance for him and proceeded to call the police dept. When police arrived they also agreed that it was a human bite and offered to drive neighbor to the hospital. Said neighbor said he was fine and walked away. Two days later his wife came down to our house with a letter of apology. But I always wondered if she was the one who bit him and what they truly hoped to gain.

I've read a lot of crazy things on the DIS, but this is absolutely in the top three (the indigo child thing wins hands down). What a freak to actually get somebody to bite him in an attempt to create a lawsuit. OMG! I'm glad you were cool and calm and thought to get your camera and call the police. Otherwise you may very well have been sued. Good grief! What freaks. I'm glad these people don't live near me! I can't even imagine what would go through my head if my partner came up to me and said, "Honey, please bite my leg real hard so I can sue the neighbors."

 

[OceanAnnie]

I agree, Evi. That is one incredible story! Someone that would go to that extreme is nutty as a squirrel! And that goes for the person that did the biting too. Looney tunes crazy.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You will not have your house taken away. They can file a police report and sue, yes. It's important that you continue to show concern for the boy. DO NOT have him over under any circumstances to "make friends" with the dog. He was probably advised by his doctor's office when they called about the bite to get a tetanus shot if he was due for an update.

As a Border Collie, this type of dog belongs to the Herding group. They often nip (which is the way they keep sheep and such, animals they were bred to herd, in line). The problem is that they can't be allowed to do it to people, so you either need to curb the behavior in the dog (very difficult) and/or keep people safe from him. It's unfortunate that he was allowed to bite this boy - twice.

Your best defense now will probably be to show that you're keeping the dog under wraps (ie safely confined and away from people) and that the bite wasn't a "ferocious" type bite, it was a "nip". (Dogs that want to hurt can easliy do so - this was a warning bite, but it may be a moot point.) Your DD wanting to put the boy and the dog together again is a mistake, and frankly, shows bad jugement on your DD's part. She needs to get smart about this for now and for any future dogs she owns!

 

[cocodog]

I am sorry about your dog situation. I have no advice, other than to insure you keep the dog away from the boy in the future.

The squirrel, however, I do have a bit of advice on. Similar story with us, but the baby squirrel was so 'cute' that my dh took off his welding glove and was bitten hard (in fear, I am sure). The fact that squirrels 'rarely' carry rabies was no consolation to us. He had to have the squirrel killed by the vet (or he could have done it himself) and the head sent to DHEC for testing. We also had to pay for this. He was fine, and the squirrel would have died anyway, but not again! Please be extra careful!

Good luck!

A little background info. My daughter worked at the humane society and adopted a puppy from there about 2 years ago. She moved down to FL when the dog was about 6 months old. This winter, she moved back home and of course brought the dog with her. We have two dogs of our own - one of them loves to play with my daughter's dog, the other one does not but she tolerates her, no fighting or anything. My daugher's dog is on the small/medium size - a border collie mix - skinny dog with a tail that curls up over her back.

My daughter's dog is a barker. She barks when someone comes to the door, when the neighbors go in their yard, when the mailman walks by - well, she barks at just about anything. She's getting a little better, at least now when I tell her to stop, she listens most of the time. There is one boy who lives next door that she does not like for some reason. He has never done anything to her or teased her or anything like that. One day, when I was not at home, my son broke the rules and let the boy come in our yard to play - it was snowing and they wanted to build a fort. All three dogs were outside and my daughter's dog bit the neighbor boy. He was not injured - probably because of the heavy jacket.

So tonight, my son and his friend found a baby squirrel. My son brought the squirrel in the kitchen and we were all paying attention to that and somehow he let the neighbor boy into the kitchen too - and my daughter's dog bit him. This time he had on a t-shirt and he did get hurt. Not a big bite, but a bite just the same. He ran out of the house and I sent my son after him to see if he was okay. He came back crying saying that they were taking him to the hospital to get a tetanus shot (why?) and that the dog probably did not have it's shots, etc. So I told my daughter to get over there to see if he was okay. Of course her dog has all her shots, so that was not a worry, but I wanted to be sure that the boy was okay and that his parents were not upset.

My question is, can we get sued for this? Are we in any danger of having our house taken away from us in a lawsuit if this stupid dog bites this boy again or someone else? My daughter went over to their house right after it happened and apologized and assured them that the dog has had her shots and checked his bite. There was one tiny mark, but it probably still hurt. She asked the boy if he would be willing to come over to our house, another day of course, when she is home and has the dog on a leash so he can feed her some treats and try to "make friends" with her. He said he would be willing to try it. This kid is always over here - he spent a lot of time here last summer because we have a pool and I don't mind if they come over to swim with our kids, but I'm not going to live in fear that this dog will bite him every time he comes over.

Oh, the squirrel? He's in a box with a screen over it so in case he is more lively than he appeared that he cannot get out. Tomorrow morning I am calling some wildlife people in our area until I find someone to take him.

 

[MushyMushy]

You don't say how old the kids are, but with an aggressive dog like that you need to be way more vigilant than you have been with the dog AND the kids. They need to learn that they absolutely cannot go running in and out of the house like they have been and no kids in the house unless the dog is contained in another room. The dog has already bitten twice and more than likely will do so again if he's allowed to run around on his own.

I'm sorry that happened -- it must have been really upsetting to all involved.

 

[golfgal]

Our neighbor's dog attacked our dog and another dog in the neighborhood. Their dog was labeled a dangerous dog, they had to microchip the dog and she had to be chained up in the back yard whenever she was out (the have a fenced in yard). Well, she got out again and attacked another dog so they had to put her to sleep (thankfully). They did pay our dog's vet bills but our dog ended up with several stitches, a major infection and now has a heart murmur as a result of the attack. If this has been a child, they could have been sued.

OP, I would make sure you have good homeowners liability insurance.

 

[Pluto 2]

if you get sued dont worry about losing your home your homeowners insurance should take care of it.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

You will not have your house taken away. They can file a police report and sue, yes. It's important that you continue to show concern for the boy. DO NOT have him over under any circumstances to "make friends" with the dog. He was probably advised by his doctor's office when they called about the bite to get a tetanus shot if he was due for an update.

As a Border Collie, this type of dog belongs to the Herding group. They often nip (which is the way they keep sheep and such, animals they were bred to herd, in line). The problem is that they can't be allowed to do it to people, so you either need to curb the behavior in the dog (very difficult) and/or keep people safe from him. It's unfortunate that he was allowed to bite this boy - twice.

Your best defense now will probably be to show that you're keeping the dog under wraps (ie safely confined and away from people) and that the bite wasn't a "ferocious" type bite, it was a "nip". (Dogs that want to hurt can easliy do so - this was a warning bite, but it may be a moot point.) Your DD wanting to put the boy and the dog together again is a mistake, and frankly, shows bad jugement on your DD's part. She needs to get smart about this for now and for any future dogs she owns!

I agree with you on all points except for one. This does not sound like a herding nip. Although the OP did not give the location of the bite, she does reference the upper part of the body. The first time she says the boy was ok because of his parka, the second time, she says the boy was hurt because he had a t-shirt on.

Border collies herd by crouching and nipping at the ankles of the sheep. They purposely are bred not to go after the body in order to not damage the wool or the animal. It would be very unusual for a herding dog to jump up and nip the upper torso. Legs, ankles, etc, yes, but to grab the upper torso, there is more going on than just a herding dog nip.

 

[IDoDis]

if you get sued dont worry about losing your home your homeowners insurance should take care of it.

Ummm.... no, this is not correct. Only if the OP has an added umbrella policy on top of the homeowners insurance would a lawsuit be covered. Anyone can sue anyone, but all one can sue for are damages, which in this case would be the doctor's bill and some pain & suffering (not much for a small nip). As long as you are cooperative with the neighbors, I doubt they'd go that route.

I also agree that you should not try and have the dog make friends with the boy. It may work temporarily, but instinct will set the dog off at any time and the dog will probably bite him again. If you decide to take the dog to a shelter, his chances of getting adopted are almost zero because of the documentation that he has bitten someone.

I'm sorry you are going through such stress. Try not to worry because it most likely won't be as bad as you think -- unless the dog bites him again (or someone else).

 

[rgf207]

Sorry this happened. Unfortunatly you can get sued. Similar thing happened to my in-laws and they were sued. The homeowner's insurance covered it 100%.

The dog bit the Meter Guy. They dog was leashed in their own yard.

I hate to point this out but the other unfortunate thing is that if they took the child to the hospital, they have to report the dog bite and animal control will probably take the dog and quarantine it for a week or so. That's what happened to my in-laws

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Im so sorry to hear about the bite. Not sure of all the legal stuff but make sure your dog is registered in your town/county. My SIL dog nipped someone and she got in a lot of trouble for not having him registered. It was the bus aide for my son who got nipped and she didnt file charges etc but the transportation dept paid for her shots etc because she was on the job and it trickled down somehow to her paying $$$ because her dog was not registered. I think it is $7.00 to register your dog in our town.....

 

[Tracy Savage]

Sorry about your situation. My old dog bite me once ( He was old and hurting and I tried to help him, but I hurt him on accident, and he snapped.) He bit my wrist and because of the bone there it cut the skin pretty good. I did have to have a tetanus shot because they said it was an open dirty wound-dog spit. The dog we have now is fear aggressive. he is completely fenced in with warning signs on the fence. Would you believe people still open the fence for deliveries and such-we have a frount door-One guy tried with the dog out there, the dog was barking carrying on, I had to run out to tell him to stop, and go to the frount of the house. Duh. I wonder what would have happened in that case? If someone disregarded the warnings would see still be liable if the dog bit him? Mind you one sign is right next to the gate handle.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

The dog left one small mark, no bleeding? I don't know why anyone sues over these types of things. I could see for a big injury, but these not for something small like that. Even if his parents sue, you won't lose your house.

Your son has to be taught his friends aren't allowed in the house or yard until that particular dog has been secured. Do you have a room to put him in that locks? I would hire a trainer to work with the dog in regards to the constant barking.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Sorry about your situation. My old dog bite me once ( He was old and hurting and I tried to help him, but I hurt him on accident, and he snapped.) He bit my wrist and because of the bone there it cut the skin pretty good. I did have to have a tetanus shot because they said it was an open dirty wound-dog spit. The dog we have now is fear aggressive. he is completely fenced in with warning signs on the fence. Would you believe people still open the fence for deliveries and such-we have a frount door-One guy tried with the dog out there, the dog was barking carrying on, I had to run out to tell him to stop, and go to the frount of the house. Duh. I wonder what would have happened in that case? If someone disregarded the warnings would see still be liable if the dog bit him? Mind you one sign is right next to the gate handle.

I think there are a surpising number of adults that can't read.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Sorry about your situation. My old dog bite me once ( He was old and hurting and I tried to help him, but I hurt him on accident, and he snapped.) He bit my wrist and because of the bone there it cut the skin pretty good. I did have to have a tetanus shot because they said it was an open dirty wound-dog spit. The dog we have now is fear aggressive. he is completely fenced in with warning signs on the fence. Would you believe people still open the fence for deliveries and such-we have a frount door-One guy tried with the dog out there, the dog was barking carrying on, I had to run out to tell him to stop, and go to the frount of the house. Duh. I wonder what would have happened in that case? If someone disregarded the warnings would see still be liable if the dog bit him? Mind you one sign is right next to the gate handle.

Actually, by having the signs up, they make you even more liable than if you had no signs at all. Due to the signs, you are admitting that you are knowingly harboring an aggressive dog.

I would change the signs to say that all deliveries must be made at the front door and then lock your gate. Do not post "Beware of Dogs" signs, as this just makes it easier for a person that is bit to prove that you knew you had an aggressive dog.