Should I let my brother sign an Agreement in case my Dog bites his almost 4 year old brat?

Question

My brother sold his house early and is going to stay with me for two weeks while his New house is being built.
My problem is my Nephew is a typical untrained spoiled bratty ...and is ALMOST 4 year old.
And he has already terrorized their own poor dog that had to bite the kid in self defense..
My dog is a very smart 3 year old Doberman male named Troy.....who is not going to put up with rowdy savage behavior
I warned my brother That I will not except any rude and physical abuse towards my Dog ...And if he cannot control his son 100% of the time, than do not step foot on my property with him.
So my brother suggested that I write up an agreement that if anything happens So my dog or I will not be liable ....Is this a good Idea?
What should I do?
I will not be at home during the day on weekdays and Troy has free rein of our home ....Can I trust my brother?

Answer 1

Hey Patryk -- How many times are you going to ask essentially the same question?

The paper your brother is asking you to write would be meaningless to a police officer or in court if Troy were to bite.

There is a risk that Troy will bite your "untrained, spoiled, bratty" nephew. HOWEVER, the bite risk is NOT because Troy is a Doberman. He's a dog -- regardless of breed -- who will only tolerate a certain level of abuse and misuse from a child.

I wouldn't write any agreement. I'd simply tell your brother that his son is not welcome on your property until he's no longer a brat. Put the responsibility where it belongs -- on a parent who appears FAR TOO permissive and disinterested. Let him know renting a room at some form of "Residence Hotel" (Like Marriott) is likely a MUCH better option for EVERYONE, including Troy.

Answer 2

Get an agreement made up... in writing, get it witnessed by a legal official (Justice of the Peace or something) So that its all legal.

If the kid is a brat and you cant trust your brother to control your nephew... then i'd be doing everything to protect your dog. You dont want the worst to happen, which can do if your dog protects itself and you are liable.

Have you considered keeping it outside or chaining it up... hitting it on the nose with a rolled up newspaper when its bad??? Cause thats what i'd do with the nephew if he was that big a brat and annoying the dog.

Answer 3

The only way that will stick is if it is written up by solicitors and witnessed by them... otherwise that bit of paper will be pretty useless...

besides which it is up to the police...if there is an attack and the emergency services are called, the dog will be assessed for its 'danger to society'... from then on the fate of the dog is out of your hands...

..the only thing the paper may do is stop your brother pressing charges against you as a dangerous dog owner.

If you really can't trust your brother to keep his child under control you may be better off shutting your dog in the kitchen or something for the next two weeks whilst you are out, and make sure that area is out of bounds to the child.. Then if something does happen, you can argue that the unresponsible guardian allowed the child to invade the dogs territory and provoked the attack.

Answer 4

You are both asking for trouble here - you have a lively dog which is not used to children and which has the freedom of the house unsupervised all day and your brother has a young child who is going to be brought to live in a strange house with different rules. The two are not going to mix are they? Even without the dog, the child is bound to be unsettled in that situation.
Any agreement you drew up would not be worth the paper it is written on, not least because you have no actual control over your dog and your brother has no actual control over his son - they are separate beings to both of you with their own minds.

Answer 5

I would suggest a pen. For the Kid. Your brother should be supervising that child 24-7 especially in a "strangers" house. I do not know how much validity an agreement would have but have it notarized anyways, it cant hurt. I would also add a clause that your brother IS responsible for any damages done by him or the child.

Answer 6

NO! If your dog bites your nephew, do you really think your brother won't do anything? I don't think an agreement would be legally binding and although it's nearly always the child's fault when a dog bites them, it's always the dog that gets punished. I would either suggest to your brother that he stays somewhere else or build a kennel in the back garden - and get your nephew to stay in that!

Answer 7

If your dog causes injury that needs hospital or doctor treatment then it will be the end of your dog no matter what provocation was involved or what contracts are in place. I Would not let the two of them come together. After watching my GF's 8 year old siister with my dog for 5 min's I decided that what she was doing would make the the most passive dog bite and my dog doesn'tr have a viscous bone in her body and doesn't deserve it. I will not let the brat near my animal.

Answer 8

I really dont' agree with this, I have a dog, but for the sake of your dog, would there be any way that you could pin the dog up until you get home. My dog does not like it but let me tell you what I have gone through with my 60lb border collie mix. I had him on a chain on my property (rented, with no fence) and a PA State trooper came to my home after I had left for a college class. Well this tropper pepper sprayed my dog and talked to my minor daughter while I was not there, she said that she was speaking to my daughter about some boy that ran away, his parents sent them too my home. Well needless to say when I called to find out why my dog was sprayed, she told me that he bit her. Mind you my dog has NEVER acted aggressivly, he is a wussy dog to be honest. Well I spent $800.00 for an atorney to represent me at the local District Justice office and the cop, her superior and the dog warden testified that the cop had brusies, I lost and so I filed an appeal(my attorney waited till the last min. to let me know that he would not be taking the appeal) for what they call a Trial De Nova and this time the cop testified to puncture wounds. My dog has been deemed Dangerous, I have to put him on a leash and muzzle when in public, plus pay 300.00 to keep him and they wanted me to get a 50,000 insurance policy (incase he bits again). The dog is a good dog, he tolerates a lot from my granddaughter, who was just born in 2005 and he has never even so much as nipped at her, but on the other hand my daughter teaches her to "be nice", like no pulling of the tail or ears, no hitting and things like that. She loves to sit at his food bowl and feed him when he is eating and he dont' mind that at all, but I will give fair warning to anyone that comes in DO NOT even act like you are going to hurt that baby, because he will protect her!

Answer 9

Even if you had signed an agreement to state that neither you or your dog would be liable if the dog bit your nephew the police would still insist on the dog being put down! It would just mean that he couldn't sue you for damanges, it wouldn't mean the police could not proceed on a criminal matter

Answer 10

I feel a verbal agreement especially amongst family will hold up in the unfortunate event of a court case just as well as a written agreement but if it makes you feel safer to write the agreement to avoid all liability I say do it.