Settle a debate: Are my dogs protective or a lawsuit waiting to happen?

Question

An Irresponsible Dog Owner was the cause of me falling face down in a pile of mud while trying to prevent my dogs from attacking his unleashed dog. His dog ran up to me and my dogs attacked. When the Irresponsible Dog Owner tried to assist me, my dogs tried to attack him.

I think my dogs were being protective. Protecting me from a unleashed dog and a total stranger. My dad think my dogs are a lawsuit waiting to happen. I disagree. What do you think?

Many of you have provided me some great advice. For the record I have a female lab (5 months) & a male border collie (3 years.)

My dogs are never aggressive towards other people unless they deem them as a threat to me. And I really think they determined that threat from my body language. Jenn P mentioned your energy transferred right down the leash to them and I know this is true. I was very upset that the owner didn’t have a leash on his dog. And I was really pissed because I had warned him to leash his dog but he simply smirked and stated his dog was friendly.

I will look into some behavior tips because Demon made an excellent point: “What if the paramedics were trying to help you and your dogs "protected" you and wouldn't let them get near you?”

Answer 1

Hello...the UNLEASHED dog is at fault & your dogs were in protective mode cuz of his unleashed dog, not cuz of his owner...YOUR DOGS DID NOTHNG WRONG & did only as any GOOD dog would have done...did anyone not see the JRT story where the pitbull attacked the kids so he attacked the pitbull which allowed the kids to get away, sadly the JRT died later tho :(( No training would have stopped your dogs around another dog attacking you or them...I can't say what will happen legally, as most attorneys & sue happy people don't much care about anything but getting a buck, so it depends on if you have a good attorney, etc ...IF it comes to that ...but my opinion ..YOUR DOGS DID NO WRONG & BEHAVED NATURALLY, no one can control any animal 100% especially in this situation, they percieved a threat....but you did right & had yours on a leash..am just glad there were no serious injuries or deaths :) Take Care

Answer 2

It sounds like there are two separate situations here. The other dog owner should have had his dog on a leash or under better control. An unleashed dog should not be running up to complete strangers.

That being said, your dogs' behavior is also a problem. You may have seen them as protecting you in this case, but the problem is that they decided when you needed protection. What if you had fallen while walking your dogs and injured your leg? What if the paramedics were trying to help you and your dogs "protected" you and wouldn't let them get near you? Would you be able to stop them? Completely aside from any potential lawsuits, your dogs taking on the decision of when you need to be protected could be an issue for your own safety someday.

If you really want your dogs to protect you, then you need to train them so you are in total control of when they go into action and when they stop. This takes a lot of hard work on your part and may not be advisable. If protection isn't that important to you or you can't put in the work necessary to train them as protection dogs, you need to get them some basic obedience training and possibly work with a behavior specialist.

You didn't say how serious either attack got or whether you were able to stop it quickly or not. But from what you said, it sounds like your dogs are making the decisions, and that's not a good thing.

Answer 3

Many places have leash laws. Either way, his dog should have been restrained. If he wasn't able to run over to you & your dogs, the attack never would have happened.
The sweetest, tamest of dogs can turn vicious if they think their caregiver is or is about to be hurt. People don't realize just how loyal & protective animals can be if they're brought up the right way.
You have more of a right to press a lawsuit then him in my opinion. Not to sound childish, but his dog started it, lol!

Could have been a mother walking with her baby that the dog ran over to, then what the owner have done?
If the dog is not on a leash, he needs to be in a closed, fenced in yard.

Answer 4

first try a different lead I use a gentle leader and it helps with controlling my strong dog.

second while i think the other dog owner is a jerk ignoring that his dogs are a threat and that they should be on a leash laws are usually designed to protect the people unless they are actually provoking and by that i mean throwing rocks at him or shooting it with a pellet gun.

I know it is unfair but the laws are designed to protect the people and as a responsible owner of protective dogs you can only do your best to keep them away from those types of situations.

Ironicaly it was animals who had protective rights before children did in the USA and now it is protect the people and kill the dog. There should be a balance and more education for people both dog owners and people who might come in contact with another dog

Answer 5

Well you definitely were not at fault because your dogs were leashed and his was not. However, I do think it is a problem that your dogs took it upon themselves to attack which means they did not feel you were in control.
Humans and dogs have different communication systems, misunderstandings can occur between them but the most common reason for aggressive dog behavior is instability in the hierarchy of the dog pack, your family. What they were doing was being territorial and protective, they view you as theirs and they were protecting what was theirs.
I believe that you should be able to control your dogs at all times so you need to work on obedience and establish yourself as the pack leader.

Answer 6

Well, legally, the guy whose dog was off-leash was liable, however I would suggest taking your dogs to obedience class to learn how to stay under your control while on a leash. Your dad is right; if you don't get their behavior under control, you could have problems down the road.
Several years ago, I was walking my Dalmatian (on a leash) in a city park. A guy was walking around with his two aggressive Shar-Peis off-leash. The two dogs ran up to my dog to attack her. I yelled at the guy to control his dogs and put them on a leash; he replied, "They won't let me put a leash on." What a wuss! Obviously, he is not the alpha of these dogs. Now THAT man is a lawsuit waiting to happen! That was about 15 years ago, so I'm sure the dogs are dead by now. However, it's a warning to those who are negligent. What if it had been a small child instead of my dog?

Answer 7

Are they otherwise dog or human aggressive to people other than your family or the other dogs in the house? If so, then they could be protective, yes, but it could be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Unfortunately, my dog was aggressive with other dogs, we were on our walk and an unleashed dog ran up to him when the owner was jogging. They got into a fight, the jogger p4t her hand in the middle of it and got bitten. They never did figure out who's dog did bite her, but she sued us anyway. Even the cop that covered the case didn't think it was our dog since ours loved every single person that he ever saw (the came and licked the cop in the face), but her dog was a bit aggressive toward people. Our homeowner's insurance took care of it, thankfully.

Try to get some training for them or a behaviourist to come and help with them. I don't want you to fall in the same situation I did - after that, people didn't trust Rocky, which made him incredibly upset. He died last fall and one of our neighbors actually had the audacity to come up to me and say "I'm glad he's not around anymore, he was unfriendly to other puppies." I just about slugged her.

Answer 8

I would say that since your dogs were on a leash, then you have nothing to worry about, considering the guy didn't have his animal on a leash (which is against the law).... I would recommend that if your dogs are aggressive on a regular basis that you should not take them on their leashes out and about, but it sounds like they were just trying to protect you in this matter.

Answer 9

It could go either way. The other owner was wrong for not having his dog on a leash, but if your dogs tried to attack him when he was only trying to help you you are at fault too as your dogs should be better trained.

Answer 10

Well...your dogs were leashed, his was not. So case closed right there- he was at fault.

I agree that your dogs were protective-though perhaps a bit extreme. My pit will growl at strangers sometimes if he feels we need protection (ie if I am walking him alone w/o fiancee at night and a dark shadowy stranger is approaching) But he would not attack if someone were to come up to him. So in that aspect in may be neccessarily to establish a bit more control/domincance over your dogs.

Dogs that are restrained are more likely to lash out and attack, besides the fact that your energy transferred right down the leash to them, they are also being held back and so an attack is more likely to result.

I have found that our pit will bark more at people passing when he is tied up, almost as if 'we have his back' since we're outside with him and he has HIS house and HIS people behind him, attached to him.

If we take the lead off...he settles right down and will look back at us like 'ok, now what?"

So, technically yes it was his fault not yours, it sounds like your dogs are just protective but perhaps a bit too protective. If someone on the street approached to pet them and they reacted the same way, I would see a law suit. So work with them on listening to you and your commands and accepting you as the alpha. Good luck!!