Shailer got Attacked Today!! (Sowilu)

I'm not a lawyer, but honestly, I don't see how anyone could sue you if their dog is off leash, running loose and in your yard bugging your dog. A gold star and a treat for Shailer for being such a good boy and not having his little neighbor for lunch.

Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

I'm not a lawyer, but honestly, I don't see how anyone could sue you if their dog is off leash, running loose and in your yard bugging your dog. A gold star and a treat for Shailer for being such a good boy and not having his little neighbor for lunch.

Joyce

 That is NICE to read, lol. I am so proud of my boy too because he has been attacked before but nothing major and I was totaly shocked that he reacted like he did, probably because I was right there. I will make sure Shailer gets a treat tomorrow, I know he will appreciate more treats lol.

 I've seen the same situation happen in my neighborhood. Usually what happens is the bigger dog just ignores the smaller dog. I don't know how Shailer is around small dogs, I imagine he was just startled by all that barking, once he sees that he is in no real danger and the other dog is just being annoying he should be able to ignore it, unless the little dog tries to bite Shailer. If the chihuahua goes as far as biting  than there could be trouble.

BEVOLASVEGAS

Way to go Shailer for not having a chihuahua snack!

I praised him a lot after he calmed down.

Way to go Shailer!  Scooby Snacks are supposed to be pretty good though....

 I wouldn't necessarily say he'll ignore him once he figures out the chi is just being annoying.  Crusher tried the ignoring thing with the JRT across the road.  (this JRT is the size of Onyx, 45 pounds)  When we first moved here, that thing thought it owned the entire neighborhood and was constantly over here marking my yard.  But the few times that it charged Crusher when he was outside, Crusher thought it was odd, and then that was the end of it.  This little thing was no longer welcome.  He only needed to lunge at him once and the dog got the hint.  His owner tried glaring at me, but I had Crusher on a leash and his dog was not and I pointed that out in a hurry. 

His never been around small dogs but puppies and he is great with annoying dogs but Snoopy went too far this time. He had never done this before even when on our property. I am just glad Shailer reacted like he did and he came to me immediatly.

Sowilu

If ever something like that happend again and I couldn't get there in time could my neighboors sue me or something?

yes, actually they *could* try to sue -- now whether or not they'd be successful is another thing BUT it could cost your folks a lawsuit that they'd have to try to answer because the short answer is that anyone CAN sue anyone else for ANY thing -- even if it's groundless or frivolous you have to prove it and that takes time and money.

So honestly, I'd be proactive.  Any time your dog is unleashed you are at risk.  Big dog bites little dog?  It's just not ever going to look good and all anyone would have to say is that this is something that's gone on a long time with neither side taking any measures and it would wind up with whoever had the best and most sympathetic story.  Big dog bites little dog?  Guess who would win no matter whose yard it was? 

Shailer may be used to being loose and I know your father was trying to put in an invisible fence -- but THIS is exactly the scenario that is ***bad news*** with an electric fence.

Why?  Because if your dog is trained to stay within the fence, any other dog, human or any kind of predator can come onto YOUR property and your dog can't do a thing about it.  If your dog is sufficiently provoked to run thru the "zap" of the fence, often then they don't want to come home because they don't want to be zapped *again*. 

There is honestly nothing like a real fence -- even though you aren't going to be there long term.

However, I would have your folks do a letter to the neighbors -- something in writing that you can keep a copy of.  Something along the lines of: "Unfortunately we had a situation again today where your dog came onto our property and was being aggressive to our dog.  Fortunately Shailer responded well to our commands and returned, despite the aggression from your dog.  Please keep your dog contained -- particularly so that it stays on your property, so we won't have any repeat of such an unfortunate incidient."

Once you put something in writing you have set a precedent that you've taken some sort of action and you've identified that other dog as "aggressive".  You send such a letter ****BOTH U.S. Regular **and** certified mail, return receipt requested*** absolutely for sure!  Then you can prove they received it or that you made absolutely the best effort to be sure they did (so even if they don't sign for it, it still indicates you sent it regular mail and if you don't receive it back most courts will take that as proof of acceptance in lieu...)

 Don't ever assume that just because you are 'right' that someone can't sue.  Of course they CAN sue.  And even if they don't win, it can cost both sides unbelieveable time and money, and if your parents don't bother to answer (because they assume it's groundless) then they'll be defaulted and the court would award the damages to the person who filed suit. 

Be careful.  I know this sounds like over-reacting, BUT if the chi did get hurt, I'm pretty sure it could be an expensive unpleasantness.

Shailer was a very good boy!

Thanks calliecritturs for the wonderful advise I will keep that in mind. I will tell my dad to tell the neighbor because he knows him more than I do and he has helped my father in the pass before. I think he will understand what his dog is doing. I want to call the AC but at the same time I don't because Snoopy is really attached to my neighbors wife and she recently had a stroke so I feel bad that they might take him away. I feel bad about Snoopy too because he has a lot of hair missing, bald spots, and he looks like he is always grumpy. About the fence my dad told me to wait and see how things work out because there are going to be a lot of things going on in the house and he won't have time to do anything because he is going to help my cousin start a small business from home and he needs the space. Shailer was never going to be allowed in the fence by himself though because our business is right beside our house so I am constantly coming in an out and spend most of my time outside anyways. Atleast I know I can manage him really well on his recall.

the dog probably has a thyroid problem or something -- if the woman is ill, it should be more incentive to keep the dog *safe*.  And often people just plain get a bit weird when there is a lot of stress in the house from illness and something that is real predictable, but really *bad* winds up happening (partly because they feel guilty and out of control). 

They have another dog but they keep that one in a kennel and is occasionaly let out. I wish they would keep Snoopy in the house longer and only allowed out with supervise potty and the occassional walk around town. Now that I think about it I think they might be letting Snoopy sleep outside because of his advance age and he probably can't control his bladder or something. I will ask dad to talk to the our neighbor and see if he can find anything more about Snoopy.