# GSD little warning bite......- tell me what you think



## kshadow (Oct 25, 2015)

So hubby went to a colleague's house a couple months ago to help with something. As he arrived, he parked, and his colleague met him at the front of the house and led him to the backdoor.

My husband then saw his german shepherd charging at him. This dog was on a long chain and......................









He was bitten in the inside of the leg- *Only because he reacted by turning a couple inches* If not damages would have been worst.

I know this was a warning bite cause she could have severely damaged his leg. 

Let's just say when he came back home he became a little cautious with our GSD for a little while. 



This is what we know now:

She was on a chain at all times, there is no fence, no warning whatsoever from the owner even though she has 4 attempted bites and 2 bites on her record. 


Who is to blame? The Dog, My Husband, Or the Owner?

I strongly blame the owner. But just for fun I want to know what you think


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

The owner. 100% the owner. 

I hope your husband is on an antibiotic and flushed that out well. I was bitten in August and it's still not completely healed.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Definitely the owner.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If he led you to the back door and did not tell you not to go near the dog, then it was the owner. 

The dog is on a chain, did it not bark or growl at all as it was approaching?

There are people, even people with GSDs who think they are dog whisperers and want to pet the dog even though it is on a chain. If your husband walked over to where the dog was chained, and it was not in a path that he had to take, and it was without the owner's permission (ask, "may I pet your dog?"), then it was your husband's fault. 

If you see a dog chained, you should assume it is guarding whatever it is chained to. Do not walk up to a chained dog, and get yourself bit. 

My sister was about 13 whens she walked home with a boy, and as he was running upstairs to put his books away, she said, I'm going to pet your dog. It was a Rottweiler and it was chained. The kid may not have heard her. She walked over the Rott and it bit her twice. The one bite was to the chest and she had to go to the hospital and they put a drain in it. 

The people put down the Rottweiler. 

I have mixed feelings about that. But if you have a dog that will bite, then leaving it loose in a fenced yard, or chained in a yard with no fence, then you are looking at serious liability. The owner would be at fault if a two year old crawled into the yard and got bitten up or killed by a chained dog.

Adults should know better than to walk over to a chained dog. Especially a breed that is often used as guard dogs. Legally, if your husband was not trespassing, then the owner is at fault. On the other hand, if he knows you have a German Shepherd Dog, he might not think he needs to tell you not to walk up to a chained dog.


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## kshadow (Oct 25, 2015)

selzer said:


> If he led you to the back door and did not tell you not to go near the dog, then it was the owner.
> 
> The dog is on a chain, did it not bark or growl at all as it was approaching?
> 
> ...



Haha! My husband is NO Whisperer whatsoever:laugh::laugh::laugh:
He is insecure with our own dog. lol

When Shadow yawns hubby always says ''look at the size of those teeth'' in a kind of scared way! Makes me laugh, cause he's a big tough guy!

The dog just came charging at him without a sound. My husband didn't back up because he didn't think the chain was that long. He said everything happened so fast.

We are not taking any legal action, but the dog was put on ''Probation'' by the city.

I like your reply it had all three sides to it


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

The dog and the owner both need some training. The owner more so.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

It's always been my understanding that you never chain or "tether" your dog. They don't like it and that type of confinement can make them very aggressive. As in, whatever comes into my space - is mine to take my frustrations out on


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Is the dog up to date on its rabies vaccine? The owner should be asked to provide proof of that.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I've seen dogs on a chain that turn into guarding monsters and same dog off the chain without a peep. The owner should have warned your husband.


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## kshadow (Oct 25, 2015)

Magwart said:


> Is the dog up to date on its rabies vaccine? The owner should be asked to provide proof of that.



It has been proven by a written letter from the vet that this dog had his rabies vaccine.


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

"4 attempted bites and 2 bites on record?" Sooner or later, that owner is (rightfully) going to face a legal bombshell.


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

And that dog will suffer from being owned by an ignorant person....


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

Yep, poor dog, stupid owner. You are kind to not take legal action.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

..and somebody is going to be seriously hurt. When my kids were little a chained dog in the neighborhood pulled the ear off of a little girl..... I can tell you a lot of kids are not trained to respect dogs these days......they just run up and start hugging on them because all dogs are supposed to be like big stuffed animals.


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

jocoyn said:


> ..and somebody is going to be seriously hurt. When my kids were little a chained dog in the neighborhood pulled the ear off of a little girl..... I can tell you a lot of kids are not trained to respect dogs these days......they just run up and start hugging on them because all dogs are supposed to be like big stuffed animals.


This is true. I've got a daughter that loves puppies. She's a year and a half. I'm working very hard to teach her no hugs. Unfortunately she was able to climb all over my boxer so I'm trying to untrain her. But took her to the zoo. If she could she would've loved to climb all those wolves. She got so excited and started calling them "puppies"! But teaching her nice touch.


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## Findlay (Jan 8, 2015)

Yikes!!!!
That's a nasty bite.

My 2 cents: Owners fault 100%.


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## kshadow (Oct 25, 2015)

Findlay said:


> Yikes!!!!
> That's a nasty bite.
> 
> My 2 cents: Owners fault 100%.


If he didn't turn a couple inches  no more reproductive parts!


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## kshadow (Oct 25, 2015)

Kayos and Havoc said:


> Yep, poor dog, stupid owner. You are kind to not take legal action.


I don't know how I feel about not taking legal action:

I would have if legal action would have given the dog rehabilitation. I feel the dog being tied up most of the time has built in frustration and has no social life apart from this owner. 

On the other hand his immediate neighbors have young kids playing in their yard 
and no fence between the dog and the kids.

My hubby adressed this issue with him and told him that even if he isn't taking action that he might not be as lucky if this happens again. 

I hope that this owner will do something ''Intelligent'' and not wait for the dog's life to be taken away by his fault!


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

newlie said:


> "4 attempted bites and 2 bites on record?" Sooner or later, that owner is (rightfully) going to face a legal bombshell.


I'm wondering how that dog is still alive. Seriously. I don't know all the ins and outs but it takes way less than that to be labeled a dangerous dog in my city and I am guessing the city would have confiscated and euthanized that dog by now.

Edit: Oh, and I blame the owner. What the heck? You have a dog who has tried to bite that many times and was successful twice and you don't kennel or otherwise securely contain the dog out of the way when people come over?


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

WateryTart said:


> I'm wondering how that dog is still alive. Seriously. I don't know all the ins and outs but it takes way less than that to be labeled a dangerous dog in my city and I am guessing the city would have confiscated and euthanized that dog by now.
> 
> Edit: Oh, and I blame the owner. What the heck? You have a dog who has tried to bite that many times and was successful twice and you don't kennel or otherwise securely contain the dog out of the way when people come over?


Exactly. To have that kind of history, not contain the dog, and lead people into your house with no warning or precautions? I am not a lawyer but that sounds criminally negligent to me.


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

Totally the owners fault. Thank god your husband wasn't hurt worse.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If a small child wanders into your yard, and you have a swimming pool and the child fall in and drowns, you are liable.

If a small child wanders uninhibited to your chained monster dog and it attacks and kills him, wouldn't you be liable?

As long as you filled out a police report, then you have shifted the burden of public nuisance and danger to the community to the police officer who handled the report. You do not need to sue to make your point about maybe the next person this dog bites will be a small child that will not survive. Doing absolutely nothing, then, if the dog does attack someone else and do serious harm, legally, you are not liable, but if you do find out about it, would you blame yourself in part? 

I think I would. Because, people in general have proved that as a whole, they simply aren't responsible. This dog has two bites and many attempts. The owners still have it on a chain with no fencing around it, and it could easily kill a child.

Now we come to the parents. Yes parents should know where children are who are too young to be taught responsibility when it comes to other people's dogs. But babies have been known to get up when parents are asleep, and open locked doors (my brother's kid was just two when he moved a chair over to the door and got a broom and managed to unlock a hook and eye near the top of the door for just that problem. My little sister was 18 months old when she woke up one Saturday morning, got her self a bowl of cereal and then went out and was walking down the street toward the neighbor's home.

You cannot crate babies. You will go to jail. You can't put them in straight jackets. You cannot handcuff them to the crib. And, you have to sleep sometimes. 

Dogs and swimming pools are called attractive nuisances. The owners of these have to do more than just contain their dog. They have to protect their dog from the possibilities of some small child wandering onto their property. They have to make a reasonable effort to prevent a terrible tragedy, otherwise, they can be charged with negligent homicide or manslaughter or some thing like that.

If a kid came over to my house and opened my kennel gate and let my dog out, I think I would be ok, because the gate would be really hard for a kid to manage that is too young to know not to, and to be expected not to. And, the dog behind that first gate is highly unlikely to bite anyone -- no near misses, no bites, CGC, titled, and so forth. I could probably prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I properly confined my dog to my property in such a way that no one could walk over and get bit up -- not know the property lines, etc. 

This dude couldn't do that. If something like this happens, make a police report -- they should remember to ensure the dog is UTD on rabies, the dog is licensed, they can assess the dog's situation and determine whether animal control should be called and the dog should be given some sort of official determination. In Ohio, to own a dangerous dog, the dog must not be debarked, you must carry a certain amount of liability insurance on the dog, and the dog must be muzzled in public. 

Then too, if the dog is already considered a dangerous dog, and it attacks and kills the neighbor's toddler, then the dude goes to prison, as he should, for some form of manslaughter. He cannot whine and cry about how the dog never showed any signs of aggression before.


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

kshadow said:


> I don't know how I feel about not taking legal action:
> 
> I would have if legal action would have given the dog rehabilitation. I feel the dog being tied up most of the time has built in frustration and has no social life apart from this owner.
> 
> ...


 
Understand you don't want the dog to pay the price here but sometimes I have to wonder if life on a chain is not worse? 

Selzer is right, if a kid wanders into my yard and is bitten by my dog I am liable. Years ago I had taken Lucky out to train at the park a block from my house. I left Wolfie in the yard behind a closed gate. I came home to find the neighbor kid in the yard trying to ride him like a horse. Thank goodness all Wolfie was trying to do at the time was escape from the kid. I grabbed Wolf ieand put him in the house and then took the kid and carefully explained o his parents what the kid was up to. Had Wolfie bit the kid I would have been liable. From that day forward my fences have always been at least 6 feet and the gate has always been padlocked. Yes a fence can be climbed and a lock broken off but that adds to my dog's protection.


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## kshadow (Oct 25, 2015)

Kayos and Havoc said:


> Understand you don't want the dog to pay the price here but sometimes I have to wonder if life on a chain is not worse?
> 
> Selzer is right, if a kid wanders into my yard and is bitten by my dog I am liable. Years ago I had taken Lucky out to train at the park a block from my house. I left Wolfie in the yard behind a closed gate. I came home to find the neighbor kid in the yard trying to ride him like a horse. Thank goodness all Wolfie was trying to do at the time was escape from the kid. I grabbed Wolf ieand put him in the house and then took the kid and carefully explained o his parents what the kid was up to. Had Wolfie bit the kid I would have been liable. From that day forward my fences have always been at least 6 feet and the gate has always been padlocked. Yes a fence can be climbed and a lock broken off but that adds to my dog's protection.


I totally agree that life on a chain isn't much better.

I respect my hubby's decision though. 

In my opinion the city, has put the dog on probation for two weeks. We also got a letter from the city confirmation of actions have been taken. And that there will be no other chances after that.
This said I feel the city is not taking the actions they should. And is indeed a huge risk to take. I find this outraging. 

We personally should not be held accountable for what happens next.

We have reported it. And plenty of neighbors have seen this happen. And we have personally spoken with the immediate neighbors with the kids.

I agree with everything you awesome people are replying on this. 
I have started this thread to open up a conversation and put the information out there and hopefully reminding owners that there are precautions to be taken when we own a dog.

Take care to all of you


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## Findlay (Jan 8, 2015)

kshadow said:


> If he didn't turn a couple inches  no more reproductive parts!


Ouch!!!!!!!


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