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What's The Right Thing To Do...


RL1
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As the title suggests, my male Rottweiler and the neighbours new puppy had a little run in this afternoon.

The neighbours got a dog about 2 weeks ago, some sort of designer dog i think, not that that matters one bit. My male has been going up

and down the front fence trying to see the new dog. All the owners calling and the pups noise gets his attention and he tries to see through a small gap.

I'm washing the car this afternoon and i hear the screaming and the pups front leg is under the fence and into my yard and my dog has either grabbed it or

playing with it, i'm unsure. Being a puppy i'm not sure how much of the screaming was due to an injury or fright.

The owner was nice about it. He asked me did i see what happened, but it all happened so quickly. I do have 6 foot high, solid hardwood fencing on all side's

and my dogs are only out the front when i am.

It looks like they've taken it to get x rays because it's limping on the front leg. I've asked him to let me know what happens and what it cost's.

Should i just pay the full amount, or offer half, or what's the general rule when this happens ?

Edit.........To say my dog has never attacked or bitten another dog. I did have a JRT make it's way into my backyard while i was at work in the past ( so my neighbour told me ) and my

dog didn't do anything to it, so i'm unsure what happened this time.

Edited by RottyLover01
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RL01 maybe just talk to them when they get back and then play it by ear. If the puppy was the one encroaching in your yard then technically you don't have to pay anything. You and / or the neighbours may need to look at shoring up the bottom of the fence or where ever it was that puppy managed to get his little limb through.

I do hope he is okay and your neighbours are cool about it.

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the other owners should not of been encouraging your dog, but that aside i would only offer to pay for half.

No, they weren't. I mean all the owners calling and excitement with the new dog has caught the attention of my dog, plus all the puppies barking and play noise.

My dog is really active and very alert, so he's very eager to find out about any new activity.

RL01 maybe just talk to them when they get back and then play it by ear. If the puppy was the one encroaching in your yard then technically you don't have to pay anything. You and / or the neighbours may need to look at shoring up the bottom of the fence or where ever it was that puppy managed to get his little limb through.

I do hope he is okay and your neighbours are cool about it.

I've tried to do the right thing here. I've spent about $8000 plus on fencing and i never leave the front gates open. I can't really help it if another dog make's it's

way into my yard. In saying that, i don't want to see another dog get injured.

It's a pain. I have a female rotty who is the best behaved, most loved dog you could meet.

The male was a rescue, who had a very bad original owner so owning him has been difficult at time's.

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Firstly, wait and see if the neighbour comes back to you with a real injury to their dog. The pup could have a sprain, and it could be all better by now - unless your boy was shaking the pup's leg or punctured it (in which case there would be blood), then the chances of any real injury should be low. Pups can scream the house down just in fright at being caught or startled, so don't go by the noise as to the possible extent of any injury, OK?

Let the neighbour make the first move about who's paying for what - and don't agree blindly to anything. You don't want them getting the idea that it's your dog's fault and report him as a dangerous dog because their pups decided to stick it's leg under your fence to tease your dog. At most, I'd agree to half the cost of the x-ray...

T.

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Firstly, wait and see if the neighbour comes back to you with a real injury to their dog. The pup could have a sprain, and it could be all better by now - unless your boy was shaking the pup's leg or punctured it (in which case there would be blood), then the chances of any real injury should be low. Pups can scream the house down just in fright at being caught or startled, so don't go by the noise as to the possible extent of any injury, OK?

Let the neighbour make the first move about who's paying for what - and don't agree blindly to anything. You don't want them getting the idea that it's your dog's fault and report him as a dangerous dog because their pups decided to stick it's leg under your fence to tease your dog. At most, I'd agree to half the cost of the x-ray...

T.

I already told him to let me know the cost. He was ok about it, but his wife was calling out to him while we were speaking. I think she's made more out of it.

I can't blame her, i'd be worried if my new pup was screaming. I think they're first time dog owners too.

They've gone out, so no doubt they're at the ER. I did find some of the dogs hair on my side of the fence. I just don't know if my dog has grabbed the pup, had a bite or what's happened.

I hope it was a case of fright, not any real injury.

I guess i'll find out tomorrow, or even tonight.

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You can't be responsible for where a neighbour allows their dog to place it's foot, which is beyond your control. They should pay for any injury associated costs when their dog has got it's foot under the fence into your yard. They should have kept the puppy away from the fence if the gaps were not puppy proof. Your dog by law is allowed to protect the property from intruders and the situation is not your fault or responsibility to share.

Edited by Longcoat
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You can't be responsible for where a neighbour allows their dog to place it's foot, which is beyond your control. They should pay for any injury associated costs when their dog has got it's foot under the fence into your yard. They should have kept the puppy away from the fence if the gaps were not puppy proof.

There aren't any gaps in the fence itself, but there is some gap i didn't know about below the fence ( where the ground has eroded or been dug ), which would allow the pup to get part of it's body

under. My block slope's, so the fence is also on top of a retaining wall. Some parts of the wall are 1m high, with the fence on top of that. But the pup got

part of it's body under the section where it slopes down low.

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In the interests of good neighboly relations, if they come back with a bill, I'd be paying it if I were you. The pup didn't enter your yard, but by an unfortunate circumstance, your dog hurt their pup and that's the bottom line.

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In the interests of good neighboly relations, if they come back with a bill, I'd be paying it if I were you. The pup didn't enter your yard, but by an unfortunate circumstance, your dog hurt their pup and that's the bottom line.

That's not the bottom line at all, and people really need to get that general idea out of their heads :laugh: Dog's are allowed to react and cause injury in certain circumstances and this is one of them. Paying for what is essentially someone elses fault sets the wrong precidence. The OP's responsibility is to keep their dogs in and if the fence prevents Rotty paws from entering the neighbours yard then the OP's job is done. If the fence accomodates only puppy paws entering the neighbours yard, then the puppy owner needs to address that. Only the puppy owner could have prevented the situation occurring by keeping an eye on what mischeif the puppy was up to at the time.

Edited by Longcoat
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In the interests of good neighboly relations, if they come back with a bill, I'd be paying it if I were you. The pup didn't enter your yard, but by an unfortunate circumstance, your dog hurt their pup and that's the bottom line.

I would pay something towards it as they live next to you and you dont know what they might do to your dogs should they bear a grudge, thats what I would do anyway.

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the other owners should not of been encouraging your dog, but that aside i would only offer to pay for half.

How were the other owners encouraging Rottylover's dog?

I'd offer to pay half, and maybe give them a box of chocs - for the sake of neighbourhood peace. Edited to say, if they went to W/Chermside, I'd offer to pay some of it!! Sounds as if the pup was pawing through the fence, and yours grabbed him. He may have been playing with him - foot comes through, paw at it, or grab it - and it may have been twisted by the fence.

I'd also talk to them about both of you boarding up under the fence so it can't happen again, and maybe organising for both dogs to meet a few times, so your dog knows who lives next door, and the dog next door knows too.

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Apart from a neighbourly gesture in keeping the peace, I can't undertsand why anyone would feel obliged to pay for someone elses mistake :laugh: A dog owners obligation is to keep your dog in being a cut and dry situation. If a dog gets out wholly or partly, the consequences are the dog owners responsibility???.

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I think if you are offering to pay anything then you are conceding guilt. It's a tricky one. If you do contribute towards the vet then you should make it very clear that the dog was on your property and legally, you don't have to pay a cent. Emphasise that morally you want to help. Tricky one. If a dog ended in my yard I wouldn't pay, I have however paid a vet bill in the past where my dog hurt another outside of my property.

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I wouldn't pay a cent, it's up to the neighbours the ensure the safety of their dog and that includes making sure that the dog cannot get through a fence or any part of their body.

To pay anything is an admission of guilt and if they decide to get nasty about it, there goes any defence you may have had if it comes to a dangerous dog order.

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Guest Willow

if this were me, and I was the owner of the puppy, I wouldn't ask you to pay anything. I would be cross with myself that I hadn't checked the fencline properly, or puppy proofed well enough.

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