"beware Of Dog" Sign Makes You Liable?

[megan_]

Just lock the gate? Mim on a corner block and the garden is in the front. The gate is padlocked. Even with two barking dogs on the other side people still try to open it. I doubt a sign would deter them. ( dogs going nuts doesn't) do I lock it to keep everyone safe.

[raineth]

Our gates are locked and we have a 'dog on premises sign' this still didn't stop our elderly neighbour attempting to come through the back gate (although because it is padlocked he couldn't, thankfully).

Del has never really shown any territoriality towards humans but I would certainly worry that she could cause him to fall over as he is not very stable on his feet and she would definitely bound towards him with great enthusiasm.

We also had our cars and shed broken into one night, but both dogs slept through it, or at least didn't make any fuss about it whatsoever, let alone get close to biting them.

I certainly don't know exactly what is legal or not. But I think it is helpful to let people know if there is a dog on the premises (especially of your dog isn't likely to make itself known by barking).

[huski]

This is my gate sign, hehe

[VizslaMomma]

[tdierikx]

Anyone trying to come into my backyard needs to go through 2 sets of gates... and after the first set, the dogs WILL be letting you know that you might not want to come through the second set...

T.

[BarbedWire]

A different angle on this topic. What if you want people to be able to access your property in an emergency. I once spoke with a couple of ambulance officers and one told me that once they were called out to a man lying unconscious on the ground with his dog guarding him. They were not able to help him until the ranger arrived to remove the dog. The man died. Another instance an ambulance officer was attending a woman on a bed who had had a heart attack while a dog underneath the bed was biting her ankles. She soldiered on and saved the woman's life.

Personally I do not want dogs that would attack anyone. I like them to bark to let me know if someone is there but that's it. No more! I think it is my role to protect my dogs, not the other way round.

ETA the sign on my side gate says 'Dog on premises'. My gates are also padlocked. I don't want anyone letting my dogs out. But the front door is accessible at all times.

Edited October 23, 2014 by sarsaparilla

[huski]

I always make sure I have clear access to my front door, my dogs are never out the front of the property (unless with me) and are always safely contained in the back yard.

However I also live by myself in a less than savoury area, and while I hope there is never an occasion where someone breaks into my property with the intent of causing harm - I do sleep well at night.

ETA: My Mal is very territorial and would be that way without any training, the instinct and genetics are there anyway. Training bite work gives me control of those genetics.

Edited October 23, 2014 by huski

[Glen]

We have a "Dogs in Yard" sign up. Deters most people.

[JackieW]

I think by law (in Qld at least) you have to give people access to your front door. I have the back yard fenced off and also a gate on my front patio. If anyone comes to my house I let the dogs on to the patio when I go out to see what the person wants. A large German wirehair can look a bit intimidating, the small oldie not so much :).

[pebbles]

Don't know if the law has changed but a while back I had a very territorial Afghan. He was in the enclosed back yard, there was full easy access to front door. Afghan wasn't sneaky, lots of bark. One day the secretary to the local Solicitor opened the back gate and walked straight into the dogs yard and got bitten. Now this lady wasn't known for the sweet character and if she could have sued - she would have! So I figured we were safe lol. Same situation, same dog bit the undertaker. No way I'd walk into anyone's enclosed yard with anything from a Chi to a Dane barking at me!

[Steve]

In Australia there is an implied permission for someone to enter your property and come to your door, read your meter etc so they are not considered to be trespassing until such time that you ask them to go. If they enter under that implied permission and the dog attacks it's a potential issue for the dog – and the person but if you remove the implied permission for entry via signage which says no entry then anyone that does enter is trespassing.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Steve

[GeckoTree]

Today's Trespasser = Tomorrows Dog Shit

I want that in the future haha

[Amax-1]

I always make sure I have clear access to my front door, my dogs are never out the front of the property (unless with me) and are always safely contained in the back yard.

However I also live by myself in a less than savoury area, and while I hope there is never an occasion where someone breaks into my property with the intent of causing harm - I do sleep well at night.

ETA: My Mal is very territorial and would be that way without any training, the instinct and genetics are there anyway. Training bite work gives me control of those genetics.

You need to be careful with protection trained dogs.........pets can bite intruders, but protection trained dogs in most cases are considered dangerous requiring an enclosure to house the dog away from people. That's why it's not a good idea to put bitework videos up on the internet of named dogs in the event that the dog is used for protection at any time.

The dog is always a pet biting out of primal instinct to protect it's territory. :D

[melzawelza]

I always make sure I have clear access to my front door, my dogs are never out the front of the property (unless with me) and are always safely contained in the back yard.

However I also live by myself in a less than savoury area, and while I hope there is never an occasion where someone breaks into my property with the intent of causing harm - I do sleep well at night.

ETA: My Mal is very territorial and would be that way without any training, the instinct and genetics are there anyway. Training bite work gives me control of those genetics.

You need to be careful with protection trained dogs.........pets can bite intruders, but protection trained dogs in most cases are considered dangerous requiring an enclosure to house the dog away from people. That's why it's not a good idea to put bitework videos up on the internet of named dogs in the event that the dog is used for protection at any time.

Not in NSW.

[Amax-1]

I always make sure I have clear access to my front door, my dogs are never out the front of the property (unless with me) and are always safely contained in the back yard.

However I also live by myself in a less than savoury area, and while I hope there is never an occasion where someone breaks into my property with the intent of causing harm - I do sleep well at night.

ETA: My Mal is very territorial and would be that way without any training, the instinct and genetics are there anyway. Training bite work gives me control of those genetics.

You need to be careful with protection trained dogs.........pets can bite intruders, but protection trained dogs in most cases are considered dangerous requiring an enclosure to house the dog away from people. That's why it's not a good idea to put bitework videos up on the internet of named dogs in the event that the dog is used for protection at any time.

Not in NSW.

How does the owner of a protection trained dog in NSW convince the court that the dog wasn't deployed to attack on command and that's the problem as the NSW law doesn't permit the use of dogs as a weapon. If it's a pet biting an intruder untrained in protection removes owner influence from the bite.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Amax-1

[melzawelza]

I always make sure I have clear access to my front door, my dogs are never out the front of the property (unless with me) and are always safely contained in the back yard.

However I also live by myself in a less than savoury area, and while I hope there is never an occasion where someone breaks into my property with the intent of causing harm - I do sleep well at night.

ETA: My Mal is very territorial and would be that way without any training, the instinct and genetics are there anyway. Training bite work gives me control of those genetics.

You need to be careful with protection trained dogs.........pets can bite intruders, but protection trained dogs in most cases are considered dangerous requiring an enclosure to house the dog away from people. That's why it's not a good idea to put bitework videos up on the internet of named dogs in the event that the dog is used for protection at any time.

Not in NSW.

How does the owner of a protection trained dog in NSW convince the court that the dog wasn't deployed to attack on command and that's the problem as the NSW law doesn't permit the use of dogs as a weapon. If it's a pet biting an intruder untrained in protection removes owner influence from the bite.

You said that a protection trained dog is considered dangerous and must be kept in an enclosure - that isn't true in NSW.

[Amax-1]

You said that a protection trained dog is considered dangerous and must be kept in an enclosure - that isn't true in NSW

Fair enough, but that's the least of your worries if a protection trained dog bites someone causing injury. QLD, VIC & SA protection trained dogs are considered dangerous dogs which therefore must be housed accordingly with that of dangerous dogs which are effectively no use in home protection.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I lock the gate to my back yard when the gas meter is due to be read - because those guys tend to ignore the sign and read the notes on the property - after me and the dog have yelled at them.

According to them - they are ALWAYS supposed to ring the bell and get permission before entering a yard with "beware of the dog" on the gate. But in my experience - they only do that if the gate is locked.

Some have been very very lucky. Evil hound only has access to the yard when I'm home. One time she just followed the guy to the meter and back barking at him. Most other times - I've spotted the meter reader before she's noticed. And shut the back door as they go through the gate...

I meet them out the front with the dog, on their way out and tell them to ring first. And they promise to put a note against my property (which they don't read). Sigh.

They only get 30 seconds per house and it's quite a hike from the front gate to the meter at the back fence.

I also have a "do not knock" sign for the Mormons (actually I think they're excepted along with political canvassers) but all the other door to door people like electricity sales people are trespassing if they don't leave as soon as they read the sign. Ie before they knock.

[korbin13]

The meter readers in our area won't even open the gate if there is a beware of the dog sign. We self read our power, our water meter has a thing on it that self reads and the gas people ring.

Which is lucky, as we have a six foot fence around our house that only has an electric gate to enter through :laugh: Lots of people in our area do. We got building permission to do the fence so I think that having to provide a clear entry to your front door is a bit of a myth as well.

[Tapua]

I'm speaking only for NSW here - each State has different legislation.

You do not need a 'Beware of Dog' sign to clear your dog if it bites a trespasser - it's already cleared in the legislation.

Section 16 of the Act defines what a dog attack is but also says:

(2) It is not an offence under this section if the incident occurred:

(a) as a result of the dog being teased, mistreated, attacked or otherwise provoked, or

(b) as a result of the person or animal trespassing on the property on which the dog was being kept, or

© as a result of the dog acting in reasonable defence of a person or property, or

(d) in the course of lawful hunting, or

(e) in the course of the working of stock by the dog or the training of the dog in the working of stock.

Keep in mind that people have a lawful right to come and knock on your front door so if you leave the dog in your front yard and it nails a girl guide coming to sell cookies or an electricity guy you are not going to be able to use that defence.

Personally, I think putting a 'beware of dog' sign up is not a good idea. It's like you're admitting that your dog is something to be wary of. If something happened and someone tried to sue you I'm sure their solicitor would bring it up to try and swing it in their favour.

If you want a sign warning people there's a dog without the potential for it to be used against you, I'd get a sign that says 'dog on property' or something like that.

It depends on position of your house on you property. Council, Police, Utility all have right of access without risk of attack or injury. So gates separating the front half of the house from the rear are great - in our case we have double gate system which enables us to drive in and out and the front 1/3 or the property ( the house block is 1/2 acre) readily accessible.