Dog bite at Pet Smart - Page 3

Lovedogs,
I had not read hodies post when I wrote mine.  I agree with her on the issue of personal responsibility.  I think the only healthy way to look at any problem, regardless of what it is, is to look at my own role in it and how could I have prevented it.

My position was in looking at the lawsuit issue.  Any time I open my home or business up for the public, their children or pets, I have opened a huge liability potential.  There are simply too many things that can go wrong, and the store is always going to take a fall because of their policies, lack of training, poor hiring practices and on and on.  They have the deep pocket and the most to lose.  I agree with hodie that you need to know your animal, and be aware of potential problems.  I just felt in this case you have some leverage. 

It is sad that it gets down to this, but the buck usually stops with the big pocket and the big business.  Hope it all works out and as many have said, stay away from the pet smarts and their lack of understanding of animals.  Just watch their obedience classes. 

I take my dogs many places to keep them socialized, but I am hyper sensitive to who is around them etc.  Because one of my dogs is more serious with people I do not put him in a position to respond to someones stupidity.  You never know how people are going to respond, infact it's the ones that THINK they are dog people with this special connection, that worry me the most.  They are overly confident and take everything for granted.  As has been said, this should be a real eye opener for you.  Good luck

[[Will my dog be put to sleep, will I get sued?  what should I do to correct this behavior?]]

I got accidentally bit by my Am-bred breaking up a dog fight where he was the victim.  I went to the hospital for treatment.  The Dr. has to report any dog bite to the health department (even though it was my own dog...which I thought was stupid).  So someone called me the next day and asked a bunch of questions about the incident and if my dog was vaccinated for Rabies. 

Nothing happened, just got reported.  I don't believe the dog can be put to sleep for one incident, but he will have a "record" so be careful in the future.  Since the individual is an animal lover and seemed not to be bothered by it I doubt you will get sued.

Question....was it a licky nibble or a BITE.  One of my dogs gets so caught up on licking sometimes he grabs a bit of skin in the excitement.  It is not malicious in the least...just curious as to the context. 

What do do in the future?  I'm sure you can gather from the above posts not to let someone put their face in your dogs face.  I'd perhaps take him to a trainer/behaviorist so you can work on greetings and have to opprotunity to praise or correct the dog as needed in the right envorionment (not in public).  This might also help you if anything would happen legally.

You are the ONLY person who is confused so I guess it's your problem.

lovedogs, sorry to hear about this. as others have said, it is probably petsmarts responsibility; also in their own best interest to take care of this internally. however, we all have to remember that our dogs are NOT community property. if we are not comfortable letting others pet our dogs, then saying no is very easy. you don't need to give a reason, but you can if you want. it is your dog. i've turned people down if they've been too "squealy" and high-pitched. if nothing else, it annoys the hell out of me! but, i would never let people get right in either of my dogs faces. i've been bitten in the face by my old jack russell and it happens too quickly to react. a small dog can do damage, but a big dog can obviously be much worse. maybe you can check out petsmarts policies online to see what they do in a case like this. i'm sure it's not the first time its happened, but it's the first time i've heard of an incident like this. good luck, and you'll just have to be alot more selective in the future.

just because someone wants to pet your dog doesn't give them the right to do it.

I agree with Petsmart not being a good idea to take pets for a stroll.  Main reason for me is I don't want them catching anything.  I took my 2 older dogs to get groomed there once and use their self serve bathhouse sometimes but other than that I don't take my dogs there because most of the people that are shopping with their dogs do not use common sense.  It's not my dogs I don't trust it's other people that don't have the same control over their dog as I do over mine.  And I agree that the employees don't use their heads most of the time and want to pet, love on everyone's dog.  There's a time and a place for that and a chaotic atmosphere with strangers all around, dogs, distractions is not the place to approach an unfamiliar dog-let a lone want to kiss him.  Good Lord what was she thinking???? 

I don't blame the dog and unless the employee made a big deal about it and took your information I wouldn't stress entirely too much over the incident.  More than likely you'll just be asked to provide his proof of rabies vacs. It's a shame the poor girl had to get stiches on her lip but I'm sure she realized her poor judgement after the fact and realized it was her fault she got bit not the dogs.  Relax, I'm sure this will just blow over as it sounds like it was not a serious bite and the person knows it wasn't the dogs fault.

Next time though you may want to muzzle your dog if you plan to take him to places like that just in case you encounter another imbisol who feels the urge to lock lips with your dog.

I am not an attorney either. But here is my point of view.
I would think the liability would fall under the same area(s) as veterinarians, trainers, animal control and so on, If you take your dog to a vet or trainer and the dog bites him or her, some place in the law it states that these type of people go into the business knowing the risks of animal behavior and normaly can not sue the animal owner(s) for injuries.
IMO.. Pet Smart allows pets into the store and they should know this sort of thing could happen since they permit dogs into the store, so if any one is liable or responsible it should be the Employee or Pet Smart, not just the dog owner(s). Technically all 3 parties are at fault here, the store is at fault for allowing dogs into the store, the employee is at fault for her actions, and the dog owner is at fault for allowing the employee to be face to face with the dog.   My opinion: Things happen, and a good lesson was learned (the painful way).
If the dog bit another customer in the store, that would be a totally different outcome. (they would have the rite to sue you and or the store)
An example: I run a boarding, and training facility and have been bit a few times, I know good and well that at any day I may get bit. I went into this business knowing this could happen. I would never sue a client for a dog bite. (Unless the handler turns the dog on to attack with out a cause)
Or, let’s say you take your dog to the vet, for a check up and the vet makes a sudden move, the dog feels threatened and bites the vet, can the vet sue you? NO,  will it be reported animal control, HD or the PD? Probably.
If the employee or store threatens to sue you, say nothing and contact an attorney for legal advice.
With the advice of an attorney you could make an offer to help with medical bills, only if the person waives all rites towards any future claims against you.

Good luck,
 

My main concern about PetSmart and Street fairs etc is the unsupervised children

I had a very uncomfortable experience at a SAR demo where a bunch of uncontrolled kids mobbed my dog. [after seeing a police K9 bite demonstration of all things].  Fortunately she was a real trooper, is very stable around people,  and I got her out of there ASAP and nothing happened [other than me lecturing the kids]  but I could see the tension in her shoulders and ears. ... So I don't do anything like that anymore.  But you don't have that kind of control in places like petsmart and people don't know how to train their kids!  When I was growing up, dogs were dogs not furbabies.  Many parents are simply oblivious.

It is one thing if a bratty peekiedoodle dog jumps in your dogs face and gets bit but would be percieved quite differrently if a child ran up grabbed and hugged the dog and got nipped.   No fault of the dog but we have to anticipate stupidity on the part of the parents and educate when possible. 

The whole thing is in a nutshell. Petsmart and the employee are not going to do anything about sueing you or causing your any harm,,,but the law of the city this happened in ,and the law of the State you live in will.....All Doctors are required , by law, to report it to the Animal Control,which is State and City operated.....Did you give your name and address.....I hope not....if you did....be forewarned...you will get a visit from animal control and demand your rabies paper,,,not the tag ,,the paper, and you will be questioned...You may also be forced to put your dog in QUARANTEEN FOR 10-12 DAYS  AT THE TUNE OF $45.00-60.00 a day, according to the size of your German Shepherd,,,,,,

Your dog will be put on a list of dogs that have bitten and if he bites another and it is reported , he will be confiscated for Court day to have his life ended.....so this is serious business..

The law could care less that Petsmart was where is happened....or that it was their employee....The dog belongs to you and you are responsible no matter where the dog bites someone....on the sidewalk or in the street or in a business.....they are in the city or county  and falls under your responsiblilty.......Dog bites are considered a health problem and an issue....Hopefully you left and didnt give your life history........the only problem with me,,is everyone in all the stores know exactly who I am.....so I couldnt ever get by with leaving...

Good luck    just dont ever let it happen again,,,this is one thing about owning a German Shepherd...among many other things that has to be dealt with.......Learn to say NO   and Please step back and Im sorry, but I just dont let people who my pet doesnt know pet him   "  Thanks for understanding..."     Memorize these sentences...They should be a part of your vocabulary....

YR  That applies to the laws in my state too   I would be held liable because I allowed the person to pet my dog in the first place, whatever our dogs do is ultimately our responsibility. 

DC:  As usual you have used humor to make a very important point.   There have been so many times  that I wish I could treat people with small children they way they expect me to allow them to treat my dog - that would sure shut them up, but unfortunately it might mean a rather stern lecture from  a LEO for me (and rightly so)!

Hodie's post hits the nail on the head:

"People, these are DOGS, not people. They are animals, not people. You are playing with fire to allow interactions like this, even when one has a well socialized and highly trained dog. I would absolutely NEVER allow something like this to occur even though I trust my dogs because they are well socialized. Do you know why? Because if I am too arrogant and WRONG, and my dog bit someone, it is very likely not only would I be in trouble and rightly so, but my beloved dogs would be subject to being put down."

lovedogs:  I want to let you know I appreciate your posting what happened because I think many of us (including myself), have a tendency to grow complacent.  This should be appreciated as a cautionary tale for every one of us.

We learned our lesson during an art fair years ago when we took our two GSD working dogs there.  They are well behaved and trained, and usually we have no problems.  A man wanted his cattle dog to "come over and play with ours, he is very friendly".  Ours were in a platz next to where we were sitting away from the crowds.  We told him that we don't want his dog coming over since ours are in training (besides, the cattle dog was showing lots of aggressive/dominance signs besides the hackles up, like hard eyes, closed mouth, squared up to our male, barely breathing, corners of the mouth forward, rigid body stance, etc).  He said "oh geez, he just wants to play, what is your problem" and let his dog off leash.  The cattle dog launched at our big male over my husband's lap, hackles up and growling.  My husband grabbed the dog in mid air, our big male broke is platz when my husband got bit by the cattle dog but my husband was able to keep him away from the cattle dog, which he was holding by the scruff.  The cattle dog was going nutts (did have a current rabies tag).  Owner finally got his dog with some very bad words directed at us.  The point I am making here is that many in the crowd that had gathered and witnessed everything from start to finish were shocked at how the big mean german shepherd was trying to beat up the poor cute little dog who only wanted to play.  We learned our lesson, stupid, uninformed John and Jane Q Public generally believe GSDs are always guilty until proven innocent. We are now ultra careful were we take our dogs.

Unless I am in a situation where I feel 110% comfortable with the person wanting to pet my dog (I always bring my dog up to them), I tell them that my dog is in training as a working dog and that petting him would interfere with this particular phase (always said politely and with a smile).  There are a few people who get pissy since they believe it is their right to pet any dog that is out in public.  I just say politely, that it must be fine with them if I pet them since they are out in public, usually after I pretend to wipe my dog's mouth of any invisible drool with the hand that I am holding out to pet them with. Works every time