My Puppy Jumped on Neighbor walking on my property-whose fault?

[mortgagemyhorse]

My family’s 6 month old lab puppy jumped on our neighbor the other day. Story:

Neighbor+family live two houses down on my parents street. Parents house in on the cul de sac of the street (houses are very far apart) but down a hill so we have a long driveway and the house sits so far back that you can’t even see it unless you are standing at the top of the drive. Neighbors are foreign, barely speak English and are all occasionally seen walking down our driveway (aka trespassing). We think they don’t know that it’s OUR driveway and that they think it’s a part of the actual street when they go for walks.

I was outside the front yard brushing out the dog and didn’t even realize the one neighbor woman was there and then the puppy got her eyes on her and ran over, tail wagging, all excited to greet this random person talking on her cell phone. I of course ran after the dog to grab her but by then she had already jumped on her. It was by no means a vicious jump just a “I have been poorly trained by my family but am currently in training and working so so so hard but sometimes I just get so excited” jump. Neighbor didn’t scream or yell just kind of backed up with her arms up staring at me. Got the puppy, apologized and went inside.

That was it. This happened 2 weeks ago and I was genuinely worried neighbor was going to call in and say dog attacked her or something absurd. But, she didn’t. They haven’t been back to our property.

So, if she did for some reason call-would I be at fault? 1. Dog didn’t attack, she just jumped on her 2. She’s trespassing on MY property

Yes, dog is in training and we are really working on her jumping on people…and counter surfing.

[Bluey]

What you are liable for depends on the local laws and regulations.

Since the dog was on it’s property, leash laws don’t apply, but if the boundaries are not clear there and the neighbor’s have been trespassing for a while now, that becomes a fuzzy situation.

Even if you are not liable, if someone wants to sue you, defending yourself is very expensive even if you win.
Good to think this over good, before you are in a real questionable situation like this one could have become.

Here, if someone uses a path thru your land or uses part of your land for so long, I think three years, it becomes a right for them to do so.
It may even fall under adverse possession, not something you want.

Is there a way you could survey carefully and put a perimeter fence up with signs, so everyone knows where your land is and when they are trespassing?
Don’t need to be much of a fence, even just a one rail low one would work.
More of a real fence of course would be better.

[gottagrey]

I would first check to make sure there is not some sort of easement along your parents property - these easements can be sticky so just confirm that property from the street/cul de sac and along the driveway belongs to parents. Second i would confirm the local city/county leash laws - some places are much stricter about them than others. If I have a unfenced yard and my dog is outside, I am still required by law to maintain control of my dog. If your city/county’s leash laws say yard and don’t specify “fenced” and your dog hurts someone then you could be off the hook.

being a fan of court TV, yesterday was a case where 2 kids were playing in front doorstep of a house. Kid who lived in the house knocked down neighbor child - a pit bull attacked the neighbor child. child was on the dog’s property but the court found in favor of the neighbor child.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I’m missing the damages part here? Did they fall? Get scratched? Harmed?

In the future if you are worried about liability, I wouldn’t post about what did or didn’t happen online (I mean this sincerely).

Also, when a dog isn’t reliable off-leash with voice commands (especially with attractive things to investigate, chase) keep it leashed. Every time it goes outside. My Doberman had a 20 or 30 foot long line on him for his entire first year. I also had treats on me constantly to reward good behavior. That way ignoring me to chase animals, or whatever, wasn’t really an option or a bad habit he could develop.

Just my two cents.

[mvp]

OP, how come you are wigging out? It’s all quiet on the Western Front, and even better (for someone worried about trespassing), the neighbor hasn’t been back. Take this to mean that your neighbor is a reasonable person who has learned that if she doesn’t want the dog who lives on a bit of land to jump on her, she shouldn’t go over there.

I think asking “oh sh!!t, am I to blame and just waiting for the hatchet to fall?” is really the wrong way to think and act about this. Instead, take a breath and feel grateful that you don’t have a PsychoLitigious neighbor. Then take action: The next time you see neighbor, be friendly and apologize again. After that, be the nice neighbor who says hello and such.

Being the person no one wants to nail is a great defense against being nailed, especially for small stuff that could go either way.

[Bells]

If the driveway is yours and there is no easement and you don’t wish to talk to the neighbors (might be easier or not ), you could signal that to the neighbors by occasionally putting up a chain (plastic if you are worried about some one driving through it by mistake) across the end of the driveway using some clips and some screw eye hooks in something handy (fence/possibly a tree, etc…). Of course a simple no trespassing/private road sign at the end of you driveway might work too.

[Coyoteco]

[QUOTE=mvp;7688948]
… Then take action: The next time you see neighbor, be friendly and apologize again. After that, be the nice neighbor who says hello and such.

…[/QUOTE]

Don’t bring it up again. Skip the apologizing again part and just be nice to the neighbor.

I like the suggestion of a small no trespassing sign.

[Calamber]

Put up a no trespassing sign where the boundary begins.

[mvp]

Why are you guys all about the No Trespassing message delivered in stronger terms? Neighbor has not been back. She got the message.

Going overboard on preventing another accident by keeping a so-far-ok neighbor the Heck Out is likely to rub someone the wrong way. Why escalate? Things are cool right now.

[Bells]

Neighbor might just be on vacation and will start the walks again. Hopefully not but it is a chance you can take or not.

[Calamber]

How is a small no trespassing sign escalating anything? It makes them aware they are walking down a private road which apparently these people do not know.

[2LaZ2race]

maybe a nice “Private Driveway” sign would be better than “no trespassing”

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=mvp;7688948]
OP, how come you are wigging out? It’s all quiet on the Western Front, and even better (for someone worried about trespassing), the neighbor hasn’t been back. Take this to mean that your neighbor is a reasonable person who has learned that if she doesn’t want the dog who lives on a bit of land to jump on her, she shouldn’t go over there.

I think asking “oh sh!!t, am I to blame and just waiting for the hatchet to fall?” is really the wrong way to think and act about this. Instead, take a breath and feel grateful that you don’t have a PsychoLitigious neighbor. Then take action: The next time you see neighbor, be friendly and apologize again. After that, be the nice neighbor who says hello and such.

Being the person no one wants to nail is a great defense against being nailed, especially for small stuff that could go either way.[/QUOTE]

I don’t see this about the OP against a walking by neighbor, if trespassing or not, but about what to do to avoid that and insuring that doesn’t happen again with anyone.

[mortgagemyhorse]

Sorry for not responding sooner!

This is exactly as Bluey notes: just me wondering IF for some reason the neighbor filed a complaint how it would be handled. I just remembered the scenario as I was reading through some other dog threads.

Just more background and updates: so our driveway is very clearly our driveway-it’s 400 feet long, down a hill. The houses are all on 2-4 acre lots. We have a fence around our backyard and trees that line the drive. Parents think that the neighbors just assume that because it’s so long, it’s part of the street. But I think once they saw me on the driveway with my dog they understood that it’s OUR property, not the street. Plus, apparently my Dad has had small conversations with them while he walks the dog since the jumping (non) incident, and they ask lots of questions about the dog (what is her name? what is her breed? how old? where did you get her?) and pet her, etc,etc. I believe he explained to them that the driveway is our property. So no problem there, really just wondering if I did have a jerk neighbor, what would have happened.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

[QUOTE=mortgagemyhorse;7689831]
Sorry for not responding sooner!

This is exactly as Bluey notes: just me wondering IF for some reason the neighbor filed a complaint how it would be handled. I just remembered the scenario as I was reading through some other dog threads.

Just more background and updates: so our driveway is very clearly our driveway-it’s 400 feet long, down a hill. The houses are all on 2-4 acre lots. We have a fence around our backyard and trees that line the drive. Parents think that the neighbors just assume that because it’s so long, it’s part of the street. But I think once they saw me on the driveway with my dog they understood that it’s OUR property, not the street. Plus, apparently my Dad has had small conversations with them while he walks the dog since the jumping (non) incident, and they ask lots of questions about the dog (what is her name? what is her breed? how old? where did you get her?) and pet her, etc,etc. I believe he explained to them that the driveway is our property. So no problem there, really just wondering if I did have a jerk neighbor, what would have happened.[/QUOTE]

I’m in the “Private Drive” camp vs. a no trespassing sign. But I think you neighbor is fine.

[Where_sMyWhite]

You’d need to find out in your state and local jurisdiction what is required to keep someone off your property.

Just because it is private is usually not enough to constitute ‘trespassing’. What’s the difference between the neighbor taking a walk and UPS/FedEx or a sales person? Nothing really.

Normally, if you don’t want unknown/uninvited people on your property, fence it, put up a gate and post no trespassing…

[Canaqua]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;7689849]
I’m in the “Private Drive” camp vs. a no trespassing sign. But I think you neighbor is fine.[/QUOTE]

Agree, that’s what we got…people sometimes mistake our driveway for the road up to a nearby orchard in the fall. A “Private Driveway” sign is less obnoxious than “No Trespassing” for those who are just confused and don’t really have any intention of being on your property in the first place.

Sounds like all is well, however, so I wouldn’t stress too much about this. We live in a town with lots of immigrants from various Asian countries, many of whom are not used to having dogs as pets, as there are problems with rabid street dogs in the some of the big cities they used to live in. I’m very careful about having our big dogs around them, as they are often, understandably, frightened. Many are fine and want to meet dogs, but I err on the side of not scaring people, so I understand your concern that the woman was frightened and might not understand puppy behavior vs an attack. Sounds like it’s fine this time, though.

[Calamber]

In our county, we have been told (by the sheriff’s office), that if we want to be able to pursue trespassing laws if someone comes up the drive who should not, that we put up a small no trespassing sign. We had someone come up the hill and photograph the house (not visible from the road) and I went through a shock when I was told this after speaking with a deputy, I eventually went to the sheriff’s office and filed the complaint, but I also put up the signs. Neighborly or not, if you don’t want someone randomly going up the drive that is what you need to do. Better to be safe than sorry.