2nd amendment rights concerning dogs

[BenS]

A few years ago my neighbor had some sort of German Shepherd looking dog that he says was a "police dog." The dog was always in a "kennel," but occasionally escaped because the "kennel" was essentially some chicken wire, duct tape, bubble gum, and some yarn. Let's just say it didn't contain the dog very well.

One morning I'm outside letting my dog go potty (she's a 12 lb terrier mix / mutt) and then this GS clamps down on my dog's leg and throws her around like a rag doll. My adrenaline kicks in so I just start yelling and throwing what I could get my hands on at the GS and he finally runs away. I had my HCP at this time, but my gun was in the car at the time.

I had words with my neighbor over this since my dog needed stitches and a new round of vaccinations. He was unemployed at the time, but swore he would pay the vet bills (he never did).

So as you can understand, I am a little skittish around large breeds that have vicious streaks. I know any dog can be like this, but the large muscular ones are those that can do the serious damage. I have a 2 year old that likes to play outside so I am very cautious about any dog that roams around in my neighborhood.

Fast forward to this week. The old neighbor is gone, and a new one in his place. This week he decides to get a Rottweiler, and my wife spotted him in our yard once or twice.

I had to mow yesterday, but it was my first time mowing heavy. He just looked at me a few times and didn't bark, lunge, or even walk towards me, so I feel a little better about it. He is also tethered in the yard so he's not roaming free.

So my question to you guys is this, what are the rules of engagement for dogs? If this dog gets on my property and makes aggressive moves towards me or anyone in my family, he's getting ventilated with some 5.56 FMJ HPs. What if he makes aggressive moves toward my dog? What if the Rotty attacks my dog on someone else's property? What options do I have, legally?

Edited August 7, 2009 by BenS

[Guest redbarron06]

First call the city (if you live in the limits) they may have a leash law. If that happens every time you see the dog loose call the pouch police. If the dog attacks you or your family, smoke check it. As far as your dog if I could make the shot during the attack I would do the same. If the attack is over then again call the catcher and report a vicious animal. I dont know about your town but when I lived in ATL they had a law that once an animal attacked another pet it was required to be put down.

[BenS]

I live in the Caryville city limits, so who knows. They'd probably cite me for discharging my weapon.

[broylz]

if the dog is a serious threat to you or your family then its fair to assume that you are ok to shoot it. its a bit different if its attacking your dog as your dog should be on a leash also if you expect his to be. if your dog is in their property and gets attacked by their dog like you asked then its your fault for letting your dog out of your control. as far as dogs are concerned, i hope that you dont take this out on big dogs in the future. there is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners. i have a couple of shutzhund trained german shepherds as well and they are the biggest babies unless my wife is being assaulted. thats the way they are trained. i hope you are able to resolve these issues without killing a dog. try talking to the neighbors as mentioned above and then call the animal control to make formal complaints.it sounds like the new neighbor has their dog a bit better trained and under control so hopefully you wont have these issues in the future.

[broylz]

tried not to make that a jumbled mess but vtunnel at work isnt letting the paragraph format to go through.

[Punisher84]

If it attacks your dog on your property or even if you had your dog on the leash and were walking on the street you'd be justified in shooting it. A reasonable person would assume that an animal attacking their pet on their property may turn and attack them.

[Guest redbarron06]

I am pretty sure that if you are using something like an invisable fence system then you are in compliance with leash laws but I would check for sure.

Like Borylz said though. Dont hold all dogs accountable for the actions of one. I have see labs that would let kids hang on thier tails, bite thier ears and all kinds of stuff and then growl at the parent when they were spanking the kid. Just dont let his dog think it is the alpha male in your yard.

[Guest Swamprunner]

Naw, you don't go shootin' the neighbors dog. Makes fer bad blood. I had my neighbors Chow go after my grandson, and I almost shot it, but the wife yelled at me. So I called the SO and first thing he says to me is, "well shoot the damn thing". I says, "the wife won't let me". So he chuckles and goes over to the neighbor and writes her a ticket for dog running at large. Neighbor keeps dog on chain, but he gets loose one day while I'm mowing, and tries to eat my tires and me too. So, I call the SO again, and she gets another $110.00 ticket. Two days later, the dog is gone. Turns out that my neighbor's daughter comes home from college and ends up being my grandson's teacher. Moral of story, "discretion is the better part of valor". Oh yeah, my grandson passed her class with A's. Neighbor's daughter could have really peed in my oatmeal.

If anybody says I'm a wimp around wifey, that's fine. I know how my bread gets buttered (if you know what I mean).

[Punisher84]

Naw, you don't go shootin' the neighbors dog. Makes fer bad blood. I had my neighbors Chow go after my grandson, and I almost shot it, but the wife yelled at me. So I called the SO and first thing he says to me is, "well shoot the damn thing". I says, "the wife won't let me". So he chuckles and goes over to the neighbor and writes her a ticket for dog running at large. Neighbor keeps dog on chain, but he gets loose one day while I'm mowing, and tries to eat my tires and me too. So, I call the SO again, and she gets another $110.00 ticket. Two days later, the dog is gone. Turns out that my neighbor's daughter comes home from college and ends up being my grandson's teacher. Moral of story, "discretion is the better part of valor". Oh yeah, my grandson passed her class with A's. Neighbor's daughter could have really peed in my oatmeal.

If anybody says I'm a wimp around wifey, that's fine. I know how my bread gets buttered (if you know what I mean).

LOL great story. I'd have still shot it if I had to.

[Guest bkelm18]

I'd rather the dog be dead than me.

[Guest Swamprunner]

LOL great story. I'd have still shot it if I had to.

Now don't get me wrong, I've killed a few in my time, but I never killed anything that didn't need killin'. That goes fer dogs, too.

[strickj]

he's getting ventilated with some 5.56 FMJ HPs. What if he makes aggressive moves toward my dog? What if the Rotty attacks my dog on someone else's property? What options do I have, legally?

Um,that means you would have to go in the house,retrieve your rifle,then return. I don't believe that would be good for you since the threat would be removed as soon as you entered the house.

[dralarms]

Ok, a dog is the only thing that gets a warning shot from me, and that's only if it's in my territory and does not relocate upon command. (most of the dogs around here know my voice and what happens if they don't scoot). If it's attacking a family member it's going down, period. If it's attacking one of my cats, well the cat can climb a tree and I got plenty of them (trees and cats). LOL. If it's biting my lawn mower tires, hell let it. if he tears it up then I don't have to mow the dang yard.

Now so you don't think I a cruel SOB, I've lived here almost 10 years, shot plenty of dogs with rat shot outta my 22.they might come back for a taste once or twice but once a dog relates the bang sound with pain they soon learn. I did kill one of my neighbors dogs a few years ago. she was chasing my prego cat (best mouser and snake hunter I ever saw) and I shot over her head to scare her with my 12 gauge, I mis judged the spread and killed her. Pained me but I have to live with that.

I've said this on threads before, the only dog I automaticlly go on the defensive with is a pit bull.

[Guest Bluemax]

I'm old school, so Swamp Runners logic makes perfict sense to me. All kidding aside, try and get a sense of whether the Rott is aggressive or not; first around you then your small dogs. Most Rotts are nothing but big babies, but sometimes you run across some from mills or worse, that have problems. If he acts aggressive toward you or your pets ; do what you have to do do but give him a chance Hell, feed him something while you, your neighbors, and your pets are all in the same place, if he is aggressive you will all find out at the same time

[Guest redbarron06]

I've said this on threads before, the only dog I automaticlly go on the defensive with is a pit bull.

I am with you. I live out in the country and know all of the neighbors dogs. I see a pit in my yard and it gets smoked on the spot peroid, end of story.

[dralarms]

I am with you. I live out in the country and know all of the neighbors dogs. I see a pit in my yard and it gets smoked on the spot peroid, end of story.

I had this neighbor (he's in jail now I think), that had a crapper load of the beasts. Well one day I come home to a full litter on my front porch eating my cats food. Well I got my 22 revolver and salted their butts. They were still hollering 2 hrs later and I never saw the little monsters again. Wife asked me why I didn't just kill em. I figured if I taught them a lesson in where to go and where not to go why waste the dumpster space?

[Punisher84]

Now don't get me wrong, I've killed a few in my time, but I never killed anything that didn't need killin'. That goes fer dogs, too.

Hehehehe roger that!

[56FordGuy]

If you have any "Don't shoot the dog" options, go that route first. If you're at the mailbox and an angry 100 pound dog is charging at you, I don't know if there are any other options.

My advice is get to know the neighbors, and the dog.

When I moved out of the city, I brought three dogs. One house dog, one city dog that had never been out of the fenced backyard on his own, and one dog from my parent's place that's never been on a leash. I tried letting all three of them run loose for a few weeks. Bad, bad idea on my part. The older house dog never really roamed. The other two were causing problems. I have a bit of land out here in the county, surrounded by neighbors with land and fields. The young dog that had never been so free went wild, and didn't play well with the neighbor's dogs. I've taken him to the vet at least twice for injuries he got fighting with the neighbor dogs, including one tooth ripped out and one large gash torn in his side. Some of the fights were on my property, some weren't. In any case, it was my fault for letting the dogs run loose.

Fortunately, my dogs never went after a person. If they had, I feel confident that the dog would've been killed, and I'd call that the right response. I would even call that the right answer if they attacked the neighbor dogs on the neighbor's property. However, I saw an issue and took care of it. The dogs got kenneled, and are only out free when they can be watched. The younger, excitable dog has a shock collar now, but I haven't had to use it for quite a while.

If the dog causes a problem and you have the chance, talk to the neighbors about it. If the problem continues, call the cops/ animal control. If the dog attacks, well...human life trumps dog life.

[Guest Bluemax]

If you have any "Don't shoot the dog" options, go that route first. If you're at the mailbox and an angry 100 pound dog is charging at you, I don't know if there are any other options.

My advice is get to know the neighbors, and the dog.

When I moved out of the city, I brought three dogs. One house dog, one city dog that had never been out of the fenced backyard on his own, and one dog from my parent's place that's never been on a leash. I tried letting all three of them run loose for a few weeks. Bad, bad idea on my part. The older house dog never really roamed. The other two were causing problems. I have a bit of land out here in the county, surrounded by neighbors with land and fields. The young dog that had never been so free went wild, and didn't play well with the neighbor's dogs. I've taken him to the vet at least twice for injuries he got fighting with the neighbor dogs, including one tooth ripped out and one large gash torn in his side. Some of the fights were on my property, some weren't. In any case, it was my fault for letting the dogs run loose.

Fortunately, my dogs never went after a person. If they had, I feel confident that the dog would've been killed, and I'd call that the right response. I would even call that the right answer if they attacked the neighbor dogs on the neighbor's property. However, I saw an issue and took care of it. The dogs got kenneled, and are only out free when they can be watched. The younger, excitable dog has a shock collar now, but I haven't had to use it for quite a while.

If the dog causes a problem and you have the chance, talk to the neighbors about it. If the problem continues, call the cops/ animal control. If the dog attacks, well...human life trumps dog life.

Yea what he said +1000

[Guest joeharris]

If i ever caught any SOB shooting at one of my dogs, i would shoot the SOB! No matter who he was!

[Guest m&pc9]

If i ever caught any SOB shooting at one of my dogs, i would shoot the SOB! No matter who he was!

So if your dog was attacking a kid and some one shot it. You would shoot them?

[dralarms]

Sounds like a drunk redneck mentality to compare a dogs life to a childs or another persons.

[Punisher84]

If i ever caught any SOB shooting at one of my dogs, i would shoot the SOB! No matter who he was!

Well if your dog is off your property and coming at me or my family it's getting put down. If you wanna try that macho internet BS out on the street you'll probably get a bullet for your threats and trouble as well.

[Mike.357]

My advice is get to know the neighbors, and the dog.

There ya have it. My closest neighbor has a pit bull chained in the back of his place near my property. The dog looks like it would kill you as soon as look at you. But from knowing my neighbor and interaction with "Jake" I know he is a big baby, bark not bite. He just wants to play but it looks very threatening.

that dog and our puppy tangled a couple of weeks ago. The puppy took off up the driveway ( no hope of her stopping) and she went right for that dog. He taught her who the boss is in his yard. But he did not hurt her even a little though easily he could have killed her.

Get to know the dog and be a good neighbor first

[Fallguy]

First I think as others have said it would be good to get to know the neighbor and talk to them about it if it is a problem and/or make reports to the police about it, if it keeps occuring.

You can't shoot a dog just because it is loose or just because it is on your property.

But you can use deadly force against a dog if you reasonablly believe the dog was creating an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to you or someone else or an imminent danger of death to an animal owned by you. See 39-14-205(