Don’t Make Your Holidays a Doggie Downer

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy of PxHere

With the holidays in full swing for the next few weeks, I thought I’d take the time to talk to all you dog owners out there.  The holiday season means having friends and family over to your home.  It also means lots of deliveries coming to your front door until the New Year.  Like it or not, all dogs are territorial. They have been bred to protect you and your family from intruders large and small.  Whether your dog is a Great Dane or a Chihuahua, they all have an instinctive dread of strangers.  They also all have teeth, which they are not afraid to use when the spirit moves them.  Before Fido or Fluffy turns your holiday into the Christmas from hell, let me give you a few friendly words of advice.

Rich Dog, Poor Dog

Whether you live in a mansion or a double wide, your dog could care less.  Just as it is said that a man’s home is his castle, a dog’s home is also its territory.  If you’ve ever seen your dog viciously run off a squirrel or a cat that blundered into your back yard, you know what territoriality is all about.  Before they were bred to be pets, dogs were descended from wolves.  Wolves are hardwired to recognize two kinds of geographic delineations as being vital to their survival: Home range and territory.  Territory is the area where the pack roams and hunts.  It can be located miles from home. Home range is the area in and around their den.  It’s the place where the pack gathers and where pups are born and raised.  Above all, it is the area they will defend to the death. 

People, on the other hand, may be competitive, but they aren’t all that territorial.  They tend to treat their dog as just another member of the family.  The problem is, your dog doesn’t think the same way that you do.  While your dog may wag his tail every time he sees you, he doesn’t see you as a human being. He sees you as another member of the pack.  Depending upon your position in the pack, he will treat you with a certain amount of respect.  This is also why your dog will bark incessantly if you leave him outside all night long.  The worst thing that can happen to a pack animal is to be ostracized from the pack.

When Worlds Collide

Here’s where the way your dog thinks can conflict with the way you think.  Let’s say you decide to throw a Christmas party where you plan to invite family, friends and maybe even a few coworkers.  When the big day comes, a crowd of people shows up at your front door.  Most dog owners will generally do one of two things:

1.      Put the dog out back

2.      Let the dog stay in the house

Image by Public Domain Pictures

Either of these scenarios can lead to a dog bite.  If you put the dog out back, you think there is no cause for concern, right?  That depends.  If you lock the back door and tell all your guests that you want to leave the dog outside, does that mean the dog can’t get out?  Have you ever had your dog get out of the backyard before?  Sure, you have.  What happens if your dog either digs under or jumps over the fence while your guests are coming or going?  Disaster.   If there are children present, there’s even a possibility that one of them may open the back door, or use another door to go outside only to come into contact with your dog.  If you’re going to leave your dog outside, you need to put it on a cable that is tied around tree too big for your dog to either pull out or dig up. 

If you leave your dog inside, you’re really asking for trouble if you don’t put a muzzle it.  Even if your dog has never bitten anybody, all it takes is for Fluffy to get startled by a guest or pestered by a kid and you have the potential for a dog bite.  Don’t assume that guests or even extended family members will take a dog bite lying down.  Lawsuits are known to fly over lesser injuries caused at people’s homes.

Deliveries are another potential for liability when it comes to your dog.  Whether we’re talking about the postal carrier or one of the other uniformed delivery services such as Fedex or UPS, people who deliver packages are tempting targets for dog aggression.  Just holding a big box in their hands can be deemed as threatening to a dog.  What’s even worse, is most people simply open the door to accept a package being delivered.  This leaves an opening for any dog to take advantage of since your hands and those of the agent making the delivery aren’t free to pull a dog back if it lunges.  Your best bet when dealing with deliveries is to lock the dog in an empty room before opening the front door. 

My dog wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Image courtesy of Public Domain Pictures

Maybe not, but that’s because flies aren’t considered a territorial imperative.  The insurance industry paid out more than $600 million in claims related to dog bites in 2016.  That’s in addition to hundreds of millions more in lawsuits that were instituted by those bitten by dogs.  While your homeowner’s insurer will pay for some of the costs associated with dogs that bite, that doesn’t mean it is a bottomless pit.  Especially when you consider that the cost for an average dog bite in the US is $33,000.  If you do file a claim, you can expect the cost of your policy to go up or your carrier to refuse to cover subsequent dog bites or even refuse to renew your policy.  You also have a limitation on the amount of time you ca file a claim.  Wait too long to report the incident to your insurer or fail to tell your insurance agent that you have a dog and you run the risk of having your claim denied.

Any way you look at it, unless you have an extra $33,000 lying around, it’s far better to face reality and protect your guests rather than face the consequences of having your pet turn your holidays into a doggie downer.

Catherine Powell is the owner of A Plus All Florida, Insurance in Orange Park, Florida.  To find out more about cyber-insurance, check out her website at http://aplusallfloridainsuranceinc.com/