# "Beware of dog" signs



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Thoughts on them? I was thinking of putting one up to deter people from breaking in... my two dogs are not guard dogs (obviously, lol) but downstairs there is a pit/ridgeback mix that is a VERYYYYY good guard dog. I don't think she would attack anyone but she will get right in your face barking up a storm and push you out of the house. My boyfriend is going travelling for work and the guy downstairs is rarely home so it'll just be me and the mutts.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

When I got Duke, my mum was in the US and I emailed her photos of him. She bought me a "Labrador Retriever On Duty" sign with a picture of a black lab (looks identical to him now he's grown). I haven't put it up since we moved, but I am going to stick it to the gate. Sure, he's on duty, but all he's gonna do is lick an intruder to death haha. It's just there to deter people really. Where I use to live, there were some dodgy little kids who would walk up and down the street at night bouncing a basketball, because the noise would usually set dogs off, so they knew if a dog didn't bark, there probably wasnt a dog in the yard, so they could try break in. But Duke doesn't bark, so I like to have a sign up, telling the little sh*ts that I DO have a dog (even though he wouldnt hurt a fly lol)


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I think Bishop would just run and hide and Tess would lead the intruder to my valuables with her tail wagging. But that's beside the point. I think I WILL get a sign.. maybe a pit bull on duty one? An "Iggy and sheltie on duty" just doesn't sound scary, lol.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Everyone in my neighborhood, and I'm sure beyond knows I have killer dogs. No need to put up signs for them....Lol


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

You have to be careful with them.. in some cities/states, if you have a sign like that up, and you dog DOES bite someone, they can hold you liable because you're basically admitting to having a dangerous dog. "Dog on Property" signs are better and you can't be held liable if you have one and something happens.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Other states/cities are the opposite. People have the signs up so on the off chance someone gets bit, they can say they were warned to stay away.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I have heard both - it makes you liable and it protects you. I have also heard if your insurance company sees a beware of dog sign they will cancel your insurance.

But in lots of places if you dog hasn't bitten before it gets a pass the first time but not the second. If the signs are up, does that mean it has bitten or you would expect it to?

i think Iggy on duty would be a good sign. I have to admit, I have no idea what an Iggy is. I kinda guessed when I saw the photo


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

I'd just blow up your avatar picture and put, "She Lives Here" with an arrow pointing to the picture. That'd scare ME enough not to rob you. :tongue:

I've also heard that beware of dog signs can either save you from litigation or make you liable depending on where you live. So I also suggest that you check the laws in your area. And I'd also ask if a Dog on Property type sign is viewed similarly, while you're at it.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

I use to have one up on the side gate leading to the back yard, but did it deter any jerks from opening the back gate which you really have to play with it because it locks from the inside so its very hard for anyone to open, no dumb roofers opened it and two of the dogs were out on the other side of the street(another whole story) and also some kids in the neighborhood threw their football in my back yard,and opened it (yeah they couldn't come to the front door sheesh, I don't bite heehee)so the signs didn't work for me , I put a piece of its a metal type wire through the gate the locking mechanism and twist it yep they cant get in now other than if I buy a lock haha! But signs didn't work for me but that little metal twisted wire sure is working! They cant get in at all! Oh and I have even seen the signs for dogs in peoples windows ha ha! So that seems to be very noticeable, at least caught my attention as I walked past the homes that have the signs in the windows!


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I've heard of it going either way, I think no trespassing is more than reasonable, they are breaking the law by coming onto your property.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Tobi said:


> I've heard of it going either way, I think no trespassing is more than reasonable, they are breaking the law by coming onto your property.


We live on kind of a big curve where people drive through our yard when they go around it - we found out we can't put any kind of barrier on our own property because if someone hits it they could sue us (and win) because we would be doing something to damage their cars on purpose. 

Likewise, we found out (here at least) if someone comes onto our property and gets bitten by our dog, they could sue and likey win IF our dog has bitten before and we know it has a propensity to bite.

Crazy stuff.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

xellil said:


> We live on kind of a big curve where people drive through our yard when they go around it - we found out we can't put any kind of barrier on our own property because if someone hits it they could sue us (and win) because we would be doing something to damage their cars on purpose.
> 
> Likewise, we found out (here at least) if someone comes onto our property and gets bitten by our dog, they could sue and likey win IF our dog has bitten before and we know it has a propensity to bite.
> 
> Crazy stuff.


Wouldn't putting up a fence be just protecting your yard? laws are a bit ridiculous anymore.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I have a decal on my door that says "beware, guard dog on duty" with a picture of a sleeping dog (which I thought was less scary to the mailman). Uno is very overprotective when someone comes to the door which is enough of the deterrent, but it helps to give the people heads up so they're not startled.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Tobi said:


> Wouldn't putting up a fence be just protecting your yard? laws are a bit ridiculous anymore.


WE can't put a fence that close to the road because of zoning - we were thinking more along the lines of big rocks! But we were told that if someone ran into a rock and tore their car up, we would be liable because the rocks'purpose would be to damage a car, whereas something like a mailbox has a function.

My neighbor put boards with nails. But someone reported him to the city and he got in trouble.

Which is why I wouldn't put up a beware of dog sign. I think it might hurt more than help in the end.


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

kady05 said:


> You have to be careful with them.. in some cities/states, if you have a sign like that up, and you dog DOES bite someone, they can hold you liable because you're basically admitting to having a dangerous dog. "Dog on Property" signs are better and you can't be held liable if you have one and something happens.


That's one I have never heard. Perhaps I have just never lived somewhere that the signs mean anything different. My grandfather has a doberman on his property and is required by law to have a beware of dog sign regardless of the breed. I'll have to check out our local laws.


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

I am required to have a Beware of Dog sign. Mostly to let the meter reader and gas guy know that a big dog lives here. I kinda like this one too...

ALASKAN MALAMUTE DOG WARNING SIGN FENCE 12 X 12 | eBay


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

I had one on my front gate for years because of the English Setter I used to have. He was rescued by me when he was 7, was totally unsocialized, decided my husband and I were the greatest people on the planet and that everyone else needed to die. People honestly would look at him and not believe that he wasn't friendly because he looked sweet and he nearly bit several of them. So after the sign went up it gave people at least a moment to decide, and by then Winston would be at the gate with his teeth bared and they had a tendency to believe after that. Worked for me right up until he died.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Our meters are read remotely from drivebys at the road so we don't have anyone with any reason to come near our property. 

I've never gotten beware of dogs signs because I've really never been worried about anyone breaking in to my house. They would have to decide they want to get by the barking rottweiler mix, keep going past the Chow who may eat them, fall over the blind Lhasa, then deal with the assorted human forms of self defense. Trust me, there a lot easier targets out there with a lot better stuff to steal then we have! 

Of course, they'd have to get past all my neighbors first. That's the advantage (and disadvantage) of living in a small country neighborhood that hasn't changed in 25 years. Nobody new shows up here without the entire neighborhood knowing about it within 5 minutes! We haven't ever had a crime in our little neighborhood since it was built. There just really isn't a reason for anyone to come here.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

It is unbelievable to me how people will twist things around to comfort the criminal or wrong doer. Not that I can't believe it happens; I can't believe people have stooped so low to do it at all.

"Beware of Dog" has always been known to mean, "There is a dog here" so don't go poking your fingers through the fence or bushes, don't go traipsing on through the yard, uninvited and don't even THINK about coming in and robbing the joint.

But NO! Now? It's ok, go ahead and get your fingers bit off, go ahead and get your ass bit off, go ahead and take everything in the house but if you were "scared" because there was a dog, not only do you get their stuff, you get to sue them, too! Yay criminals!

And that b.s. about trying to keep people from running over your yard..."the sole purpose is to destroy cars", NO! Idiot! (Not the poster, the idiot who decided they couldn't do this because that is how they perceive the rocks or fence to mean.) The rocks should act as a deterrent! Let's see, I'm driving along, oh, there's a whole bunch of rocks...MAYBE I SHOULD STAY ON THE DAMN ROAD THEN! 

"It's ok that you don't know how to operate your vehicle, it's perfectly fine that you tear up someone's yard, and it's a-ok by us that you drive recklessly. In fact, the person who complains that people drive through their yard when going around a curve should just shut up or MOVE! Stop complaining! You don't have to stay there!" 

I weep for our future.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Ya I know what I want to say. But I don't want to be slammed.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Putting big rocks on your yard edge is a standing practice in our area. Everyone who lives on a corner does it. I think the whole thing is that once you live inside a town limits, that is when you start running into all these kinds of bizarre zoning issues. The town next to me regulates every inch of your property, inside and out just about. 

Which is why I live in the county limits and don't live in a town! I also don't have to pay any town taxes and can have as many dogs as I can stuff in my house! :smile:


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

I have two signs on my gate 'Please shut the gate" and "Greyhounds Live Here" with an outline of said dog - just really to remind people that a) there is a dog and b) that's why I want you to shut the gate, because we have meter readers and couriers delivering packages etc and other unknowns. Anyway after I got that sign made by the engravers I wish I'd had this popular one with pic of greyhound: "I CAN MAKE IT TO THE GATE IN LESS THAN 3 SECONDS, CAN YOU?" ha ha even though GHs are a bit wimpy really although he does do a good impression of a scary dog by running up to the gate barking with hackles raised if anyone comes within 50 feet!


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> That's one I have never heard. Perhaps I have just never lived somewhere that the signs mean anything different. My grandfather has a doberman on his property and is required by law to have a beware of dog sign regardless of the breed. I'll have to check out our local laws.


Yep that is, at least to an extent, how it is in Washington(or at least in the Spokane area.) I know my friend who has 2 English Mastiffs has to be VERY VERY careful as to what, if any, signs she has up at her store!:wink: 



All I can say is, if/when you go to get ANY signs be cautious as to what you have, word wise, and what your local laws state! (I plan on having one that states, "xyz breed(s) live here....but be aware, Im the one with a gun!" LOL


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

I don't think we need one as a deterrent since the vicious-sounding barking should clue anyone in! It sounds crazy in this house with four dogs barking, ha. Ok, maybe three dogs...Gracie is old and deaf and would have no idea...


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I live in Canada and people aren't quite as "sue-happy" here.. I should be fine with a beware of dog sign. My dogs wouldn't bite anyway- and if the pit did that wouldn't be my fault... since she's not mine.


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## 3Musketeers (Nov 4, 2010)

LOL I agree with Ania, that pic makes the perfect sign.

Anyways...
I personally have a "beware of dog" sign.

It keeps people out of my yard, my dogs are harmless but people here seem to be scared if it barks and there's a sign. I've had grown men (usually the phone or cable guy) ask me to keep the (vicious little) dogs locked in my house, before they will agree to work on anything. Even when I tell them the brats are nice, go figure.

Also, FPL (local power company)down here thinks they own your house (and sometimes comcast, cable company, has done this too) and WILL go into the yard and mindlessly leave ALL the gates open. While I do lock my gate, sometimes the outer gate is unlocked and if they come by on an off-chance that I am home with my gate unlocked, I don't want them opening all the gates and having my dogs get out. I'd be hanging some of those guys from the power-lines it that happened, lets put it that way >_<.
There is a doorbell, even two on the gates, but they don't seem to care unless they think they'll get their butt bit.

I suppose it depends why you want the sign, and what the laws in your city are. If you want it to deter burglars, well, it may not help, but it may deter people form wandering in your yard when you aren't home.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

Scarlett_O' said:


> (I plan on having one that states, "xyz breed(s) live here....but be aware, Im the one with a gun!" LOL


Now that's the sign for me. Perfect.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

SerenityFL said:


> Now that's the sign for me. Perfect.


HEHE...yep!:biggrin:

We went and got free meat from a lady that had that...it was SOO cool!LOL She said that she had it painted at one of those fair booths!:thumb:


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

I never put up the signs that say "WE (w/ silhouettes of 2 trotting Rotties) Can make it to the Fence in 3.5 seconds", Can You? Cute but I didn't want to risk the liability. I have to signs now, 1 has the head of a friendly Rottie and says that a "Spoiled Rotten Rottweiler Lives Here" the other with the head of a smiling APBT reads"Pit bulls leave paw Prints on your heart". But as someone said the entire neighborhood has kept up with my dogs for many years (I have lived here for 30) and they know that I ALWAYS have some that are unafraid of anything. And that they sleep in my room. I ALWAYS introduce my dogs to anyone working in or around my house.


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

I also have guns, but interviews with inmates of prisons have demonstrated that they are MORE afraid of a large dog than of a man with a gun. Because most people hesitate unless they are trained police officers or soldiers and that split second favors the criminal with a gun. They have said that they do not know what a dog will do.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Our insurance company actually requires us to have some kind of warning put up on the property indicating that we have dogs, and they don't care what it says... as long as it's there. We live on a corner, and we have to have something on each side of the house facing the street. On one fence, we have "Great Dane on Duty" It's actually this one. On the other side, we have the generic black and red "Dog on Premises" sign. 

Because we have chain link on one side, it is especially required so if some dumb kid comes and puts their fingers through the fence, and get bit, I am covered. It's kind of a non issue for us because we don't leave the dogs out when we aren't home. 

It's pretty set here.... whoever is the one uninvited on your property is the one at fault. You'd really have to be an idiot to try to break into this place though....


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Caty M said:


> I live in Canada and people aren't quite as "sue-happy" here..


In New Zealand we have something called ACC (Accident Compensation).
You cannot sue someone for causing you injury regardless of cause or blame, ACC entitles you to free medical care. 
Payment of a proportion of your salary whilst you recover and payment of compensation if appropriate.
ACC replaces the right to sue for damages.

Everyone has to pay a proportion of their salary to ACC which can come in very handy at times, it's basically just another tax.

(ALL BLACKS JUST BEAT FRANCE 37-17 yay!!)


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## Rodeo (Sep 11, 2011)

I have a sign but haven't hung it up yet. My dogs wouldn't hurt a fly but I would never let that get around the neighborhood. I don't exactly live in the best of places so I'm okay with these people being afraid.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

My signs are on my fence, if they trespass they have been warned!! Thats how it works where I live. I haven't had anyone go into my backyard lol. And I have labs, and one Aussie who rules. The signs say, I can make it to the fence in three seconds, can you? and my other sign say beware of dog. Would my dogs bite, my Aussie has been know to nip people he thinks aren't right lol. He got a guy in the back that was doing some work for us, my other half let him out accidentally, a case of beer fixed it fast.


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## minnieme (Jul 6, 2011)

PuppyPaws said:


> It's pretty set here.... whoever is the one uninvited on your property is the one at fault. You'd really have to be an idiot to try to break into this place though....


You should just get that pic blown up and hang it as posters around the perimeter of your yard. I bet people would go to the other side of the street to avoid those chompers at all costs!! 

edit: although your home might get raided for having an alleged dog fighting operation :wink:


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

minnieme said:


> You should just get that pic blown up and hang it as posters around the perimeter of your yard. I bet people would go to the other side of the street to avoid those chompers at all costs!!


I was thinking the SAME thing<LOLOL>. Living in the Best of places is not always as safe as one thinks. Home invasions often happen in VERY nice neighborhoods. I taught the children of an attorney who was a victim of one. i trust the criminals . They will likely pass up the home where there are large dogs and pick on someone else. You are right "Puppy Paws" They would be CRAzy to bother you. I once had a police man tell me - I had put in an alarm when my Big male died (later took it out.. The darn Rottie puppy 5mths and 52 lbs had set the glass breaks off in the sun room. The other two left the scene before I arrived. I asked the officer could I please enter first because of my dogs-pup ran out to me barking furiously & the other two followed silently. The young man said" DAMN, only a complete fool would break in here." My thoughts exactly.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

In my area if someone is in my yard they are looking to steal and that's my dogs job to alert me and they have. I just didn't let them go when it happened because my Aussie would have gone into the water after them and I don't want him to get hurt. I have no doubt that he would die protecting me. That time it was just kids steeling stuff off my dock, came by water.
So signs on the fence are good and I like that they are unsure of what my dogs will do.


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