# Live Bites



## Jake Brandyberry (Jan 24, 2010)

There is the obvious ongoing debate between sport and PPD dog people. I was curious how many people who train PPDs have actually had a live bite. Also if you are comfortable telling, what were the circumstances behind the bite.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Jake Brandyberry said:


> There is the obvious ongoing debate between sport and PPD dog people. I was curious how many people who train PPDs have actually had a live bite. Also if you are comfortable telling, what were the circumstances behind the bite.


My guess is thers more sport dogs that have gotten live bites than PPD


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

Jake Brandyberry said:


> There is the obvious ongoing debate between sport and PPD dog people. I was curious how many people who train PPDs have actually had a live bite. Also if you are comfortable telling, what were the circumstances behind the bite.


 
AGAIN, definition of a live bite is.......... Everybody has their own definition

A live bite to me is a trained dog that was sent to bite someone. (Exactly what he was trained to do, not an accidental thing)


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## charles Turner (Mar 2, 2009)

here we go again.lol


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Jody Butler said:


> AGAIN, definition of a live bite is.......... Everybody has their own definition
> 
> A live bite to me is a trained dog that was sent to bite someone. (Exactly what he was trained to do, not an accidental thing)


Would it be a accident if a dog that wasn't trained in personal protection did so when a situation arose like it was born and breed to do protect with a bite?


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## Jake Brandyberry (Jan 24, 2010)

I am talking about a dog trained in PPD that was sent on a bite or properly detected threat and responded.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

charles Turner said:


> here we go again.lol


 
YUP, I knew it! ](*,)


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## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

Ha, this should be good.


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## Jake Brandyberry (Jan 24, 2010)

I'm not looking to rehash something if it has already been discussed. Did a search and didn't find anything. If this has already been discussed post the thread and that can be the end of it. Not looking for a discussion on sport vs. PPD just curious how many people have actually used their training.


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## Michael Swetz (Jul 27, 2009)

There was a thread a while back, but no one answered for legal reasons and the thread was ultimately closed if I remember correctly.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

If a PSD is used to apprehend someone and that apprehension ends in a "bite". If that "bite" is determined a good legal use of a dog, the odds are still about 50/50 if a civil law suit will be filed. Understanding that, I can see why PPD folks would be hesitant to talk about "live bites".

DFrost


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Jake Brandyberry said:


> I'm not looking to rehash something if it has already been discussed. Did a search and didn't find anything. If this has already been discussed post the thread and that can be the end of it. Not looking for a discussion on sport vs. PPD just curious how many people have actually used their training.


Jake,

A live bite is NOT the only or even the best way for a PPD to defend you or use their training. If your dog alerts on command and that is enough to deter the bad guy that's better than an actual bite and the ensuing law suits.


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## Jake Brandyberry (Jan 24, 2010)

I completely agree that a bite is not the only way a dog can protect and do it's job. I personally believe that if someone hears an aggressive large dog barking and still decides to break in, a firearm will be the only way to stop them. I have a 5 year old female GSD that I have trained to alert whenever anyone knocks on the door. Sounds like a monster, but she is the biggest pus in the world. She is not bite trained at all and would completely fold if anyone ever stood up to her. That being said, I did have someone walk into my apartment by mistake once and she did as trained and alerted to the door and ran towards it as the person was walking in. It resulted in an "oh ****" moment for the person and they booked. Ended up being the father of the girl who lives downstairs and he wasn't paying attention and walked into the wrong door. I was told later he returned to the right apartment panting and told his daughter what happened. His comment was "I walked in and just got a face full of German Shepard." I do not believe she would ever bite, but of course she is a dog and nothing is 100% reliable. The display was more than enough in this case, which I understand might not be in all cases.

If the liability of a bite is so high, is the risk of lawsuit even worth a dog that will bite vs. a dog that will display a reaction to a threat? With the way everyone sues these days, as frivalous as the suit might be, how do you justify it to yourself. The cost of just defending a suit can be staggering. 

David,
I did not realize that K9 bites resulted in that high of a number of civil suits. How do most departments handle this? Is it cheaper to just give a quick settlement or is the time and money spent defending accusations from stupid criminals spent? I would assume that 99% of those suits are crap and get immediately thrown out and that there is a ton of case law on the matter, but if a department has 4 dogs and each dog has lets say a bite a month, that's still nearly 50 bites in a year. I can't imagine the lawyer fees for dealing with 25 BS civil suits. 

So let's change it up a bit. If people are not comfortable with discussing their bites, how about people explain how they justify to themselves having a PPD and what type of liability coverage they carry on their dogs, if any. Again, I am not looking to knock anyone for the type of dog they have or training they do. I respect anyone who has a highly trained animal and is dedicated to their chosen craft. I am just interested and curious. Thanks in advance.


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## Tim Lynam (Jun 12, 2009)

_I'm not looking to rehash something if it has already been discussed. Did a search and didn't find anything. If this has already been discussed post the thread and that can be the end of it. Not looking for a discussion on sport vs. PPD just curious how many people have actually used their training._

I did a search on "real bite" and got 100 threads...


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