Tips from The Dog Bite Lawyer

• Spay or neuter your dog Spaying and neutering your dog can decrease aggression, and the likelihood of a dog attack, when done at an early age. The optimal age lies between 6-9 months, particularly with male dogs. After your dog surpasses 10-12 months, altering is less effective in reducing aggression. The rule of thumb with male dogs is “better neutered than not” regardless of age.
• Socialize your dog Introduce your dog at an early age to community parks, family and friends, busy sidewalks and other animals. The more socialized your dog is, the less chance it will feel threatened in new experiences and the less likely it may become a dog that bites. An unsocialized dog is frequently a dangerous dog.
• Exercise your dog All dogs require exercise; robust breeds such as Rottweilers and Pit Bulls require much more. Don’t assume that 15 minutes of fetch each day is enough. Powerful breeds require both physical and mental exercise. Destructive behavior, potentially ending in a dog bite lawsuit, may be in your future unless you get all the energy expended. Without proper exercise obedience training is often more difficult.
• Train your dog Obedience training trains the owner as much as it trains the dog. Such training should start at 3-4 months of the dog’s age. Lack of obedience training ensures a frustrating experience for the dog owner and a more dangerous one for your Pennsylvania community. Failing to train your dog is a 3-way lose situation: the owner, the dog and the community all have potential for future dog bite cases.
• Constrain your dog Chaining your dog is not the same as constraining your dog. More evidence points to chained dogs as a recipe for disaster. Dog bite statistics reveals that dog bite injuries were nearly 3 times as likely to be sustained by chained as unchained dogs, and dogs with a history of long-term chaining made up 20% of dog attacks that resulted in fatalities. A child in particular may not realize that a dog is not at the end of it’s chain, and wander into biting range.
• Limit exposure to untested situations If your dog is unfamiliar with a busy sidewalk, do not expose your dog to these situations until you understand what the response will be. If you consider your dog a “family” pet, understand that a new guest in your house is also an untested situation — your dog does not perceive a new guest as “family.”
• When walking your dog
  Do not walk a powerful dog if you are not strong enough to manage it. Under no circumstances should children or teenagers be allowed to walk a dog that is too powerful for them. Managing strong dogs off-property may include: a training collar, a lead no longer than four feet and three-quarter inch thickness and a possibly even a muzzle. Never, ever use a retractable leash when walking a powerful dog.

Need more incentive? Check out Pennsylvania dog bite law.