By Richard Polsky, Ph.D. – Dog Bite Expert Witness & Animal Behavior Specialist
When most people think of dog-related injuries, they think of bites. But in my work as an expert witness in dog behavior litigation, I’ve seen a much broader spectrum of harm inflicted by dogs—injuries caused not by teeth, but by nails, knockdowns, tripping incidents, and in rare but serious cases, head butts.
These types of injuries can result in complex legal questions—especially around foreseeability. That is: Could the dog owner reasonably have anticipated the dog’s behavior in the moment the injury occurred?
A case I consulted on in California, involving a Great Dane and a head butt injury, illustrates the legal and behavioral complexities these cases often present.
Understanding Head Butt Injuries from Dogs
A “head butt” injury occurs when a large dog—often one with a tall frame like a Great Dane—suddenly raises its head or leaps upward, making forceful contact with a person’s face or head. This often happens when a person bends over to greet or pet the dog at the exact moment the dog jumps. The resulting collision can cause significant trauma, particularly to the facial area, including broken teeth, fractures, and long-term cosmetic damage.
While rare, these incidents can be severe—and raise important legal questions about the predictability of canine behavior.
Case Study: Head Butt Injury from a Great Dane in California
In this case, a guest at a private residence—a professional model and TV personality—was interacting with the host’s Great Dane. Just before bending down to pet the dog, which was lying calmly on the floor, the dog suddenly jumped up. Its forehead struck the plaintiff’s face with force, resulting in fractured front teeth and visible disfigurement.
Earlier, the dog had been actively playing with its owner, but had appeared to settle down. The plaintiff argued that the owner should have foreseen the risk of injury and taken steps to prevent it.
The central behavioral and legal questions were:
-
Was it foreseeable that the Great Dane might jump up from a prone position?
-
Was there a duty of care on the part of the dog’s owner to protect guests from this type of behavior?
-
Did the dog’s previous behavior history suggest a known risk?
Expert Behavioral Considerations
As a behavior expert, I assess the context in which the aggression or behavior occurred, including:
-
The dog’s prior behavior history
-
The level of arousal before the incident
-
Owner control and supervision at the time
-
The typical behavioral tendencies of the breed
In this case, there was no documentation or witness report indicating that the dog had ever jumped up from a lying position in a similar manner or caused injury in the past. The dog’s sudden movement—although forceful—was not aggressive in nature, nor was it tied to a known pattern of risky behavior.
Legal Outcome: Foreseeability and Owner Responsibility
The case was reviewed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Kereluk v. Fabio, 1997). In its unpublished ruling, the court concluded that the incident was not reasonably foreseeable, and therefore the owner was not legally negligent under California law.
Key findings from the ruling:
“The defendant would be under a duty to prevent injury to the plaintiff only if he had reason to know that his dog had the characteristic of quickly jumping up from a prone position although appearing to be calm after playing… Since the concurrence of these two events was necessary to cause the accident, and since it was not foreseeable that the two events would occur at the same moment, the district court correctly determined that the defendant could not have been under a legal duty to prevent the accident.”
This ruling underscores an important principle: Absent prior evidence of similar behavior, a dog owner may not be legally responsible for rare or unexpected movements—even if the outcome is serious injury.
Conclusion: When Dog Behavior Experts Are Critical to Non-Bite Injury Cases
This case illustrates how expert testimony on dog behavior can be essential not only in classic bite cases, but also in litigation involving other forms of injury caused by dogs. My role as an expert is to analyze whether a behavior was predictable, consistent with the dog’s history, and whether it occurred in a context that should have alerted the owner to a potential risk.
Understanding the nuances of non-aggressive but injurious behavior is critical in these cases—and courts often rely on expert opinion to determine whether a duty of care was breached.
If you are an attorney working on a dog-related injury case in California, I can provide forensic behavior analysis and expert opinion grounded in science, not speculation.
Richard Polsky, Ph.D.
Dog Bite & Animal Behavior Expert Witness
President, Animal Behavior Counseling Services
Los Angeles, California | Nationwide Consultations Available
Note: Content reviewed and approved by Dr. Richard Polsky. Legal case summaries are for informational purposes and do not constitute legal advice.
