The "he just wants to play" argument doesn't absolve dog owners from liability if someone is injured while their animal is off the leash, a German court ruled Wednesday.

The higher regional court in the German city of Koblenz ruled that people are allowed to use "effective defensive measures" to fend off an unleashed dog.

Since animal behavior can be unpredictable, people who encounter dogs they don't know shouldn't be expected to determine whether that animal's behavior poses a threat, the court said in a statement. The court added that there's an even greater danger of a person misinterpreting the animal's behavior.

A walk in the woods gone wrong

The case before the Koblenz court concerned a dispute between a jogger and the owners of a dog that was walking without a leash in the woods.

The man was jogging with his own dog when they were approached by the unleashed dog. The man called out to the dog's owners, who were not in sight, and told them to call off their dog.

When the dog did not react to their calls, the jogger grabbed a branch to keep the dog at bay. He then slipped and tore a tendon in his knee and required an operation.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Great Dane No, not Danish. These gentle giants are actually German. They're the result of German royals breeding ever-larger hunting companions in the 17th century. Great Danes are the world's largest dog breed — pictured above is the world's tallest dog from 2013. Germans today call them "Deutsche Dogge," a linguistic reference to the canine's British ancestors from the 16th century.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany American Eskimo This dog suddenly became "American" after World War I, when the US dropped all references to its German origin. A territorial yapper, it became famous as a comic sidekick in US circus acts. Though the American Kennel Club calls this dog a unique breed, the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in Belgium disagrees. They say it remains what it has always been: a German Spitz.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Boxer In the 1800s, three men in Munich bred a bulldog with a breed of unknown origin, and continued that experiment for a few more generations. The result is a dog with one of the most instantly recognizable faces in the canine world, one still defined by German guidelines written in 1902. The origin of the name "boxer" remains a mystery, though.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Dachshund "Dachs" means badger, while dachshund dogs were bred to hunt. Even today, these canines, often called wiener dogs in English, still enjoy burrowing — but also biting. A 2008 study showed 20 percent of domesticated dachshunds have bitten strangers. German Emperor Wilhelm II owned one, and when he visited Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand, it attacked and killed the archduke's golden pheasant.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Munsterlander (small and large) Small Munsterlanders (pictured) owe their revival in 1902 to a German named Edmund Löns, who saw in the neglected breed a fine-tuned hunting ability and a beautiful coat. They're the smallest of the German pointer/setter dogs, but, confusingly, are not at all related to large Munsterlanders. Small Munsterlanders are hard to come by, as high breeding standards keep them relatively scarce.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Weimaraner With their silver coats, piercing eyes and biological need for human affection, what's not to love about Weimaraners? They were first bred in Weimar, the city of thinkers and poets, as a gun dog that was also family-friendly — a rarity. So beloved was the breed that, prior to shipping them abroad, they were sterilized in the hope that they'd remain exclusive to the German empire. But they didn't.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Doberman pinscher A half-day's walk from Weimar, in the town of Apolda, a court clerk named Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann had a problem. It was the late 1800s, and as a tax collector and officer, he needed protection during his night duties. Fortunately, he also ran the local pound. Through the crossbreeding of Weimaraners, pinschers and pointer dogs, he created the guard dog we now call the Doberman pinscher.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Schnauzer Schnauzers are so closely related to pinschers that the two are considered a single group by the international dog authority, the FCI. In southern Germany, schnauzers served primarily as stall dogs, catching rats and mice. Since rodents have sharp teeth, the dogs' ears and tails were trimmed to protect them from bites. Today, "cropping" and "docking" are illegal in much of the EU and in Australia.

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany Rottweiler They protected cattle and wagons carrying meat, scared away thieves and wild animals — rottweilers were a medieval trader's fiercely loyal companion. And they were fierce. They were bred in Rottweil, Germany, a former trade center, to protect goods at all cost. Their jaws are the strongest of any dog, with 328 pounds of bite pressure (149 kilograms).

10 dog breeds that originated in Germany German shepherd A dog named "Horand von Grafrath" is the pretentious first entry in the Breed Registry of the Club of German Shepherds in 1899. After World War I, the English rechristened them Alsatians, the US dropped the word German altogether, and for decades Australia banned them on fears they'd breed with dingoes. Their use by the Nazis further darkened their reputation: Over his lifetime, Hitler owned six. Author: Conor Dillon



'Friendly dog' argument rejected

The jogger sued the dog's owners for damages, but the couple pushed back, arguing that they weren't liable since their dog was being friendly and just wanted to play with the jogger's dog. The jogger didn't need to defend himself against the dog, so he carries some of the blame in the incident, they argued.

The higher regional court, however, dismissed their argument and clearly ruled that dog owners are liable if another person injures themselves while trying to fend off the dog.

In their decision, the court said the couple violated a local ordinance when they let their unleashed dog walk out of their sights in the forest and were therefore unable to quickly leash their dog again.

It is common in Germany for dogs to walk around unleashed, particularly outside of cities and towns. They must, however, be supervised and near their owners.

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