Hello, so my dog ran out of our property to play around and saw an old couple walking. As he approached them , i told the couple to stand st...

Question

Hello, so my dog ran out of our property to play around and saw an old couple walking. As he approached them , i told the couple to stand still but they lady didn't listen and backed up and fell down. The thing is my dog never touched the person at all.All he did was approach and sniff around them . Now she is claiming that i have to pay for their medical bill for a bad back and such since the dog jumped on them . What can i do ?

Also, after she fell down, she walked back to her house and complained about having a broken bone.

Answer

This one could go either way. There's a strict liability statute for injuries caused by dogs that says the dog owner is liable with no showing of negligence required (Cal Civil Code section 3342) but this law applies to dog bites, which isn't what happened.

The plaintiff(s) can still sue you for negligence - if they can prove that you failed to restrain your dog, knowing that he likes to lunge at people, and if they can show that their injuries resulted from your dog's behavior, then you could be held liable - it's just not strict liability.