Book Helps Keep Rover on Right Side of Law

It could have been called “Canons of Canine Law.” Had her whimsical side won out, it would have been called “In Pro Pup.”

But lawyer-author Mary Randolph of Berkeley, basically an earnest person, wanted the world to take her new book seriously, so she settled for utilitarian title of “Dog Law.”

Released by Nolo Press, a Berkeley desktop publishing house that specializes in legal self-help manuals, Randolph’s $12.95 soft-cover opus may well be the definitive work on how to keep Rover on the right side of the law.

Within its 258 pages, the book addresses practically every conceivable legal predicament a pup (or pup owner) can get entangled in. Pooper-scooper rules, leash laws, dog-bite statutes, airline regulations, nuisance abatement ordinances--you name it. Randolph has boned up on it all and collected it for the benefit of dog-lovers and dog-haters alike.

Not Just for Owners

“It’s for dog owners, sure,” she said. “But it’s also for people who live down the street from dogs. There’s a whole chapter there on resolving disputes with your neighbors. I think often people end up being in both positions.”

A 1983 graduate of the Boalt School of Law at the UC Berkeley, Randolph took an editing job at Nolo nearly four years ago after a brief stint practicing land-use law in Oregon. Also the author of “The Deeds Book: How to Transfer Real Estate in California” (deadly dull stuff by comparison, she admits), Randolph got drawn into doing “Dog Law” when an article on “Neighbor Law” she wrote for the Nolo News prompted a flood of reader questions.

“At first, I was skeptical,” she said of a separate book on dogs. “Now I know there is more than enough to fill up a book.”

Digging for doggie facts was an 18-month process that took her first to the law library to “shepherdize” (that’s legalese for a case research technique that has absolutely nothing to do with German dogs.) She also contacted experts such as city attorneys who write dog laws, lobbyists who work for the Humane Society, veterinarians and the like.

Ever at her side through the whole project was her faithful technical consultant, Flash. A pound puppy of uncertain ancestry, Flash fetches shoes and newspapers on command, stops short at the curb even when she’s chasing her beloved tennis ball, and has never, ever, been in trouble with the law.

“The only cats she’s ever chased, she’s never caught,” Randolph noted.

Though the sheer volume of local and state laws threatened to overwhelm her, Randolph often found herself fascinated by the minutiae. No dog dare set foot in a motel bedroom in North Carolina, for instance--a state statute expressly forbids it. Nor should any mere household hound presume eligibility for burial in the Coon Dog Cemetery in northwest Alabama. At least one such impostor was exhumed and expelled because he had never gone raccoon hunting in his life.

Most of the book, however, dispenses advice and information on a much broader scale, in keeping with the Nolo Press philosophy. “We write books to address about 90% of people’s problems,” Randolph said. “But the other 10% we can’t anticipate because the circumstances vary too much. What our books try to do, if we can’t give you the answers, is give you enough to know what questions to ask.”

Can’t Will Money

Some principles culled from the book apply all over the country, such as those governing how you can provide for your pooch after you pass on. Basically, Randolph said, you can neither take it with you nor leave it to your dog, because property cannot inherit property. “You can leave your dog in a will,” she said, “but you can’t use your will to leave money to a dog.”

Your best bet, she said, is to will the pooch and some money to a trusted friend--who will be compelled only by conscience to spend the money on the dog.

You’d think all the attention would have Randolph raring to go on a sequel, but she’s begging off on a follow-up on “Cat Law.”

“If there were any cat law out there, that would be one thing,” she said. “But there aren’t comparable laws that talk about cats, because cats don’t bark and they don’t usually bite.”