Braese v. Stinker Stores, Inc., 337 P.3d 602

On Aug. 6, 2011, Bryce Fuller entered a Stinker Stores convenience/gas station in Boise with his golden retriever, Darma; the store manager permissively allowed customers to bring dogs inside.
Darma wore a collar and leash, but Fuller was not holding the leash while purchasing at the counter.
During a ~2-minute transaction the dog repeatedly put her front paws on the counter and received treats from the cashier several times.
As Fuller finished, customer Richard Braese walked past Fuller to the counter; Darma moved around Fuller and jumped up, hitting Braese in the chest.
Braese sued Stinker Stores and later added Fuller; Stinker Stores moved for summary judgment. The district court held the store owed no duty to protect Braese and dismissed the store; Braese recovered a default judgment against Fuller and appealed the store dismissal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Braese)	Defendant's Argument (Stinker Stores)	Held
Whether store owed a duty to protect Braese from a customer’s dog allowed inside	Store had duty to exercise ordinary care to prevent foreseeable harm from dogs in its store	No duty: allowing dogs generally does not create an unreasonable risk and store had no notice Darma was dangerous	No duty: under these facts store did not know or should not have known dog was vicious or posed unreasonable risk; summary judgment for store affirmed

Alegria v. Payonk, 101 Idaho 617 (1980) (elements of common law negligence)
Turpen v. Granieri, 133 Idaho 244 (1999) (duty requires ordinary care to prevent unreasonable, foreseeable risks)
Tommerup v. Albertson’s, Inc., 101 Idaho 1 (1980) (business owner not an insurer of customers against injury)