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Why I will not hesitate to shoot a charging dog

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Sorry to hear you weren't able to collect from the SOB. Given all the restrictions you live under in that place, maybe you should get a guard dog for your dog.
 
RDHood, its good that you don't live in my neighborhood, then. Mine aren't the only dogs that get out and run around. There's only 1 that I'd even consider shooting.

Thanks, Springmom. The GSD is my baby. Unless you walked into my house uninvited, the most damage she'd do would be to maybe crush your foot when she rolled over onto it for a belly rub. The other one would beat you to death with his tail for sure if it was longer than 3".
 
I have to mostly agree with Pax, Spring Mom and the Officers Wife and others in this thread.
I am a dog lover. I like dogs they like me, I can become friends and pet some dogs that most cannot, we have three but they do NOT run free.
There is a time and place for animals and a place where they do not belong. Remember folks they are animals not humans lets keep our perspectives in place and use our firearms when needed. I have killed dogs or cats that was no fun but other times in some situations we sure were glad to be rid of a real problem, using 20 caliber pellet guns to 30 calibers and in between, whatever the situation seemed to call for at the moment.
 
so........ it's winter time & i am collecting rents in a 'marginal ' neighborhood ( late 1970's) . I knock on a door & from around the left corner of the unit comes the BIGGEST doberman I have ever seen: he is dragging 20 + feet of chain you could tow a car with at the end of which is a 5 foot length of re-bar... looks like all but 1 foot of which was burried. My BUG is a 38 in my left winter coat pocket with my hand in pocket ( holding carkeys). It stops 20 odd feet away & drooling & dripping slime with ass end low inches up on me. I show no fear ( ultimate answer alreadly aimed at it chest) which confuses and slows the animals attach. Meanwhile a crowd forms & $ changes hands~~my guess is they are betting for the dog. At about 15 feet I decide I will shoot it & rather than put a hole in my coat pocket I begin to very slowly withdraw the revolver. Upon clearing the pocket the crowd lets out with........he's got a gun s*&^. & $ changes hands again. LOL except....school bus pulls up and a slip of a girl runs over screaming "dont shoot mister; he's not supposed to be lose" grabs this animal who is in full attach mode (&weighs twice her) & leads it inside. Crowd disperses, my rent aint home & I need a drink.
 
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Hi Mr. White,

For one at the moment frozen in time there is no reason to shoot so the weapon is irrelevant.


Unlike Van Moody, in her natural element a harpoon might be the better choice. Yeah, she's a lab... While I do not want to know the type & caliber someone might consider shooting her with... I can tell you the type & caliber that would be used in the response to someone trying to shoot her.
 

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SILVERLANCE-- You need an E-tool to scoop up that doggie doo, right? Works like a charm!
 
Interesting that this topic should come up now. I posses a CCW and normally carry a Browning Hi-Power and two extra magazines. This past Wednesday the twelfth, I was on my way to do some banking, and walking sown Bradburn, a nice quiet street in Westminster, Colorado. there is a home which has a bunch of Pit-Bulls in the 7300 block. After I walked past it, this woman opens her door and out two came at me , charging. my Hi-Power was out, [I did not retreat or run] and trained on the lead one , she comes out screaming don't shoot. If she hadn't stopped them, I had thirteen reasons for them to cease the attack. No I didn't shoot them. they stopped. I did not contact the Westminster PD because to put it honestly, they are a bunch of idiots, and are currently being sued for numerous excessive force issues. However I did contact Animal Control. There was no one in the office so I left a message.
I'll admit I was lucky, If I wasn't armed and showed fear, I have no doubt that they would have attacked.
If I would have fired, I would have definetely spent the night in jail, my firearm would have been confiscated, I'd definetyely go to court, and I'd have to retain an attorney. and lastely I really didn't want to deal with the local constabulatary. I will attempt to contact Animal Control next week, and Probably the Adams County Sheriffs Office [ far more professional].
I'm also going to start carrying my .357 SIG.
 
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i have 3 mutts a lab huskie a border collie lab and a rottie hound mix/ they are all big babies but in the woods they will pack and pull down deer. and during a dominance shift i had some scary 3 way furballs . i harbor no illusions about the potential they possess. i fear that they might get shot if they get out. and i work very hard to keep that from happening.they are big and i have no choice but to realize that someone could be legitimately fearful. around the chicken house i use 12 guage for dogs and coyotes alike
 
I hunt coyotes a lot - landowner's rules are if its a dog without a collar kill it, if its a dog with a collar and chasing cows, kill it. If there are two or more together kill them. I've wacked a bunch. Killed five with an AR15 in about ten seconds one day. Trick is to use anchoring shots then finish them off after you get the runners. In a pack they can be very dangerous. Had one nearly get my leg one day. Strange part is that I've never had a coyote try to attack me even after getting shot. Wife and I walk regularly. I always have a 1911A1 and an extra magazine.
 
It is needless to say, but some dog owners are not too bright. They must think it is cool to have an aggressive dog and they do not spend the time or make the effort to train the dog otherwise.

The police officer who taught my CCW class told us this story:

He was out walking with his baby in a stroller when some ladie's dog started attacking him.
He screamed at the lady to control her dog, and she just kind of pulled on the dog's leash and said "Stop!, Stop".
Finally, he drew his 9mm and pointed it at the dog, then the lady actually jumped on the dog and tackled it to the ground yelling at him "Don't shoot!, Don't shoot!".
So, my question is... Why the heck couldn't she have tackled the dog before the off-duty cop pulled out his pistol?.

It's funny what incentives it sometimes takes to get people to do the right thing.
 
To deal with an attacking dog, I would use the same caliber that I carry to deal with an attacking human: a 125 grain .357 Magnum. I'm not sure how effective it would be on a dog, but...

ECS

PS. It seems clear to me the difference between a dog running over to you to play and a dog charging you showing teeth and hackles.
 
play/charging

some dogs think people are the 'other white meat' & the waging tail is their way of saying 'wow..dinner is self-delivery'.
 
I moved to Santa Fe about a year ago. Some folks in the 'hood are kind of casual about keeping their dogs in, but for the most part, if you yell at them (the dogs), the leave, but they still shouldn't be running at large. So far, so good, no harm no foul.

However, if one challenged me on my property, it would likely get wacked with a shovel/whatever garden tool was at hand, or, shot (J-frame usually in my pocket -) if it couldn't take a hint. Our cat likes to hang out and watch us work, I wouldn't even tolerate some loose dog going after him in his yard. Bang, dead dogie.

However, there are some that just don't get it. They walk their dogs 'loose' (unleashed). I've had one or two get lippy when requested to get thier animals on a leash (they don't pick up the poop, either) and my response has been 'after I deal with your dog, I'll deal with you -'). Funny how size (I'm 6'3', 250) and/or a visible sidearm influnences attitude . . . They don't seem to walk their mutts here any more. Werks for me -

ETA: One of he places we walk has a really aggresive Golden Lab mix that charges the fence as we go by, very much in a froth. I understand if it's doing it's job (territioriality, etc.), but I'd be realy worried if this dog was loose, it seems veery upset. We're just walking, my wife is handicapped, and we're pretty quiet - just walking by . . .

I'd feel real bad about shooting someone's pet, but if the owner was responsible, it probably wouldn't be an issue to begin with . . . .

Bottom line - Owner Responsibility, any questoins?
 
Chihuahuas could easily begin to act the same way these dogs did if let run wild in a pack. The pack mentality takes over and there you have it, dead joggers.
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Not from Chihuahuas. More like Mexican footballs.

Personally, I think the dog threat, while it exists, is overstated. Pretty much like the anti-gunners argument. It is more a perceived threat caused fear, than a really common one. Learning dogs never hurts. We should not fear the guns, or the dog.
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Maybe where you live, not in Michigan. The story is from there, and dogs are the main reason I don't go unarmed. In the U.P., there is no such thing as fences. Sure, owners are responsible, but who cares about that when you are being attacked? 10mm for me when I am north of the Straits. And not fearing the dog got my brother severely bitten by one of the normally "sweetest dogs," a black Labrador Retriever.
 
A friend of my father's responded to a burglary alarm at a fenced compound. He entered the compound and shortly found himself being attacked by a Doberman that was patrolling the grounds -- he'd had no idea it was there. He already had his hand on his pistol, a S&W 9mm, so he drew and fired one round. Hit the dog in the shoulder. The speed the dog was moving, combined with the double-action first shot, combined to pull the shot off the dog's head where he intended to hit it. It was suddenly more interested in the wound than in continuing the attack.

He switched to a 1911 after that -- told my dad, "That's what I used on them in Vietnam, single action works just fine."

I almost killed a dog last week. I was walking my little Brittany when this big Fox Hound-ish looking dog charged us out from behind a car. He'd been laying in wait for us. I saw him from down the street walking around, so I'd been prepped for a confrontation. My Brittany ducked behind us, and I flipped my walking stick from the heavy handle being in my hand to holding it like a club, and yelled at him to go home while I shook the stick at him. He backed up, but he didn't leave. He growled and charged a couple more times, but with less conviction. My dog got behind me every time, just like I want her to do.

Then, he went down the block and disappeared -- and charged us again from between a garbage can and fence. He almost caught a round that time. I was sick of it.

There was a small group of men in a front yard, having a beer, on the other side of the street. I heard one of them tell another, "that dumb dog's gonna get clubbed if he don't stop it." He was right, too. One more step on a couple of those charges, and I'd have busted my stick on his head.

Being prepared to deal with them is the biggest thing. Just like any other problem in life -- deal with it, take care of it, use whatever tools you have at hand, and if you think it likely that you may have to deal with such a problem, carry the equipment to make dealing with it more effective.
 
I think what too many people forget is that their big baby may be friendly and timid while around them or the "family", but it may behave completely different if alone around a stranger.
 
Mrs Harper Was my neighbor for the last 6 years she was a great woman i did not know the people that had the dogs. Who knows what would happen if i did
i knew the man not that well thoe i went fishing and squirrel hunting at his house before. I was sadden when i heard the news about it. She will be missed by all who knew her.
 
The unfortunate fact of the Michigan attacks is that it was a pack of pits, not just one. Nobody is advocating shooting dogs,but this pitbull thing has really gotten out of control.I think the Detroit area has more nasty pitbulls than residents.The victims probably met their demise believing that the world was a beautiful and safe place.Guess that's why we need to be prepared for the unforseen.Even in our own yards.
 
I'm joining this late-- but I read every post on this thread.

Guys, this isn't a difficult issue. We all don't have to like it, but it is what it is.


I say what I say as an absolute Dog Lover. There are some on this thread that can attest to my devotion to my own pups (~ $2,000) in medical bills for one in the last month)


So... here it goes.


It took me some time to find it, but here is what I wrote on this thread (this topic's been done before in 32 different flavors):

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=277375&page=4

I am a dog lover, but lets get real folks.

There are a few inescapeable facts surrounding dogs and security.


1. An unrestrained dog that shows hostile intentions IS a threat. I honestly don't care if the dog is 50 pounds or 135 pounds. We have the right to not be injured by the dog in any way-- forget about life-threatening.

2. The responsibility for insuring the safety of others AS WELL AS the safety of the dog LIES SOLELY with the dog's owner. If you can't or won't restrain the animal and it decides to threaten someone, you accept the responsibility for that dogs actions-- and the results of any action that other person does to prevent being harmed.

3. A by-passing person probably has no interest in establishing a relationship with your dog. It is idiotic to expect or hold others responsible for knowing how to approach YOUR dog.

4. It is the dog's instinct to establish a hierchy in the pack. This may well manifest itself in a violent exchange. That passing person has no interest in joining your dog's pack. Your dog doesn't understand this. Why place it in a position to get a fatal lesson?

5. Many dogs tend to be territorial. The dog doesn't understand property lines. If there is a chance that your dog can come in contact with passers, it is YOUR responsibility to insure that passer's safety.

6. If your dog gets killed by someone preventing themselves from being harmed by your dog, look in the mirror to see who is to blame.

7. It is the dog owner's responsibilty to give fair warning when they can to people who choose to come in contact with your dog. If those people CHOOSE to interact with your dog it is their responsibility. I had my youngest jack russell terrier try to take the nose off my wife's uncle this weekend. My wife was HOLDING the dog, and I told him that he needed to quit screwing with the dog. He kept putting his face in Josey's face and snarling at her. She took offense at that-- and took a fair amount of skin off his nose. THAT is his fault for repeatedly putting himself in that position--even after being warned.

8. Our dogs depend on us to have the intelligence to prevent them from being in a situation where harm can come to them. We need to use that intelligence.
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-- John
 
The gun is not your only tool. If I shot every dog that chased me on a bike ride I would need an ammo bearer to keep me supplied. There is a huge difference between one or three dogs that are clearly pets and a pack of wild dogs. If you can't see that difference you scare me. The leash law here in henrico county states verbal control. In other words the dog could be aways away from its owner who might decide to shoot back. Think about that. I think the area has a lot to do with how people feel about this. I have never been bit but have come close. I have only drawn on one dog. Who backed off. It was a lab. I would have shot that dog. I did not because I yelled and backed off and he stopped. He would have bit the gun first and I would have shot him. I have a black lab, I had one then. I can't just shoot them. Do you shoot every person that looks a bit scary? Patrick
 
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