Maverick223
Member
Now there is an idea...just wear plaid and jeans...and carry an axe...you may look like a out of place lumberjack, but you should have no trouble fending off a dog...or zombie dog for that matter.
Dog attack....ALMOST
- Thread starter Jaybird78
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Tacbandit
Member
stun gun....lol...hey, I wonder how that would work...hmmmm
AmericanPatriot1
Member
My story - happened three weeks ago. My wife was sitting on the front steps of our home with our small terrier. I was working nearby. My wife suddenly yelled. I whirled and saw two large black dogs (Labs as it turns out) charging into my yard toward my wife and dog. I ran and positioned myself at the foot of the steps placing myself squarely in front of the charging dogs yelling the whole time for them to "GO HOME". The dogs didn't go home but instead moved to within 10 feet. I always carry a large folder in my pocket (in this case a Kershaw Storm II). Figuring that it was going to be a bad day, I pulled the knife out, opened it, and assumed a defensive posture. The owner suddenly appeared on the scene looking for his dogs, sees me holding the knife, and freaks out. Needless to say he took extreme umbrage at my pulling a knife on his dogs and threatened, in no uncertain terms, to kick my a**. I told him, in no uncertain terms, to get his dogs out of my yard, or I would call the police. He grabbed the dogs and scurried off never to return. I can only guess that I'm now referred to as the "crazy neighbor with the knife". Go figure.
Maverick223
Member
Better that, than the crazy neighbor pushing a wheelbarrow back home to bury his dog...right? If I were you, and the dogs returned (entered your yard and approached) the threatening neighbor would become the aforementioned crazy neighbor with the wheelbarrow.
Oh and welcome to THR, AmericanPatriot1.
sonier
Member
lol my axe does the job, ill stick too my techniques, conwict you ever been attacked by a dog?
rhenriksen
Member
- Joined
- May 14, 2009
- Messages
- 63
sonier
Member
well theres no reason to flame its a good thread, ill stop intisgating things lol. I have my opinion and anyone who tells me im wrong well do your thing, im still doing mine. my apoligies conwict.
Yosemite Sam
Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2008
- Messages
- 311
Would a bright beam on a flashlight do the trick? I'd have a baton/knife/gun on me but I read those stories on the SureFire website that it can blind a dog into submission. Man, while I'm at it, how about a deafening whistle or small air horn on your belt?
Edit: Scratch that on the flashlight. I did it to a dog once (part time pizza delivery in college) and it just stared at me and kept making warning barks.
Edit: Scratch that on the flashlight. I did it to a dog once (part time pizza delivery in college) and it just stared at me and kept making warning barks.
627PCFan
Member
I was attacked by a GS outside my apartment complex after coming home from the shotgun range. I had gun in hand, time to load it and still didnt pull the trigger. I got 2 stiches on the hand, and 2 punctures on each thigh. Turned out the dog wasnt a police dog and didnt know how to "bite". But still glad I didnt pull the trigger. If I had a small child around, it would have been over-
Never met a dog I couldn't talk to and calm down. The calm assertive energy that rbohm mentioned works with most dogs. If you can bring them down from their aggression there's no need to get physical. People often remark that "you're really good with dogs, she doesn't normally calm down that quickly" and that was with their two youngsters in the room. Dogs key on various things, run and you kick in their prey drive, show fear and they respond in kind. Be calm and social, let them smell you (it's a dog social thing) and everything is good.
That said, Plan B is whatever it takes and whatever is at hand or foot -- knife, stick. . . arm while I cut their throat. A trained GSD/Doberman/Rottweiler that is serious about doing you harm is a really hard and fast target. I was looking at serious GSD's once and when I met the sire he was in my face so fast, (schutzund 1 trained) it would have been all over if he had been aggressive. The stick would be a minor annoyance if they notice it at all. Be a shame to have to kill a trained dog. VA Beach used a donated Rottie as a K9 for a short period in the early 80's. Didn't work, the hospital bills were significantly higher due to the crush injuries. Talking is a much better option than offering up your arm.
$.02 -- my opinion, I don't work with dogs professionally, I just get along with most dogs I've met, even that nasty cocker spaniel two doors down
That said, Plan B is whatever it takes and whatever is at hand or foot -- knife, stick. . . arm while I cut their throat. A trained GSD/Doberman/Rottweiler that is serious about doing you harm is a really hard and fast target. I was looking at serious GSD's once and when I met the sire he was in my face so fast, (schutzund 1 trained) it would have been all over if he had been aggressive. The stick would be a minor annoyance if they notice it at all. Be a shame to have to kill a trained dog. VA Beach used a donated Rottie as a K9 for a short period in the early 80's. Didn't work, the hospital bills were significantly higher due to the crush injuries. Talking is a much better option than offering up your arm.
$.02 -- my opinion, I don't work with dogs professionally, I just get along with most dogs I've met, even that nasty cocker spaniel two doors down
::ramble mode on::
My job currently requires me (among other things) to stop and take a GPS reading at every driveway on every residence on every road in my county. It's a big county with 1450 miles of road. That means literally thousands of driveways. Many of them quite rural, remote and isolated. I walk a lot and am usually a half mile or so from my vehicle.
As you can imagine, I have encountered many dogs (hundreds) - some of whom are quite friendly, some (most) who feel it's their job to raise hell and let me know that I'm in their territory and better behave or I'm going to get an ass-biting if I make a wrong move, and some (thankfully few) who simply want to rip my heart out and use it for a play toy later on.
Some of these dogs are fenced; most are not. Again, we're talking out in the country where you don't get that many people strolling about.
I'm not afraid of dogs. I have worked with them in the past and have mucho respect for what they can be capable of, however. I happen to believe that the keyboard commandos who tell you that kicking, choking or some other Internet Dog-Fu martial art will take care of the issue have been smoking something that isn't really good for them.
Dogs (midsize and larger) generally are/can be faster than you, stronger than you (pound for pound) and much harder to hurt than you. Besides, they always carry a Cuisinart blender attached to the front of their heads.
My particular method of dealing with them consists of going about my business quite calmly and letting them get their barking out of the way. I mostly ignore them (outwardly) while remaining very aware of where they are and and what they are doing. Occasionally I look at them briefly to convey, "I'm not afraid of you, but I'm also not challenging you." This works almost all of the time.
Some get their barking done with once they realize I'm not a threat and they've done their job. Often, they then decide to come up for a couple of sniffs and and a bit of "good doggie" pats on the head or an ear scratch.
Some never stop barking (annoying, but I can live with it) but don't take it beyond that.
Some never settle down and are clearly waiting for me to let my guard down or make a wrong move so they can justify doing the "heart/chew toy" thing to me. You can believe that I always am very, very aware of exactly where these pooches are and what's going on with them.
Occasionally I've been paying attention to my data collector only to realize that there's a dog standing there sniffing me. Every time this has happened it's been a really friendly dog - thank goodness! I mean, they were right there and I never had a clue that I was being approached. And my dog radar is constantly scanning when I'm working, looking for any and all possible threats. They just managed to come in under it. If Bad Fido ever does that, I suppose I'm his bitch, so to speak.
Had a recent happening that was new and somewhat unnerving. I was standing at the top of a driveway that curved down and around to the residence. While I was doing my thing, I heard a low growl that put me on alert. Coming up the driveway about 30-40 feet away was a Golden Retriever (looked to be about 70 pounds) who was slowly, deliberately approaching step-by-step and doing this low growl the whole time.
I put on my best charming, "Hello puppy, good boy!" face and voice for him.
He wasn't buying any of it. He just continued to close the gap one slow step at a time while giving me nonstop growls accompanied by this, "Any second now I'm going to rip your heart out of your chest" stare.
I thought, "Okay, this is it. We're going to the mat this time."
Needless to say, I wasn't particularly pleased with the concept.
When he was about 15 feet away, his owner came out of the garage (about 75 feet away) and said something to the dog that I didn't catch. Wish I had heard it, just out of curiosity.
At that point, the dog immediately underwent a complete personality change, transforming from the Hound of the Baskervilles into Rover the Lovable Goofball.
He bounded up to me for the inevitable sniff and scratch session, then turned and trotted back down the driveway, tail all a-wag.
Geez. I really thought we were going to rumble. And a freaking Golden Retriever of all things? Those guys are supposed to be sweethearts.
Believe me, my sincere gratitude went out to the owner piping up when he did.
By the way, I don't wander the back roads completely unprepared - relying on nothing but my boyish charm and good looks to protect me from the snarling, slavering packs. I also carry a canister of HALT! pepper spray (say what you will about pepper spray, I don't care) and a Timberline Worden Tactical folder (large, Model 11291 for those who might want to look it up - it's a great knife and very affordable).
I'd carry a good walking stick (big believer in sticks & canes here) except that I'm already laden with gear and it just isn't feasible.
In summary: In my experience, the proper attitude and demeanor goes a long, long way in ensuring a happy outcome in dealing with 99.5% of the dogs you will ever encounter. Don't show fear, don't show aggression. Just realize that a dog's gotta say his piece (it's hard-wired into them) and once he gets that out of the way, generally everybody can get on with their business.
That's my 2% of a dollar. YMMV.
::ramble mode off::
My job currently requires me (among other things) to stop and take a GPS reading at every driveway on every residence on every road in my county. It's a big county with 1450 miles of road. That means literally thousands of driveways. Many of them quite rural, remote and isolated. I walk a lot and am usually a half mile or so from my vehicle.
As you can imagine, I have encountered many dogs (hundreds) - some of whom are quite friendly, some (most) who feel it's their job to raise hell and let me know that I'm in their territory and better behave or I'm going to get an ass-biting if I make a wrong move, and some (thankfully few) who simply want to rip my heart out and use it for a play toy later on.
Some of these dogs are fenced; most are not. Again, we're talking out in the country where you don't get that many people strolling about.
I'm not afraid of dogs. I have worked with them in the past and have mucho respect for what they can be capable of, however. I happen to believe that the keyboard commandos who tell you that kicking, choking or some other Internet Dog-Fu martial art will take care of the issue have been smoking something that isn't really good for them.
Dogs (midsize and larger) generally are/can be faster than you, stronger than you (pound for pound) and much harder to hurt than you. Besides, they always carry a Cuisinart blender attached to the front of their heads.
My particular method of dealing with them consists of going about my business quite calmly and letting them get their barking out of the way. I mostly ignore them (outwardly) while remaining very aware of where they are and and what they are doing. Occasionally I look at them briefly to convey, "I'm not afraid of you, but I'm also not challenging you." This works almost all of the time.
Some get their barking done with once they realize I'm not a threat and they've done their job. Often, they then decide to come up for a couple of sniffs and and a bit of "good doggie" pats on the head or an ear scratch.
Some never stop barking (annoying, but I can live with it) but don't take it beyond that.
Some never settle down and are clearly waiting for me to let my guard down or make a wrong move so they can justify doing the "heart/chew toy" thing to me. You can believe that I always am very, very aware of exactly where these pooches are and what's going on with them.
Occasionally I've been paying attention to my data collector only to realize that there's a dog standing there sniffing me. Every time this has happened it's been a really friendly dog - thank goodness! I mean, they were right there and I never had a clue that I was being approached. And my dog radar is constantly scanning when I'm working, looking for any and all possible threats. They just managed to come in under it. If Bad Fido ever does that, I suppose I'm his bitch, so to speak.
Had a recent happening that was new and somewhat unnerving. I was standing at the top of a driveway that curved down and around to the residence. While I was doing my thing, I heard a low growl that put me on alert. Coming up the driveway about 30-40 feet away was a Golden Retriever (looked to be about 70 pounds) who was slowly, deliberately approaching step-by-step and doing this low growl the whole time.
I put on my best charming, "Hello puppy, good boy!" face and voice for him.
He wasn't buying any of it. He just continued to close the gap one slow step at a time while giving me nonstop growls accompanied by this, "Any second now I'm going to rip your heart out of your chest" stare.
I thought, "Okay, this is it. We're going to the mat this time."
Needless to say, I wasn't particularly pleased with the concept.
When he was about 15 feet away, his owner came out of the garage (about 75 feet away) and said something to the dog that I didn't catch. Wish I had heard it, just out of curiosity.
At that point, the dog immediately underwent a complete personality change, transforming from the Hound of the Baskervilles into Rover the Lovable Goofball.
He bounded up to me for the inevitable sniff and scratch session, then turned and trotted back down the driveway, tail all a-wag.
Geez. I really thought we were going to rumble. And a freaking Golden Retriever of all things? Those guys are supposed to be sweethearts.
Believe me, my sincere gratitude went out to the owner piping up when he did.
By the way, I don't wander the back roads completely unprepared - relying on nothing but my boyish charm and good looks to protect me from the snarling, slavering packs. I also carry a canister of HALT! pepper spray (say what you will about pepper spray, I don't care) and a Timberline Worden Tactical folder (large, Model 11291 for those who might want to look it up - it's a great knife and very affordable).
I'd carry a good walking stick (big believer in sticks & canes here) except that I'm already laden with gear and it just isn't feasible.
In summary: In my experience, the proper attitude and demeanor goes a long, long way in ensuring a happy outcome in dealing with 99.5% of the dogs you will ever encounter. Don't show fear, don't show aggression. Just realize that a dog's gotta say his piece (it's hard-wired into them) and once he gets that out of the way, generally everybody can get on with their business.
That's my 2% of a dollar. YMMV.
::ramble mode off::
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DAVIDSDIVAD
member
A great flashlight is a very goodthing.
Not a piece of crap light, but a good, blinding light.
I've used a flashlight to shoo away more annoying dogs than I can count.
Not a piece of crap light, but a good, blinding light.
I've used a flashlight to shoo away more annoying dogs than I can count.
7X57chilmau
Member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2008
- Messages
- 687
A couple posters mentioned sword canes. I'd like to address that.
Sword canes are illegal in virtually all juridictions. It's not a great idea to be caught carrying one. Makes it much more likely that your dog encounter ends with you before the beak.
Carry the stick and the blade separately, if you wish to have both on your person. You are well advised to go about with means of self defence on your person, but you are also well advised to keep that means within the limits of the law. Carry illegal weapons, and you are as much a threat to your liberty as your opponent is, man or beast.
J
Sword canes are illegal in virtually all juridictions. It's not a great idea to be caught carrying one. Makes it much more likely that your dog encounter ends with you before the beak.
Carry the stick and the blade separately, if you wish to have both on your person. You are well advised to go about with means of self defence on your person, but you are also well advised to keep that means within the limits of the law. Carry illegal weapons, and you are as much a threat to your liberty as your opponent is, man or beast.
J
meef, for the most part you have done everything right when confronting unfamiliar dogs, one thing though, when you had the encounter with the golden retriever and used the "hello puppy voice" all you did was increase the level of excitement in the dog, which increased the level of aggression. what you needed to do was defeat the dog psychologically. when you do that the dog calms down.
for everyone, since dogs are pack animals, and it doesnt matter if the pack is human, feline, canine, or what, the animal always has permission to protect the pack and the territory. you have to claim your space, even if you are in their territory. do that and even if the dogs keep barking at you, they wont generally come closer. and you have to wait until the dog backs down, then you move forward. at that point you have defeated the dog.
for everyone, since dogs are pack animals, and it doesnt matter if the pack is human, feline, canine, or what, the animal always has permission to protect the pack and the territory. you have to claim your space, even if you are in their territory. do that and even if the dogs keep barking at you, they wont generally come closer. and you have to wait until the dog backs down, then you move forward. at that point you have defeated the dog.
Well, my "hello puppy" schtick has worked pretty favorably almost all of the time. At any rate, it has never seemed to make things any worse.
This dog, though, never showed any outward change of pace or posture - just continued slowly and steadily advancing with that ceaseless soft growl.
I think he had a set purpose in mind and until his owner called him off, was going to pursue it no matter what I did or didn't do. Glad I didn't have to find out for sure. Very glad.
I do, however, like your observations and advice.
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sonier
Member
Well i read something, a stun gun may kill a dog, if you use a stun gun be sure that your ready for dog to be dead. ive had partime neghorbors from denver come up here, threaten to cattleprod our legal freeranging sheep. well one day he did, he nearly killed our 1000dollar breeding ram. ram went into muscle convulsions nearly died. point is cattle prods for sheep bad idea, and i am assuming stun gun for humans on dogs is bad idea as well if you dont want too kill it.
Never been a concern. As a fit 35 yr-old adult male, I imagine any serious dog attack against me would end up something like this:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/10889479/detail.html
Dog has 1 mouth, I have 2 hands.
The fact that this guy is 65 years old makes him pretty special, though.
I know that aggressive breeds can be a bit bigger, but I'd hope to never find a 200 pound Great Dane or Saint Bernard trying to kill me. Throw in woods scenarios where dogs could have rabies, and I guess I'll pass on the arm's reach stuff and take a big caliber gun.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/10889479/detail.html
Dog has 1 mouth, I have 2 hands.
The fact that this guy is 65 years old makes him pretty special, though.
I know that aggressive breeds can be a bit bigger, but I'd hope to never find a 200 pound Great Dane or Saint Bernard trying to kill me. Throw in woods scenarios where dogs could have rabies, and I guess I'll pass on the arm's reach stuff and take a big caliber gun.
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Frankly, I hesitated to share any detail of this experience, given that I'm not very fond of recalling it for a plethora of reasons. However, amidst the minimal amounts of chest beating, there seem to be some undercurrent of underestimation of the potential dangers even by those whom have given rational and well thought out responses and suggestions. For clarification I think the only element not being rationally handled is *post* bite. Perhaps some element of my personal experience will add to this portion of the discussion.
I won't bother going into the lead-up as the details don't particularly pertain to S&T. Suffice it to say, if someone you know is having a dog professionally bite trained, but they don't seem very able to keep the dog under control, be careful.
I'm 6'1", 240lbs and age 25. I've been in better shape, but I feel justified in describing myself as physically powerful. The dog in my encounter was a 85lbs German Shepard Dog from Czechoslovakian working lines that had received some professional bite training. I was not armed, and you can very much bet I was severely outmatched. This happened about a year ago.
At the outset of the encounter I was not even very much aware that there WAS an 'encounter'. The GSD was in mid attack on another person when I rounded a corner and stepped into the situation. The dog was suddenly in my guard and had given me about 8 "Back Off" bites on my right arm that worked up from my right hand to my right bicep. This took perhaps one or at most one and a half seconds. They hurt like hell (mostly later) but were not incapacitating as they were merely puncture wounds, not the tearing and stripping wounds you rightly fear from a dog bite.
My immediate response was to attempt to strike the dog in the ribcage area with my left hand while it was mid-air / on two legs figuring this would gain me some distance. My though process at the time was not much more complicated than "Get off!!" In hindsight the dog's reflexes seem almost preternatural, as he 'tagged' me a few more times on my left wrist and forearm before my responding strike was fully in motion.
At this point I stepped back, mostly reeling from the speed at which everything had happened and thinking to myself that distance was all that was required of me to resolve things. The dog then lunged and fully bit my left hand. The dog tried to pull my hand to the ground and give it the decoy sleeve treatment, complete with a re-bite for better grip. Even though it certainly felt like it, miraculously no bones were broken or crushed. The bite, while not permanently crippling, was pretty significant. The other person who had been attacked was pretty much out of it, and wandering to leave the immediate area.
Lee Lapin's sig line describes Mindset, Skillset, and Toolset. I was equipped with no Toolset, and no Skillset for handling a dog-bite in process. I was forced to develop my Mindset on the fly. Looking back I would not have traded the Mindset I found there in that moment for any combination of skills or tools I can imagine, so I certainly think he's got the right order down. I certainly could have used all three.
Describing the actions I was forced to take and the general violence of them frankly disturbs me, so I will be very brief with the following details.
I was concerned the dog would switch targets and further debilitate me. Because of this I found myself wrapping my left hand around the dog's jaw to keep the damage there. While I cannot recommend this approach, I received no further injuries so it more or less 'worked'.
No special tricks were used, and I could not grab anything important on the dog. Nevertheless, eventually the dog whimpered and attempted to draw away from me. I used this opportunity to pick it up, 'hang' it by the collar with my good hand and carry it out a door which I promptly closed between us, trapping the dog. I had not physically harmed the dog enough to render it incapable of further attack. The look and lunge this dog gave when I shut that door leaves me no doubt that I'd have been severely mauled had I not had the ability to separate myself from this dog.
I won't bother going into the lead-up as the details don't particularly pertain to S&T. Suffice it to say, if someone you know is having a dog professionally bite trained, but they don't seem very able to keep the dog under control, be careful.
I'm 6'1", 240lbs and age 25. I've been in better shape, but I feel justified in describing myself as physically powerful. The dog in my encounter was a 85lbs German Shepard Dog from Czechoslovakian working lines that had received some professional bite training. I was not armed, and you can very much bet I was severely outmatched. This happened about a year ago.
At the outset of the encounter I was not even very much aware that there WAS an 'encounter'. The GSD was in mid attack on another person when I rounded a corner and stepped into the situation. The dog was suddenly in my guard and had given me about 8 "Back Off" bites on my right arm that worked up from my right hand to my right bicep. This took perhaps one or at most one and a half seconds. They hurt like hell (mostly later) but were not incapacitating as they were merely puncture wounds, not the tearing and stripping wounds you rightly fear from a dog bite.
My immediate response was to attempt to strike the dog in the ribcage area with my left hand while it was mid-air / on two legs figuring this would gain me some distance. My though process at the time was not much more complicated than "Get off!!" In hindsight the dog's reflexes seem almost preternatural, as he 'tagged' me a few more times on my left wrist and forearm before my responding strike was fully in motion.
At this point I stepped back, mostly reeling from the speed at which everything had happened and thinking to myself that distance was all that was required of me to resolve things. The dog then lunged and fully bit my left hand. The dog tried to pull my hand to the ground and give it the decoy sleeve treatment, complete with a re-bite for better grip. Even though it certainly felt like it, miraculously no bones were broken or crushed. The bite, while not permanently crippling, was pretty significant. The other person who had been attacked was pretty much out of it, and wandering to leave the immediate area.
Lee Lapin's sig line describes Mindset, Skillset, and Toolset. I was equipped with no Toolset, and no Skillset for handling a dog-bite in process. I was forced to develop my Mindset on the fly. Looking back I would not have traded the Mindset I found there in that moment for any combination of skills or tools I can imagine, so I certainly think he's got the right order down. I certainly could have used all three.
Describing the actions I was forced to take and the general violence of them frankly disturbs me, so I will be very brief with the following details.
I was concerned the dog would switch targets and further debilitate me. Because of this I found myself wrapping my left hand around the dog's jaw to keep the damage there. While I cannot recommend this approach, I received no further injuries so it more or less 'worked'.
No special tricks were used, and I could not grab anything important on the dog. Nevertheless, eventually the dog whimpered and attempted to draw away from me. I used this opportunity to pick it up, 'hang' it by the collar with my good hand and carry it out a door which I promptly closed between us, trapping the dog. I had not physically harmed the dog enough to render it incapable of further attack. The look and lunge this dog gave when I shut that door leaves me no doubt that I'd have been severely mauled had I not had the ability to separate myself from this dog.
- Don't count on the much venerated throat punch. It did not work for me.
- I'm 'big an strong'. I thought I was tough. If your initial plan of action is to intentionally offer up any part of your body to a dog and just count on your machismo to carry the day, you are making a serious mistake.
I was told the area this had occurred in looked like a murder scene. It was all my blood. I survived, I did not WIN. There is a big difference, and as above if you willfully go about your life only preparing to survive, you are making a mistake.
Perhaps I'm biased in my opinions on the threat an in progress dog bite poses due to that rather formidable animal I encountered, but I don't think I am. People have been killed by lesser dogs. If a dog tries to take a bite out of you, take it seriously, and worry about the owner's feelings... never.
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