Dog attack

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FL-NC

FL-NC

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Yep, it can happen. I was on my way home from town yesterday driving down a sparsely populated road (although there are some "shady" looking residences along this road- trailers with junk all over the place, etc), and I saw a lady with a bicycle but she wasn't riding it. My first thought was that she had thrown the chain or maybe had a flat tire. Then I saw she was using it as a defensive tool trying to hold a pack of 5 agressive dogs at bay by keeping it between her and them. There was no other vehicle traffic, so I laid on my horn and nailed the gas and drove straight down the center of the road directly at the dogs and was able to push them away from her. Since my truck is bigger and louder than the dogs it worked. Then I did a bootlegger J-turn and got back to where she was- shaking and hyperventilating. I asked her if she wanted a ride and she said yes, so I grabbed her bike, tossed it in the bed (the dogs were regrouping and about to re-start the attack, so I was ready to bring my holstered shield 9 into play) but the 2 of us got back into the truck before I needed to go that far (even though I was tempted to go on the offensive). BTW, no other people were anywhere to be seen. I got my phone out and took a photo of the dogs moving down the road towards us, and another of the nearest house that showed 1 of the dogs (now to the side of my truck) and the nearest house with the address clearly seen on the mailbox in the background- no idea if the dogs originated from this address or not. She was understandably upset but had not been bit. I got her contact info in case anything else came up from the incident and gave her a ride to where she needed to go. I also told her that not riding down that road in the future and getting a can of bear spray would probably be a great idea. Then I called animal control and explained the situation, and texted the photos to the officer. The officer told me that she had recently gotten another complaint about dogs killing a bunch of chickens that belonged to someone else in the area. This obviously could have gotten much worse very quickly. Just another example of being ready for the bizarre and unexpected, and being ready to fight with whatever is available (and having your weapon ready for use and on your body) can't be understated.
 
Dogs in packs are a real threat. We had some actually eating humans a few years ago when populations got out of hand on the reservation. Vehicles aren't always handy, but a firearm is indeed a last ditch solution in these times. That's why I have taken to walking with a cane or walking stick. Dogs seem to understand those better than guns, and the wind direction doesn't have to be at your back.

A cyclist can carry a water bottle with an ammonia solution to deter hostile critters. Just make sure you don't grab the wrong one when thirsty!
 
I'm glad it turned out OK. You handled it well.
Another reason to carry at all times.
I have an acquaintance who's beloved dog turned on a grandchild and seriously mauled him.
When my #1 son was hospitalized from an atv accident, a toddler in the next room had been mauled by a pit bull...
...bad stuff always happens FAST.
.
 
rust collector said:
Dogs seem to understand those better than guns,
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I agree. Unless a dog is legitimately trained, I don't think they have the faintest clue what a gun is. My $ says if I had used my pistol, the loud noise and at least 1 dog with a GSW would have likely convinced the remaining dogs to split. If not, there's a reason I carry guns that hold more than 1 round.
 
That is the main reason that I carry a gun on my property . My county doesn’t have a leash law . It is a felony in Virginia to intentionally kill a dog , so I might have some legal trouble , but I would just have to cross that bridge when it comes in that situation . Virginia passed that law after someone set a pit bull on fire and caught running down a street in the city of Richmond . They had this story all over the local news and the picture of the dog . They treated him , but he died about a week or two later after looking better . They showed his picture almost daily on the news until he died .
 
red rick said:
It is a felony in Virginia to intentionally kill a dog , so I might have some legal trouble , but I would just have to cross that bridge when it comes in that situation .
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That depends. It's legal in Virgina to kill dogs who are attacking livestock. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title3.2/chapter65/section3.2-6552/ I didn't spend a lot of time looking but I think it's a safe bet that, given that it's legal to kill a dog that's attacking chickens, it's also legal to kill one that's attacking people. ;)
 
A few years back, I was coming home from my walk. I passed my neighbor's house and two dogs came out of his yard and came up to me barking. Both stopped about 20 feet away still barking. Then the pit bull came at me. I pulled my glock 30, pointed it at the dog's head and started yelling at the dog. It stopped about ten feet away, barked a bit then went back to the neighbor's yard. No shots were fired.

A few days later I told my neighbor that I almost had to shoot his dog. He was not happy and hinted at retaliation if I had shot. I later thought about it and added pepper spray to my hiking loadout. I really don't want legal trouble for discharging a weapon in a residential area, or personal trouble from a po'ed neighbor.

The problem went away when, a few weeks later, the dog attacked a person in the neighbors yard. Dog gone.

I still carry a firearm on hikes (twice a week). My ccw has changed from a glock 30 owb to a lcpII in my pocket.

glad everything worked out for you and her,

murf
 
I almost killed a German shepherd once that was trying to attack my wife. We were on a walk down the road from our house. My wife had our infant in a front carrier. The dog came running up a driveway towards us, snarling. I immediately got between it and my wife and as it came at me I punched it in the head, knocking it to the side. For some reason it was focused more on getting to my wife and kid than to me and we did a brief little circle dance with my wife and the dog circling me. I had my gun halfway out when the owner came out yelling and was able to get the dog under control. I was definitely wishing for a stick/club.
 
Years ago when I lived in NC, I would run through various neighborhoods near my house since I was in a unit that didn't do morning PT as a unit. There were a few dogs that liked to chase people- surprising and concerning since this was a neighborhood with lots of homes and lots of children, riding bicycles, catching school buses, etc. A friend of mine was married to a MP who gave me a couple cans of pepper spray that had hit the expiration date and were being replaced with new pepper spray. I trained those dogs to stop chasing me. It didn't take long before I could run through there and they all stayed away. I always wondered if any of the owners got that stuff on themselves petting their dogs after.
 
FL-NC said:
Years ago when I lived in NC, I would run through various neighborhoods near my house since I was in a unit that didn't do morning PT as a unit. There were a few dogs that liked to chase people- surprising and concerning since this was a neighborhood with lots of homes and lots of children, riding bicycles, catching school buses, etc. A friend of mine was married to a MP who gave me a couple cans of pepper spray that had hit the expiration date and were being replaced with new pepper spray. I trained those dogs to stop chasing me. It didn't take long before I could run through there and they all stayed away. I always wondered if any of the owners got that stuff on themselves petting their dogs after.
Click to expand...
My dad use to tell me a story about when he was a kid and had a paper route there was a dog that use to chase him . He said that he got a squirt gun and filled it with ammonia and the next time that the dog chased him , he shot it in the eyes with the ammonia . He said that from then on the dog would run from him when he saw him coming on his bicycle .
 
FL-NC said:
I agree. Unless a dog is legitimately trained, I don't think they have the faintest clue what a gun is. My $ says if I had used my pistol, the loud noise and at least 1 dog with a GSW would have likely convinced the remaining dogs to split. If not, there's a reason I carry guns that hold more than 1 round.
Click to expand...
Trust me they get the idea what a gun is the first blast . That said aim a little low , put the chest of the dog on the top of front sight if they are approaching you. :) it always will stop an attacking dog from that vector . and if you miss round will quickly hit the ground .
 
my son was bitten pretty bad (close to 50 stiches face and arms) when he was 7( he,s 40 now). the dog was a mixed breed about 50 lbs, my son was coming home after being left off the school bus. the dog owner,s home insurance payed out a large settlement . in certain light conditions you can still see the scars on his face. it was thought that my son came between a few beagles in a pen that were in heat and the dog the attacked him. the dog was put down by the dog enforcement officers. ever since then i would not hesitate to kill any aggressive dog.
 
I've posted a couple of times before about how I carried a great big honkin' walking staff, pepper spray, and as a last resort, a .32 H&R or .38 Special revolver tucked behind my right hip when I used to go on my exercise hikes down to Marsh Creek and back.
Fifteen or twenty years back, there was a family that lived about a mile down the road that had a couple of Rottweilers. The first time those two big scary monsters came running down their driveway to confront me, it scared me half to death. As soon as I yelled though, they both turned and ran for home! o_O
 
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