Sick of dogs.. what to carry?

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jackdanson

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
859
Alright, I work for a package delivery company and I'm sick of being harrassed by dogs. Yesterday I had to walk 200+ yards with a huge yellow lab harrassing me, growling, showing teeth, etc. I'm pretty good at backing away slowly without turning my back and keeping my diad (the little data keeper thing we have) in between me and dogs, but it is getting ridiculous, that lab probably could have killed me. (or at least given me a very bad week)

Here's the problem. I work out of a large airport so carrying a firearm is definetly a no go. Not only would I be fired if caught, I would probably be arrested too. The area I deliver in is a really safe area, I'm not too worried about bipedal preadators, I'm a lot more worried about dogs. So here are my options.

Collapsible baton - positives-
Could be put in a holster that looks like a flashlight holster.. looks harmless. Very unlikely to be harassed for carrying this.
Negatives
May not be effective, I have no training with one and it may not have an immediate effect.

Knife-positives-
Effective, could probably carry a "grandpa knife" and not be harrassed.
negatives-
Messy, could only use as last resort.

Pepper spray of some kind -positives-
Probably the best option. Management "strongly suggests" we don't carry spray, but it isn't forbidden. I probably wouldn't get harassed at the airport. Could be very effective.
negatives-
I know nothing about them... help!!

Any opinions? Anyone know of a decent spray in a small package that I can get for dogs?
 
What about Milkbones? I walk my son to and from pre-school, and we pass a house with 4 hostile German Shepards and a short chain link fence. I tossed 'em treats a few times and they don't try to come over the fence and kill me anymore. If the owner doesn't like it, apologize and tell them you'll use pepper spray the next time. :D
 
Check out the various ultrasonic repellers. I have only one experience with them, watched deliveryman set a pair of mutts to flight. Think in terms of classic MGM or Warner Bros. cartoons as the dogs did bootleg 180s.
 
Ditto on th emilkbones....In my case,I used to carry a few extra pieces of beef jerky.Then again, i never had the fear resonse to dogs ( I grew up with Dobies and PBTs),so I never gave off the "threat or prey" signals that a subconcious fear response does to (some ) dogs...sorto f like being able to beat a polygraph,I guess...
Another option would be to carry the least essential public employee that you know, trussed up and duct taped over your shoulder in a sack-as the dogs bein their pursuit,toss him in their direction...it should slow them down a bit ( runs for flame retardant suit and take cover behind the keyboard).
On another humorous note,google up the youtube video someone here posted RE "Trunkmonkey"...that could be the inspiration for a "novel canine defense" option...I am thinking something like a Dachshund/Pitbull Terrier hybrid suitable for ankle or "Mexican " carry...
 
Dog treats & a squirt/spray bottle full of water & household ammonia.
Click to expand...
Effective, but you will good sued for using this. And a jury will not be very sympathetic about using chemical weapons on puppies.
I would suggest a stick, if you can manage it. If not, a good pepper spray, maybe one of the Kimber things, which actually do a good job of not looking like pepper spray. But a pocketful of dog treats will go a long way. Dogs that appear aggressive are often just untrained, and a tasty treat should speed things up.
And don't mistake a hyper dog for an aggressive dog.
 
So, you can't squirt them household cleaner & water, but you can beat them with a stick?

What a weird country we live in.

rc
 
The Post Office issues Halt, a 2% pepper spray to it's carriers. It's actually remarkably effective on the average dog. It also marks them with a yellowish-orange dye for identification.

It will not reliably stop a guard animal's attack, or a determined animal that is already enraged. However, you should know about these prior to entering the property.

The 2% pepper spray has withstood law-suits, and the fact that many jurisdictions have leash laws also tends to dampen many instances of law-suit ardor.
 
Effective, but you will good sued for using this.
Click to expand...

Doubt it. Household ammonia is a 5% solution. If he has to employ the spray, he was threatened. He's not worried about puppies either. In all honesty, if it were me, I'd conceal the pepper spray and pass out the Milkbones. If it's a dog you see more than once, condition it.
 
Il'd like to help in any and all of these dog threads, but so far I haven't met a dog i feared.

I have been bitten a number of times and still have no fear. All but one bite were accomplished breaking up dog fights, where I just wade into the fray and start punching kicking and grabbing the dogs to stop them.

The one dog that bit me, unknown to me, was a Great Dane, that bit the back of my thigh, as I was assisting a guy with his dog and his BMW car jump start.

The dog took these actions as dangerous to his owner. The bite was more gentile pressure than a real bite.

I got a job in a car garage playing with the guard dog. I didn't know it was a guard dog, and it didn't bark or growel because it couldn't surgicly.. By the time I was warned away it was too late and the dog and I were at play. The car shop owner told me if ever I needed work I had a job and I took him up on it.

Mostly with a 'bad dog' I just don't look in their eyes, and I advance on them, with no fear. Always they back down.

I'm just under 6 feet and weigh 145, so no big monster of a guy.

I killed one dog, a doberman. I was with a friend, his girl and my girl in a public park in Marblehead Mass in my late teens. All 4 of us had long hair.

I don't know if that had anything to do with this but I heard the dobermans owner tell the dog to get us.

The dog came on and I pulled my jeans jacket off over my head and wrapped it around my left arm and offered it. The dog took the bait and I friggin broke the dogs neck with his own body weight doing the breaking.

Man was that guy pissed off.. to damnn bad. I felt very bad for the dog never the less, it was doing what it had been told and paid for it with it's life.

I have no idea where in the world there is a dog I would fear.
 
The 2% pepper spray has withstood law-suits, and the fact that many jurisdictions have leash laws also tends to dampen many instances of law-suit ardor.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think that is what I am going to stick with. That and treats.

I am very observant, every instance that I've had where I have been in danger has been because people let their dogs outside without any leash or invisible fence. If the dog is fenced in, either by a leash, invisible fence, or fence, I won't have a problem with it.. I'll figure out a way around or drop the package off with a neighbor. The problem arises when their dog is off-leash and usually not even on THEIR property anymore.. if a dog runs across a street at me I definetly have no qualms taking care of it by any means neccessary, I'd shoot them if I wasn't working. The only potential lawsuit would be ME suing someone over not keeping their dog penned up.
 
I dunno about me being much of anything, but I don't trust guys my dogs from past times didn't like.

Once i found a jogger in MY YARD getting ready to beat my dane with a long hard walking stick, while my Dane was chainned!

Lets just say that stick got a work out that day, but not on the dog.

I have been in serious trouble petting K-9 dogs cops have... How was I supposed to know I wasn't to pet a dog like that? I speak dog, and that dog said "pet me" .
 
Macmac,thats a bummer RE the DObie and his @sshat of an owner. You did the right thing in defending yourself.
I have been lucky with all of my dogs...even when I did not get them as puppies,I was able to spend time with th edog to train and socialize him/her.I am not into "viciousness" training-most dogs are both loyal and territorial:they will protect their territory( you rhome/car) and their pack Boss( you)and can still be casually friendly and playful.
At their best they are alarm system /companion combos.Improperly trained they are unstable-much like an anti-personell mine they do are all stimulus/response( hitting a trip wire is not different for an actual hostile or one of your squaddies losing track of his Claymores).
I joke about my dogs not fighting anything but being woke up on the couch,but back in the day they DID give a good accounting for themselves and cakcing me up rather vilently and decisively!) during a viloent encounter...and these same dogs were playing with my neighbors baby daughters when I cam ehome form work earlier in the evening.
So, I gotta repeat for the OP-dog treats as a first line,dog repellant spay for the last.
WTH, I like dogs....
 
So, you can't squirt them household cleaner & water, but you can beat them with a stick?
Click to expand...
Why would a deliveryman be carrying around a squirt bottle full of ammonia and have the presence of mind to pull it out and squirt a dog in the face with it whilst he was being attacked? A stick (as in walking stick) is much easier to explain. One good thwack should stop most things that aren't rabid.
I'd say spray is the way to go. If it's the stuff that the PS uses, even better.
 
gripper, Most of the dogs i ever had were abused before i got them. I had lots of Beagle X smaller black dogs of dubious heritage, 2 Danes both abused baddly, 2 American Springs also abused, and others.

Any time I read about labs no matter what color being bad dogs I know something is wrong. Might not be the guy who writes about it, and probably most times it isn't the guy who wrote about it, but some other man abused that dog.

Dogs are man's best friends... Man is the problem, wanting total controll, and is why men don't often like cats. Hell I had cats before too (currently no pets my own) My cats do things for me a lot like dogs. They came when called (most of the time) They followed me on walks, and sometimes took on dogs for sport! LOL..

I had this one cat "Weasle' Who one day danced with a red fox.. That was different but so was Weasle.. Another day a German Shepard chased him up an apple tree and weasle went to the first limb, turned and went right back down on top of the Shepards head! Yi Yi Yi.....

Same dog different day, Weasle got chased into the barn and ran under the loft stairs. That dog stuck his nose between the steps and it was the same story all over again Yi Yi Yi.... That time Weasle chased the dog away too.

I just love cats that can beat up much bigger dogs.

No dog is born a bad dog, as I see it anyway.

I had a really stupid horse once too. It feared potatoe chip bags, park benches, and piles of logs, but had no fear what so ever of black bears.. Go figure?

What ruins pets is Man... Man must controll every little dammned detail.
 
Macmac ,you strike me as a decent sort...look me up if/when you are in the area.
I have no dogs these days (my last was put down due to terminal cancer) and I live in a boarding house,so it would not be right.
If one of the job hunt options I am chasing bears some fruit,I plan to upgrade my living arrangements and renew may acquaintance with the nice folks at dru.org and pbrc.net.
 
To the original poster: Get a small but strong pepperspray...I recommend the Spitfire. I'd also recommend a sjambok. It's light and you can thread it in your beltloop or tuck it in your pants...STRONG whip-like effect for deterrence, but probably won't cause much damage. Perfect anti-dog weapon.

Mac-mac...

Mostly with a 'bad dog' I just don't look in their eyes, and I advance on them, with no fear. Always they back down.
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying about "speaking dog," but trust me - there ARE dogs out there that will advance on you with no fear and no warning and will bite you in a bad place. I'm not trying to make you afraid...but just because you've been able to get out of being bitten by abused/mistreated dogs who were being forced into playing "attack dog" doesn't mean that a dog that has been trained to have prey drive toward humans, or does naturally, won't ruin your day.

A dog is like a man with a knife. It helps if you can talk your way out, but just because you talked your way out once doesn't mean there isn't another one out there who wouldn't sever your carotid as soon as look at you. I really mean it about the knife part, too. A dog's jaw is a dangerous weapon. Be especially wary of Molossers who feel you have overstepped.
 
As a kid in a rural area, when we rode our bikes, sometimes we were chased by dogs. We used a spray bottle with vinegar in it. Worked for us. My vote on the items listed by the OP would be the pepper spray. Works on 2 and 4 legged stalkers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

O
  • Locked
What kind of pepper spray do you carry?
2
Replies
38
Views
5K
saki302
S
T
  • Locked
Had to pepper spray 3 dogs today
2
Replies
43
Views
2K
dance varmint
D
P
  • Locked
My first use of pepper spray
2 3
Replies
51
Views
4K
rodwha
R
F
  • Locked
Non lethal ways of defending against dogs
2 3
Replies
57
Views
5K
BLB68
B
F
  • Locked
What do you carry when you can't carry?
2 3 4 5
Replies
124
Views
9K
Todjaeger
T
Back
Top