Why I will not hesitate to shoot a charging dog

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If the dog is charging, then you have a straight-on shot to the chest or the head. Once the dog is upon you (or on your dogs) it would get very difficult to make the shot. If a dog gets close enough to fasten onto my leg, or onto my dogs, then shooting him has just become a VERY tricky proposition.

Which, if you think about it, is a good reason to do what one poster said: pick a spot a few feet in front of you and be prepared to shoot if the dog crosses that imaginary line. By the time you are trying to beat him off you, or off your dogs, you've sort of waited too late.

Springmom
 
I'm one of the ones who has shot a charging dog. I ride my MTN bike weather permitting carrying cheap pepper spray clipped to the handle bars (bear spray now). About 3 blocks over there used to live a German Shepard who was free to roam where ever it wanted. I have to ride past that house to get out of my neighborhood. One day riding past it started chasing me and nipping at my heels so I sprayed it. It was defiantly trying to bite me, there were tooth marks on my shoes. It fell on its side and skidded several feet before getting up and running home. I figured that was the end of that. A couple of days later it came out after me again. I sprayed it, it stopped for a few seconds then kept coming. I sprayed it again and it stopped and then went home.

I called the home owner and he didn't want to hear about it so I called animal control and they said they would handle it. I gave them a week then went riding past again, this time with the .22 in my pocket in addition to the pepper spray. The dog came out after me and chased. I sprayed it which no longer deterred the dog. I let it follow me out next to a field then I stopped and got off the bike with the .22. The dog stopped as well and was growling and barking at me, then he ran at me. A .22 between the eyes ended that. I kicked the dog into the ditch and never heard anything more about it.
 
A possible side benefit to the pepperspray is when the attacking beast goes running home to momma (irresponsible pet owner) for a big hug and tex-mex kisses:evil:
 
I like dogs,but.....

I'm always armed and any dog that CHARGES me is assumed to have rabies and will be shot without hesitation regardless of its size and that goes for all critters with 4 legs...and depending on the circumstances, critters with 2 legs also are included.
 
I'll say it again. It is the responsibility of the OWNER to insure that his or her dog is safe-- and the people that it may encounter. If someone has to protect themselves from an attacking dog, they owner bears the responsibility.
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I will accept the responsibility of insuring someone else's dog is no threat to other people. You might wanna have your earplugs in when I do it.:evil:
 
My mom is scared to go in her backyard because the next door neighbor lets their two german shepards run loose. They do not have a fence. She is 82 and small and could get knocked down and hurt easily. They are not mean dogs and I do not believe they will "attack" her per say.

She used to feed my Miniature Daschund and Pit Bull while we were out of town over the years, but she is too unsteady to do that any longer. One good push from my Pit would knock her down. He is a big old cissy, but strong and playfull.

The neighbors will not do anything and getting animal control to do anything is difficult. I like dogs and would hate to just make them dissapear for my moms safety and state of mind, but what do you do when people won't act responably?

People are still the problem here, as always.
 
Again, situational awareness is a key aspect of any choice to deploy a firearm. There's a lot of broad talk in this thread (and all those like it) about how the poster won't hesitate to blow away any dog that appears to be a danger to anybody. It's one thing to do that on your own rural property, but quite another to start blasting in suburbia at any unleashed dog that happens to approach you.

Never discharge a firearm on public property unless your life is actually at risk and there is no possible alternative. Harold Fish got himself into a world of trouble using a handgun to ward off dogs in questionable circumstances. In that case he didn't even have to kill an animal for the owner, who was following close behind, to go ape. It's a good way to end up dead or in prison. But as he discovered, once you start blasting there's no telling what people are going to do.

Again a human being is different. DOGS ARE PROPERTY!
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True enough, but also irrelevant. The problem isn't the dogs. The problem is what people do when you decide to enforce a leash law by shooting their dogs. I've been in situations where I could have shot some dogs for pestering moose. And I know with 100% certainty that the local troopers would have shaken my hand for doing it. But it was on a public trail, and I have a wee little rule about thinking twice and three times before I unleash the thunder of a bear gun on a public trail in the middle of the day. Unless the moose, child, person or whatever is in clear and unambiguous danger I'm not going to shoot. Esp. if it's to kill someone's pet.

Think of it this way. A car is just property too. But I would think long and hard before capping off rounds from my .44 into a car's engine block even if that car was a threat. There's property and then there's property. And there are dogs and there are dogs. Feral dogs running around on a ranch are exotic wildlife and are generally to be shoot for the benefit of all. An off-leash dog on a public trail with the owner close behind is a completely different situation and must be judged by different standards. The difference is the proximity of another person who's close personal chattle you're shooting at. That's a recipe for all kinds of ugly, up to and including your own death.

I'm always armed and any dog that CHARGES me is assumed to have rabies and will be shot without hesitation regardless of its size and that goes for all critters with 4 legs
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You walk into someone's house and their dog charges up to you. Are you really going to shoot it?

There's also a great deal of talk in these threads about neighbors with problem dogs. Again, a firearm is not the tool you want to use to resolve ANY disputes with a neighbor. It's a last ditch tool to protect your own life and limb. This is true even when you're "just shooting property." I know some former neighbors of mine in the wild west of the Mat-Su who've been in a fued for a decade over shot dogs. One neighbor shot the other neighbor's dogs after they got loose. Lots of claims flew back and forth. Then some bullets. Eventually one of them is probably going to kill the other. Now maybe one or both of them are being unreasonable about what's just lost property, but some judicious pepper spray and a swat with an axe handle would have done just as well and prevented a whole lot of trouble down the line. This nonsense happens all the time. I know another person out there who keeps a kennel. Two of her dogs mysteriously vanished, and it wasn't too hard to figure out that a particular neighbor who also keeps a kennel had killed them. Well that's legal as far as it goes, but I know she's going to get him back. Maybe it will be some mysterious deaths of his own dogs, or maybe it will be a mysterious hole in his oil tank some January at fifty below. Either way, was it really worth it to kick the hornet's nest? Be very cautious about dealing out judgment with your iron, even if it's just against a stupid dog. That goes even more when the dog belongs to a neighbor.
 
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My mom is scared to go in her backyard because the next door neighbor lets their two german shepards run loose. They do not have a fence. She is 82 and small and could get knocked down and hurt easily. They are not mean dogs and I do not believe they will "attack" her per say.
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My aunt, when she was about 90, went out to get the mail -- the mailboxes are about a hundred yards from her front door. She was knocked down by a "playful" dog and was unable to get up. She lay there for over an hour before someone came by and helped her.

Owners are responsible for their pets -- and the owner of this dog should have been charged with assault and battery, just as if he'd personally knocked her down.
 
There's a lot of broad talk in this thread (and all those like it) about how the poster won't hesitate to blow away any dog that appears to be a danger to anybody. It's one thing to do that on your own rural property, but quite another to start blasting in suburbia at any unleashed dog that happens to approach you.
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No one has suggested doing such a thing. We are talking about animals who are charging, who are ready to bite. Hyperbole isn't helpful.

The problem is what people do when you decide to enforce a leash law by shooting their dogs.
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Same objection.

I've been in situations where I could have shot some dogs for pestering moose.
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If anyone here is as big as a moose (literally, not metaphorically:p) then that's one thing; they're big enough to not need a gun. For somebody out walking their dogs to be attacked is something else.

The subject is dogs that are attacking human beings. And those dogs may need to be shot. If the owner is able to get the dog, fine; he or she will simply get a piece of my mind for endangering me and my dogs. If the dog is attacking, it is a matter of fear of my life and limb, and I will shoot.

Springmom
 
No one has suggested doing such a thing. We are talking about animals who are charging, who are ready to bite. Hyperbole isn't helpful.
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In point of fact, people here have talked about shooting dogs for simply being loose or being a potential threat. My problem is not with your position, but with that of those who make bold assertions about how any dog off leash that looks like a potential threat is fair game. That's a profoundly dangerous attitude.

Attacking is not the same as charging. Dogs charge their owners to say hello. They may charge someone at the door. They charge me all the time on my bike. If I shot all of them I'd have a whole lot of legal trouble.

The subject is dogs that are attacking human beings. And those dogs may need to be shot.
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Actually the thread is entitled "Why I will not hesitate to shoot a charging dog." If the thread was about not hesitating to kill a dog in the process of ATTACKING a person, there would be little dispute.

Just yesterday, a well known gsd hybrid who belongs to a hot dog vendor launched out at me, fangs exposed, when I was ordering a kosher with kraut. The dog had never so much as growled at me before, but I was wearing an alpenflage pancho and a Filson hat. To the dog, I was a genuine monster and a menace to his master. I was in fact armed and I suppose I could have shot the animal, but I backed off instead and laughed at him. The dog was acting out of defensive fear, and had no interest in going after me. Even if he had attacked, I would not have gone for my gun. For one thing there's a DHS guard about fifty feet away who's been longing for someone to shoot for the past five years. For another, the last thing I want to do with a fear biting hund is reach towards him with my hands. Even a hand with a revolver in it. The better approach is to tuck your arms in, protect your neck, and knock him back with your shoulders and legs.
 
There's a simple solution to this problem. If you're a dog owner, don't let your dog run loose.

If you do, whatever happens to your dog -- be it getting lost, run over, in a fight, or attacking a human being -- is your fault.
 
True Vern, but so what? The thread isn't about whether you should let your dog run loose. It's about what the circumstances are for shooting one. In an ideal world nobody would let their dog run around menacing people. But clearly that's not the world we're living in. And dogs are loose, and do chase after me and other people. My point is that fact alone doesn't warrant blasting all of them. Maybe it *should*, but it doesn't. No more than I'm warranted in shooting the car speakers out of some whiteboy's ride because he's playing music umpteen hundred times the limit of the local noise ordinance.
 
True Vern, but so what? The thread isn't about whether you should let your dog run loose. It's about what the circumstances are for shooting one.
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The circumstances for shooting require an evaluation of the situation. The first thing to evaluate is, has some dork let this dog run loose, where he can attack people or depredate on livestock?

The second thing is, is he headed my way or is he chasing my livestock?

The third thing is, does he halt when I tell him to halt?

That's three strikes and he's out.
 
So you're talking about on a ranch that you own. Again, the circumstances are critical here. You see a dog headed your way on a trail. The dog ignores your command to halt. Do you shoot? Only if you're off your rocker, since 99 times out 100 the owner is coming around the bend a moment later and the dog is just going to march past you. Now I have greeted dogs like this, and petted some. Sometimes I even talk to them. But shoot them for walking past me on public land? WTH?

So trying to lay down some bold "three strikes" rule for dealing with dogs is a dangerous business. Someone could shoot a man's dog, get shot in return and sue Vern for telling him about the three strikes rule.
 
In most places it is illegal to have a dog off the leash on public land.

If I don't think the dog is attacking, of course I won't shoot -- but I will turn his owners into the rangers.

So trying to lay down some bold "three strikes" rule for dealing with dogs is a dangerous business. Someone could shoot a man's dog, get shot in return and sue Vern for telling him about the three strikes rule.
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I have a three strike rule for lawyers, too.:p
 
Cosmo, nobody is saying the gun is the only tool. I would personally use one as a last resort. BUT- If I thought I , or somebody I love was in danger, yes, I would shoot. I have had far too many injuries over my life to be willing to chance a dog bite. And if I saw some kid being menaced by a dog, yes, I would either shoot it (last resort) or beat the hell out of it with whatever blunt object presented itself. The choice determined by how scary the dog was.
 
2 issues you guys know the threats posed to me (a neighbor who has dogs with a history of attacking/charging) issue 1: it charged me as said before if it runs around barking I yell at it and the owner, if its attacks I will defend myself weapon or no weapon. issue 2 I have pets (small animals) and a fenced backyard though it is third fence,third bushes,third drop-off, if a dog attacks them I am under full castle doctrine/DNR coverage to kill said dog, that said some dogs are friendly some are not, I see one running at me full blast I have less than 5 seconds (yes I am in Suburbia) to decide whether it is a problem or not and not knowing you're adrenaline gets going.
 
I was a mailman for 15 years about 10 years ago. I was attacked by some kind of Great Dame mix. He “ate” his way up the dog spray and tried to bite me when I put my mail bag between him and me but he was getting the best of me. I reached down and grabbed the door mat and was hitting him with that. (That was all I could find). Lucky for me a small dog ran down the street and the Dame took off after it. We cut off mail for a while on that street. When I went back I had a sawed off cue stick in my bag. He came after me again. I did not even bother with the spray. I hit him in the head so hard that is sounded like a coconut. His legs buckled I pulled back and hit him again hoping to kill him. He just collapsed on the ground. (I can say it now) I hit him one more time. He just laid on the ground. I was hoping I had killed him. I wanted to hit him again (someone might be watching) so I let him lay there. Well the dog did not die but, that dog would run when he saw me from that point on.
It was a poor neighborhood, the people would say: We aint never seen dat dog afraid of no one, cep you. I would tell them: I have a way with dogs.
 
You are responsible for your dog. Do not lose control of your dog. Do know what dogs are capable of, yes that nice dog of yours. Bred to be yours and that breed doesn't change that instinct. The packing instinct is very powerful. I grew up in the country and dog packs cause farmers lots of trouble. I shot more than my fair share, its miserable having to do it. Irresponsibility on the owner's part. No dog tags of any sort, no training, nothing. Many cows get eaten alive from the rear end and farmers who raise them can attest to it.
Worse yet are the half trained schutzhund type that are owned by irresponsible owners. No committment to follow through with the schutzhund sport or lack discipline and allow those type of dogs to roam. Schutzhund is well policed and don't deserve a bad name by any means.
 
i've used stinger rounds with good effect from 10 15 feet on a furball of fighting large dogs such good effect that the biggest one is serious gun shy now
 
I have heard more than one dog owner say, "A big dog like that deserves to live in the country, where he can run free.":fire:

I know many people who take dogs out into the country and dump them -- we've had packs around here from exactly that source.

You want your dog to run "free," let him run on your property. You want to get rid of your dog, take him to the animal shelter.
 
Dogs are living, guns are not. Your comparison of "All guns are evil, anyone with a gun should be put in prison?" is not appropriate in this situation. Dogs alone are a problem here.
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Dogs are property. Guns are property. Owners must bear responsibility for their negligence either way. I see no difference between rule #5 (maintain control of your weapon) violations for either. Anyone negligent should be liable for negligence. Anyone criminally negligent should go to jail.
 
I did not mention in my previous post that I have also been attacked and bitten by a great dane before. I fought that dog off with my bare hands and d@mn near killed it. We both went to the ground rolling with my left forearm in his mouth. I came away with a bloodied and swollen arm and left him on the ground semi conscious.

Having had to do that once, I'd just as soon not repeat the experience.
 
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