Close Call

[roy reali]

There is a field across the street from me. It has a ditch and dirt path that goes all around its edge. I take my dogs for a walk there everyday. I open-carry a handgun when I go.

The other day I was half way down the first leg of the walk. About one hundred feet in front of us a dog emerged from the ditch and was heading right at us. It was coming at a fast pace. I called my dogs in and put them on hold. The dog kept closing the distance between us. As he got close I could see that he was a pit mix of some sort.

I unbuckled the holster strap and placed my hand on the revolver's grip. I was thinking about at what distance do I shoot this dog if he becomes aggressive. I was also considering shooting a round at the ground in front of him. When the dog got to within twenty feet I charged him and started yelling and waving my left arm around. That did cause him to back up, but not completely retreat. A couple of minutes later he turned around and went back towards the way he came.

This was a close call.

[Jim March]

You did fine. Any time you can avoid firing a shot, do so.

[Doc Intrepid]

Any possibility that he may have just intended to do the butt-sniff meet & greet with your dogs?

[JohnKSa]

Even if that's how it started, those "meet & greets" don't always turn out well. I've seen a few of them go bad...

[beequick]

"Any possibility that he may have just intended to do the butt-sniff meet & greet with your dogs?"

That's not a risk you can take with a strange dog.

[S&W Kinda Guy]

I think you did a good job with the situation.

To: Doc Intrepid


If he would have let the dog get near his dog, he could have lost his dog or even his life. You might find it odd to think about a dog deceasing you, but its a real risk and sometimes its not a risk worth taking.

[roy reali]

Thinking back, I would have drawn and shot if the dog at gotten any closer, at least I hope I would have. My older female dog may have been able to handle herself. My other dog, a puppy, would have been helpless against an attack.

I held back on the warning shot because of my location. I was behind the backyards of these houses, on the other side of the ditch. Even though I live in an area where shooting is well-tolerated in most places, the city limit is not one of them. In fact, our local sheriff really frowns on gun discharges within the city's boundaries. If I was going to shoot, it was going to have to be to drop the dog.

I really, really don't ever want to shoot a dog. I am a bleeding heart dog lover. But I love my dogs more then a stray one.

I have run across dogs while out exploring in the desert. Before the dogs even get close I fire a shot. That has always caused to them to change their course. But in a city, everything is different.

[FALPhil]

If he would have let the dog get near his dog, he could have lost his dog or even his life. You might find it odd to think about a dog deceasing you, but its a real risk and sometimes its not a risk worth taking.

Nah, that's television. A single dog, even a trained one, on a healthy grown man will always lose, unless the man is mentally deficient.

[ClayInTx]

A couple of years ago a woman was killed in an exact same type encounter. A single dog, large one, attacked her dog, a large one.

In the analysis by the crime lab of what happened, there were no witnesses, the determination was that in the dogfight the two dogs did not recognize her as not another dog and she was bitten to the extent that she bled to death before she could get help.

No, it’s not television. It has happened for real and a human life was lost in a dogfight.

The account is available in the Houston Chronicle archives.

[jhenry]

A man was killed by a Great Horned Owl in PA about 15 years ago or so. I do not draw down on owls.

I certainly understand the need for caution with unknown larger dogs, I just don't view them as an immediate threat to life and limb. Possible, sure, but this dog was just walking along quickly toward the other dog. Normal behavior, and the dog left after th OP yelled at it. Also normal behavior.

I live in a rural area and work in a largish city for this part of the state. We occasionally have a stray dog issue. One thing that has worked 100% for me (YMMV), to run one off, is to bend down and pick up a rock or even pretend to do so. Most strays have been rocked at some point and they don't like it. They just veer off or turn and burn.

[Pbearperry]

Whenever I walked any of my dogs I always carried pepper spray.Why shoot a dog when a corrective spray will work?

[stantonizm]

We have 2 big dogs, an 85lb Alapaha bulldog (built like a pit) and 185 lb Great Dane. The bulldog is mine and stays with me, whereas the Great Dane lives at my parents house, but I visit and stay at home a lot. Every so often they will get into a serious fight...going for blood. I can break them up myself usually but it takes every ounce of energy I have. If they were attacking me I doubt could I stop them. If it was just one...probably. I get frustrated because there is a guy on my block that will let his doberman run loose and that has almost caused problems. I always keep my dog on a leash, but he is not friendly with other dogs. Twice now I have been out walking my dog and this dog has approached us, then when he got about 20 ft the owner stepped out from his porch halfway down the block and whistled for it to come back. I haven't confronted him about it yet, as he's never really out of his house and he's a thug type dude in a semi-ghetto neighborhood. Honestly, I'm more concerned for his dog than me or mine. I don't envision a situation where I would draw my gun in the city over one dog, but I will call animal control next time I see it running loose.

[spacecoast]

A man was killed by a Great Horned Owl in PA about 15 years ago

There's a great idea - trained attack owls that circle about 30 feet over your head while you're outdoors. Other birds of prey would work too... buzzards, osprey, etc.

[orangello]

Regarding the pepper spray, be aware that it doesn't always work; we had a lab that had a thing for the postman (no biting, just barking and crowding). The postman finally told us he had used up a couple of cans of pepper spray with no result; i saw him spray the dog at least three times one day. I think the lab had a pepper spray issue or something.

[Shipman515]

A lot of dogs are unaffected by pepper spray. Or at least much less affected than humans.

[Edward429451]

You guys intimating that he should take on the dog hand to tooth are absolutely nuts, thats circus stunt stuff.
You did good Roy. I had the same thing happen to me and I did put one in the dirt to turn him and it worked, but only after doing the war dance with the same dog the day before and realizing that he didn't back down very fast.

The next day, my mean doggie was chained up!

[peejman]

When dogs go into "fight mode" they blank out the world around them. Anything and everything that moves is an enemy to be attacked. Unless you want to get bitten, stay out of it. The tell-tale sign is the whites of the dog's eyes turn red.

If you learn/read up a little on dog behavior, you can recognize dog body language and determine what their intentions are fairly easily.

[N.H. Yankee]

I had a situation this deer season while hunting at a very public area with numerous hiking trails. I was sitting for the last hour of daylight when a hundred or so feet away I see movement in the brush. All I could see was brown so as always I wait to see what it really is. A large dog comes out and see's me, it immediately charged me growling. I had my Mossberg 500 as it was a shotgun only area, as the dog neared I yelled STOP, NO, BAD DOG and prepared to hit him in the snout with the butt!!

The dog stopped 10 feet away, I then heard a distant female voice a couple hundred yards away yelling for the dog and he put on the brakes and headed back. I feel you never turn and run unless you can make it to a car or a door as this turns on the dogs natural predator instinct and a vicious dog views you as prey.

I then see this woman with 3 other dogs, NONE with collars or anything to identify them as non game animals like a red or orange collar or dog sweater. This place is heavily hiked and hunted, why would anyone bring an unfriendly dog to run free, especially out of sight! I know quite a few people that at 20 or 30 feet would have given rover his last blessings with a blast. I didn't get to talk to the woman because she took another trail about 100 feet away.

[roy reali]

Several years back, a friend and I were hunting. We had hunting dogs with us. We were ending our hunting and walking back to his truck in the parking area. As we get near the edge of the field, we both unload our shotguns. We continue our walk when I spot a large, loose dog by his truck.

I look at my friend and yell reload your shotgun. No sooner did we close the actions of our guns, this low-life looking dude emerged from the brush, leashed that dog, threw it in his car and took off.

It was almost as though he was watching us from a hidden position and was going to see if his dog could tear our dogs apart. I guess he hadn't counted on two armed humans.

This was a very bizarre incident.

Pepper spray is mentioned here. Now that I live here, I open carry a handgun as protection. When I lived in a more urban area, I carried something called DirectStop.

It comes in a can that like a pepper spray can. But instead of pepper spray, it shoots Citronella. The same stuff they make anti-bug candles with. Dogs can not stand the smell of it. It repulses them. I have sprayed dogs with it and they have all turned and run as though they had boiling water tossed at them.

[lomaxanderson]

FALPhil
Senior Member
Join Date: September 10, 2007
Location: Racoon City
Posts: 507 Quote:

"Nah, that's television. A single dog, even a trained one, on a healthy grown man will always lose, unless the man is mentally deficient."

I am gonna disagree on this one . Mentally deficient would be the man who challenged a trained Dog...100# dog at a full charge will be able to knock you down and then you are at a big disadvantage

[FALPhil]

I am gonna disagree on this one . Mentally deficient would be the man who challenged a trained Dog...100# dog at a full charge will be able to knock you down and then you are at a big disadvantage

Haha! Heard that one before. I am 200 pounds so when I go full charge he's at a HUGE disadvantage.

Tell you what, give me a time and place to meet your 100 pound dog. I'll try not to kill him. With my bare hands.

[m.p.driver]

Frankly i dont let stray dogs running loose in the woods or fields close

enough to smell my butt.After having lost several calfs and a foal to ferrel

dogs they are pretty much removed on sight.And with the coydogs we

have to deal with, a AR with a 3-9 scope rides on the tractor or pickup.

[robhof]

Sorry guys, but a large strange dog looking agressive will be terminated by me. I worked in an emergency for over 15 years and know the damage a dog bite can do. I earned extra money in high school by shooting stray dogs and cats on local farms. People think farms are great dumping grounds for their unwanted pets many farmers have enough animals to feed. For me they were a way to pay for gas and get some shooting practice in. I've owned both dogs and cats and kept them on my property or leashed.

[ClayInTx]

Dog--big teeth.
Man--small teeth.

Dog—quicker than man.
Man—slower than dog.

Man—tries to keep from getting bit.
Dog—doesn’t give a damn.

Man—zero.
Dog—one.

[win-lose]

There is a reason why defensive use of a dog is considered deadly force. Dogs can be a very real and serious threat.