I see allot of good points from several on this post.
I've tried several rounds the smaller = little or no damage. The 17, 22, 223, 9, 38, 40 will not do much on most dogs but the 10mm, 357, 44, 45acp work great however the 308 ballistic, 45-70 works best and makes a show out of those wild CUJO dogs. If you've ever seen a pack of wild dogs or coyotes like in South Texas you will know what I mean. Texas is also know for the chupa cabra I'll be looking for one this season. -happy shooting-

In my neighborhood, we have lots of pit bulls. Most are chained up by their owners until they take them for walks...others are deliberate and systematically let loose by their owners...usually at night. The result is lots of dead cats and the occassional family pet.

About a year back, we had a problem with two of them. Mean and aggressive as all get out. My mom is in her 70's and likes to work in her yard and luckily, I was nearby, although several close calls were had. These two WOULD NOT BACK DOWN. They jumped fences with ease and attacked ANYTHING. All capsicum did was make them angrier.

Both law enforcement and animal control were called. Animal Control threatened to file charges ON US. if we defended ourselves from attack. LE (I won't say which agency) said off the record pretty much what everone has been saying on this forum that involves hollow points.

Someone else attended to the dogs one night with a shotgun.

To me, the dogs in these cases are just as much a weapon (they are all trained for dog fighting in my area) as a loaded gun. If they run loose, then criminal charges SHOULD be filed against the owners of the animals for failing to keep them secure.

I love dogs, but if attacked by a dog of this kind, I will not hesitate to "do whatever it takes."

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The Last Standing Knight

BIG fan of OC on dogs... One of my partners when I was working Probation/Parole nuked two pit bulls that were "accidentally" released by their owner who lived with a parolee while a home visit was being done... OC was already in hand and after the "incident" whenever a home visit was done the dogs would hide and quiver whenever that PO showed up.

Ammo..my suggestion would be CorBon Glaser Silver with the #6 compressed shot. You will probably be in a neighborhood and pass through with standard ammo needs to be considered. As to does it work...I can tell you that a .44 Magnum Glaser Blue will stop a 180# great Dane and the .357 Magnum Blue will stop a 85# nasty mongrel... Don't know your experience with dogs but they have a very low pain tolerance. That may not be true of attack trained dogs but in all the shootings I have done on my farm and my friends have done in the woods or on duty the dog involved stopped what it was doing at the hit... Those dogs that were missed turned and ran...

Bob

I realize that my method is less than ideal when a quick draw is necessary but it worked well for me every time. When serving search warrants, if the presence of a dog was known or suspected, someone went in with a lit road flare and we never got bitten.

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Not to be rude but can you walk somewhere else with less chance of a dog encounter? An 8 month old is too young to be around any dog not your own. Dogs are hard to hit and who wants bullets flying around their kids and wife.

I've been around too many dog encounters / shootings to know hardly any dog shooting goes as planned.

But in the end you have to protect your family the best way you can.

I don't think I'll comment on this after all.

Ditto! Restraint is a tough thing to bear at times.

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~No signature line

A lot of good info and personal experiences in this thread. Some, maybe not so good. As usual, in every case, the particular animal responds differently to the various loads/calibers. I don't think there are too many communities in this country that are going to allow you to carry a scattergun, while you're walking, to dispatch aggresive dogs. I do believe in the "get extreme" mode. Never turn your back on any predator, no matter how many legs it has. I would carry the OC-10 and back it up with a .22 auto, that you trust, with solid ammo. I wouldn't want to carry full house .357 loads in a neighborhood, too much liability. Personally, I think the best weapon is one we haven't mentioned. The samari sword. Whoosh, end of story. Watch the head still trying to bite, with no body attached.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

What makes you say that? Couldn't agree more. I own an Arms and Armor danish war axe and it's the most fearsome weapon I own. Sad, but I think that would go over about as well as the shotgun.

Flop, I am thinking about penetration, If you don't strike bone, or miss, there's a lot of energy there still looking for somewhere to go. Maybe into someone's house. I know a fragile bullet would help, but most over the counter stuff, I think would be kind of risky. The Glaser may be the best choice of all, but I've never tried any of them. Yes I think a katana in it's shield wouldn't draw the attention of a war axe, but I bet folks would round up their dogs if they saw you coming. Hey, how about one of those short Zulu spears? Ahh, I'm a Texan, I'd just use a Bowie knife.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

I can't speak about building materials, but I've shot enough perma-Gel and woodchucks to tell you that in those two media the .357 shouldn't really penetrate any more than other major calibers. The .357 tends to be higher energy than other calibers, but gets the energy by running lightweight bullets and pushing them faster. Remember that lighter bullets, such as 110 and 125 gr. .357 JHPs, may be higher energy, but tend to be easier to stop than something along the lines of a 230 gr. .45 , or 180 gr. .40 caliber bullet. In short overpenetration shouldn't be any more of an issue than with other calibers, but if someone wanted to play it extra safe Remington .357 110 gr. JHPs would be a good choice. The bullet is light and the cartridge is slightly downloaded. Take it for what it's worth, I'm a power junkie, and could carry that load with confidence. I like to carry ammo that will penetrate 12" - 14" in gel and is as powerful as I can shoot well. My belief is that the best way to avoid overpenetration/stray bullet issues is to end the fight as quickly as possible by using the most effective ammo available. JOMO.

As far as Glasers go, I just don't trust them to perform consistently. I've heard too many horror stories. I would use a good JHP. Glasers make no sense to me at all as general carry ammo, because I want something that can deal with auto glass. Even old tech JHPs should do much better than Glasers in that regard.

Interestingly, I responded to a call regarding a dog attack on Thanksgiving eve. Apparently our department had taken several reports of late regarding a couple of neighbors feuding over a dog situation. Appears neighbor 'A' had reported on several occasions that bonehead neighbor 'B' had two pretty good sized mixed breed dogs that he allowed to be on the loose in a rural area. The dogs usually ended up on neighbor 'A's property harassing his cows and chickens and had also ripped up one of neighbor 'A's full blooded border collies who was trying to protect the cows. Neighbor 'A' had tried to reason with bonehead neighbor 'B' to no avail.

As I got to the scene on Thanksgiving eve at neighbor 'A's home he lead us to just outside his barn where I found one large mixed breed dog DRT (dead right there) pinned to the ground by an aluminum hunting arrow fired from neighbor 'A's compound bow. There were also signs of several dead chickens and evidence the dog had caused it. Neighbor 'A' reported his grandchildren were visiting for Thanksgiving and his 12 year old grandson had discovered the dog raiding the chicken house. Neighbor 'A' reported he retrieved his deer hunting bow and went outside and whistled for the dog, which then came out of the fenced in chicken house and the dog crawled under where it had dug in at which point neighbor 'A' let off the arrow. The dog was pinned to the ground and death was quick. It was actually a very good shot.

After neighbor 'A' called the sheriff's office he called neighbor 'B' to come get his dog, something neighbor 'A' failed to mention to me. Neighbor 'B' showed up as I was finishing my paperwork and commenced ranting and raving about his dead dog and how he would get even with the neighbor 'A', etc., etc. He even demanded that I arrest neighbor 'A' on the spot for killing his dog. During his ranting I asked bonehead neighbor 'B' if he would confirm for my report that this was indeed his dog, and he said yes.

As a result, neighbor 'B' went to jail and likely won't be out until the judge comes in on Monday. I arrested and charged him for terroristic threatening, disturbing the peace, and reckless endangerment of a minor. It'll be up to the prosecuting attorney to see if they'll stick or not, but certainly bonehead neighbor 'B' had jail food for Thanksgiving.

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- Change it back -

I like cops like you! Thank you for doing your job the way it should be done!

FWIW, a plain old fashioned squirt gun filled with ammonia aimed at the face and eyes has deterred many aggressive dogs for me when I was a kid riding my bike. Squirt guns are probably not that easy to find any more though.

Don't mess around. If the dog attacks, Remington, yes. But a pump in .410, 28 gauge, or 20 gauge. #4 Buck works wonders.
Avoid the 12. If you are called upon to answer later, using one of the sub-12 gauge rounds will sound less intimidating than a 12 or 10 gauge.
Also, maybe someone you know has an old Stevens double in 16 gauge lying around. They can be had for reasonable prices.
(Remington used to make a cane that was a concealed .410 shotgun; specifically to shoot dogs and such. Haven't seen one in years and the ATF probably has it on some list or other).
If you can't open carry the shotgun, then a Louisville Slugger. The dog won't understand the gun; he cannot reason. If you shoot him and don't drop him immediately, he will not retreat, as a human would. But a good, solid piece of ash is something that will make an impression on his noggin, one way or the other.
A bo staff is light, but if you have the right training it will do the job. Bore a hole near one end and pass a leather thong through. It's your "walking stick".
This comes from a man who, as a boy, had his pony killed by feral dogs. And I was on the pony when it started.

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and what his trumpet saith

Had three mutts show up in my yard last week,one bulldog (*** did that come from?) and one black lab looking with a grayish with black spots dog.

All responded in a way to gunshots over their heads that kept them alive-they ran like hell.

For those that don't run then the shots will become aimed fire,158gr .357's will do wonders for mutts I'm sure

[QUOTE=jail food for Thanksgiving.[/QUOTE]

Good police work . In the past I have been a stern and loud critic of all police mistakes . Since the time my best friend , Chief of Police Cecil Gurr of Roosevelt Utah was murdered on the job I have pledged to compliment outstanding judgment and courage on the part of LEOs . What may have seemed to some like a routine nuisance call , you saw as life threatening dangerous situation and took decisive action . Thank you .

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Idaho , Elmer and Milt

Background:
I live in a development with large lots, some empty.
Coyotes are a serious threat to any loose pet here. Several have been taken in sight of their owners. The result is very few roaming dogs. There is a pack of perhaps 20 dogs of all sizes that seem to be feral; so far the dogs appear shy. Doubtless the coyotes hunt the dogs.

Defense, I agree with the sword as tops for close encounters but it’s a definite no-no, probably get further carrying an 870.

First line: bear size OC. The runners around here mostly carry OC. Worth trying if the wind isn’t against you

Second Line: carry a ‘bo. A Bokken is a wood katana a hanbo is similar except round and with no curve. The closest thing to them might be a axe handle. In my Granddad’s day an axe handle was considered a lethal weapon. You do not want to be hit with a ‘bo. Carried they look like a cane or walking stick, a perfectly ordinary thing to carry. A little practice and you can IMO be quite dog deadly. Much better than trying to kick the dog.

Third (last) Line; I carry a 640 and have been carrying Buffalo Bore hot short barrel loads. We had a couple of threads in the lounge about urban coyotes and the problems if you have to shoot. I have decided that the hot .357s are overdoing it, jimmyl suggested; soft 148/150gr HBWC in other words; target loads. The flat or cup shaped nose on these bullets have a very good reputation for expanding, for many purposes this would not be the answer, but for dogs or coyotes it will certainly do the trick.
They are relatively quiet, minimum ricochet, little danger of over penetration.....all good.

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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus