You may need to protect yourself from a 4 legged threat !!

In a town just a few miles from me .. Resident protects himself and his dog from an attack in his back yard by neighbors dog shooting and killing the animal !

Washington resident lawfully shot neighbor's dog, police say - News - Journal Star - Peoria, IL

Man, I came really close last summer when some people down the road had their son come home for a while with a pit bull that they claimed was friendly. Sucker tried to get me and I went in and grabbed my 12 gauge. The dog went home I mad a call to them about it and it never showed up. The kid and his dog left soon after. I would have hated to shoot him, (the dog), but I would have if he was here, (the dog), acting aggressive.
Peace,
Gordon

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better have that checked

Yea this is very true - I live in a rural area where dogs can be (and are often shot) as aggressive toward livestock or people. A neighbor used to have two Rottweilers that were two of the ugliest and meanest things this side of Hell and spent most of their time 'patrolling' my fence line and displaying some of the most aggressive behavior I had ever seen - snarling, shrieking and it was obvious if they had ever gotten inside my fence they would have attacked me or anyone who was around. I never went to the back of my property without being armed in case they did breach my fence. These were not 'lovable' dogs just wanting to be friends - they were probably 165 lb monsters that were capable of injury or death of a human. I was glad when time finally ran it's course and they died. Many in the area knew of them and some had been agressed by them in their own yards. I DO NOT want to start a debate about how 'it's all about how they are raised etc' because Rotts and Pitts have the propensity to be very aggressive AND poor upbringing/training only makes it worse. Fortunately Oregon's laws are very PRO human/livestock when it comes to dog encounters with either.

I've had GSD's for the last 30 some years and its not how you raise them its much more their linage .. who the dame and stud were .. 2 aggressive dogs will likely produce an overly aggressive animal ..

I live in the country also and have had to kill 2 dogs in the 35 years living here .. we had a pack of wild dog possibly coyote/coydogs running the woods a few years go .. got into my chicken coop one night and killed 8 hens.. stayed up the next night for them ..

This is an emotionally charged issue for me. As a responsible pitbull owner I know I always have to be the one to take protective measures first to keep everybody safe and happy. Don't mistake being afraid of a dog for being threatened by a dog. They are not the same thing. There is no actual peril in just being afraid, but I think some believe that is enough justification in itself.

If someone shot one of mine and the circumstances were even the least bit questionable I'm pretty certain I'd be going to prison shortly thereafter. That's just the way it is.

I commend you for your restraint and at the same time completely understand you feeling the need to protect yourself.

Yea I 'restrained' myself for nearly 10 years while these spawn of hell creatures CONSTANTLY were on my fence line. I called the Sheriff's office many times and was ASSURED they were aware of them and and if I ever had to 'dump' them I would be exonerated. They were VERY willing to come over and follow me around for 15 minutes and IF they saw the same behavior I reported they would have slapped a $250 fine per dog on the owner but I was trying to be the 'good guy' and not do that. Do NOT get me wrong - I am an animal lover and have owned Labs and Goldens that were REGAL animals that were well behaved and loved by EVERYONE - and had NOTHING in common with these ugly, primordial Rotts and Pitts.

Just yesterday I had a big and very aggressive dog come up to me and like always I am just nice to it and not afraid. Of course I had a 380 in my pants pocket but I would not even think of using that unless I got bit a couple times. Some people are just big sissies or they just like to shoot animals. Either way I've never had to shoot any dogs and sometimes when I'm riding my bicycle I've had five or six dogs from a farm just come up very aggressive on me and I never get so cowardly that I would have to pull out my gun and use it.

Some years ago I lived in the Stadium District in downtown Tacoma, and on weekends I would ride my bike down to the Ruston Way waterfront area. I could shortcut through Garfield Park, a little postage-stamp sized park. One day a collie dog that was (illegally) off leash saw me and leaped up, running at me full tilt, growling and barking the whole way. It came up on my right side so I jinked left and it ran around behind the bike and attacked from the left side, biting my leg at the knee.

I locked up the brakes, kicked out of the pedals, and planted my feet on each side of the bike, drawing my little Sig P239. The dog’s momentum carried it in front of me and I was just starting the trigger pull (first shot would be DA) when the dog calmly trotted off. I re-holstered and checked the damage; I had a trickle of blood running down my leg from a wound alongside my left knee. I rode home (5 mins) to clean it. While I was there I heard a ‘man with a gun’ call on the scanner so I bandaged up and rode back to the park to wait for the cops.

The dog’s owner spotted me and immediately began her ***-story about how she was on public assistance and had no money, and thus I couldn’t sue her. I told her the cops were on the way and she was in a flat panic, because she knew what would happen to her dog was going to be at least expensive, if not permanent. She went on and on about how the dog had never bitten anyone (third time in my life I’d been bit by a dog that never bit anyone). I was somewhat surprised she didn’t say anything about me almost shooting her dog, so I mentioned how close it had come to getting shot. She hadn’t seen me draw or point the gun at her dog, and even at that moment hadn’t noticed the P239 carried openly in a holster on my belt.

The cops never came and I wasn’t interested in making her life any more difficult so I finished my ride (in hindsight I really should have had the wound checked out). The next day I took the same route and while on Ruston I spotted an animal control officer on patrol for off-leash dogs and poop abandoners. I rode up (same OC) and told her the whole story. She listened and without hesitation said, “It would have been a good shoot”. She said if I had called them they would have taken the dog, and that I should have had the wound checked out for rabies etc.

Looking back after the adrenaline with a more critical eye on what had happened; it occurred to me that the dog, a herding breed, had acted on impulse, doing what its instinct told it to do when it saw legs moving rapidly up & down; herd me. Once I had stopped and was about to dispense a helping of 147gr HSTs, its instinct was satisfied and it walked away. This is what dog owners need to understand; their loving pet still has instincts even it doesn’t understand, and it will act on them immediately if the right trigger comes along.

I am glad I didn’t have to shoot it; it was a city park with kids on the playground behind me. All they would have known is that some mean man shot a beautiful collie dog for no reason. After that I found and ordered a special pepper-spray holder for the handlebars; to give me a non-lethal option. If the attack had continued, open carry was the only way I would have gotten the gun out before any real damage had been done. Zippers or flaps in the way would have been too slow. I was surprised at myself somewhat for the speed and smoothness of the stop, kicking out of the egg-beater pedals, thumb-break, draw, and trigger pull; I had never practiced all that.

I love animals. I once had to shoot a neighbor's dog who had killed several of my chickens and had another in his mouth. I had asked the neighbor many times to keep his dog at home and off of my rural property. I don't blame the dog as much as I do the neighbor, unfortunately the dog had to die in order to keep my chickens alive.

There was a similar incident in the Grand Rapids area not long ago. See link below.

Apparently, dog owner allowed the dog to run loose frequently. Prior to the shooting, she had been cited by animal control seven times for this behavior.

In an update to the story, the police finally charged her with some sort of infraction. The neighbor (the shooter) was cleared any wrong doing.

Naturally, I wasn't there so I can't say whether the shooting was necessary or not. I would think, however, that any pet owner who valued the animal would take steps to keep it on their own property.

Hudsonville dog owner charged for letting it run loose; neighbor shot, killed it | WZZM13.com

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You're shy a few manners.

I saw that story in the paper this morning. I've been walking my dogs in my semi-rural area for nearly 20 years now. (Down to one dog now.) In those years, there's been at least 6 times when dogs running loose have "attacked" my dogs. I put that in quotation marks because they were all more of the "skirmish" nature. To date, I've never had to draw my gun. (I carry either a BG380 or 642.) I've always been able to break up the fight either by yelling or kicking the attacking dog. Three of those incidents involved the same dog, a mid sized terrier, and I kicked him hard all three times. I'll tell you, some of those dogs are fast. I've about wrenched my back missing them with a kick. The only one that really worried me was a large German Shepherd owned by a police officer. That was one of the "missed kicks" - dog was pretty quick. Even though I've never had to use the gun, I continue to carry, in the event we do encounter a Rottweiler, pit bull, etc., that won't be stopped by a kick. I'm not judging the guy who shot the dog in this instance. None of us were there to see it. But I guess by my actions to date I wouldn't have shot until it had actually attacked.

Where I live, I'm more likely to have to deal with a 4-legged threat than a 2-legged one.

I think I'll continue with the utility of having an LCP in my pocket from the time I get dressed till going to bed.

People are killed almost every day by dog attacks in this country. I have twice had to shot dogs that attacked or threatened me. I didn't like to do it, I really like dogs. That being said I am not going to let an apparently unlicensed, unvaccinated stray pit bull have me for lunch. Even if the attack doesn't kill you if the dog isn't caught you can look forward to some uncomfortable shots and whatever work is necessary to patch you up. It just isn't worth it. If it comes down to me spending the rest of the day in the E.R. or me shooting the dog, I am shooting the dog.

MN has a specific rule permitting a farmer to protect any livestock. In an urban situation, unless the dog is actively attacking, you can be jammed up for killing a dog and for discharging a gun, and both events will probably show up on the front page of the local news.

Pitbulls and Rotti's are products of the humans that raise them. The dogs were bred to fight other dogs and to not attack humans. When raised by competent owners, they are gentle with all and pits can be a great deal of
fun. My Springers favorite buddies are frequently pits, and the Rotties I meet are usually stand offish but polite. But you are not allowed to kill the owners if the dogs attack you and you do have to survive.

Any attack from any dog should have a phone call made to the local cop shop. MN has state laws that require aggressive and dangerous dogs be restrained, outlining the kinds and level of restraint and insurance coverage required for different level of dogs, and at what point the dog will be destroyed.

The dog most likely to bite you is the Chihuahua. Hard to shoot being small and bouncing and probably hanging on to your ankle so you risk shooting your foot. You get rural, and you may run into mixed packs of every breed and they all can bite if raised by an idiot. The sweetest house pet, running with a pack, will attack.

Very unfortunate for the poor dog. The cops say it was a good shoot, I won't second guess them.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

Feral dogs can be the most dangerous in rural areas because they have no fear of humans like coyotes usually do. I have only had one instance where I thought I might need to defend myself from an aggressive dog. CCW wasn't legal yet, so all I had was a knife. Fortunately the dog never left its property, and seemed to know exactly where its "authority" ended.

It has been several years, but one morning I came upon a calving cow set upon by three dogs trying to rip open the "bag." Two chows and some kind of mutt, they had tags and collars, and likely came from a nearby subdivision of 5 acre "hobby farms."

At risk of being chewed out for being off-topic; I'm glad I saw this thread! I have not had a dog problem walking where I live - but both of my daughters were attacked by a pit bull (minor injuries) in the Leftmost State last month. I am going to drop the $100+ and get a decent sword-cane this month. They're legal here and I think one will be a more-quickly accessed defense solution against one dog. I'm not anti-dog at all, just very much against so many dog owners who don't properly control their animals. Should a multi-dog situation arise, I hope that five rounds will at least scare them off!!

WOW---I TOO AM AN ANIMAL LOVER, BUT YOU ARE A MUCH MORE COMPASSIONATE MAN THAN I WOULD HAVE BEEN, IF I WERE IN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES......

I THINK THAT THE $250. FINE PER DOG, WOULD HAVE GONE A LONG WAY TO REMEDY THE SITUATION. I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU WANTING TO BE "THE GOOD GUY", BUT YOUR NEIGHBOR OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT SHARE SIMILAR SENTIMENTS TOWARD YOU......

A FEW VISITS BY THE POLICE, AT $500. EACH OCCURRENCE, WOULD HAVE CHANGED HIS MIND. I ALSO WOULD HAVE INSTALLED AN ELECTRICAL FENCE ALONG THAT BORDER OF YOUR LAND---WITH APPROPRIATE SIGNAGE FACING HIS PROPERTY, OF COURSE, SO THAT HE WAS DULY WARNED......

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I'm sure everyone here cringes at the thought of having to shoot a dog. No one wants to harm an animal.

Since we're telling stories... I'll repeat this one.

I used to take Pugsters to a public park most everyday for a walk. Lots of folks with their dogs of all kinds. Never had a problem over eight years. But....

I won't name the breed, but it was a large strong dog that was close to beyond control of the owner. The dog went berserk at the sight of Pugsters. I immediately veered off the path and got a grip on my pistol (still in the pocket). The lady was doing everything she could to hold her dog back. Her shoes were sliding on the walkway and was close to being helplessly dragged. Had she lost control I would have had no choice but to shoot that dog dead even if the owner was still on the other end of the leash.

Intimidating dogs are... well... intimidating to folks. Lots of people are carrying guns these days and are simply not going to allow themselves or their dog to be attacked and injured. Now some gun owners may use poor judgement. If you've got an intimidating dog the chances of encountering poor judgement are increased. Just a reality. If you care for your dog keep control of it.

The beast in my avatar (RIP, Bozo) was genetically incapable of tolerating strangers, and had to be treated as such. Dogs need be in the house most if not all of the time, and if they are allowed out in their yard, EVEN UNDER DIRECT OBSERVATION, there must be an adequate fence with padlocked gates (someone goes full stupid and opens your gate and your dog gets out, the dog pays, and so will you, and no one needs to be in your yard without you being there and inviting them anyway). They need to be on leash when off their property, except for unusual circumstances.

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NHI, 10-8.

Hello, a couple of years ago while walking in my backyard I spotted 3 pit bulls, we all froze and they didn't bark or growl, they just came at me as fast as they could run. I barely had time to pull my NAA 22mag out,cock it and fire a round in the dirt in front of the lead dog @ about five yards from me, they turned and trotted away. If not for my NAA there's no telling what could have happened. Now I am ALWAYS armed.
SEMPER PARATUS

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NRA Life Member
CPO

Kind of like today...
Pit bull attack kills one child, injures two in Atlanta - NY Daily News

I carry a stungun as well as a .380 bodyguard when walking my pup. The stungun is first line of defense and makes a very menacing noise when the activation button is pressed. Am enclosing pic of the stun gun I like to carry, but I do have 3 or 4 of them. Have never had to use it so cannot vouch for it. Shooting someone's dog is a last resort for me.

Attached Images

stungun41kWzA9dlRL.jpg (16.4 KB, 34 views)

But, of course, you don't want to turn this into a pitbull (which is not a recognized breed) bashing thread, right? I think you said that earlier.

My tongue is getting sore from me biting it.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

city people always drop off unwanted dogs in the country.
i often see feral dogs.
when i see one, i ask if he wants a meal.
if he does he gets one, or many.
mostly, the ones that have been on their own for a while ignore me.
but if he shows any sign of aggression, he dies.
if i shoot someone's pet by mistake, it's their fault for letting a dog run with no collar.
when people abandon dogs they always remove the collar.

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susie

No - what I said was:

About 15 years ago when my kids, boy and girl, were in grade school, they walked to and from school. Their route was to go out my back door, across my back yard, cross a neighbors property with permission and down the next street to school. They had no cell phones.

One day I was home getting ready for second shift and my wife looked out the back window expecting to see the kids coming home. She yells at me that she sees a dog chasing my running kids. I didnt ask any questions, just grabbed the nearest loaded handgun and ran out the door to see what was going on.

As I ran towards where my kids would be coming from, I see them about 50 yards away running towards me screaming and crying. I ran to them and gathered them up, head on a swivel, they are yelling about a big black dog that bit my son on the hand and I can see blood on his hand and shirt. I get the kids in the house to my wife and I go back outside.

As I get to the back of my property, I hear a gruff bark/growl as a ~100 lb Rotty comes around my neighbors house and charges at me growling and snarling very aggressively. I stood my ground and fired at him when he got within 10 ft or so and didnt stop coming. He stopped and shook his head at the first shot, then came at me again, at the second shot he turned and tried to circle me, still growling loudly. As he lunged at me again, I shot him twice more. After the fourth shot he turned and suddenly decided he needed to be somewhere else quickly. I let him go.

The main reason he survived was because the gun I grabbed that day was a six shot 22LR revolver. When my wife yelled dog, I was thinking dog, not DOG! The police made the owner take it in for a rabies test. My son got bit on the hand, not badly thank goodness, and took a trip to the ER. My daughter had issues for a long time with large dogs. I think the dog was really more bark than bite but who could take that chance with such an aggressive animal that had bitten one person already that I knew of?

Come to find out the owner used to have a business in a bad part of town, raised this dog to be aggressive and live in in this business to protect it. The business closed and he brought this dog home to a residential area where it got out of a fenced yard. He eventually either put it down or it died but not before it got out a few more times and terrorized other people.

Ive been close to drawing on a couple more aggressive dogs since then, but havent had to. I love dogs, have one now and have given many of them lifetime homes, but Im not going to allow myself or my loved ones to be bitten or mauled or worse if I can help it before I take action. It may be tragic because it may be the owners fault that the dog does what it does, but the end result is that the animal has to be controlled by whatever means necessary at the time. Sometimes escalation of force isnt needed, but sometimes you have no choice.

I've been attacked (or should I say my dogs have) numerous times over the years while walking 2 different GSDs. I carry both non-lethal and a lethal weapon (pistol). Pepper spray is a nice deterrent if you can get it out of your pocket fast enough and get on target. The problem is dogs are much faster. So now I carry a stun gun (in hand) and pistol. The last time this happened a rather large GSD came out of nowhere after my GSD. I ended up kicking at it and eventually grabbing its collar and holding it until the owner arrived. It was quite the scene holding back two GSDs from biting each other. For me trying to defuse the situation by yelling and kicking at the other dog has worked 100% so far. Option 2 would be to apply the stun gun and if all else fails - lethal force.

Hope it doesn't come to lethal force because I know its somebody's beloved pet and dogs just don't always play nice. I know my dog doesn't care for other dogs.

I believe that the cases cited here were completely justifiable. We aren't talking about wanton breed bashing. Like Chattanooga said earlier, I don't know anybody on this forum that that's not an animal lover. It seems to go hand in hand with the enjoyment of the outdoors and shooting as a sport.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

The difference being a 'lop eared bunny dog' can be neutralized very easily if it decides to bite - they fly well when flung by the rear legs, or crunched by a boot if near the ground - much like stepping on a large insect.

First, even though it was 15 years ago, I am glad your family was not harmed any worse than the initial bite and being terrified. I am curious--did you connect with all 4 shots from the .22LR? From your description it sounds as if they were all head/neck shots? And the dog lived through that?

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Possum—The other white meat!

I live close to this area and I feel bad for the dog but it is really up to the owner to maintain control of the animal at all times. Some breeds are just aggressive and need extra measures to insure control. That's why the dog catcher is officially called "Animal Control".
One thing I learned over the years as a postal carrier and newspaper delivery manager was a non-lethal way to stop a dog that was approaching and looking to bite. If I had a jacket on I would quickly remove it and hold it in front of my legs and slowly walk toward the dog. The dog would be confused and always started to retreat. If the dog did continue to attack or leap at me I figured I could always throw the coat over the dogs head and gain some advantage. It never happened because the dozen times I was forced to do this the dog always backed off. I never encountered a pit bull so I can't say if the results would have been the same. When I was in college I took care of a large shepard/collie mix for a girlfriend. That dog loved to play rough and I would wrap a heavy towel around my forearm and let him get a good bite and play tug of war. He was a great watchdog and would park himself at the top of the entryway stairs in the apartment. Nobody got past him in the year I had him. All it took was one bark and whoever was heading up the stairs turned around and waited until I told "Shep" to stand down.
Dogs are like guns, safety rules need to be in place at all times. Sorry this owner didn't follow the rules.

True but funny story - many years ago when I had a very large lab and equally large golden retriever while in the yard one day a neighbor 5 acres away had a completely fearless 'lop eared bunny dog' that wandered over and grabbed my lab by the rear leg - my lab simply tried to shake it off while looking at me wantonly like 'Hey dad, get this thing off my leg' - well about that time the Golden (female and very protective) came to his rescue and grabbed the little thing by the nap of the neck and then my lab joins in by grabbing it by the rear leg and they had it stretched out like a pig on a spit - well I decided to go save it but in the meantime they did not know what to do so they both dropped it and unharmed it 'sauntered' off with both my dogs looking at it in amazement - I had to respect the little thing for taking on two very large dogs!

little dogs don't know they are little dogs.
all dogs are big tough dogs in their minds.

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susie

A friend had a welding shop and had it broke into several times so he put his GSD -Max in the shop chained to steel pole ..he was people unfriendly to everyone but him, his wife and his son and me if only if he was around .. anyone else he had to be restrained from biting them .. he was ok with me because I had played with him since he was a pup .. but he is the only GSD that I've seen that was just plain mean and unfriendly right from a puppy ....

Eko the GSD I have now is so friendly all she wants to do is play .. almost 4 years old and she still acts just like a pup of less then a year ..

Kindly cite where you 'learned' this information. Information that is not remotely close to being truthful. Thank you.

Be safe.

I agree, people who raise them usually the problem, not the breed of dog. Rottweilers were NOT originally bred to fight other dogs, they were draft animals. I've lived with several. My worst dog on dog attack involved a Catahoula Leopard Dog who tried to kill my Lab mix rescue dog. Almost 90 staples/stitches. Had to put the CLD down.

If a neighbor has a troublesome dog, particularly one of the breeds known to bite, contact the neighbor's insurance company and threaten a lawsuit if anything ever happens. Then watch your neighbor's insurance rate skyrocket if not get dropped altogether.

...kill more people in the US of A than do dogs. That is NOT a lie!


Simply cannot account for the number of folks herein who seem to want to bust a cap in Old Yeller at 'every' opportunity.

Be safe.

LOL, so true. Less than a minute on google reveals an average of about 30 a year. Far from "almost everyday". Of course, the "one is to many" crowd will not care either way.

Jim

Reading that kind of makes me glad I carry a walking stick as another option.

I had to employ it pretty recently, in fact, against an off-leash Cocker Spaniel of all things. Dog charged right across a busy street, snarling at me and my Shiba Inu, who's just standing in place with a confused look on her face. Without even thinking, I raised my stick and extended it out, placing it between us and the off-leash dog and shouting "BACK!"; those two things stopped it right in its tracks while the obviously clueless owner just stood on the sidewalk with his mouth hanging. The two of us just moved on without further incident.

Was that Spaniel aggressive or just ill-mannered? I wasn't about to wager a veterinarian's bill worth of money to find out.

At least in the case of horses, I would be willing to bet human deaths are due to riding accidents, not the horses going postal... Not saying it doesn't ever happen, just that this claim is misleading.

From the majority of posts I have read in this thread, this is a gross misrepresentation. Maybe that was an attempt at humor(?)

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You're shy a few manners.

when I was a youngster......back in the 60's.....I delivered newspapers to most of the people in our small town. There were several of my customers that had dogs the didn't like the kid with the bag over his shoulder.......at the time a squrtgun filled with ammonia worked well for me.......as I got older, I got better guns.

I cycle almost every day (recumbent trike) and I use to ride a multi use trail on a wildlife refuge but gave it up last year because I got tired of dealing with the idiots letting their dogs run free. If I ever start caring a firearm it will be based on the 4 legged threats. I can't begin to count the number of incidents with dogs and their owners over the years. I have found that the doggy pepper spray is the most effective solution in a multi or single dog attack. I don't aim the spray directly at the dog, I lay down a curtain of spray in their attack path, this has proven to be very effective in convincing most dogs to break off and go somewhere else.

I am a firm believer that most bad dog encounters are the result of bad owners, I don't have a problem with the owner making a $150 donation to the county for a off leash dog.

I think the Rottweiler was charging at the man looking like he was going to attack because he just wanted to play and get his belly rubbed. [insert eye roll here]

Thirty or so years ago I was confronted while walking in the woods by growling dogs. Two blocking my path up the trail in the direction I was headed while one started circling to my back side. To me it felt like I was being set up on a hunt.
It was either four or five shots that dropped all three dogs. I was very glad I had my S&W 22lr Kitgun that day. The 22 was the best choice I had at the time and I had spent plenty of time plinking at golf balls at the range. Well placed shots or lucky, not sure. The largest dog (quartering toward me) took the first round in the rump not by design, I almost missed him, which made him spin in circles yelping like he had been stung by a bee. Second and third rounds dropped the other two where they stood (broadside). Fourth or fifth shot put the big one down too.
I had heard of guys seeing dogs running deer in the woods or encountering a lone cur. I wasn't expecting trouble that day and I have never come across any since. I've never gone into the woods un-armed since then though.

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John

Reading through all these threads I didn't notice any that said they would enjoy shooting a dog. All of them had the opinion that they really shouldn't be chased down and attacked by anything, and if they were, appropriate action would be taken. I for one would hate to have to shoot a dog, never have, but if I were being attacked I would protect myself. I don't like ER's.