One of the reasons I carry a 296 in a fanny pack most of the time when walking my dogs is that I can make a contact shot if my dog gets attacked by another dog. (I'm almost never unarmed when out of my house, but sometimes its another gun.) I also wear heavy boots most of the time. For my dog's safety, I want a contact shot on the other dog to minimize risk to mine, and contact shots with an autopistol while chock full of adrenaline could result in pushing the gun out of battery.

As for morons that let their dogs run lose, I have no patience for that stuff. We have had big dogs, most public safe, for 30+ years. They still made the ignorant nervous, and a couple were not tolerant of strange dogs. We also had Bozo (avatar), and he was flat out dangerous to strangers. He was walked in a muzzle for a reason. There is no excuse for jackassery with one's pets - protective or not. My wife and Ruby (her Rott female) were attacked last week near our other house, and it's going to cost that owner a few hundred bucks in court. It simply did not need to happen, and the cops were real good about it. They did not bat an eye at my flat out statement that had it happened to me, I'd have probably shot the (intercourse)er. People who act like idiots get no patience from me - they get graveyard cop voice, direct and clear commands, and if they have not started RUNNING to address the problem within a second or so, I get more verbally assertive, including language that would take the paint off a battleship and make Ermey proud. There is no obligation to be nice to people like that, and if they don't like me and go home crying, that's fine by me.

As a side data point, I have "taken protective custody" of far more loose dogs and done what I could to get them home safely than I have had attack type problems. Bozo was pretty good with other dogs, and Ted LOVES them, as did Mack and Sasha. None of them would respond well to being attacked, but most of the time were happy to meet other dogs.

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NHI, 10-8.