Attacked by Pitbull.. What would you do?

[Protected One]

The pimp, the trained attack dog and the phone man.


There was a town right outside a large military base. In the either regions of this town were places that were off limits. Love hungry GI's would go there at night and buy happiness.

One of these places was run by a surly gent, a real Pimp. He had sent a German Shepard to St. Louis to be attack trained. He kept the dog close to him along with a pearl handled 357.

His girls all wanted phones, several to a room. When the phones guys went out to install, repair or disconnect the Pimp would demand the guys pack of cigarettes. He could afford gold plated cigs if he wanted, he just liked messing with folks.

My buddy who grew up coon hunting, when young he had to climb the tree to throw the coon out to the dogs. He got pretty good at keeping his hand out of biting mouths. He had to wade in and pull a coon from a pack of dogs. He had to break up fights when coon hounds went at each other. Lots of dog experience.

He showed up and the pimp demanded his cigarettes. He said, nope get cher own, you can afford them. The pimp took this as an affront and said if you don't give me your cigs I'm turning the attack dog loose on you. My buddy thought he was kidding about the dog. Again he denied the pimps request for the cig pack. The pimp just said KILL and the fight was on.

My bud kept backing up kicking and gained purchase on the collar he took the dog down and choked it to death. All the time he was afraid he was going to get shot in the back.

The pimp screamed that is a $3000 dollar dog. My bud said he isn't worth 2 cents now.

The pimp never called our office to complain and distinctly did not call the law.


The very important Colonel, the junk yard farm dog and the phone guy.


An Air Force Colonel retired and bought a farm 20 miles out in the country. Farm country, 10 party lines and most felt lucky to have this.

The colonel was an abrasive bullying braggart feller. In the local coffee shop he would brag how much his retirement check was and how much his civil service double dipping job paid. Told them thanks for paying taxes so he could have all this money. In the land of bib overalls and john Deere caps he did not endear himself to the locals.

He demanded a private line and was denied, he told everyone he was very important and had to have one. Nope he was a part time farmer with a couple of cows and a job.

He developed a plan to leave his phone off hook when he left for work and call in trouble reports. With enough reports the sate would step in.

The colonel had a large German Shepard that had one and only one personality trait, VICIOUS!

2 of us worked this town. Daily we'd get a trouble report and take turns going out. Never got out of the truck. The dog would bite the painted bumpers, you could hear his teeth making ungodly noise as he bite through the paint to the metal.

He would bite the truck tires and shake so hard the truck would move.

When you pulled up the dog would fly in with fangs barred, drooling barking like a junk yard dog.

Went on for months. The reports did not count because he failed to put up the biting dog as asked each time.

I sort of had a melt down, snapped if you will, enough.

I stopped up the road from the house and retrieved my 2 pound lineman's hammer from my tool bin. For those who have not seen one, it looks like a small sledge hammer with a 15 to 18" handle. It is for driving heavy bolts into poles or driving ground rods.

Ole fido closed on my truck in his normal teeth first fashion. Only this time I stepped out with said hammer on my shoulder. It is said one is not supposed to stare into a alpha dogs eyes, it may aggravate them.

I stared him in the eyes, calmly said dog today you either go play somewhere else or die. He kept staring at my eyes.

Something he saw clicked, he quit snarling and barking. He walked off into a pasture and did not look back.

I am a dog lover, but there are some that might be better off in the state of demise.

I went to the house, yep receiver off hook. The colonel's work number was on the report. I called it and said hi, I'm at your house and your receiver is off hook preventing 9 other folks from using their phone. I'm leaving you unhooked until you call back in. He pulled out his Colonels voice and told me BS I can't be calling him from his house. I said yes I am. He was adamant I wasn't. Then he yelled what did you do to my dog? Dog what dog? Oh you mean the one they've told you to lock up 50 times? That dog? Well in the future when you're told to lock up your new dog, do it.

His voice went squeeky and had some high pitch panic kinda vibes.

He called in on me, I got a pat on the back and coffee by my boss.

He never called in another trouble report. I'll bet he left work early and drove like mad to see if ole killer was dead.

And if ole killer had attacked he would have crossed over.


A jerk who views dog training as cruel and the older phone guy.


As I said I love dogs, trained and well mannered dogs. I don't have much truck with those who let dogs run and the only training given was to let them use your yard as their privy.

In St. Louis I was leash training a chocolate lab. He was about 6 months old when we got him and had zero training.

When we 1st went to St. Louis we lived in a nice apartment complex until we bought a home. The recommended method is to use a 15' leash and walk. If they go around a tree or fire hydrant keep walking pretty soon they get the idea that go snooping around that tree will get you neck stretched a little.

So I'm working the pup day one. A jogger came by, he was giving me some serious looks. I could tell he did not approve. He said something like cruel aren't you. I said no, training the dog to leash and I'll bet in 5 minutes I can have your sorry self leash trained, he jogged off at double speed.

MORE, more!

 

[69camfrk]

The Pit is just another attack waiting to happen. Next time it could be someone's child. I would've dropped it on the spot.

 

[RubenZ]

The whole how they are raised is not entirely true. There have been countless reports of people who have raised pits right and they still attack. And these are by actual breed lovers.

I honestly don't care about dog breed. I've had ROTTS and they are awesome dogs, very protective of their family. But if a big aggressive dog is coming at me, it will get dropped. I have been bit by a pitt mix in my leg and it HURTS.

 

[model70hunter]

Since we are hijacking the OP's original thread and some want more canine stories I will open a new thread.

OP, you did the right thing. The use of deadly force applies across the species spectrum.

You saved yourself a bunch of sorrow by using restraint. Yes most of us feel dealing with the dog will save some pain, suffering and perhaps death down the road, but, you and your dog did not get past the point of imminent life threatening danger.

If the dog attacked, different methods apply.

Many cities now have banned Pits. I don't know what yours does but it would be good to contact the city to gain the legal aspect.

Most cities also ban shooting firearms in the city limits, including archery and air/pellet guns.

No warning shots, only shoot in self defense. If one feels the attack is imminent that may be all you need, plus hopefully witnesses.

Sir you do not need to soul search any further. You reacted correctly. And we know what would have happened if your or your dog was attacked.

 

[DryRun]

I agree with the other posters about filing a report. Documentation will be your friend if there are more problems.

 

[AlHunt]

The Pit is just another attack waiting to happen.

No, it's not.

 

[getoff]

having been bit by a half pit, half black lab, not sure i would have the restraint you showed. had my 442 been with me when i was bit, unhappy time for dog, owner and me. that said, nice job, with a mostly happy outcome.

 

[RSanch111]

You're very lucky to have fended off a dog attack with just a few kicks. Sounded like the little guy only wanted to play. I'd also carry a gun that shoots bullets with a little more mass..... Having seen many pitbulls shot with many different rounds, you likely would have been out of ammo before the dog was out of steam. N-Frame with a long barrel works well. You give them the end of the barrel to bite on instead of your hand and....boom....

As far as breed generalizations.... I'm currently in classes with my dog. The trainer is a guy who's been training dogs for over 40 years and is well-known and a former trainer for the Air Force during the Vietnam era. First day, he made us repeat something three times...We had to stand there and say: "Never trust your dog, never trust your dog, never trust your dog...." And this guy has made good living at training dogs for 40 years. Way more than any well-known and trendy TV trainers.

He doesn't do much generalizing about breeds when it comes to which are more "trustworthy". Too many variables.

 

[jtcarm]

In the words of Troy Landry, "Choot im!"

 

[tjhodges310]

When I was about 18 or so, I was walking down the street with my girlfriend in her neighborhood when I heard the sound of a pit bull charging us on my right. Instinctively, I pushed her behind me, squared up to the dog, and kicked the living **** out of him dead in the snout with the toe of the dress shoes I was wearing. Surprisingly it worked and the dog put its tail between its legs and walked away. Now if that were to happen today, I am not sure how I would handle the situation knowing I am always armed. I am glad that dog didn't latch on to my leg. I think he was as shocked as I was about the whole situation.

 

[Doug M.]

Response to some things I have seen on this page, without making a lot of responses:

Shots in the air are such a bad idea I cannot conceive of a time I would advocate doing such. Might happen, but shots need to be fired at an honest to goodness target; you are responsible for every round you send downrange.

I saw someone mention turning down the music in his headphones while running. Do something smart. Throw them out. There is no excuse for wearing them in a non-secured area. By that I mean ANYWHERE outside your home, behind locked doors. It's the only time I use mine. Running? Hell no. In the gym? Hell no. Most are way below where they need to be with regard to awareness anyway. If I had kids and I caught them wearing headphones outside the house, it would be the end of the sound device. Non-negotiable.

Charging decisions: In most states, the decision to file or not file a criminal charge is an absolutely discretionary choice on the part of the prosecutor. I know there are a few that still have some odd system in which a private citizen can try to actually do the filing by persuading a judge, but that is pretty uncommon. I would not live there. (FWIW, I am a prosecutor; I do this stuff for a living, and there is no way a reasonable self-defense case would get filed around here.)

 

[686-380]

As the founder of the Church of Devout Cowardice...

But i think gunowners should act responsibly and stop being so dang paranoid and afraid of getting hurt. Are you going to shoot up a car who may be coming into your lane?

Gun owners should act responsibly but that doesn't mean we have to allow ourselves to be harmed. If any animal attacks, it's life is forfeit. The owner of said animal is responsible, not the victim.

 

[stantheman86]

I was in a similar scenario about a month ago.......the house across the street is no doubt a meth lab, and they have a pit bull. It has, numerous times, charged at me on my own property. I have already snapped on the owner pretty bad, one day it happened when I was probably having one of the worst days ever....blew up on the lady who owns the dog, screamed myself into a frenzy and scared them pretty bad. They are really careful to keep that dog tied up now.

However it got loose the one day while I was walking to my car to go to work. It charged at me, locking on like a heat seeking missile, crossing over 50 yards of my property to reach me. I put my hand on the grip of my SP101, wondering if today would be the day this dog would tear off a piece of me. It lunged at me and snarled, and I was about to put a few .38's into it, but I just calmly kept walking to my car, hand still on my gun. The lady came out and wrangled the dog back in, obviously not being able to miss me gripping something inside my waistband......she apologized , I ignored her and got in my car. Hopefully someone will just run this thing over and save us all some grief.

Next time , if this thing actually shows signs of attacking, I'm letting it hold a couple slugs if this occurs on my own property. PA has "stand your ground" laws, which I assume should apply to 100 lb. dangerous dogs.

I don't play around with this stuff, I'm not losing my ability to walk because some meth lab guard dog decides to tear a piece of my leg off. I also have split custody of my 2 year old daughter, and when she plays outside I have to carry a gun now. I'm not going to roll the dice with her life that this dog won't attack. These are animals, not people, they don't know how to reason.

 

[Drm50]

Pit bull

I live in small rural town. My property is on edge of town of 300
Pop. Had some nerdowells move in down the road with pit bull.
It got lose and ran my kids and friends into house. Guy came up
the road to get dog. I told him dog made its last trip on my property. About a month later kids got run into house again. Dog
was at bottom of deck, M-29ed him. My wife went nuts worrying
about sheriff coming. Shot dog about 7:30pm. Was still there at
11:00pm when I hit sack. Got up in morning and it was gone.
Nary a word was ever said, herd through grapevine dog owner
said I was crazy.

 

[Packard]

You are lucky that the pit didn't retaliate against you after kicking it. Had it done so, you would be completely justified in shooting it. You were fortunate to have steel toed shoes. Otherwise, things might have played out differently.

If it is actually a pitbull (and not some mixed breed) there is very little likelihood that he would break from attacking the dog and attack the owner. Once in the attack mode pitbulls are so totally engaged that anything short of a kill shot will not distract him.

If I had a revolver I would try to press the barrel against his spine and shoot point blank. A head shot is risky if he already has a bite on the other dog as you might also shoot the victim dog. And then just keep pulling the trigger until he drops.

In most cases it is futile to shoot at a running dog; they're too small and too fast to hit in that situation.

A pitbull attacked my German Shepherd Dog (he squirmed out of the owner's control). I was drinking coffee from a stainless steel travel mug. I splashed the scalding hot coffee in the pit bull's face and slammed the mug over his head as hard as I could several times. He seemed to not even notice.

The owner got control over his dog. My dog was not injured. I made him pay for a new mug as it was bent out of shape. If I had hit an adult male with the force I had hit that dog he would have been taken away in an ambulance.

So it is my opinion you need to keep shooting at point blank range until the attack ends. A .38 would require more than one shot to stop a pit bull, unless it was a base of the neck spinal shot. If you get torso shots he will hold on until he bleeds out.

 

[federali]

Raging Pitbull

Pitbulls are misunderstood. If we find gainful employment for them, they won't attack us.

 

[cmort666]

Shots in the air are such a bad idea I cannot conceive of a time I would advocate doing such.

The ONLY three times in which I'd shoot into the air:

1. Starting a race with a blank.
2. Shooting trap or skeet.
3. While under low altitude aerial attack.

1 and 3 are so unlikely as to be discounted out of hand.
2 only happens every twenty years or so.

 

[cmort666]

Pitbulls are misunderstood. If we find gainful employment for them, they won't attack us.

No, they're needlessly provoked by "Underdog" cartoons.

 

[Rastoff]

...the house across the street is no doubt a meth lab,...

This is a bit off topic, but why haven't you dealt with this problem? The dog is insignificant comparatively.

 

[chaparrito]

To the OP, you did fine, but if the owner and the dog are still present -never mind inside- after being ordered off the property by the owner, I'd be actively pursuing that with your uncle in law. Badger him until she and her foul mutt get gone.
I don't have any pet dogs, but my livestock dogs took apart a pit that made the mistake of digging under my lamb pasture fence and getting in. It took all three of them and two needed significant stitching. "Lobo's" collar and ID tag were just about the biggest pieces left of him when I got home from work. He belonged to some tweakers who rented an old house from a neighboring ranch about a mile away. His parts went in my dumpster. I wouldn't glorify his existence with burial.
Good fences make good neighbors. Mine's now been fixed against dig-unders.