Dog Attacks! - Effective Ways to Defend Yourself

[6thtexas]

A can of hair spray and a Bic lighter will work, but make sure the canine doesn't light up and run under a neighbor's house (just joking-kids, please don't try this at home)

Seriously, a stout walking stick will handle 99% of actual dog attacks and a 442 will do the rest.

In the last 7 years I have had one dog actually carry home an attack. A deranged beagle (of all things!) bit my leg and filled my sock with blood. A well delivered kick to Snoopy's cranium ended the affair.

I have taken to carrying a stick now.

 

[W.E.G.]

If you are a small person, you can probably get by with carrying a whoopin' stick.

I'm no giant, but maybe a tad taller than average, and with the way I carry myself, I think most people would regard the image of me with a large stick in my hand as "angry man with club." I try to eschew that vibe.

If I'm in areas where bad dogs are known to frequent, I'm usually armed. Concealed.

I don't fool with sprays. It takes ideal wind conditions, and perfect aim at a moving target, to have any effect at all with spray. Moreover, if they are close enough to spray effectively, they are close enough to deliver the boot even MORE effectively.

Except for a few known-vicious, and especially powerful breeds, every strange aggressive dog gets one "free boot" with me. I'm not saying it CAN'T happen, but that would be something to see - the dog that can finagle his teeth around the Vibram sole closing on his center of mass before the Vibram sole knocks every bit of air out of him. I haven't encountered one yet that didn't run (or limp) away.

If the dog is pissed off, and gets close enough to me to get the boot, the dog gets the boot. I don't let them bite me first.

The ones that won't come close enough to get a dose of boot are just making noise. Very annoying, but not a true threat. The owner usually appears presently. I have a short canned speech for the owner. Usual stupid reaction is "my dog never bites... I'm sorry... blah-blah-blah..." But the weapons stay concealed, and no police reports have to be written.

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[3rdRRU_PhuBai]

Sit! Stay! Good doggie!

 

[Squarebutt]

There was a similar thread recently, in which I recommended an old ski pole, sans basket, as an innocent-looking walking stick that can poke, swat or skewer an aggressive mutt. I've been carrying mine for years, and haven't had one negative reaction at the dog park. And thankfully never had to deploy it. Or my revolver.

 

[haywood]

Pepper Spray worked for me. I didn't hit the Dog. The stream whent over his head. He got enough of a wiff to start sneezing and left me alone. If he would have kept comming I would have kept spraying. Shooting would be a last resort. Probably would try to kick inbetween sprays. Like I said shooting would be last result. It would have to be a big killer type dog. If it's just a little ankle biter I would probably practice the drop kick.

 

[Dvan34]

A very good suggestion since we are always advised to carry a Tactical flashlite when we CC. It would blind the dog and also potential human attackers who would be unable to see if you are armed or not.

 

[CoMF]

I see a couple people have suggested tac lights, and it makes sense if you're already in the habit of carrying one every day.

I've never "hippie maced" a charging dog at night before, but assuming it stops them in their tracks, it can be counted on as a deterrent.

 

[Mister X]

Often simply confusing an aggressive dog will deter it.

I once had a student that was a K-9 police officer. He told me that once he had a fleeing suspect drop down on all fours and start howling and barking at his dog. He said the dog was so confused, it stopped in it's tracks. I probably wouldn't advise that particular tactic, but years ago I walking down the street returning a VHS tape to the video store when a Chow came running straight at me at full speed snarling. I immediately thought of that story and decided to do something the dog wouldn't expect. When he got close I took a step aggressively toward him and rattled the tape violently and started making yelping noises. It totally freaked it out and it turned tail and bolted with it's tail between it's legs. I truthfully can't imagine too many likely circumstances where I would actually feel the need to shoot a dog at this time in my life. As I get older or if it involved protecting a child, there might be exceptions but otherwise pepper spray and a walking stick while exercising should likely suffice.

 

[Mack]

Last ditch. Jam your forearm into back of mouth, dogs cannot bite down with something jammed up against jaw hinge. Wrap legs around body and squeeze, chop on back of neck or deploy knife against throat if you have one. Believe I saw this in a SAS surival book, proven the jaw hinge thing with my dogs, stick a finger in there and they can't bite down. Course a big stick or gun would be much better.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I am not an expert on much of anything of consequence, particularly dogs, but my limited experience has been that barking at a slightly aggressive dog seems to maintain a space between the two of us. More often, the dog is territorial and may be slightly confused as to the exact legal limits of its territory. Heck, most of us are - that's why we have surveyors. Anyway, just explain your understanding of the limits as best you can, and don't carry the argument any farther than needed.

A stick seems to work great, but except for the aluminum ASP kind, they are often not convenient to carry.

I will also note that most of the dogs I meet are friendly, including plenty of the big ones. My main problem is chest-level paw prints, or paw prints on one of my few pairs of khaki pants that aren't aging and tattered.

 

[Rivoak]

Just like getting attacked by a human, what to do depends on circumstances.

If a large aggressive dog attacks me on my own property out in the country, my EDC is a Bond Snake Slayer loaded with No. 4 buckshot. With only two rounds, I won't fire warning shots. You will soon learn why. I imagine that to be an effective way to defend myself.

A large dog attacking with teeth in my opinion should be treated no different than a human attacking with a knife.

I was bitten by a dog once when I was a child, and I can tell you that experience sticks in my mind. I have had loose dogs stray on my property 4 times. One was fleeing a flood. He came up soaking wet and scared. I found his owner who was out looking for him. The second dog was a little noisey "rat dog" poodle who came towards me barking like he intended to bite me. (For the life of me I can't figure out where in the world he came from. Seriously, I have some big gators on my property. ) I ran him off with a stick. The third dog on my property came charging at me and I think he really intended to bite me. I did not run but pulled out my Bond and fired a shot. I missed him because he was coming so fast I did not have time to aim and overshot when he was about 6 feet from me but that dog apparently had an understanding that if he attached himself to my leg, I probably would not miss the second time. So he high tailed it away. The last dog that strayed on my property was a deer dog that got away from his owner and he tried to lick me to death. Fortunately he had a collar with his owners phone number so I called him and reunited the two.

I really think that the derringer saved me from an attack one that one occasion when the large dog charged at me and that dog was big enough the situation was serious.

I can tell you that IMHO, a pistol has limited usefulness to stop a dog from attacking unless it scares him off. An attack happens quickly, even a large dog presents a small target when after you at full gallop, and if he keeps coming after you shoot your second shot will probably take place only after he bites.
I don't carry pepper spray around with me unless I am in the city, but I do have a can and have never had occasion to use it. The reason I think it might be better to ward off an attack is because the spray will be wide spread enough it is not likely to miss.

 

[Stirling]

On Tuesday this week I took my son to soccer practice where I heard dogs aggressively barking then saw two running away from a security guard. I asked him whether the dogs attacked and he said they did but hadn't bitten him.

Not long after my son was walking to the car when I saw the same two dogs running at him at full tilt. He's used to dogs and was oblivious of a potential attack.

I was a few metres behind him and charged at the dogs doing a warcry. They turned towards me and then away to my right as I closed right on them and continued doing a 180 with one dog now biting the other in the neck.

The dog's owner just looked on from some distance away. The charge worked. I only had a Spyderco on me and there was no time to access it. I may have drawn if I had a pistol on my hip but in hindsight I'm glad I didn't. The aftermath would have been quite different.

 

[FargoMark]

I was out for a walk one afternoon this summer when a mixed-breed medium size dog emerged between two bushes about 10 feet ahead of me, about two feet from the sidewalk. The dog stopped shot -- the I realized the owner had left it on a chain. No warning , no advance barking, THE DOG APPEARED JUST LIKE MAGIC. I almost filled my shorts. I remember my hand getting closer to my J-frame under my shirt! Thsnks for the "Dog Stick" idea. I'd hate to kill someone's pet...

 

[Harkrader]

"my Size 11 works quite well."

W.E.G., I'm not trying to argue much with you, here. I can agree that most of the dogs who are threatening and aggressive are not likely to do much - if any - harm.
However, I am a Vietnam combat vet and the largest non-surgical scars on my body were put there by dogs whose owners said they were friendly.

In my experience, a dog that is sick or one that has been trained or encouraged to be aggressive will attack attack attack until what it perceives as the threat - you - has departed.

I have even been bitten AFTER the owner ran up and dragged the dog away from me but didn't keep solid control. In one case recently, I started walking away from the lunging and ferociously-barking dog and its owner, constantly looking back. The dog had not stopped looking at me and was pulling hard at the leash. I was a good 15 meters away when I heard rapid running and turned around just as the dog bit the back of my leg.

I kicked at it with my size 10.5's but it was much too quick for me to hit it. The owner ran up, screaming at the dog, which ignored him. (Check with Caesar Milan as to why.) I had a Kimber Pepper Blaster II, which I had drawn and was pointing at the dog. I screamed at the owner that if he did not immediately control his dog I would use the spray, and then my phone to call 9-1-1 to file charges.

One of our sons is military and lives just off the base where he flies. He runs, among other things, to stay in shape, and feels dogs are the biggest threat to him. He said @^&% the pepper spray and carries a Ruger LCP or similar. He says the dogs are big and he wants them dead right there.

I'm at the age, with accompanying physical condition, that running is not an option and kicking, however ineffective, is worthless, never mind hard to do. I'll still go for the pepper spray first, but the dog gets only one chance to react, and then I'll shoot it with my firearm.

Finding people who have actually used pepper spray on dogs is harder than I would have thought, so my sample is small, but I have yet to find one who said a solid hit with pepper spray was not effective.

 

[Tigerair]

"my Size 11 works quite well."

W.E.G., I'm not trying to argue much with you, here. I can agree that most of the dogs who are threatening and aggressive are not likely to do much - if any - harm.
However, I am a Vietnam combat vet and the largest non-surgical scars on my body were put there by dogs whose owners said they were friendly.

In my experience, a dog that is sick or one that has been trained or encouraged to be aggressive will attack attack attack until what it perceives as the threat - you - has departed.

I have even been bitten AFTER the owner ran up and dragged the dog away from me but didn't keep solid control. In one case recently, I started walking away from the lunging and ferociously-barking dog and its owner, constantly looking back. The dog had not stopped looking at me and was pulling hard at the leash. I was a good 15 meters away when I heard rapid running and turned around just as the dog bit the back of my leg.

I kicked at it with my size 10.5's but it was much too quick for me to hit it. The owner ran up, screaming at the dog, which ignored him. (Check with Caesar Milan as to why.) I had a Kimber Pepper Blaster II, which I had drawn and was pointing at the dog. I screamed at the owner that if he did not immediately control his dog I would use the spray, and then my phone to call 9-1-1 to file charges.

One of our sons is military and lives just off the base where he flies. He runs, among other things, to stay in shape, and feels dogs are the biggest threat to him. He said @^&% the pepper spray and carries a Ruger LCP or similar. He says the dogs are big and he wants them dead right there.

I'm at the age, with accompanying physical condition, that running is not an option and kicking, however ineffective, is worthless, never mind hard to do. I'll still go for the pepper spray first, but the dog gets only one chance to react, and then I'll shoot it with my firearm.

Finding people who have actually used pepper spray on dogs is harder than I would have thought, so my sample is small, but I have yet to find one who said a solid hit with pepper spray was not effective.

I was a Letter Carrier for many years and have hit many dogs with pepper spray and it always stopped the attack...I still carry pepper spray along with a 9mm Shield...

 

[M&P Freak]

Boyd's Gunstocks used to make walking sticks. I cannot find them now, but recently acquired one for my mother when she had a knee replaced this spring. The reason I bring it up is they are(were) great walking sticks, more of a staff really. Very stout.

We have a small aging dog that likes to go for walks. Our neighborhood sometimes has large aggressive dogs running loose that would love to go after our little guy, so you betcha, I carry a big stick when walking the dog.

Like the gun on my hip, I hope I never need to use it, but we all know it's best to be prepared.

Edit to add: Found 'em

 

[Bob R]

If you are feeling dapper when out walking you can always carry a full size umbrella and use it as a walking stick. They often have a pointy end on them if all you want to do is poke.

I have used one once when a large mix mutt charged me, I popped that umbrella open and that dog skidded to a halt. I can only think that the dogs minuscule brain that can only tell it a few things such as food, poop and attack suddenly saw this huge object appear from nowhere and given its size it decided that pooping would be better than attacking.

Just remember you still have the pokey part after it has been opened.

bob

 

[CoMF]

Boyd's Gunstocks used to make walking sticks...

Edit to add: Found 'em

Those are some nice DymondWood walking staffs! If I ever manage to wear out or break my current stick, I think I'll take a look at getting one of them.

 

[6string]

The content of the OP really shows how far we have devolved as a society. The assumption, which is not really the fault of the OP, is that the dog and it's victim are entitled to equal status in the eyes of the law. That is pure hogwash! The dog is property. The dog owner is liable for injury caused by their own negligence.
Private citizens are under no obligation to "think like a dog" or forgo the free use of public space.

To illustrate how things have changed, when my Mom was a young girl, she was attacked by a neighbor's dog while playing in her own backyard. The dog jumped over the fence and attacked unprovoked. The result was multiple trips to the hospital for sutures to her lip and right leg. How would the rules of avoidance outlined in the OP help?
Incidentally, the outcome of the above attack was as follows. My grandfather grabbed his 12 ga shotgun, walked next door, knocked on the door and demanded the dog be handed over. My grandfather dragged the dog home, tied it to tree in the backyard and blew the dog's head off. End of story.
If there was more of this, there'd be a lot less negligent dog owners. Or, a lot less dogs!