Double Naught Spy

Far from perfect, but this is my shooting drill for dog-sized low level moving targets...

Moving Target Retreat Drill | VholdR

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Considering yourself to be defenseless is the first administrative step to becoming a victim.

bullfrog

I'll throw my 2 pennies in since i deal with this on a daily basis at work. As an animal control officer i've been faced with this many times. I should say that this statement should not be taken as fact as i am not familiar with your laws and ordinances. If i am faced with an aggressive animal, my first line of defense is my catch pole (using it as a means of keeping the animal from charging) Secondly i carry OC spray, and i can tell you from first hand experience that it may take more than a few seconds on some dogs to react. Third means of defense is a tranq gun, which is nice but isnt carried on our person. If all else fails, then and only then will i draw my weapon and destroy the animal. In my county its perfectly legal to shoot an agressive animal if it is threatening you or your "domesticated animal/s", but the law gets kinda sketchy if the animal is still on its owners property. A police officer once had to destroy an agressive dog that was charging a fellow ACO. There was a police officer on scene before he got there, and when the ACO tried to get out of the truck to tranq the dog, the dog came charging towards him. The police officer fired two shots instantly destroying the animal. The owner claimed he was taking the ACO and the police officer to court, but as far as we know the case was thrown out of court.

JudoJake

While attempting to serve a search warrant, I went to the back side of the house, to make sure the suspect didn't run out the back door. Two giant dogs popped their upper bodies up over the fence. One was a Great Dane. They looked like a two headed monster off of Harry Potter. Both were barking and growling at me, and their chests were well over the fence. The Great Dane got out and I started backing up. I'm not scared of dogs, but he charged me at full gallop and I was scared. I hit him with a "lucky" shot of pepper spray and he turned away instantly and started rubbing his face in the grass. I should have shot him, but the spray did work. Of course it is not guaranteed to work and I have had practice deploying the spray.

After the dog was sprayed the owners took him into the house. In all of the confusion I didn't think about cross contamination until I looked in side and saw a four year old petting the dog. I instructed Mom to get the kid away but it was too late. Mom and the kid had been exposed. I got a bowl of water and sat with the kid helping him decontaminate until the EMT arrived. Too bad the kid had to pay for his fathers warrant.

bigiceman

Dogs usually react as the original scenario describes. When shown force or aggression back from a larger animal they become less aggressive. The comments about a group of dogs are correct though. Multiple dogs are bad news. I think the key is deciding to be aggressive enough quickly enough. A kick, or to charge them back rather than retreating shows them you are not afraid and an easy target. It puts them on the defense and prepares you for the offense. IF they are serious you will need to be also and be prepared to escalate as far as you believe the situation requires. In a strange place or in an open area the gun would be in my hand. In a neighborhood that would be further down the list.

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But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself...
"Baa."
LTC(RET) Dave Grossman

Revolutionary War Veterans Association Shooter Qualification: Cook

adaman04

In fear of great bodily harm or death? Shoot.

A handgun instructor I have trained with said all the talk of shooting attacking dogs isn't as easy as some think. He said a good training tool that he has used is as follows....

Tie a piece of paracord to a milk jug full of water (which he dyes red). Have the shooter facing the jug which is downrange. Have a partner behind you run away while holding the cord. This pulls the jug toward you. Now, draw, get a sight picture and make good hits on an erratically moving milk jug. That's about what it's like shooting a charging dog. The dog he had to shoot was a Doberman I believe that had been trained to attack uniforms.

QKShooter

I carry a can of OC Spray whenever I'm out with my dog.
You should buy a can.
It's very effective on dogs.

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Squawker

--------------------WARNING! Personal anecdote ahead!_________________

Around 30 years ago, my wife and I got home from work. At that time, we lived in an apartment on the 2nd floor of a building that faced sideways to the street. There was a fence which ran along the property line. Our downstairs neighbor was away, with one of her "boyfriends" house sitting. He had his big dog with him, and he left the dog tied up outside. The dog was on a leash that allowed it to be able to reach almost to the back yard, and certainly covered the stairway to our apt. As we drove up, the dog immediately became alert, as we walked up, it strained at the leash, growling and barking, trying to get to us! Now, by coincidence, I had just purchased that day a new gun from a friend of mine who had a FFL. It was a K Frame S&W .357 magnum. With it, he had given me a box of ammo. When I realized that there was no way that we could get upstairs without being ripped to shreds, I loaded the gun, and stood a few feet from the dog (still straining to get to us) with the gun pointed at the dog, and I had my wife bang on the window. The boyfriend came out, and I informed him that if the dog was still there in 30 seconds, he would be missing a head. He quickly pulled the dog inside, and as he did, I let him know that if it happened again, the bang that he would hear wouldn't be from the window. I never had that problem again!

762

where i used to live and for the most part out here, Pit Bulls are a big issue. the dogs are not normally "aggressive", but they are bred to fight thus giving them the negative stereotypes. My wife is an animal nut and works with dogs each day - including Pits. Unless they are trained for aggression and attack, they are not very harmful.

Now, if a Pit Bull attacked me, I think it would/could be life or death real easily and i would not be pulling out spray. Once they bite, they do not let go....someone correct me if i am wrong.

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faithmyeyes

A time-honored weapon for dealing with aggressive dogs that I've only seen obliquely referred to so far is a good club. Something about the size and heft of a tee-ball bat is great. If you can hit an incoming softball, you can hit the head of an incoming dog - plus you've got something you can use two-handed as a bar or shield if you wind up cornered or on the ground.

Next choice would be a short, heavy knife, but you'd definitely get bitten unless you're really lucky or really good.

Pepper spray - some say it works reliably on dogs, others say only on some dogs. One thing's for sure: if it doesn't work, it's worse than useless.

A gun would certainly be better than nothing, but might be tough to use safely if the dog did anything but gnaw your leg. If he got much higher or knocked you down, you'd be at high risk to shoot yourself or have a bullet miss/punch through and go in an unsafe direction.

crzy4guns

Sound advice, a small pocket sized model that will always be with you will keep you safe. It will also work on an irate and aggressive owner as well!

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