Where to shoot an attacking dog?

[SkullDaddy.45]

Yes it does, thanks for bringing back those sad memories that I had repressed of my childhood

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[Slawburger]

The bicycle club that used to frequent my road carried air horns for dogs.

When I ran for fun (long ago) I carried a tire thumper. There was one house along my route with a dog that liked to chase. I stopped in the road (opposite side) and had a "discussion" with the dog once. Either it wasn't fun chasing something that didn't run or my tone of voice was understood. It never came out into the road again but still liked to bark and chase so I continued carrying the tire thumper. Note that this was in the country and changing my route was not an option.

Most of the time dogs just like to chase and run along the grass near the road. If it passes the property line or comes into the road then I would be less forgiving.

 

[TaunTaun]

If I recall correctly, Carmel PD advises shooting into the dog at point blank range only if there are non suspecting people standing in the background. The more potential secondary victims the better. Otherwise you will be fined for unlawful discharge of a firearm within city limits...

 

[Disposable Heart]

Man, I routinely think about this when running. Problem is, I rarely carry a gun while running. However, a collapsible ASP baton can always reside in my hand. Only had an issue once from some IMPD puff-up that kept following me, saying it was illegal to have. Once I demanded to see his supervisor, he left me be. Would imagine it is useful against dogs, people, car windows and other runners in 5K environments. Only had to deploy it once against a dog. When the owner saw that I stopped running, turned towards the unleashed dog and flicked out the baton, they did everything in their power to grab the animal.

I would imagine giving the left arm and either beating the crap out of the dog. I had a chow mix garbage dog try biting once, didn't end well for the chow after the Brownstown police department put a round of buck into it's side when they found it later roaming around. Owners threatened to sue my mom, saying that I didn't have to take that route home from school. We didn't even lawyer up, solved out of court when my stepdad at the time threatened to shoot every dog they bought with their meth money, shells being cheaper than dogs. They gave up, lol.

 

[GeneralCarver]

First off I would advocate NOT shooting a dog. You should carry pepper spray on you and spray it in the eyes. This will eliminate any possibility of collateral damage.

If you have to shoot the dog, honestly, your going to be under stress/panic so just aim center mass and start shooting.

HOWEVER - before you shoot, you need to role play/brainstorm/imagine this scenario to get in this habit.. know what is beyond your target first. If someone lets their angry dog go towards you and you shoot and miss and send rounds skirting along a walking path side walk and into the owner or into a bi standard's legs.. you are still responsible and liable for those rounds. This is why I advocate the pepper spray option first. A dog is a small target and moves fast.. it is VERY VERY likely you will miss a shot or two.

So, ideally, I would say first get in the habit of imagining the scenario and first you quickly scan up in the direction of your fire.. for anything you don't want to hit.. you may have to side step or reposition yourself in another direction to deliver the shots. When you shoot.. center mass.. keep shooting till dog runs or is down.

 

[nakinate]

Ever try to shoot a moving dog? Extremely difficult to say the least. You will likely not hit it until it either gets VERY close or actually latches on, either way, try not to shoot yourself by accident. A dog getting hit anywhere on its body with a bullet will likely forget about you and attend its wound. I've used OC/CS with decent effect, they become distracted enough to forget about biting me. Thankfully, the VAST majority of "vicious" dogs are not even close, just misunderstood.

I would imagine it would be hard. I don't advocate shooting a dog unless you know it will be able to do real damage (pit bulls etc.) I know for a fact that I can handle a Doberman without a firearm. I think sometimes people like to talk about shooting dogs because it's another reason to use a gun.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

OK. Now I'm confused. I looked up Halt on Amazon and it is a pepper spray that is very highly rated for use against dogs. Both regular pepper spray and Halt use capsaicin as their active ingredient. I'd like to have a single item that can handle both dogs and 2-legged critters where the situation doesn't justify lethal force. What am I missing?

I don't know the difference in formulation and am not an expert on dog physiology. I can only say that I've sprayed several dogs while bicycling or running in the country side and about half didn't seem to care. However 100% suddenly remembered they had somewhere else to be when I switched to the air horn. Not only that, but they learned to associate me with the noise and would leave me alone when I rode by again days later.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

You did very well!

To clarify my question, I was not advocating getting on the ground with the dog and trying to choke it like you would a person. I What I was suggesting in my question is done standing. Dogs don't have a lot of flexibility in terms of lifting their head. If you have an arm or other object you can use as a lever in their jaws, you put your other forearm behind it's and using them togther with a little rotation in the direction it can't move, break the neck. If you're not strong enough to do it on the dog in question with just upper body, you can generate a lot of force in this motion lunging forward with the arm in the jaws and pushing down with other on the back. It's hard to describe in person. It's going to be hard to even think about doing it with a big, angry dog mangling your arm, but it's doable.

I've seen experienced dog handlers than can wrestle even angry dogs almost like it was easy. They take advantage of knowing the limitations of the dogs anatomy and movements and even big strong dogs can't do much. I saw a guy wrestle a bit (albeit young) rottweiler to the ground and just hold it helpless until it calmed down. I couldn't do that and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it happen.

I don't know enough to say if it would work or not, and that alone would make me hesitant to try it. For someone with more experience and knowledge, that may very well be a viable option.

 

[AndersonIN]

I always shoot the guns out of their paws.

NOPE always make sure you KILL THEM!! Or they hunt you down for the rest of your life! Looking for the man that ........... "shot their paw!!!"

Crap! I duped it..............didn't go down far enough in my reading!! sorry!!!

 

[JRPLANE]

Try a spay bottle filled with ordinary household ammonia, it works instantly. This was a tip from the Amish. It how they keep a new dog from chasing there horses. It works and pepper spray does not. The dog will remember you forever. Just take a wiff of ammonia!

 

[Thor]

If I have a dog coming at me I'm aiming low, should strike chest or head......and learned hunting chucks many yrs ago with handgun..............you don't pop once and see what your effect was (hit and down the hole is scored as a miss).

Hammer them repeatedly and then see how good you did

Yep, hunting guides are usually killed by 'dead' animals. Use enough gun, then shoot it again. If it's really dangerous shoot in another time even (or especially) if you're really sure.

 

[topash]

Had several dog attacks when I used to cycle 250 miles a week. St Joseph County police say you can shoot them legally shoot them when they charge you, but you are responsible for every round fired and they will ask you where each bullet went. They suggest pepper spray and I used bear mace sold at a South Bend gun shop. It burns the skin off a german shepard's head and sends them running away. It's legal mace in Indiana but not MI and many other states. Probably lethal on people.

 

[ckcollins2003]

So there's a thread about cats, and that reminded me of something I've been meaning to ask for awhile. I run on average 20 miles per week, all outdoors. I've come across my fair share of dogs, some strays, most being walked by dead beat owners who think leash laws don't apply to them.

So, if one of these dogs were to get aggressive, what's the best way to shoot them? (for lack of a better way to ask)

Aim for the head? Aim for the body? Legally do I have to wait to be bitten before it would be obvious self defense?And how would you deal with multiple dogs?

I may think about this too much, but when out on hour solo runs I need something to think about!

Are you serious?

Having driven for UPS this past winter, I've come across my fair share of dogs. Most of them not exactly friendly, but it's a pretty simple procedure to just whack them on the nose and watch them run away. Also, greet them... talk to them. There's no reason to just automatically pull out a gun and shoot it... it might just want to play. You have to remember that the dog is someone's best friend. Do you really want to kill someone's best friend because you are just looking for a reason to shoot something?

Hell, I've ran around Muncie multiple times, if you see a dog, **** it, turn around... go a different route. There are so many other options than shooting it... and I don't want to hear "its the owner's responsibility to chain it up". You are approaching that dogs protected space and family. He has a job to do. Leave the gun at home and invest in something non lethal.

 

[Dead Duck]

[h=2]Where to shoot an attacking dog?[/h]

Outside!

You definitely want to shoot it outside.

Do you know how hard to get blood stains out of a carpet?

 

[Mark 1911]

Best places to shoot an attacking dog:

1. In front of owner
2. In front of local police station
3. In front of local PETA office.

 

[bdybdall]

Present your weak arm and take the bite. Three rounds through the low-forward rib cage and if it's still hanging on to your arm, take a crossing shot through the neck, up high and near the base of the skull. If the dog's still chomping after that, you might consider turning the gun on yourself. Seriously though, I think you'll be in a much better fighting position (should it end up in court) if you're bitten and all your shots leave powder burns on the target.

I do that with "walkers", too!

 

[ghuns]

Uh, maybe in Laporte?

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I did that with a Boxer and it ended very poorly for him. Still got the scars, although they've grown faint over time. Personally, I wouldn't waste a single second worrying about getting damaged in a situation like that. Instead, getting damaged is just a given and my objective is to dole out more damage quicker than the other guy, or in this case, dog. There are innumerable ways to deal with a situation like this and every situation will be different. As always, my thoughts on the subject and about $5 will get you a coffee at Starbucks.

I agree with you on that. If I shot a charging dog, I'd always wonder if I really had to. If you let him grab you first, then at least you never have to have that conversation with yourself, the police, the dog's owner, or anyone else.