I thought I was going to have to shoot a dog....

[Bung]

I went out for a walk with my son (4 years old) and three friends (a woman and two of her kids 8 and 11 years old) on Saturday. I've lived back here since October last year and have walked or ridden (son has a power wheel and I'll follow him on the riding mower) in this area several times. It is a quiet street that is dead-ended so we don't see a lot of traffic. This is the first time I saw this dog. We were walking on the right side of the road about two feet from the edge when we hear this dog bark, not an "I'm watching you from the window and wish you would go-away" bark, but "I'm coming to eat you for being within sight" bark. My son is walking to my left and holding my left hand. When I hear the dog I look up and see it come from around the house, about 35-40 feet away at this point. This dog is running full-tilt, growling and barking. She locks eyes with me and never stops looking at me through this whole encounter. I open-carry a FNS 9mm (with safety) in a Serpa retention holster, the type with the trigger finger button. The dog doesn't appear to have a collar or a leash, I reach for my weapon. I didn't really make a conscious decision to draw it, I just knew that dog was a threat and my hand did what it needed to do, training really does pay off. Now, there isn't time to back away from the yard and my son is squeezing my hand (he is afraid of dogs when they aren't barking and growling) so I know he is probably planted to the road and I'm not going to carry him off. I'm shocked he didn't try climbing me. The dog is still coming; I level the gun (one-handed of course) in the direction of the dog, I don't see any people yet, I click the safety off. I have a mental dilemma, the dog is in their yard but if I wait until it is in the street, I get bit if I miss or the first round doesn't disable the dog. She looks to be about 60-70 pounds and I can't tell you what breed. I convince myself when she gets to the edge of the yard (about 3 feet away) I'll fire. That should give me time to get one good shot off, maybe two. Now she is about 15 feet away, I see movement from the back of the house, someone running up front. I've been yelling at the dog "STAY IN THE YARD, STAY IN THE YARD" and now I'm thinking some poor child or family is about to lose a pet that thinks it is just protecting its' home. She is less than 10 feet away, she leans back, she is stopping. As she is decelerating, the guy that ran around the house yells "She is a barker, she won't bite!". She stands there, three feet away, the "deadline" if you will, just barking at me, gun pointed at her face. The guy is still running up, she is still barking, just standing there. She turns to look at him, looks at me, just barks some more. I click the safety on, re-holster the gun, keep on with my stroll. I'm glad I didn't have to shoot that dog. He didn't say anything about me pointing a gun at his dog, other than "She is a barker, she won't bite" the guy doesn't say anything else at all. We walk or ride down that street often so I'm wondering if I should stop by to see if we can get to know the dog, maybe give her treats so she won't run at us like that when we walk by.

That is the only time I've ever drawn my gun with intention to use it.

The woman and kids I'm walking with commented on how fast I drew. The woman said she didn't even see the dog until she noticed I had the gun pointed then looked over at the dog running toward us. She thought it was barking from inside the house. I'm always working to improve my situational awareness, it seems to have been working for me this time.

 

[Bung]

Sorry, I meant to post this in "General Firearms Discussions" but was reading something in here when I decided to post.

 

[eric001]

Very good SA, and even better restraint.

I've only had one dog charge me, and it had to exit a neighbor's yard (no leash, no dog fence, etc.) and cross the street to try going after me as I was at my mailbox. Thankfully, by the time it managed to get halfway across the street it was slowing down and no longer in the "I'm going to eat you alive" mode. That ten feet or so also saved a canine life that day.

Again, good call. Honestly don't know how I would have responded to the guy coming to get his dog in your case...hopefully it would be somewhat polite, but quite possibly it wouldn't have been fit for mixed company.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Nice restraint. Since you regularly "walk" that street I agree... the neighborly thing to do is to stop by (solo) and have a pleasant chat with the owner. I agree maybe getting to know the dog could be a good idea and beneficial for everyone. And be prepared to leave a note if they are the type that doesnt answer the door to unexpected visitors. (or visitors whom they know have a gun) My IANAL suggestion is to not mention the gun in the note. Just reference yourself as "the person who had the incident with your dog the other day"

Then again, a better idea is properly restraining said puppy (which might be a good part of the discussion.)

 

[jblomenberg16]

Sounds like good situational awareness for sure. Glad you didn't have to shoot. I know a lot of guys joke about "establishing Alpha" and all that, but it has worked for me a number of times. Dogs smell fear as they say, and also know when there is a dominant male in the area.

My wife is terrified of dogs and the more aggressive / friendly ones of course always go right to her and make her uncomfortable. Usually I intervene an play with them and everything is cool. Sometimes they want to get rough with me and I'll very quickly get aggressive with them and they'll back off. I'm not a dog whisperer or anything of that sort, so don't take this as I'm some sort of trained handler that is giving tips. I've just seen that dogs are pretty smart and will often react based on how the people around them act.

By doing what you did you showed the dog you weren't "scared" and it probably decided to back off a bit vs. continue to pursue.

 

[CTS]

I was about a half a second away from drawing and shooting a dog when the owner popped out of nowhere and restrained it. I gave the owner an earful about controlling their animal.

 

[10mmMarc]

I had a dog charge me , while I was riding a bike, I had a gun and my hand was on it, after this I was talking to my vet about it, he stated a hot shot will work wonders, so now I am thinking about getting one of those, cant find a place to store it where it will have quick deployment if needed.

 

[CindyE]

That's a scary encounter. Glad you didn't have to shoot. A couple of things come to mind: the dog never left the owner's yard, correct? the dog obeyed the owner, so the owner did have some control. I know you didn't see a collar, but is it possible? There is a house near us with 2 large dogs and an invisible fence. The dogs act aggressive when we walk by with our dogs, but they never leave the yard. I don't think I'd trust that type of fence with our high-energy, high-drive dogs, but that's just me. I think a friendly visit with the neighbor would be great.
I've been charged by numerous dogs, especially when walking ours. Our oldest, a pit bull, seems to be a magnet for that type of thing! We try to avoid the streets that have lots of dogs, but it still happens. Sometimes just yelling "Stop!" or "no!" in a forceful tone will take care of it, but not always. I hate dealing with loose dogs. It has caused me arguments with owners, and I once saw a nice Doberman hit by a car, when it charged across the street at us. The idiot owner was mad at the driver and me!

 

[Tactically Fat]

I've "been there" as well.

At a pubilc park in Greenwood. A barking aggressive-posturing OFF LEASH dog walking way ahead of its' owner.

Thankful for your situation that nothing more happened. And I'm quite thankful that nothing happened in my situation either.

 

[avboiler11]

There's a pit bull in my neighborhood that has attacked my (small, 55lb) black lab 3 times in the last year while we were walking him, most recently a few nights ago.

The first time it was the whole family - me, wife, dog, two boys. The dog angled toward my oldest son and when I stepped between them, it saw my dog and went for it, I had to kick at it a few times and thankfully it disengaged when the owner heard the fracas and came after it. Our dog was no worse for wear, thankfully with only a lot of slobber on his neck.

Second time my wife was walking our dog and the pit cornered them in a neighbor's yard; my wife started yelling and neighbors came out and one got control of the dog and put it away (the owners were gone, a housesitter didn't know the dog had gotten out).

On Sunday, my wife was walking our dog again and the pit was outside with its owner - came and attacked our dog again. The owner was able to get it off, but my wife exchanged some choice words with him. She had a Kimber Pepper Blaster with her, but with it being night said the dog closed too quickly for her to be able to spray it. Again, our dog didn't seem to have any wounds but there was plenty of saliva on his back and neck.

Each time, the attacking dog either went into the street (as my wife was getting separation from it) or it crossed the street to get to my dog, which was guilty of only walking by.

I had enough and called the local PD. I was very professionally and politely told that basically unless skin gets broken on a person or pet, they can't do much about an attacking dog. I asked the officers if they would go talk to the pit's owner, as three times in a year is a pattern of aggression that shows that animal poses a real threat to my wife, children and dog and my hope is that with a friendly reminder the owner would feel compelled to properly secure his animal so that nobody has to concern themselves with any skin getting broken in the future.

I love dogs, but man I f'in hate animals that attack (be it physically bite/scratch or simply charge aggressively) people/dogs who are simply strolling by...it has made my sweetheart of a lab VERY suspicious of other dogs and has turned him into a barker-slash-"Best defense is a good offense" which ain't acceptable.

 

[CindyE]

I love dogs, but man I f'in hate animals that attack (be it physically bite/scratch or simply charge aggressively) people/dogs who are simply strolling by...it has made my sweetheart of a lab VERY suspicious of other dogs and has turned him into a barker-slash-"Best defense is a good offense" which ain't acceptable.

That is how my pit is. When he was younger he didn't show any aggression to other dogs, but after being attacked a few times, he became very nervous and defensive. It probably doesn't help that he picks up on my anxiety and nervousness as well.

Our dogs do charge at the fence, bark out the windows at the mail carrier, etc. I know some people don't like it, but we make every effort to keep them restrained.

 

[Tactically Fat]

There's a pit bull in my neighborhood that has attacked my (small, 55lb) black lab 3 times in the last year while we were walking him, most recently a few nights ago.

The first time it was the whole family - me, wife, dog, two boys. The dog angled toward my oldest son and when I stepped between them, it saw my dog and went for it, I had to kick at it a few times and thankfully it disengaged when the owner heard the fracas and came after it. Our dog was no worse for wear, thankfully with only a lot of slobber on his neck.

Second time my wife was walking our dog and the pit cornered them in a neighbor's yard; my wife started yelling and neighbors came out and one got control of the dog and put it away (the owners were gone, a housesitter didn't know the dog had gotten out).

On Sunday, my wife was walking our dog again and the pit was outside with its owner - came and attacked our dog again. The owner was able to get it off, but my wife exchanged some choice words with him. She had a Kimber Pepper Blaster with her, but with it being night said the dog closed too quickly for her to be able to spray it. Again, our dog didn't seem to have any wounds but there was plenty of saliva on his back and neck.

Each time, the attacking dog either went into the street (as my wife was getting separation from it) or it crossed the street to get to my dog, which was guilty of only walking by.

I had enough and called the local PD. I was very professionally and politely told that basically unless skin gets broken on a person or pet, they can't do much about an attacking dog. I asked the officers if they would go talk to the pit's owner, as three times in a year is a pattern of aggression that shows that animal poses a real threat to my wife, children and dog and my hope is that with a friendly reminder the owner would feel compelled to properly secure his animal so that nobody has to concern themselves with any skin getting broken in the future.

I love dogs, but man I f'in hate animals that attack (be it physically bite/scratch or simply charge aggressively) people/dogs who are simply strolling by...it has made my sweetheart of a lab VERY suspicious of other dogs and has turned him into a barker-slash-"Best defense is a good offense" which ain't acceptable.

Perhaps you should start walking with an aluminum baseball bat?

 

[Cameramonkey]

And for some cya, it might not hurt to turn on your smart phone video camera as you approach the property of a known hostile dog. Might help if things get rough and/or "really loud".

 

[SSGSAD]

I delivered Pizza, for P H, back in 1990-91, and was bit by a dog. I called either Police, or Sheriff, don't remember which.

Anyway, the Animal Control Officer showed up, and he followed me to the house.

He told the owner, he would take the dog, right then. I asked that he NOT do that.

He told the owner, that he had to put up a fence, or chain the dog. It could not run loose .....

 

[SteveM4A1]

Sounds like good situational awareness for sure. Glad you didn't have to shoot. I know a lot of guys joke about "establishing Alpha" and all that, but it has worked for me a number of times. Dogs smell fear as they say, and also know when there is a dominant male in the area.

My wife is terrified of dogs and the more aggressive / friendly ones of course always go right to her and make her uncomfortable. Usually I intervene an play with them and everything is cool. Sometimes they want to get rough with me and I'll very quickly get aggressive with them and they'll back off. I'm not a dog whisperer or anything of that sort, so don't take this as I'm some sort of trained handler that is giving tips. I've just seen that dogs are pretty smart and will often react based on how the people around them act.

By doing what you did you showed the dog you weren't "scared" and it probably decided to back off a bit vs. continue to pursue.

Agreed. I don't know how many times I was charged at by dogs when I ran my paper route for years...Every single time, the charging dog took off the other direction when it realized I wasn't running away or backing down.

Good job OP.

 

[avboiler11]

Perhaps you should start walking with an aluminum baseball bat?

Wife actually carried a croquet mallet for a few months...

 

[T.Lex]

So... uh... would a warning shot have been appropriate?

(Where's my spoon?)

 

[AndersonIN]

Good job. One nice thing about where you live the city of Anderson PD demonstrated a couple of years ago they "understand" this situation. A lady had her dog run out the front door as a man was walking by. The dog ran at the man barking a growling and the man shot it right there in the road and it ran off. The police came, checked the story, checked his license and said goodbye! For those wanting to know yes the dog survived but I wouldn't have wanted to pay the vet bills.

 

[steveh_131]

I would say that you showed 'admirable restraint', but many here might disagree with me.

 

[One Shot One Kill]

Good restraint, I would have done the same, I personally give more leniency to the 4-legged attackers than 2-legged becasue I find them more predictable. As others have said most dogs will not proceed to attack if you stand your ground and show them you're not gonna take their crap. My girlfriend and I used to have problems with dogs in a trailer park (way too many feral dogs/cats there) and they always charged for her (she would try to run and scream XD) but backed down when I stepped in and held my ground. Some may be stupid, aggressive, or mentally unstable though just like any person. Confidence in yourself and the following lack of fear seems to be the deciding factor, I have confidence I could take a dog down in hand-to-paw? fighting, with a knife, without one IDK, but I always carry my EDC OTF automatic blade so I can pull it out and release the blade with one hand while fending off with the other. Blade would be easier to bring to bear than CC, but if the blade didnt cut it I have no problem unloading into a out of control animal.