Got attacked by a dog this morning. What would you have done?

[Mr. Spoot]

It’s tough to say
I have a large female boxer who is an alpha female and is very aggressive and looks scary when she is charging at you. She has done it to me when she doesn’t know it’s me. But she is a big scaredy-cat at heart. I just buck up at her and she backs down. She can put on a show but has never attacked anyone or bitten anyone. If someone shot our dog my wife and I would be devastated.
I guess every situation is different. If it was a small to medium size dog I would probably kick it in the face and if it still attacked I would shoot. Larger dogs well I wouldn’t wait till it got too close

 

[delta525]

Got up for my daily 5am run through the neighborhood this morning as usual. As I slowed down and started to walk back to the house a medium-sized black dog that I have never seen before starts barking and charging at me from a house down the street. At first she was a good 25-30 yards away from it so I just continued walking in the opposite direction but she closed that gap in no time. I started to run thinking surely she would stop when I got far enough away from her house but no such luck. By this time I was in a dead sprint and was at least 75-100 yards away from the driveway that she came from. I turned around and she was just a few feet away growling showing her teeth and snapping at me. I realized that I couldn't outrun her and that she was definitely serious about attacking me. Her owner came running out of the house and called her off about two seconds before I was going to put her down. He apologized profusely afterwards and I did my best to be polite but I was not exactly in a good mood. He also said that she bit someone on a landscaping crew recently.

So what's the right thing to do in this situation? Do you have to wait until you actually have teeth marks on you before you do something about it? I'm very thankful that it didn't come to that because I don't want to kill anyone's pet. However I also have a right to run on a public road without being attacked by a vicious dog. Especially one that already has a history of biting people.

You have every right to kick the **** out of that dog. Shooting it will be expensive because either the dog owner will sue you (good news is that there are no pain snd suffering damages if the owner sued) or the police may or may not arrest you for discharging a firearm, even if you were defending yourself, or you miss and the ricochet hits someone or property. If you find your hand in the dogs mouth don’t pull but take your fingers and push up as hard as you can into the soft palette and that will cause damage and the dog will let go. Also, Use your weight to your advantage. Bring your entire body weight to bear on the dog specifically pushing down with the hard points of your knees or elbows. Dogs are vicious biters but cannot wrestle, so try to get an advantageous position and break their bones fairly quickly. Get on top of the animal and concentrate force on areas such as the throat or ribs while minding to keep your face out of clawing/biting range.

 

[clockerman]

Fpr neighborhood walks, Wasp spray in the face is my go to “non lethal”. If escalated, 2-9mm to the body and a double tap to the head is plan B

 

[Stampede]

I know someone personally that was attacked by 3 pit bulls while he was walking on his street.

They got him down and were biting him. Fortunately a father and son that lived nearby, came to his aid with a piece of pipe and beat them off. He said if they hadn't of helped, he would have died because he was bleeding a lot and felt himself getting weaker. It made it into the newspaper, since the police got involved.

 

[delta525]

Got up for my daily 5am run through the neighborhood this morning as usual. As I slowed down and started to walk back to the house a medium-sized black dog that I have never seen before starts barking and charging at me from a house down the street. At first she was a good 25-30 yards away from it so I just continued walking in the opposite direction but she closed that gap in no time. I started to run thinking surely she would stop when I got far enough away from her house but no such luck. By this time I was in a dead sprint and was at least 75-100 yards away from the driveway that she came from. I turned around and she was just a few feet away growling showing her teeth and snapping at me. I realized that I couldn't outrun her and that she was definitely serious about attacking me. Her owner came running out of the house and called her off about two seconds before I was going to put her down. He apologized profusely afterwards and I did my best to be polite but I was not exactly in a good mood. He also said that she bit someone on a landscaping crew recently.

So what's the right thing to do in this situation? Do you have to wait until you actually have teeth marks on you before you do something about it? I'm very thankful that it didn't come to that because I don't want to kill anyone's pet. However I also have a right to run on a public road without being attacked by a vicious dog. Especially one that already has a history of biting people.

You have every right to kick the **** out of that dog. Shooting it will be expensive because either the dog owner will sue you (good news is that there are no pain snd suffering damages if the owner sued) or the police may or may not arrest you for discharging a firearm, even if you were defending yourself, or you miss and the ricochet hits someone or property. If you find your hand in the dogs mouth don’t pull but take your fingers and push up as hard as you can into the soft palette

 

[delta525]

Got up for my daily 5am run through the neighborhood this morning as usual. As I slowed down and started to walk back to the house a medium-sized black dog that I have never seen before starts barking and charging at me from a house down the street. At first she was a good 25-30 yards away from it so I just continued walking in the opposite direction but she closed that gap in no time. I started to run thinking surely she would stop when I got far enough away from her house but no such luck. By this time I was in a dead sprint and was at least 75-100 yards away from the driveway that she came from. I turned around and she was just a few feet away growling showing her teeth and snapping at me. I realized that I couldn't outrun her and that she was definitely serious about attacking me. Her owner came running out of the house and called her off about two seconds before I was going to put her down. He apologized profusely afterwards and I did my best to be polite but I was not exactly in a good mood. He also said that she bit someone on a landscaping crew recently.

So what's the right thing to do in this situation? Do you have to wait until you actually have teeth marks on you before you do something about it? I'm very thankful that it didn't come to that because I don't want to kill anyone's pet. However I also have a right to run on a public road without being attacked by a vicious dog. Especially one that already has a history of biting people.

Also definitely report the dog to animal control. Enough reports and they may take the dog away from that irresponsible owner.

 

[Deleted member 20426]

Got up for my daily 5am run through the neighborhood this morning as usual. As I slowed down and started to walk back to the house a medium-sized black dog that I have never seen before starts barking and charging at me from a house down the street. At first she was a good 25-30 yards away from it so I just continued walking in the opposite direction but she closed that gap in no time. I started to run thinking surely she would stop when I got far enough away from her house but no such luck. By this time I was in a dead sprint and was at least 75-100 yards away from the driveway that she came from. I turned around and she was just a few feet away growling showing her teeth and snapping at me. I realized that I couldn't outrun her and that she was definitely serious about attacking me. Her owner came running out of the house and called her off about two seconds before I was going to put her down. He apologized profusely afterwards and I did my best to be polite but I was not exactly in a good mood. He also said that she bit someone on a landscaping crew recently.

So what's the right thing to do in this situation? Do you have to wait until you actually have teeth marks on you before you do something about it? I'm very thankful that it didn't come to that because I don't want to kill anyone's pet. However I also have a right to run on a public road without being attacked by a vicious dog. Especially one that already has a history of biting people.

You'd be doing a future victim a favor by filing a police report. That dog has probably bit more than just one person before. Most dogs get one free bite before the owner becomes liable (and the dog will be put down). I've got clients who have serious permanent scars, tendon damage and back surgeries from dog attacks like the one you described. Regardless of whether you may (I say may because not enough facts) have had the right to fire upon the dog, you were fortunate the situation ended without firing your gun. Everytime someone fires a gun, especially within most city limits, the police will investigate and you might be out thousands to tens of thousands retaining a lawyer to prove you acted in self defense. I'm not saying don't defend yourself if you feel like you're life is threatened or you fear serious injury, but those are split second decisions that police and prosecutors are going to look at with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight you didn't enjoy while being chased. That dog got out and went to attack you. That dog WILL do it again. By reporting it to the police AND local animal control, the dog will now have a record that the owner can't deny (the owner can deny he or she ever admitted to a prior bite). In one case, the owner denied prior aggressiveness and prior bites. Until I spoke with their neighbor and was pointed to a landscaper who had 3 bites from the dog and the owner had paid for the hospital bills, but lied after my client needed surgery. Turned out, dog had bitten 6 people when the full story was investigated. You will help save someone from injury or worse by reporting it.

 

[olerambler]

Not run. Turn around, bark back and stand ground aggressively. Unless it's a dog that can kill you. Then do same and shoot it if you have to. Anything else just kick it's a$$ till it gets the point.

IF IT BITES CALL ANIMAL CONTROL SO CAN GET DOG QUARANTINE IT CHECK FOR RABIES

 

[Soul]

Nobody here knows how to handle an angry dog without using a gun?

 

[Kman]

There was no backlash for me, my county has a leash law. And after the first encounter a contacted the sheriffs department and verified my rights and also had them knock on the neighbors door and inform him that I was within my rights to put the dogs down. After the second encounter and with two dead dogs in my driveway, the neighbor came running out and collected them. like I said he was a dirt bag, only comment he made was about the money he could save on not buying dog food. I also shot his drone down in my back yard about a month later, he was more pissed about that and called the law on that.

He didn’t deserve to own a dog. What a pice of garbage.