Self defense against neighbor's dog?

[fixer]

Head down, tail not wagging, fast trot directly towards you, low growl- I'm worried. Lots of woofing and stomping- not worried, just bluffing usually. Dogs usually respond to aggressive movement and noise on your part by backing off.

Yep ...had this multiple times. It is what I look for.

One time is when things exploded with the dogs owner when I confronted the owners just before their dog's behavior became an emergency room visit for me. Another time, with another dog, I tried using 'noise and aggressive movement' and posturing and it too exploded into a blood-enraged dog trying to literally kill me. Think dog fight-- but you are the dog's adversary. It is a totally different world then a dog just menacing you.

I swear, I think we need ECQC with dogs or something.

[LittleLebowski]

I think the fear over dogs is overblown.

[BehindBlueI's]

I think the fear over dogs is overblown.

I've been bitten 3 times over the years by strange dogs. Once was a doberman when I was a kid, bit me on the calf causing me to crash my bicycle and then fled. Second was an Akita, and if I'd had a gun I would have shot it in a heartbeat. That was a vicious dog and a vicious fight and it left me with scars on my forearm, and that was biting through a heavy denim sheep skin lined coat. The third was a pit bull that lunged at me, bit my forearm, and then I shot it. I learned a valuable lesson about running with head phones that day.

I'm not afraid of dogs. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm not taking a bite I don't have to either, though.

[Clobbersaurus]

I think the fear over dogs is overblown.

I like dogs. I tend to agree that fear over anything is most likely overblown. However, I found the stats below, which may help put things in perspective.

http://www.cdc.gov/features/dog-bite-prevention/

http://www.caninejournal.com/dog-bite-statistics/

According to the CDC, more than 4.7 million dog-bite incidents occur in the United States every year. Of those 4.7 million attacks, 800,000 of these Americans will seek medical attention — half of these are children — and 386,000 of these Americans will need emergency medical treatment.

As opposed to assaults:

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/uc...avated-assault

In 2014, there were an estimated 741,291 aggravated assaults in the nation. The estimated number of aggravated assaults increased 2.0 percent when compared with the 2013 estimate and decreased 14.0 percent when compared with the 2005 estimate.

[drjaydvm]

In regards to the incident in Canada- 2 or more dogs will often act like a pack and will be more likely to back up their aggression with an actual attack (much like people I suppose). Even a pack of 5 chihuahuas will act like a vicious little gang- I've seem them turn on one of their own and severely injure or kill the weak or injured dog. I don't want you guys to think I'm saying I would never shoot an aggressive dog- I would and I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. In just most cases it's probably not necessary to escalate to deadly force. I'm working nights this week, later tonight or this weekend I'll sit down and try to write down what I think are the important points about dog behavior. I haven't had any formal training in behavior since veterinary school 20 years ago, but I've interacted with tens of thousands of dogs since then. My reactions are instinctive now, I need to really think about what cues I'm responding to when I interact with a dog. If any of you have ever watched a little 12 year old girl manhandle a 1600 pound thoroughbred you would understand that like most everything else that is talked about on this forum, mindset and attitude are way more important than physical strength or size when dealing with potentially dangerous animals.

[SeriousStudent]

Thank you, Doctor, I'll look forward to your thread.

And I grew up on a cattle ranch around animals of all sizes since the age of 5. I completely agree with you about mindset and attitude.

[MRW]

Another vote for OC. I've also used it on feral cats. One of the areas I used to walk my dog had a lot feral cats who wouldn't back down when my dog approached them.

He didn't know the difference between them and something benign and if they ran, the prey drive would kick in and he would want to give chase. A quick shot of OC in front of them would cause them to run off.

It'll work on dogs too. Lots of sensitive nasal tissue to impact on a dog. It will cause some discomfort but it will pass after awhile. A little will go a long way.

This should all be a 2nd line defense after you talk to an owner. Unfortunately that doesn't always work. Some owners think their fur-babies are incapable of doing wrong despite evidence to the contrary.