It’s not easy to hit a moving target with a handgun while under emotional stress. A ‘shotgun’ approach is more likely to hit the target; but shotguns are unwieldy and visible. Fortunately, the ‘shotgun’ approach can be had with pepper spray, or something similar that shoots a somewhat wider angle than a single bullet.
Skunks spray dogs and the dogs always run away; humans can spray dogs, too.
My dad used to call on farmers for a living, and occasionally some farm dog would threaten him. Shooting the dog would end any hope of selling his product line to the farmer. So Dad carried a small can of Right Guard deodorant in his back pocket. He said a spray from that can was an excellent deterrent; the dog would get it in the eyes and nose and retreat rapidly, with no long term ill effects except a new-found respect for a particular 6’2” man. The farmer would not be offended since his dog wasn’t harmed (and maybe it smelled a bit better besides).
You could try either the “Miller Hot Shot” or the “McGrath” livestock prods to keep the dog away. They are about 3 feet long. It won’t injure the dog, but some say it’s like getting shocked by an electric fence, which would get it’s attention.
Come on now. That’s flawed logic. Would it also be prudent to have a few gunshot wounds on you before returning fire? Ya know, for a perfect defense.
My take on dogs charging you or ambushing you. No way of telling if he is bluffing or not. Just like people, all dogs are different. All are individuals. We carry no responsibility to judge if the dog is faking it or not. We do have the responsibility of making sure we are legal in using deadly force but, not to the point of seeing seconds into the future. Sort of as above. Do we have to wait for an armed person to shoot, stab or otherwise critically harm us until we can react? No of course not.
That said, local laws may keep you from carrying a firearm but there are options. In all but a handful of states, you can carry a taser. I would recommend the ones that fire those barbs into flesh. You don’t have to get super close for those to be wickedly effective. The OP lives in Georgia. If I remember correctly there are no laws prohibiting him from carry a taser. I might be wrong, if so please correct me.
Unfortunately this is good advice. Law enforcement will not be understanding of using a weapon, especially a gun, to defend yourself unless you can prove your situation of self defense. My dog and I were attacked by a dog and I stopped the attack by holding the dogs rear leg until the owner took control. I told my lawyer friend about the attack and told him I had my pistol in my coat at the time and should have shot the dog. My lawyer friends eyes bulged and he said ” Don’t do that ! ”
the flawed logic is “armed person”.
The laws are clear that you can use DPF to defend against someone using or threatening to use DPF against you. And even that can be hairy. Google Richard DiGuglielmo. You can still end up in prison.
All dogs have teeth. That alone does not constitute justification. My dog will come right at you, jump up and lick your face. While that might well serve as justification, it is weak. The point being, no one can ever know the intentions of a dog, unlike humans.
If a dog bites your leg, and you put it down, well there it is. automagic justification.
In civilized society, I can agree with you. However, there is a element of the population can can be cordially discussing your next poker night while jamming a knife between your ribs. Predators will be predators, and ambush hunting is a time honored hunting method no matter the number of legs the predator has.
Lets step outside the arguments of what’s legal, and what’s proper justification. The point trying to be made here is that worst case, bandaged bite marks and scars are excellent evidence. They can convince the cops to not treat you like a perp, the prosecutors to think of you as a victim, and if it gets that far, the jury to understand that no amount of calm words or bravely running away could have saved you from the situation.
It’s not a question of if you’re right. It’s a question of convincing the person on your jury who wrote Dear Abby asking why hunters kill animals instead of going to the store where meat is made and no animals are hurt.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where the courts are as corrupt as the day is long, conviction/acquittal is politically (or financially) decided, you’re essentially guilty until proven innocent (traffic court, anyone?), and you pretty much need to record with a camera every aspect of your daily life to “prove” your innocence in case it’s ever brought into question.
The issue I raise is that when you shoot the dog some will probably have it on video.
If you have some injury it negates the person who says “That dog was not going to bite. He was just warning you or greeting you”.
You're attempting a technical solution to a social problem. In the long term, the correct answer is "let the authorities do it". Call 911 or Animal Control if you fear an attack is imminent. Document, including video if possible, threatening encounters and report them using the non-emergency number to the police, sheriff, or animal control.
In the short term, cyclists use pepper spray, a full water bottle, or a U-lock. We have the advantage of being able to leave the area quickly. While a dog can outrun most cyclists, the encounters are usually territorial. When you leave the dog's turf, it's interest drops sharply.
Regardless of who's right, learn how to "minimize the chances" of an encounter gone wrong.
I like the bit about, if the dog bites your arm, shove it harder into the dog’s mouth (vs trying to pull it out) so he can’t breathe. I recall back when I was a kid someone one telling me that when he was attacked by a dog, the dog bit his fist as he tried punching the dog away, and he then literally tried to shove his fist and forearm down the dog’s throat. Ouch.
I tried all manner of methods to get this enraged, attacking dog to stop. This took a while to exhaust my options. Luckily for me it was “only” a 40 pound pit bull. A bigger animal may have gotten the best of me by the time I decided to pull out my pocket knife and end it. I can verify that that method only works while it is being applied. Let go and said dog resumes attack, even more enraged. Permanent, incapacitation force is the only thing that stops an enraged dog.
The crazy thing is, I dont even know why the dog flipped out on me other than for some territorial reason.
As a side note, this dog also went after my mom on a previous occasion. In that instance, I was able to grab the dog before it did any damage and throw it in my open pickup cab and slam the door closed. It stayed in there a few hours…and was fine after my mom left the premises.
Like decades ago, I think it was my dog on a leash and not one of the cats roaming around, but I was outside and 2 Dobermans from across the street (didn’t know that at the time) quietly came running over and only growling at the last second. Around the immediate area I always carried a Fairbairn-Sykes because we had a problem with wild-dog packs roaming around. I was just about ready to draw and quietly put Mr Pointy to use when the owner came running over, “Get over here!”, and making a distracting ruckus with loud whistles, and the dogs backed off. Dog or cat, I wasn’t gonna let one of mine end up as lunch or a chew-toy. Thankfully it never came to that.
Interesting how all the people who actually encounter aggressive dogs on a regular basis for their jobs seem to have no trouble de-escalating situations without firearms. It is incomprehensible to me as a Canadian that someone would have not one, but two encounters where they felt the need to shoot a pet dog. Maybe up north where there are literal feral dogs roaming, but not in a residential area.
Once you see what a dog can do to someone in only a second or two you might change that view. I don’t want to be maimed for the rest of my life because some turd couldn’t be bothered to put their dog on a cable.