Yep, I know.
But ever since the attack, I don't trust pit bulls or their owners.
Pit bulls have a history of being bred and trained to kill other dogs.
They have the highest rate of attacking and killing dogs, and humans.
They also turn on their owners at a high rate.
It's not the dog's fault, but their owner's (and their history.)
I live in rural Malaysia - in my area in particular there are many, many stray mutts. Due to lack of infrastructure there’s nothing that the local government does about them. I can speak from personal experience that turbo modes actually work very well against an aggressive dog. The dogs actually stop in their tracks, even charging ones. I’ve had most success with lights with turbo modes 1500 lumens and above. Again, this is personal experience, against street dogs without owners or training. Your results may vary, but as for me it’s something I rely on if I have to pass an area with a high concentration of street dogs.
Dogs are AS different from each other…. as people are from one another.
Some run toward a firing weapon, some flee from a dropped pan. Some do what they’re told. All of that can be influenced by training, but probably doesn’t change much on flashlight OUTPUT.
You could have the reverse of the effect of what you desire from some dogs, by shining them with a light - they might escalate. Those dogs are a vast minority - if you aren’t breaking the law.
I would take the risk every time.
Not my first choice for protection, but from racoon city comment we know that can be heroically effective.
Carry a bright flashlight!
The flashlight I used, the Lumapower MRV SE isn't that bright in 2021, but at the time it was my best flashlight.
The pit bull ran in circles in the front yard, and every time it approached me, I shined the flashlight in its face.
I got lucky because I don't think that'll work with all dogs.
How many pitbull attacks do we need to have before we are convinced that pitbulls are dangerous? Did you ever see a vicious springer spaniel attack or from a Labrador? Never. Come on guys. The pitbull owners need to be held accountable. This is not a joke.
Some communities actually ban pit bulls, but not around where I live.
I have seen many types of dogs attack. There are tendencies among breeds, but I was told my Anita (sp, Akita) would be viscious, and he would try to he your friend so hard before he would bite, if ever. The owner matters.
The question is flashlight effectiveness on the species, not which shade of nasty dog you have met?
Actually I found an umbrella to be more effective against aggressive dogs. The sudden opening is very disorienting to them.
But jerky works pretty well too.
Slightly different note here. There are 6 shepherd/wolf mixes loose in Raleigh NC. The responsible owner(sarcasm) thought his wolf mixes were spayed 11 puppies later it was discovered one female was not.Responsible owner (sarcasm) did not know it is illegal in NC to have any number of wolf mixes in NC. Responsible owner(sarcasm) kept wolf mixes hidden behind privacy fence. Responsible owner (sarcasm) did not think about wolf mixes digging under fence. Responsible owner(vomit) may face charges up to and including a modest fine(vomit) as reported on local news. Last week in the same area of the state another responsible owner( vomit) of 72 venomous snakes “lost” a cobra which occupied several police officers several animal control officers and the national media for the majority of a week. The responsible parents and neighbors who were warned to stay indoors had to suck it up buttercup. The parents of a child who was killed by 2 pit bulls had to hire a lawyer(diarrhea) to prevent the responsible owners(more diarrhea) from getting the two pit bulls back. Try your strobe if’n you want to. Please videotape the encounter if you can. You too can make the news. Don’t take a flashlight to a …….
Whether a flashlight will help is basically dependent on which behaviour the dog is exhibiting as much as the breed.
If a dog is trained to attack, or decides it needs to be in attack behaviour then a flashlight will do nothing to dissuade it.
If the dog is in guard behaviour a flashlight may help, but that would be mostly because you are not moving. It will monitor you to see if it needs to take further action or until the owner lets it know otherwise.
Pit bulls are a breed that were bred for pit fighting so the aggression is built into the breed as that was a trait that it was bred for, any animal can have that type of breeding. Pit bull owners are the biggest cause of attacks, if they are attracted to the dog as a power symbol. Pit bulls and Rottweilers are considered more dangerous because they have the strongest bite pressures and can also lock/clamp onto the victim.
Any dog that has a bad owner is a liability. A “bad breed” with a good owner is less of a liability. A good breed with a good owner makes up the majority of ownership. I’ve dealt with hundreds if not thousands of dogs over the years and only got bit once, it was a German Shepherd with a bad owner. Got me by surprise because the original owner was the bad one, new owner had not fully learned/trained the dog.
As Texas Shooter mentioned, show fear to a dog and it will react. Stand up and it may back down. Once had a 80lb pitbull charge across the yard at me with no chance of escape. Just stood there without moving and it just stayed there and barked until the owner showed, was in guard mode. Every neuron in my brain said to run because it was a pitbull, that would not have ended well.
I’ve heard that felons liked pit bulls for protection because can’t or rather shouldn’t own gun.
I don't have a great fear of Rottweilers or German Shepherds in general, but they have great bite strength like pit bulls do.
If I hear any dog is dangerous, or if it's a police dog trained to bite, I stay the heck away from them as well.
Also would day or night make a difference? Someone must have annoying neighbor dogs behind fence to experiment on.
Can we all just agree…a flashlight is not a weapon. I would never use one for self defense. On the other hand, it is good to be able to see what I shoot at.
Well…
That certainly lines up next to my real-world experience with an extremely aggressive dog.
On a walk at night, my 7 year old daughter came running back at top speed screaming because she was being chased by a extremely nasty boxer. “You’re going to get severely injured tonight.” kind of chased.
I turboed the D18 I was carrying at it and it did stop. In fact, it was basically frozen staring at the light. Frozen long enough that it’s caretaker caught up to it and got it under control.
I had no time for strobe, but I think just a solid punishing beam is probably more effective. Strobe gives relief between beams, solid punishing beam does not.
Very glad the D18 did indeed stop it.
I have nothing against animals, be they 4 legged or 2. BUT if either try to attack & do me harm… I am going to do my absolute best to kill them graveyard dead.
The end…… 
Everyone is scared of gators, snakes, cougers, and bears but man’s best friend is the biggest killer in the USA anyway.
True… +1. ^
I think other humans would take that dubious honor by a longshot, and for often much less reason.