ASP Video: Armed defender responds to charging pit bull dog

I finally watched the video. It was hard to do.

1st The shooter was legally justified in shooting the dog.
2nd he didn't need to, the dog wasn't attacking, that was play posture. An attack comes straight on, not hopping like that dog was doing.
3rd a "peace officer" should know the difference.
 
Charlie said:
How many of you folks have actually been attacked by dogs?
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I was chased by two pits in high school. A few days later they were put down after attacking a lady and her dog. Her dog had to be put down as well due to the severe mauling.
 
Some people cannot control their animals. I was involved in an incident just a few weeks ago. I was walking my daughters new overgrown puppy and came to an intersection in the neighborhood. A person was walking a german shepherd type dog and I stopped short at the intersection letting the other person and his dog pass. After the person and his dog passed in front of us the guy lost ahold of the leash and the dog came charging toward us. I put my foot out to kick the dog in the face to get it to back down, my dog slipped its collar trying to get away from the other dog and started running back toward the house, the german shepherd chasing him. My dog ran straight to the front door of my house trying to get in and luckily the other guy was able to call his dog off.

The thing that pissed me off was the guy had the audacity to yell at me for trying to kick his dog, I yelled back at him that he needed to control his.
 
Personally, I would want my immediate neighbors to have met, and be friends with my dogs so that in the event that they got out, the neighbors would not feel the need to shoot them.

If you want a good neighbor, it helps to to be a good neighbor, and I’m thinking that the situation would have turned out differently if the neighbors had a good relationship.
 
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Charlie said:
How many of you folks have actually been attacked by dogs?
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Have been bitten several times by aggressive dogs, many of which simply didn't know better. Suffice it to say they were all taught not to bite me. I love dogs and I hate to see them mistreated. With that said, this is a good shoot IMO.
 
frakncylons said:
We have a guy in our neighborhood who doesn't really seem to care when his dogs get loose. They are generally well mannered but I've seen them get aggressive from time to time.

I have lately been carrying pepper spray when I walk my dog to give me a few more options. I might be in my rights to shoot an aggressive dog, but let's be real, we all know it's going to cause me a list of headaches that could last years. I'd like it to be a last resort.
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This is precisely why I began carrying a small pocket clip OC (Amazon link) and put one on the baby’s stroller for my wife. We have a few dogs that get out from time to time but only 1 is known to be aggressive. The aftermath of pepper spraying a dog is a heck of a lot easier than shooting it.
 
Charlie said:
How many of you folks have actually been attacked by dogs?
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As I said above, 3x as a child. Poodle, Akita, mastiff. Once in my front yard, once riding my bike on a sidewalk, and once talking to the owner(acquaintance).
What’s the point? Wondering if we shot those dogs??
 
I've been bitten numerous times. Nothing really major. My family owned a dog kennel, so there were lots of scary dogs. Lot of fights and whatnot.
I'd probably throw an arm out and take a bite before shooting, just because I wouldn't want to shoot somebodies dog. But with some dogs like big pitbulls, your arm could be broken or worse. Seen it happen.
I'd try and judge the demeanor of the dog, but I have to say, I've seen dogs look perfectly friendly and jolly, right up to biting the crap out of someone.
 
Charlie said:
How many of you folks have actually been attacked by dogs?
Click to expand...

Me twice. Once as a young boy. In that case The neighbor shot his own dog to get him off of me (rottie) The neighbor had tried to give him up earlier in the week because the dog had bitten him too. He didn’t trust it anymore then it broke out of his yard by Basically bulldozing his fence gate open. I rode by on my bike and it was on. I ended up with 4 stitches in my calf and a few in my knee cap. Second time I was treating a patient In a house and the pit got out from the room he was restrained in. He charged at us and bit the bag I was holding in my arm. He demolished the bag trying to get to me. The cop on scene shot him As soon as he could get a clear safe shot.
 
Agree owners must be responsible but dogs do get out. This case it was a pit bull and they have bad reputation and can do a lot more damage vs a dog of similar size and weight. I don't blame the breed of the dog but the owners.
 
The reason I asked whether people have been bitten is that I am curious whether anyone changed their attitudes about dogs after they were actually bitten.
 
I've been bitten, and broken up dog fights before with someone else's dog.

No matter how responsible you are as an owner, dogs do get out.

In this instance, I don't blame the shooter but agree with J.R. Green that the dog appeared more in a play posture as opposed to an attack posture. Generally when playing dog's get down on their front paws. Sometimes they can do this when attacking but it's definitely a play posture too.

None of use knows the history of the dog and if it had aggression issues, but IMO this situation could have been avoided if the neighbors knew one another well.
 
Scsmith42 said:
Personally, I would want my immediate neighbors to have met, and be friends with my dogs so that in the event that they got out, the neighbors would not feel the need to shoot them.

If you want a good neighbor, it helps to to be a good neighbor, and I’m thinking that the situation would have turned out differently if the neighbors had a good relationship.
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Man........that goes a long way!!!

You know each other on friendly terms, not unknown terms. My neighbor had 4 pits over the years and tried to ger to know them all. Two were super friendly and 2 not so much.......he wound up having to get rid of the 2 meaner ones, but fortunately nothing ever got out of hand between us.
 
Been bit a few times. I was biking out of a park about 5 years ago when a medium sized mutt came running out of a backyard at me. I didn’t have much speed going and didn’t have much space to outrun it so it caught up real quick. I thought it was just chasing me and didn't even seem that mean until the moment it grabbed my ankle. He did not care for my fist on his head so much so he let go but not before taking a good chunk out of me. Cops and animal control came and owners could care less about their dog biting someone.
 
I have been bitten twice and charged twice.
German Shepard and Chow did the charging. Afghan hound and Doberman did the bitting.

The charging dogs had guns in their face but my loud stern voice did the trick. The two bitters, I was unarmed or they would have been perforated.

A dog is an animal and will be dealt with accordingly. If there is time and other alternative methods work, great, if not ...
 
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AR10ShooterinNC said:
When I was in the Air Force, I volunteered to help the dog handlers, I put on the bit suit. It was an eye opening experience, I understand what a dog is capable of doing to a person.
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That’s on my “crazy bucket list” for some reason. Right there with getting on a bull while it’s in the chute, but getting off before they open the gate.
 
"How many of you folks have actually been attacked by dogs?"
not me, personally, but....
1. my Wife has.
2. my Father has, too.
3. my Uncle makes three.

1. she was bitten on the mouth/lip by the dog of a neighbor of her Grandfather.
2. he was bitten on the Achilles by the dog of my Uncle's neighbor.
3. he was bitten by a stray.

1. no lawsuit. it was a long time ago when people took care of their own business.
2. motorcycle gang (Outlaws) owner gave my Uncle ~$400.
3. dog was destroyed and Uncle got the old-school rabies regimen which worked.
 
I have been attacked 4 times when I was young (trip to the ER for stitches on one) and I would still reach for the OC spray first
 
No doubt in my mind that this was a good shoot. I was attacked simultaneously by my neighbor's two dogs (a boxer and a blue heeler) back around 2005. The heeler was biting me on my calf and the boxer kept jumping up eye level to me and snapping at my face. With two of them coming at me from different directions like that, it was all I could do just to maintain my stance and protect my face from getting bitten. Luckily, my neighbor was outside about 50 feet away and came running over to drive them away. I wound up at the hospital with some puncture wounds and lacerations to my left calf and right forearm as a result.

I was really pissed at myself later because I remember thinking right when it all began that my neighbor might get mad if he saw me kick one of his dogs,.... that won't be the case if there is a next time. An aggressive, barking, growling, snarling dog coming straight at someone is a threat once it's within 3-5 feet, and should be dealt with accordingly. I love dogs, but I'm not going to let emotion over an animal overrule my decision making skills again.

Woulda been funny as hell if the guy did this right after putting the pooch down LOL......

smoke.gif
 
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Amps 13 said:
Been bit a few times. I was biking out of a park about 5 years ago when a medium sized mutt came running out of a backyard at me. I didn’t have much speed going and didn’t have much space to outrun it so it caught up real quick. I thought it was just chasing me and didn't even seem that mean until the moment it grabbed my ankle. He did not care for my fist on his head so much so he let go but not before taking a good chunk out of me. Cops and animal control came and owners could care less about their dog biting someone.
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I was about to unlock my car door and i heard a very nearby bark and claws running on pavement. I dropped everything I was carrying and turned while drawing my gun, just in time to see a rott jumping at me and pinning me against the (closed) car door. I kicked it in the throat, tried to aim, but it jumped at my arm. repeat cycle a couple times until the owner ran up (no clear shot, had to do a couple more kicks). Luckily I didn't get bit.
Then I tried calling the cops because I was clearly cursing, screaming, and brandishing a pistol for all to see... lady that answered decided the best thing to do was lecture me on how I should be nice to dogs and say I should have just got in the car and told me how mean I was for even thinking of shooting a dog. I told her to file the complaint and then I hung up.
Neighbor/owner apologized and said she didn't know how her dog got out, said she wouldn't have blamed me at all for shooting the dog.
 
NKD said:
I've been bitten numerous times. Nothing really major. My family owned a dog kennel, so there were lots of scary dogs. Lot of fights and whatnot.
I'd probably throw an arm out and take a bite before shooting, just because I wouldn't want to shoot somebodies dog. But with some dogs like big pitbulls, your arm could be broken or worse. Seen it happen.
I'd try and judge the demeanor of the dog, but I have to say, I've seen dogs look perfectly friendly and jolly, right up to biting the crap out of someone.
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Yep. A friend of mine had a dog that would sit there and wait for someone to reach out to pet her. As soon as you did, you got bitten. Just ignore the dog was the rule of thumb at their house. Everyone knew it that went to their house.

We had a mini dachsund when I was a kid. The entire neighborhood was afraid of him. Bad breeder, the dog was a nut case. Bit my dad a second time and that was the final straw.
 
I have shot more than one dog; I don’t want to go into details. It’s regrettable, but they are JUST ANIMALS.
The fact that some here are advocating beating the guy with a bat or whatever else, over a dog, is a little bothersome.
It’s not just PETA, I guess.
 
Charlie said:
How many of you folks have actually been attacked by dogs?
Click to expand...
A German Shepherd got me. The was the owner was responsible for this dog's demeanor being bad. He bit me and kept coming, I was able to get an oak handle to defend myself. I was a teenager and the dog was about 1/2 mile from its home. One of our neighbors killed it a few weeks later after it bit him too.

I'm a Major dog lover and Most dogs regardless of breed are fine ,but I wouldn't hesitate to kill a bad dog. If the dog is wagging its tail and growling it's not going to bother me. Tail down and its scruff bristled up and he's going to have a problem.....
 
I am on the fence on this one. I used to be afraid of dogs because of bad childhood experiences and came late to having dogs myself (4 of them now and no, we did not intend to have that many but life happens and that's another story).

I would never shoot a dog that just comes running at me since I know enough about dogs now to look for signs of aggression and I think I would be able to determine if it's about to attack me or lick me. If it looked like an actual attack or it started biting me it would still be a tough call based on surroundings and circumstances (like is the owner already hauling ass to get it back under control, how big is the dog and how many people are around that I might hit instead of the dog).
 
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