One round from a Glock 19 placed squarely between the eyes will make the assailant get verrrry sleeepy. :-)

Follow instincts. Climb tree ;)

Carry a cat. When the dog shows up, toss the cat at him. This will startle dog and cause him to stop charging you.

a) Cat will run, dog will chase cat.
b) Spunky cat will open claws, dog will run.
c) Dog and cat will have a good fight. Get camera going and sell footage to evening news. Sell to national news if cat wins.

My good buddy Mark is actually the head of the NYC ASPCA law enforcement. He was one of the first officers when they turned to a law enforcement branch. We grew up in the same apartment building. He is always on the show animal precient on cable TV. I'll ask him for a real answer when I see him again. This will put an end to the topic I hope. BTW, he has told me about dozens of bites over the years. If I have learned anything, there is no real answer.

My Staff Comforts Me
 

I don't waste my time being polite or deferential to aggressive dogs and not having much in the way of fangs or jaw power, I needed an accessory.

Several years ago, I found just the right limb on an ash tree and converted it into a multipurpose staff. It is 5.75 feet long, 2.3 inches in diameter at the top, weighs 3.2 lbs. and is slightly curved. It has a rubber cane tip on the bottom for traction. It has saved me from several dog attacks, one of which put the dog into deep regret. Dogs that have experienced near misses when I swung it around, don't make further passes at me-----picture Gandolph in the "Lord of the Rings". Twice, it has helped me block assaults by berserk hominids-----meth users, I assume.

It is an indispensible field aid for camera work in rough country. I can lean on it with a camera and use it like a monopod. But its main purpose is for climbing on slippery hillsides and it's even more important on descents. It's also good for parting or whacking down berry vines. If I were to encounter angry, antler-bearing animals in rutting season or a large predator in the woods, it would give me a fighting chance.

While doing some camerawork for a friend's movie this week, 2 typical "rednecks" came to the filming location (a public rock quarry type area) and they brought along 2 pitbulls. I have always been terrified of pitbulls by the fact that they are bred to kill. Anyway, we're trying to film this movie and these people are screaming and swearing at their dogs and just making a lot of noise. That's when the pitbulls began to fight, one latched on to the other one's neck and wouldn't let go (Oh, for the record, we were at a safe distance above them looking down, I was hiding behind a tree, lol) and then the people keep screaming louder and louder and it took about 2 minutes for one of the "rednecks" to pull the attacking pitbull off the other one and I glanced over and almost threw up at what I saw. The pitbull that was attacked was white but his neck was red after the attack and even from a distance we could see the blood gushing out. They hurried off with their dogs, screaming and swearing and we resumed filming, though the rest of that day I was freaked out that they left a pitbull behind and I was very lightheaded.

We had a boy mauled to death by a pit bull here recently. Everytime that happens, the owner always says: "I can't understand it, he's such a gentle dog and has never attacked anybody." Then the neighbor usually says: "That damn dog goes crazy out in the back yard and would kill anything in site." Leaving a pit bull off the leash is the same thing as leaving a loaded gun out in the open for anybody. Worse, maybe. People who have them should be indicted for murder and/or assault when there is an attack. They are killer beasts, and the only reason to have one is so it can one day attack somebody.

Exactly, I don't understand why they are legal. I would much rather be chased by a madman with a knife then a pitbull as pitbulls are faster, more powerful, etc. A friend's mom of mine told me how she knew someone that was in a wheelchair and their parents left the handicapped person outside for a few seconds to get something in the house and when they came out their child was dead. His throat had been ripped open by a loose pitbull and no time was served by the owner.

Just read this on Yahoo news. She was worried about the dog so she locked the kid in the basement. THAT is the kind of thinking these people always seem to do. It's not just the damn dogs, it's the damn owners. Look at later on in the article where she says, "...when you're born you're destined to go and this was his time" referring to her own kid. Sheesh. The woman should be locked up for murder.

SAN FRANCISCO - The mother of a 12-year-old boy killed in his own home by one of the family's two pit bulls says she had been so concerned about one of the dogs that she shut her son in the basement to protect him.

Maureen Faibish said she ordered Nicholas to stay in the basement while she did errands on June 3, the day he was attacked by one or both of the dogs. She said she was worried about the male dog, Rex, who was acting possessive because the female, Ella, was in heat.

"I put him down there, with a shovel on the door," Faibish said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. "And I told him: `Stay down there until I come back.' Typical Nicky, he wouldn't listen to me."

Nicholas apparently found a way to open the basement door.

Despite her concerns about Rex that day, Faibish told the newspaper: "My kids got along great with (the dogs). We were never seeing any kind of violent tendencies."

Faibish found her son's body in a bedroom. He was covered in blood from several wounds, including a major head injury. No charges have been filed.

"It's Nicky's time to go," she said in the interview. "When you're born you're destined to go and this was his time."

Ella was shot to death by a police officer the day of the attack. Rex was taken to a shelter, but Faibish said she wanted him put down.

a pitbull lover
 

I know that media portrays pitbulls as terrible dogs, and some of them are, but most any dog is what it is made into by man. I adopted my pit from a rescue 20 pounds under weight with broken ribs and a busted nose, she was a skeleton and scared of the fly swatter for years. But she was wonderful, yes she was aggressive with other animals, and needed to be leashed (all dogs should be as no one can tell you their dog will never bite) but she was loving and sweet and snuggly and smart, and she loved children. I wonder how many of you "experts" really know anything about the breed besides the jilted media stories that never tell the whole story and often call dog pitbulls to sell papers when the dog is a mix breed mut. Have you ever looked up a pitbull rescue site? For every one pitbull who attacks thousands are attacked by people, puppies with eyes guaged out, dogs tied up and lit on fire. I would tell you the demons are not the dogs but the ones who often own them. And the more people like you decide that the dog is the enemy, with no real knowledge, the more the dogs are relagated to living with criminals who don't care what society thinks, and who find it funny to beat a dog. I'm not saying this dog is for everyone, just the opposite, there are few people with the brains, courage and strength of character it takes to own such a grand breed. And with owning it comes a responsibility to watch your dog and know when it's time to say goodbye to your best friend. I loved my Cheeka more than anything, I cry everyday because she is gone, but I knew when she crippled her back leg that she would never be the same dog, she could not recover from that and keep her gentle spirit, and so my husband and I made the choice to end her life now instead of waiting till she was in so much pain she snapped at someone. I have loved in my life but never so much as I loved that beat up dog the world wanted to throw away.

It doesn't sound like we're in too much of a disagreement here, Wendy. We're talking about beating dogs that attack us first, while we're trying to work. You say people should always keep their dogs on leashes because they might bite someone.

I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that it would be much more convenient if the dogs in question were on leashes, and never had a chance to attack us in the first place.

I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that this thread deserves a real beating.

Or at least a strong leash! Of course, some will cling to this thread tenaciously like a, ah never mind.


One thing to remember, running may not be the best thing to. Some dogs just get more aggressive.

When I was a teenager, I made a delivery to this nice house. I was in a really bad mood, because of a very hard and lousy day. The lady of the house answered the door and was very nice. While we were talking, her medium sized dog wanders out, sits on the porch and watches us.

When we were finished the lady turns and goes back inside, leaving the dog on the porch. I walked away as she went inside, and when the door closed the dog charged right after me, growling loudly.

I turned to see him coming at me full charge. I was so angry that I turned toward him and shouted, “GET OUT OF HERE!” The dog almost broke his legs stopping and ran back to the porch and sat. I left, but I remember it to this day. It has worked since too!

Besides they can run faster than you can. Hell, they used to catch me on my bike.

Mike

No way. This is a perfectly well-behaved and lovable thread, if you treat it right. It's just been neglected and abused and made to be genuinely disagreeable by man.

Well, I tell you what, it'll either behave itself and become adoptable, or it's gonna be euthanized and put out of *my*misery.

Chris, Chris, Chris,

Easy big dog! It's cool. It'll stay on the porch, down boy.

Mike

So true about pitbulls not all being vicious and constantly attacking people. It's just like it is with a friend of mine who keeps rattlesnakes. He's had them for 20 years and says he's only been bitten 6 times. So, you see, even rattlesnakes can be expected not to strike you 99% of the times you encounter them.

i just gotta say, I LOVE THIS THREAD!!!!! =). just made my day =).

Yup,

If you run you basically are telling the animal (or person) that you assess them to be superior to you. If you turn around and give them your "You want to catch a beat-down??" attitude, they say "Oh s**t, this person must know something I don't, if he thinks he can whip my ass."

I belive it was Robert Frost who said something like
"Chiefly people take a man
at his own reckoning."

My god. You mean this damn thing isn't dead yet.

Pardon me while I fetch a pistol.

some dogs bite hard
 

It's not dead yet because it's a wonderful thread.

hii
 

I've been trying to strap my camera to my german sheperd to see if I could get any usable footage when he's at a full gallop. (no real luck yet)
I think it would be a neat idea to have him attack someone on a "Run&Gun" video shoot. I mean, he's just a big puppy, but he does bark alot and he'll want to put his muddy paws on your shirt...
jimi

that's an interesting angle jim. but i suppose the more secure the strapping is, the more inhumane it'll be for the dog =). also, wouldn't you need a small cam like the panny dv100a? i can't imagine any of the canon xl series on top of a dog.

My PV-GS250 camera weighs one pound, and i had it strapped to what looks like rod framed backpack.(used to be a toy heli mount) It rests on his back right over his front legs.
The thing is, he starts prancing with it on. (i cant describe the fancy footwork he does, but it looks kinda like them show horses, but faster.)

My dog cam mount is now being fitted to work on my friend's RC car,(the whole thing will be disguised as a cat or rabbit complete with twitching tail) which in turn will be chased by dogs...
Jimi

Product Announcement
 

I'm thinking of commercializing this idea. Counterbalanced articulated camera mount adapted to a dog torso. Announcing the SteadiBoy! (TM) . . .

Low-angle attachment (the DownBoy!) would be for when Fido goes after squirrels, neighborhood kids or the odd autumn leaf.

Also in the works: A special spring-loaded on-camera mic-mount telescopic arm (the GoBoy!) with an alligator clip at the end. Hang a cube of steak or a photo of [insert mailman/politician/videographer here] at the end, as a goad.

Camo vests.

All metal parts powder-coated in dark, glistening brown.

Possible Acme Retrorocket JetPack, ala a certain coyote.

Orders are to be left (carefully) on my front porch, with my executive assistant, Cerberus, who is drooling & twitching in his sleep at the moment.