Rangerrich99
New member
Lohman;
In respect to how you handled the situation, you seemed to do just fine.
As for carrying because of dogs, well, I just don't think that's necessary.
Many eons ago I worked for a marketing firm, and my job was to go out 'in the field,' ask people a few questions to collect data and give away promotional merchandise. 'In the field,' for the most part meant going door-to-door. I was required to keep a log, in case someone else needed to go through the territory again in the future. I tracked a lot of data points, including whether those people had a dog, large or small, and friendly or not. In the time I had that job, I spoke to over 100,000 people, and almost 50,000 had dogs. Only once did a dog try to bite me, and that was due to the owner giving the dog an attack command.
During that time, I developed a simple mantra: head up, tail up=thumb's up. Head down, tail down/tucked=thumb's down. Many dogs will rush up to 'meet' you, but if their heads and tails are up/wagging, they're just curious or want to make a new friend, regardless if they're barking. If their heads are lowered and their tails are either lowered or tucked under, that dog probably is going to defend his space or otherwise be physically aggressive.
Of course, dog body language is more complicated than just that, but "head up, tail up" is so universal among dogs that it can probably be considered almost a scientific fact.
Anyway, I think a gun, and probably even pepper spray is overkill for dogs. A loud shout and/or a big clap or stomp of the foot is probably all you need for 99% the dogs you run into. For the 1% or so that require more persuasion, maybe pepper gel spray? At least it wouldn't fly with the wind as much. Probably.
In respect to how you handled the situation, you seemed to do just fine.
As for carrying because of dogs, well, I just don't think that's necessary.
Many eons ago I worked for a marketing firm, and my job was to go out 'in the field,' ask people a few questions to collect data and give away promotional merchandise. 'In the field,' for the most part meant going door-to-door. I was required to keep a log, in case someone else needed to go through the territory again in the future. I tracked a lot of data points, including whether those people had a dog, large or small, and friendly or not. In the time I had that job, I spoke to over 100,000 people, and almost 50,000 had dogs. Only once did a dog try to bite me, and that was due to the owner giving the dog an attack command.
During that time, I developed a simple mantra: head up, tail up=thumb's up. Head down, tail down/tucked=thumb's down. Many dogs will rush up to 'meet' you, but if their heads and tails are up/wagging, they're just curious or want to make a new friend, regardless if they're barking. If their heads are lowered and their tails are either lowered or tucked under, that dog probably is going to defend his space or otherwise be physically aggressive.
Of course, dog body language is more complicated than just that, but "head up, tail up" is so universal among dogs that it can probably be considered almost a scientific fact.
Anyway, I think a gun, and probably even pepper spray is overkill for dogs. A loud shout and/or a big clap or stomp of the foot is probably all you need for 99% the dogs you run into. For the 1% or so that require more persuasion, maybe pepper gel spray? At least it wouldn't fly with the wind as much. Probably.