Good Move?

B

Bella

New member
I went hunting this morning. My girlfriend's daughter went too. She is just getting into bow hunting and figured rabbits would be good practice. I was also hunting upland game. I had my shotgun and my single six on my hip. My dog was along too.

After hunting for a few hours we headed back to the viechle. We were in the process of putting our gear away when I noticed my dog staring at something. I looked in that direction and saw a dog. It was some sort of chow mix. I looked for its owner but no one was around. I yelled at the dog to spook it away, it wasn't phased.

It started to approach my dog. Unfortunately my shotgun was already unloaded and packed away. I decided to draw my revolver and try shouting at the dog again. It continued towards my dog. I decided to fire a round into the dirt. This caused the dog to jump a bit and back off a few feet. I had hoped the shot would have caused it to hightail out of there. It just backed up a bit and it looked like it was goig to start approaching my dog again. I cocked the gun again and was expecting the worse to happen.

Just then I heard someone call the dog and he went away.

We finished packing and took off. Just down the road we passed a guy walking that dog. Boy he gave us a dirty look.

Now my question.

Did I act appropriately? How would you have handled that same scenario?
 
Personally, I would not have fired or been alarmed unless the dog showed aggression and I couldn't easily escape. I'm a big dog person and dogs are curious by nature.

That said, I don't know that just because I would do it differently that the way you did it was wrong. It doesn't sound like you were bloodthirsty or looking to harm the animal, and owners do have the responsibility to monitor their animals.

Maybe it's because I live in a very rural area where free-roaming dogs are common that I wouldn't be too alarmed.

Your actions were not the same as mine would have been, but I understand them and think they were relatively reasonable. I'm glad it didn't end poorly.
 
I would say bad move firing the shot. Might have tried throwing a rock or two instead. As dogs are prone to do, one was just showing curiosity in the other and in neutral territory. Doesn't seem to have been that much of a threat situation.
 
Last edited:
I’m not going to judge you since I wasn’t there, but I will provide a short cautionary tale.

A family acquaintance got charged with some form of animal cruelty for shooting a dog on a hunting trip after he said he was attacked. He actually called the local Sherriff’s Office to report the incident and was told over the phone not to worry about it. However, it turned out the dog was the family pet of an influential local college professor and she pitched a fit. Eventually a warrant was issued for his arrest and he ultimately cut a plea deal for some lesser misdemeanor. This event hung over his head for about 18 months and even though the fine was minimal he still had to pay the attorney.

So, was he wrong? Who knows he continued to insist that the dog attacked him and that he had no choice. If he went to trial on the matter he might have won, but then he might not have. Ultimately any time you fire a gun at anyone or anything you face the potential of criminal or civil litigation.
 
A rock would have been a better idea, seeing as how the area contains pets and pet owners. Every time you fire your gun, you are legally responsible for where the bullet ends up.

Question to ask yourself : If the owner of the dog had appeared and become angry, what could have happened?
 
Man, that's a tough situation to face in person. There's a fine line in a dog encounter between [everything's fine] / [the fur is flying]. There is one aspect about your particular situation that would have had my hackles up more than a chance dog encounter... the fact the other dog was a Chow Chow. I have empathy for every other breed out there, but, and this is MY failing, not the dog's fault, I do not trust a Chow to behave predictably.
 
Dogs have their own way of working things out. Sometimes you need to let that happen if they're both off leash. If your dog was unleashed and the other dog was too then I don't see how you end up winning when you discharge a round.
 
Of course. But it doesn't change anything described in this post beyond that. Does an unleashed hunting dog provide it's human owner with an extra level of legal protection when the dog is faced with another unleashed dog?
 
My dog was under full control. When I spotted the other dog I put my dog on freeze. She still had her e-collar on her if she needed a reminder.

I paid a lot of money for my dog and invested a lot of time training her. We are in the middle of bird season and I am not about to let a mutt ruin it for us.
 
My dog was under full control. When I spotted the other dog I put my dog on freeze.
Click to expand...
If your dog wasn't on a leash, you really had no "control" other than hoping she would listen to you if attacked

I think you were too quick to shoot

Having a hunting dog on a leash kind of defeats the purpose of having one.
Click to expand...
You said you were finished hunting and were packing up your gear.
I'd have loaded up the dog instead of firing a warning shot
 
I agree with others that I think there was no good reason to fire that shot. Personal fear is not a good reason in California. Your dog is just another piece of property. No matter how you think otherwise, I doubt most jurisdiction will consider it a self defense scenario had law enforcement been called. I think you were lucky is ended with a stare.
 
Does your state our county have a leash law? Your dog is trained and under control and had an E collar. THe other dog was loose because the owner let it loose which is a BIG problem. Around here that dog could have legally been shot. It happens most every day.
 
The other dog's owner should have had better control of his beast, no doubt. But the chow was probably just curious. If he was bothering you, a tossed rock would have been preferable to the shot.
 
You over reacted. It doesn't sound like your dog was on a leash either. Anyway, that's what dogs do - they check out other dogs. I wouldn't have fired a round to try and scare the dog away. Certainly not at that point, anyway.
 
I would not have fired at the dog in the situation you describe. From the description it does not sound like the other dog was acting aggressively, merely approaching. As others have mentioned, that is what most dogs do when they see another dog.

If the other dog had been showing clearly aggressive behavior, growling, barking, raised fur, showing teeth etc. then perhaps I would evaluate differently.

Either way, when you discharge your gun in the dirt, that bullet will ricochet somewhere. What if the owner of the other dog was approaching and ended up getting hit?
 
"What if" strikes me as the basis of fear generated reactions. In California fear is not a sound basis for drawing a firearm, let alone discharging it. A real threat, one that a jury would consider reasonable, of serious injury, or death needs to be present. That can be completely different in San Francisco County compared with Alpine County. One needs to know not only the laws of the state, but the political tone of the jurisdiction one is in.
 
Just then I heard someone call the dog and he went away.
Click to expand...

This tells me the other owner was in control of his dog also.

Anyway, that's what dogs do - they check out other dogs.
Click to expand...


Exactly. If you hunt any amount of time in the field with a dog, you will sooner or later come across other hunters in the field with dogs. Pulling your gun and firing in their direction everytime is not a good thing. The other dog owner may have very well had a good argument to have charges pressed against you as it was. You never stated of any form of aggression from the other dog other than it was approaching your dog before you shot. Not a legitimate reason to pull a gun and fire a round. Especially in front of your girlfriends' daughter.

She still had her e-collar on her if she needed a reminder.

She had her e-collar on. A leash doesn't mean under control

I paid a lot of money for my dog and invested a lot of time training her. We are in the middle of bird season and I am not about to let a mutt ruin it for us.
Click to expand...


I have had bird dogs for 45 years and have used e-collars for the last 35. They are a great tool for reinforcement, but like a leash, are not a guarantee of control. Did you ever think the other owner may have more money and time invested in his dog than you? Just cause you thought the dog was a mutt, it could have very well have been a high priced purebred. I have a GWP right now that some folks might think is a mutt when they first see her if they do not know dogs very well. Not knowing how dogs react around other dogs is also a sign of not knowing dogs very well. Cost or pedigree is not relative to vet fees and owner love. IOWs, your dog is no more valuable than the other dog and should be not criteria for a decision on how fast to take a shot.


Did you over react? I believe so, as there was no attack, no aggression and you fired one shot and were ready to shoot again, without any legitimate provocation from the dog. Last thing I would want to do is to traumatize a young girl by unnecessarily shooting a dog in front of her and then having to deal with a angry owner that really did have control over his dog. Seems this was almost ready to happen when the owner called and the dog immediately retreated.

There's a similar heated discussion about a similar topic on another gun forum. My advice there was that one needs to know what the laws are about killing someone else's dog before they go and do it. Some states are quite lax, some are very strict. All demand there be a real threat to you or your property before you pull the trigger..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top