Good Move?

Why are some you concluding I shot at the dog. I fired a round into the dirt next to me. The bullet didn't go anywhere near or towards the dog. It was only after yelling and waving my arms failed to make the dog leave the area.

Let's say instead of getting ready to leave we had just arrived and we were gearing up to start hunting. My dog would have been placed on heal until we had walked a safe distance from the car and then she would be released to start hunting. Would I have to keep an eye I that to see if it attacked my dog.

Apparently the sound of my gun caused the dog's owner to call him in. Why didn't my yelling at the dog bring a quicker response by him?
 
Let's say instead of getting ready to leave we had just arrived and we were gearing up to start hunting. My dog would have been placed on heal until we had walked a safe distance from the car and then she would be released to start hunting. Would I have to keep an eye I that to see if it attacked my dog.
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If this had been the case, an alternative approach would have been to get your dog and your girlfriend's daughter back in the truck and then evaluate if the other dog is a threat (from inside the truck) and perhaps honk the horn for a couple of minutes to see if the owner of the dog shows up. Then take further action from there. If the dog's owner shows up, problem solved. If not, would it be an option to go a few more miles further? Or take some other action that does not involve shooting the other dog? It does not seem reasonable, to me, to shoot a dog that has not acted aggressively and that has to that point not posed a threat because it *might* in the near future act aggressively towards your dog.
 
I can tell you that in the state I live in... even if that dog is mauling, killing, and tearing parts clean off your dog... it is not legal to shoot the dog.

If he's biting YOU or the child, or he's attacking your livestock, then it's on like Donkey Kong. But the state makes a clear distinction about what a "pet" is, no matter how much dog lovers as many of us are would certainly argue.

It was probably not lawful in Ohio for the shot at your feet. Out in the boonies, I have a hard time imagining any scenario where you could be charged. If you did the same in a town or city, you'd be facing charges.

With all of that said, it seems like no dogs were hurt, no people were hurt, no charges were filed, and everyone moved forward, so I can't sit here a judge much further given that I wasn't there. For whatever it's worth, the outcome looks quite good.
 
Originally posted by Bella:

Why are some you concluding I shot at the dog. I fired a round into the dirt next to me. The bullet didn't go anywhere near or towards the dog. It was only after yelling and waving my arms failed to make the dog leave the area.
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You still unnecessarily discharged a firearm only because another dog was in the general vicinity of your dog. You admittedly had the gun cocked ready to do it again. You did all this not because there was a legitimate threat, but the idea there might be a threat at some point and "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.". You then ask us if it was a "good move". Apparently you aren't getting the replies you wanted.

Apparently the sound of my gun caused the dog's owner to call him in. Why didn't my yelling at the dog bring a quicker response by him?
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Maybe he didn't hear you, maybe he thought you were yelling at your dog. Probably very lucky for you he didn't think you were shooting at his dog when he heard the gunshot and taken your license plate number.

Why did you not call your dog if he/she is so well trained and put him/her behind you or in the vehicle. This would have saved you a round and the stress of having another dog in the area. That would have taken no more effort than yelling at the other dog and would have been my first response. I call my dog to my side whenever I encounter another strange dog in the field. Just what you do. Odds are your dog was just as interested in checking out the "mutt" as the "mutt" was in him/her.
 
She had her e-collar on. A leash doesn't mean under control.
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An E collar is even less "control" than a leash
The smart move would have been to confine your dog

Let's say instead of getting ready to leave we had just arrived and we were gearing up to start hunting
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I'd rather we just stick to what really happened, rather than get into fantasy scenarios in an attempt to rationalize the overreaction
 
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OP, I'm a little puzzled that you asked, very clearly, our opinion of how you handled the situation and how we would have handled the situation, but you seem to have hostility toward the idea that you did anything wrong. You seem to be pointing out semantic details like exactly where you shot, and not addressing arguments that any shot at all was inappropriate. Did you expect blanket approval of the action? I feel like if you did, you would not have posted. The post probably arose out of some feeling that what you did wasn't quite squared away. I think that's an accurate feeling.

Doesn't mean you're a bad guy or that you were coming from a bad place, but if you refuse to accept that maybe you messed up, how do you keep from messing up next time?
 
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