Just Had A VERY Close Call

A

Anthony

New member
Hey gang!

I went to the grocery store at lunch today. As I was coming back down the stairs to my apartment to get some more groceries, I noticed this scruffy looking guy talking on a cellular telephone about 40 yards off
to the right. Well, I hear this dog howl from around the corner of the building. The guy yells at him to stop, but all I see is this tan 50 pound blur coming around the corner and at me top speed. My initial
thought was "Oh sh*t! Pitbull!" due to the size and color. Luckily I had decided a few days ago to start carrying my Centennial on me to work.

Well, I crouched in a fighter's stance, cleared the pocket holster, made eye contact with the dog, and brought the Smith & Wesson to bear on him. Just as I attained my two handed firing grip the dog put on the
breaks just as his owner was yelling at him. The dog and I looked at each other and he took off toward his master. The guy turns away and acts like nothing happened and continues his conversation on the cellular
phone. He was still about 40 yards away, so I'm not sure the man even saw the gun.

Looking around, I realized we had no other witnesses, so I took the guy's lead, pocketed the Smith, and got the rest of my
groceries.

Weird, huh?

First time I've had to clear leather in haste. The only other time I took a gun out for possible use was when Bill and I found a wild possum in his mother's garage. Bill was going to drive him out and I'd shoot
him if he seemed rabid or came at Bill. He ran into the bushes so no shooting there either. Good thing too. It was the snubby .41 Magnum. Would have made a mess of that possum.

How about that?

Do you think it was the owner's order to stop or my willingness to fight and aggressive body language that drove the dog off?

- Anthony
 
Anthony,

If you'd run, I'd guess that dog would be digesting your nads about now.

Dogs are *extremely* sensitive to attitude. I've faced down a hysterical Great Dane simply by throwing his actions back: lunging, barking, growling, etc.

If the dog is rabid, though, all bets are off. In that case, you're probably justified in shooting it.
 
Good question!

When confronted by a single dog I've never turned tail and ran. I will turn, crouch, and face them, and get ready for the inevitable. Fortunately, I have never had to find out if this was a stupid move on my part, because they have stopped short of contact, or been called back by their owner.

Up until two years ago I always carried a knife. Now it's a Glock, but I've been seriously considering adding the knife back on.

------------------
John/az

"They come, they eat, they leave...
"They come, they eat, they leave...NOT!!

Bill Clinton (aka: Hopper) Al Gore (aka: Molt) Janet Reno (aka: Thumper)

Ants UNITE!


[This message has been edited by John/az2 (edited June 29, 1999).]
 
I've got a little experience with dogs and you can basically break them down into three classes:
1. Act tough but don't back it up. The dog will bark and jump around acting mean but at the first sign of aggression from it's target it hauls. You would be amazed at how many dobermans and rotweillers fall into this category. They put on a good show.

2. Aggressive but controllable. This is the best kind to have. They will not go out of their way to attack, but won't back down from anyone. They need to be provoked (by owner or bad guy) before they bite. It is also fairly easy to call them off an attack.

3. Out of control. Basically your stereotypical guard dog. These will attack for no reason and will usually only respond to one or two handlers. Bad things to run across.

It's hard to say what category your friend falls in to. Either way, your aggressive action probably helped the situation.
 
You never think about dogs as being a gun-worthy threat. I didn't.

A couple of years ago, I was out walking with my 4 year old son in a large alfalfa field. I heard some barking in the distance and turned to see a large, mud covered golden retriever running in our direction. He was barking and growling viciously and heading strait towards my son (who was about 15 yards away from me). I wasn't exactly sure what to do (you never expect that sort of thing and I love dogs) but I had time to cautiously draw my 9mm. When he got to about 20 yards from my son I realized the dog had a mission and wasn't going to stop. The "good-aim" gods were smiling on me and I dropped him with one shot to the breast-bone.

Being a good boy scout, I called the police on my cell phone (we were close enought to a residential area for someone to hear the shot and get nervous). Before I could finish telling the dispatcher my story, she asked "was it a filthy golden retriever?" It turns out that the police and animal control were searching the area for this dog as it had attacked two children a half-hour earlier (one of the children later died of his wounds!). The dog was rabid, and I still wake up sweating in the middle of the night thinking about what could have happened.

These days, I treat suspicious looking dogs with the same concern as suspicious looking two-legged critters. Glad your situation ended happily as well.
 
Good thing you practice JJR.

My sister is a VET with a specialty in Behavioral Sciences - animal behavior. She has commented before, as did Coinneach, that animals are fulent in "body language".

A single step *forward* in a situation will speak volumes about *your* intentions.

CMOS
 
My brother and I were doing some target shooting at a friend's farm. We were in the middle of a very large, flat field surrounded by trees. Each of us had an AR-15 with fully loaded 30 round mags and we were about to shoot our next batch of targets.

All of a sudden, at least 7 *LARGE* dogs came charging onto the field from the access road - and they were running right for us!

We were already kneeling, but we turned to face them. As the dogs came closer, it was becoming clear that the dogs were friendly and were not looking at us as "lunch". To be safe, we shouldered the rifles but kept them pointing at the ground.

The dog owner appeared in a truck at the access road. We saw him and he saw us. He called to the dogs and they all very obediantly returned to his truck. We pointed the AR's skyward and waved to let him know we posed no threat to him or his dogs.

Later in the afternoon, the fellow packed up all the dogs in his truck and stopped to talk to us. He asked us about the AR's because he'd never fired one before. He admitted that he was all for "the right to bear arms" but was confused why we'd ever want "one of those". It didn't take long to convince him of their importance and value. (I wouldn't doubt it if Bushmaster made another sale that day.)

The point of the matter is, it's a very real possibility that these could have been agressive, rabid, and/or wild dogs. The coyote population is also rising in the area. In which case, if we didn't have our rifles, we would have been dog food - or at least scarred for life.
 
I like pets. Cats & dogs, both. But I've passed up a deer to take out a feral dog or cat.

We have a pack of some dozen or so feral dogs running loose around our desert. They've been hostile to hikers, have been seen pulling down deer and were driven off from trying for a colt. My rifle lives in my truck when in the back country, and I always carry some sort of pistol when hiking.
 
The topic is dogs and guns,question.
If y2k is a tarfu or fubar,what to do with all the dogs and cats. People will just turn them out and they will go wild. You really would not want to waste any ammo on them unless under attack.There are several million of these animals in this country and they will want to eat too.
Just a thought.
 
From Ivan 8883 6-29-99 1026PM EDT I hate to bring this up. But hungry people also eat things besides dogs and cats. The seige of Leningrad is a perfect example of very hungry people. Let us hope Y2K does not get that bad. But I personally am concerned.
 
Anthony,

I had a similar scary moment two weeks ago. I usually hike through our sparsely populated area after a pistol training session up to five times a week - just so I'll be sure to be packing in case of snakes, feral hogs or rabid skunks.

Well, the one time I ran into a strange dog, a very large shepard was when I'd emptied my ammo bag in practice and forgot to reload my pistol before I went hiking. My dogs were back in the air conditioning and I was armed with an empty 1911. Lucky it turned out to be a nice doggie :) Now I do the hiking before the practice session so I'll be sure to have ammo on me.
 
I would recommend keeping back a few rounds, just in case. You don't want to be attacked on the way back from the practice session.

I, too, have been attacked by dogs before, none of them feral (once it was a St. Bernard :( ). Each incident happened in full view of the dog's owner. So, folks, please keep your dogs under control. The life you save may be your dog's. ;)

------------------
"Fear is the path to the Dark Side...
Fear leads to gun laws, gun laws lead to disarmament, disarmament... leads to Tyranny!"

-------------------------

"If it isn't Scottish, it's CRAP!"
 
I always keep a full magazine that I don't shoot while on the range. It goes into the gun the moment I am done. The gun goes into the holster, and I drive away just as well armed as I drove in (minus the practice rounds, of course!) :D

------------------
John/az

"They come, they eat, they leave...
"They come, they eat, they leave...NOT!!

Bill Clinton (aka: Hopper) Al Gore (aka: Molt) Janet Reno (aka: Thumper)

Ants UNITE!
 
Ok, I'll share....
A few years ago my mother and her friend (another gun nut) were getting home from from taking thier Great Dane puppy to the vet for shots. I was doing some work in the yard for them at the time. They opened the front door and went inside, and a stray pit ran in the house right behind them. It grabbed the Dane puppy by the nose as wouldn't let go. My mother grabbed the pit and started wrestling with it and was bit in the hand and arms a few times. Then my Mom's friend got in the act and was bit in the leg. The whole time the pit will not release the pup's nose except to bite a human and re-attach to the pup. Finally, the friend runs and get his .45 and it takes 3 rounds of ball before the pit goes to doggy heaven. Needless to say, all 4 had a bad day.

P.S. All healed just fine except the pit.


------------------
Same Shot, Different Day
 
I have riden motorcycle on the street for nearly 30 years and have had my share of dog and irresponsible dog owner incounters. I shot a 35 pounder in the street with a Stinger. Spine shot and he went down yelping and writhing but was no longer a threat to me.

I was riding down a street and a collie in the yard with the owner took off after me. I stopped at a stop sign, got off, drew my Buck folding hunter, crouched down and offered my left arm as a chew toy. The dog slowed when it saw my posture and the owner took off at a dead run to 'rescue' her pet.

Another instance I left my condo and was walking up the hill to the parking area, two dogs out with their owner came at me. The owner did not seem at all concerned that I looked like lunch to her 'babies'. When I drew my pistol she took action. I offered my foot for the dogs to bite so I could shoot them but they did not take the bait. She was able to restrain them and called me crazy. I told her that if they had bit me I probably would have shot her next. The dogs we put to sleep about a month later when they bit a child and the owner 'attacked' the animal control officer. She ended up going to jail for 90 days and was kicked out of the community.

I have kicked them in the head, drug one under the bike and ran over it. A friend of mine rolled one for me under his Blazer that had made a habit of chasing me into the street. Had one Shepard that knocked me off declared dangerous and if it got out again it was going to be put to sleep. After kicking one dog down the street and lecturing the children, who thought it was funny until I booted fluffy, I called the police and went back by the house. Daddy was waiting and told me not to kick his dog and that he would call the police. I told him I already had and if that dog was out again without a leash his dog was going to be put to sleep and he was going to jail. I drove by that house 40 times in the next couple of days, I lived right around the corner.
 
Ivan8883,

Regarding the seige of Leningrad, I know of wallpaper soup and sawdust bread, but was cannibalism practiced during the seige? I've heard of Nazis (and their allies) resorting to it after the defeat of the 6th Army at Stalingrad.

4V50 Gary

------------------
Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
Gary:
Cannibalism at Leningrad made the actual death toll hard to figure when it was all over, i.e., absence of graves, reluctance to acknowledge the menu, etc. Because much of the seige took place in winter, corpses were kept fresh, as it were, and were used as food when times got hardest. I dare say cannibalism has occurred whenever people were subjected to long and terrible seiges or starvation. I wonder what early settlers ate when the crops failed and long winters took them left and right...?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top