If you wouldn't normally allow yourself with in arms reach of a badguy to use a stick (most of you are armed with a pistol all the time to avoid this very thing), do not be so willing to employ inferior weapons against an animal built to do more damage than a human.
A pissed off 75lb dog - not a massive dog by any means - is not an animal you want to irritate with a poor swing from a "walking stick." If your ___ caliber handgun isn't a "one shot man stopper," I doubt your best Babe Ruth swing isn't a "one smack dog dropper."
I agree with you 100% ... when it's a dog-versus-human encounter. However, the original poster's situation is a dog-versus-dog encounter, and that makes a critical difference.
Here in North Carolina, YOU or ANOTHER PERSON must be in danger of sexual assault, serious bodily injury, or death before you can use deadly force. Danger to your dog doesn't count. Plus, it's too easy to shoot your own dog. THAT is where the stick is handy.
Dogs don't multi-task very well, if at all. If the aggressor dog is attacking your dog, you have an excellent chance of using a stick effectively against the aggressor dog because it's not going to be watching your movements. BUT ... if that same aggressor dog then fixates on you, you must put up a serious offense--not defense--so your first efforts must be 100% focused on doing as much damage, even fatal damage, to the aggressor dog so as to minimize the potential threat to yourself. Dogs don't give up easily, so don't expect that.
I have been attacked, and have seen others attacked, by dogs. I found the experience to be much scarier than being attacked by humans because dogs don't hold back. A human might knock you down, figure the fight is over, and leave. A dog has no such social conscience. It will likely keep tearing at you until something scares it off.
A "pissed off 75lb dog" is indeed terrifying. In fact, from my own experience, I'd say a pissed off 40lb dog can cause death or permanent injuries to an adult male human if the human panics. You do
not want to be the target of an Australian cattle dog (or the equivalent Queensland Heeler), which typically weighs 40-45 pounds.
It's not the ANIMAL, IT'S THE OWNER!!!! All owner's for vicious animals should be RESPONSIBLE for anything!!!!
True. But if my dog or I or both are being attacked by someone's dog, the immediate threat is the dog. Since attacking dogs are unpredictable, my goal will be to neutralize the dog. And since I don't want an attacking dog to turn its aggressions from my dog and onto me, my neutralizing efforts will be to kill the attacking dog, if possible. After that, I'll sue the dog's owner.
By the way, if you've ever studied escrima, you know that you can readily use a stick to kill a person. You can use those same skills against an attacking dog. The primary advantage you gain from a gun is that of distance. Either way, you can't just grab a stick or a walking cane and expect to employ it properly unless you put in some practice first. You can learn escrima skills in a relatively short time, much shorter than martial arts hand-to-hand skills. Unfortunately, escrima sticks in many places are illegal to carry. However, the advantages of a walking stick are that they are legal to carry openly and many escrima skills are directly applicable to walking sticks.
Too bad!