Feral Dog Interaction

Zombie Zeke said:
That's a consideration, but I still think it would cause more suspicion than necessary. I am comfortable with my knife, it's well suited for the task, but I think there's definitely a can of Bear Spray in my near future.
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In CA, you can carry a unloaded firearm on your hip and ammo on the opposite side. You will catch the cops attention and they have the right to check your firearm to see if it's loaded. You will not be breaking the law.
 
As has been stated previously, not all dogs you encounter are necessarily feral or wild. Many are allowed to run loose. Some have either run away or been recently abandoned. This does NOT make them any less dangerous, and they can and will join up with other free dogs, including feral dogs, to hunt or bring down deer. This explains the behavior of the Pit, who was obviously socialized and probably someone's pet. If the other dog had attacked you, that Pit may have joined in. Other dog may well have been feral.

Back in the late 1970s in the Hills of upstate NY there was a serious problem with wild dog packs. Some of these packs had over 20 dogs. Always a serious problem around deer season when pet dogs will leave home in search of gut piles. They get nutty when they've been wilding for a week straight. Almost as bad as the ones who've been feral for years. Even a pet dog can be dangerous out in the woods.
 
I always carry my 31" ASP baton on my mountain bike. I also carry blade, or 3.
I encounter dogs all the time, while on dog walks. I walk my Pitbull with my bike, so she can run.
Aggressive dogs don't give warning, they don't growl, they will just attack.
A scared dog will growl and show it's teeth. If you stand your ground, show no fear, they will usually back down. This might take several minutes, and they might be defending a territory.
You have to protect yourself if attacked, but why shoot an animal that's just scared. My Pit was attacked by two other pits, on two seperate occasions. The first time, their owner and I were able to pull them apart, that took 5 minutes. The second time I had my baton. Without extending it, I popped them on their heads. They went home.
The owner was to blame, not the dogs. They are unsocialized, and had no training, and no leashes. Stupid people should not have powerful breeds, or powerful anything.
 
foxx said:
I always carry my 31" ASP baton on my mountain bike. I also carry blade, or 3.
I encounter dogs all the time, while on dog walks. I walk my Pitbull with my bike, so she can run.
Aggressive dogs don't give warning, they don't growl, they will just attack.
A scared dog will growl and show it's teeth. If you stand your ground, show no fear, they will usually back down. This might take several minutes, and they might be defending a territory.
You have to protect yourself if attacked, but why shoot an animal that's just scared. My Pit was attacked by two other pits, on two seperate occasions. The first time, their owner and I were able to pull them apart, that took 5 minutes. The second time I had my baton. Without extending it, I popped them on their heads. They went home.
The owner was to blame, not the dogs. They are unsocialized, and had no training, and no leashes. Stupid people should not have powerful breeds, or powerful anything.
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I totally agree with you, that stupid people need not have pittys, but unfortunately in my neck of the woods the people have some serious habits and let their dogs roam.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
As has been stated previously, not all dogs you encounter are necessarily feral or wild. Many are allowed to run loose.
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My experience has been that a pet dog without its master, will often be aggressive. In the hills where I hike every day, most folks will let their dogs run free. The dog will often be down the trail ahead of the humans, and if I meet it alone around a blind corner, the dog can get very defensive. The minute the owners show up (and swear the dog isn't viscious), the dog will tend to back off.

I peper sprayed a dog once right in front of its owner. The dog had gotten in so close, that I felt its hot breath on my bare leg as it tried to nip at me! Plan B would not have been so pleasant....
 
reconranger said:
I peper sprayed a dog once right in front of its owner.
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And what did the owner say to that?

I'm familiar with nearly a dozen cases where the owner flipped out and needed to be Maced as well.

PS: Gratuitous use of bold font is annoying. Stop it.
 
All dogs go to heaven. Can't say the same for humans.

You cannot legislate morality or personal responsibility like that found in dog owners that have never had an issue with any type of breed.

Never turn your back on any aggressive animal.
 
Dog attacks are vicious. If an animal like that approaches you and is aggressive you should kill it if you can. The next person they approach might be a child or someone unable to defend themselves. They could be killed or maimed. That would suck and it could have been prevented.

If you need to salve your conscience just know that feral dogs have a rough life and a bullet is likely the best way it could hope to go out, especially if they are starving.

Also, dont expect to shoot one with a handgun and drop it with one shot. It could happen but may not. I once had to shoot a very aggressive pit in defense with a federal .40 hollowpoint. Thankfully the dog changed his mind and ran home (no time or need for a follow up shot) but later had to be put down by a vet. The owner was charged as the dog had multiple prior complaints filed against it. While justified I worried what others might think until a number of neighbors came forward and thanked me and provided statements about how the dog had been threatening to them in the past too.

Stay safe,
Josh
edited to add:
ps. If I knew I was going to have to deal with a large aggressive dog 12gauge 00 would be my choice.
 
j_d said:
Dog attacks are vicious. If an animal like that approaches you and is aggressive you should kill it if you can. The next person they approach might be a child or someone unable to defend themselves. They could be killed or maimed. That would suck and it could have been prevented.

If you need to salve your conscience just know that feral dogs have a rough life and a bullet is likely the best way it could hope to go out, especially if they are starving.

Also, dont expect to shoot one with a handgun and drop it with one shot. It could happen but may not. I once had to shoot a very aggressive pit in defense with a federal .40 hollowpoint. Thankfully the dog changed his mind and ran home (no time or need for a follow up shot) but later had to be put down by a vet. The owner was charged as the dog had multiple prior complaints filed against it. While justified I worried what others might think until a number of neighbors came forward and thanked me and provided statements about how the dog had been threatening to them in the past too.

Stay safe,
Josh
edited to add:
ps. If I knew I was going to have to deal with a large aggressive dog 12gauge 00 would be my choice.
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Thanks Josh, once again, I have had to use firearms in self defense situations before in the bush. Carrying a pistol would bring too much undue attention to myself, imo, I was fine with with what I had on me but will definitely carry a hiking staff or pepper spray in the future. The one dog I had to draw and fire on was big, some kind of feral Mastiff, it only took one shot, but there were five more on back up just in case it was in central California while we were way out in Timbuktoo scouting for places to hunt hogs.
 
Zombie Zeke said:
Another thing it reinforced in my mind is that Pit Bulls while tenacious and bull headed aren't as bad as advertised they are dogs, just like any other.
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Pits are also one of the most loving and loyal dogs, devoted and kind, that you will ever find out of any breed. They are especially good with kids. He have a female pit with a hint of some other mix in her, and I can have her in absolute high drive, wound up like a top and off the charts berserk, and all I have to do is make a kiss sound and she immediately stops and licks my face like no tomorrow. She is a top shelf dog.

Like a gun or a knife or anything else, misuse of something will have the public opinion swayed very easily to where ownership of something, no matter how good it is, becomes an outlawed thing.

It is too bad you couldn't coerce that dog into coming on the walk with you, give it a good square meal and find a shelter or animal agency. If it was meant to be put down, so be it. At least it would have had a shot at another life.

I love to hunt for the sport and food, but I also have a caring spot, like most folks, for dogs and other pets and the well being of them. :thumbup:
 
I think the situation was handled well. I honestly don't know what (if anything) could have been done better.

When it comes down to dogs though, I think that responsible ownership is far more important than breed. I'd rather be locked in a room with Zeke's pit than a lab owned by some bottom-dwelling tool.
 
I have had several run ins with "off the leash" and feral dogs.... most ended after a share of "intent" with a short standoff.... some became more intense and physical... only one ever came to a sad ending. Unfortunately, it was a pitbull. It happened right infront of the owner AND a pair of LEO's who saw it from a distance. No charges were filed.


Rick
 
Hoodcanal5 said:
Did you guys know that pitbulls are not affected by pepper spray. No joke same with rotts and german shepherds. Not sure the bear spray is gonna be to much help.
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Choking / coughing / being unable to breathe / being unable to see are all involuntary reactions to pepper spray.

While a pitbull does indeed have a FAR higher tolerance than most breeds for pain (they were bred as such), they will not be able to stop the involunatry effects. And sorry, but if something is strong enough to knock a bear on it's rear...and we're talking an animal that can soak up high caliber shots....then it's going to effect your pitbull.

I've not tried it, nor will I (because being cruel to animals deserves a swift kick in the junk at minimum) but I'd put my money on it working almost every single time due to the "involuntary" factor.
 
el dub said:
I like poison your bait, and bait.
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Right, and then some poor person walking their dog doesn't manage to yank their dog's head up in time while it's sniffing, it takes a bite of your bait, and you've just killed someone's pet.

No thanks, IMO an indiscriminate kill like that is not the proper way to go about doing things.
 
Mannlicher said:
My normal reaction to feral dog encounters, is to kill them.
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This is probably the best practice with dangerous dogs, 'cause even if you chase them off, what if their next target is a child?

frc505 said:
once a drunk neighbor released his
pit bull on me and my younger brother and sister while walking ours
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It's a pity you aren't allowed to shoot them or have them put down, but sadly no - not even when they do something as criminally dangerous as setting a dog on children. I do hope charges were laid against this neighbour though.
 
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