I thought I'd start this in response to the pitbull thread.

So have you? I've fought alot of people in My time, but have never fought off a dog.

I often wondered how hard it could  be fight and win against an enraged, charging pit sized dog?
Do fists, kicks, objects strangling and eye gouging work like they usually do against humans??

Before anybody assumes I'm a dog hater or something, I'm a dog owner Myself.

every time i come home from work.. my 2 maul me...

a cat bit me once......and I cried and ran away

I was like 6


If a dog attacked I would kick it in the face

Never.  Even mean dogs are nice to me.  The worst that hasever happnenned is an unkind bark at me.

When I was little my uncle's dog bit me.  It was a shepard.  The trick to a dog attack is let the SOB grab your forearm and show the thing to the back of it's throat.  They can't close their trap, and then wrap your other arm around it's neck and hold on.  You can snap his little flippin neck doing this.  If you let the dog thrash you will get torn up.  Bust his neck quickly.

twice  once by a german shep and once by a little freaking palmeranian(sp?)

I had a very large/muscular pit bull charge me one time... this was in someone's home when i was there to work on their computer.

When he got to me I kicked him as hard as I could. I caught him in the neck and he was thrown across thier kitchen and into the cabinet doors, breaking them. The dog didnt want anymore and walked back out the back door.

More than once.

As a kid, I was a milkman for a while.


I actually carried a BB pistol with me under my coat and used it on more than one occasion.

Twice.  One (Cocker spaniel) resulted in stitches, the other a good amount of hydrogen peroxide.  Pepper spray helped fend off the second.



NorCal

Got lunched by my grandmothers neigbors dog once......and after recovered from the rabies shots I had to have because the neigbors hid the dog . I came back with the family shepards [two ea] and they riped that dog to little tiny bits.

While serving a warrant for a parole violator I was attacked by a dog who climbed over an 8 foot fence and then leapt at my face (I had perimeter watch on the side garage door.)  Myself and a uniformed officer tried to back away while shouting commands for the dog to stop but he attacked us anyway.  I shot him with my duty pistol in his mouth as it was opened to bite me.  I love dogs and hated to shoot it but the owner had a number of dogs who had been trained to attack.  Let the jokes about LEOs shooting dogs begin!  Seriously, I felt bad about shooting it but had to shoot it protect myself and my brother officer.

My Aunt had a dalmation. Dog was chained in her yard, I was playing a game with my cousin. I was chasing him, which the dog misinterpreted as aggresion, and took a chunk out of my ass the size of a quarter. If we ever meet, I'll show you the scar if you ask real nice.

A Doberman attacked me when I was 16, and he got the business end of me. They're too skinny to be effective if you stand your ground.

Why anyone would choose a Doberman over a Rottie boggles my mind.

Yes.

I was out looking at a house many years ago. The neighbors across the street had two pit bulls that they didn't keep chained or pinned.

The owners were not home as we visited the house. The dogs were just roaming around.

I got out of the driver side and was making my way around behind the car as my (now ex) wife was getting out of the car and getting her son (my former step son) out of the back seat. He was approx 3 at the time.

The dogs charged from out of their yard, across the street and were in full speed for us.

I pushed her back into the car and went over the hood to get back to the driver side.

About the same time, the owner of the house we were visting, who just happened to be the mayor of the small time and a deputy sheriff with a larger county arrived. He beelined for the house next door.

The neighbor and the mayor both returned, armed with hunting rifles. They had called animal control while in the house. By that time, the dogs had retreated back across the street into their own yard.

As we waited for animal control to arrive, we began to relax. I had rolled the window to the car (still parked in the driveway) down and began to talk to the mayor as well as 'meet' my potential new neighbor. The mayor and the neighbor both remained 'on station' but had began to relax a bit as well.

For some reason, I still don't know why, the dogs charged again. Each time this had happened, it was at full speed, growling with teeth beared.

The first one caught 30.06 round dead center of the head less than 5 feet from the rear of my car. He was dead instantly. The second one took a round center mass of the chest, right between the front shoulders and just below the neck. It dropped him in full stride.

What amazed me was that the second dog stood back up (he slid probably 5 feet across the street from the momentum of his charge), looked at us, slowly walked back across the street, stopped, looked and growled, and slowly went down the hill and into the house.

We never saw him again.

When animal control showed up, we told the guy where the second dog was. He slowly approached the house and found the dog inside. He was dead in the living room, appearently bled out.

The worst part was that the owner's showed up after the animal control guy to find their dogs dead and the mayor standing there with a hunting rifle in hand. Not having seen any of what had transpired over the previous 15-20 minutes, they of course blamed everyone around from the mayor to us for what had happened.

It scared the shit out of me. I will never forget it. This of course was before I had my CCW.

yep.. i was like 12 yrs old, and was hanging out w/ my friend at his house, it was hot, in NY summer humid...so i went in to grab something to drink...he has this dog..max , max had a rep in the hood as a "unfriendly" dog (not a PB) any how my friends dumbshit sister says, and ill never forget this "he's gotta meet you sooner or later"..while my friend is screaming NO!!!,
im sitting on the couch drinking a glass of coke when instantly this dog is on my chest lunging for my neck, i broke the glass on his face (cut my hand) punched and kicked got him off my chest, and now he's got a good grip on my left leg, followed closely by me kickin' his face w/ my right, so he addresses this by switching over to my right leg, my left leg couldnt do as much damage as my right and he left a nice open gap in my leg...

my friend help subdue his dog...

my injuries:
lassaration on thumb
various puncture wounds on both legs
.5 inch by 2.5 inch hole (aprox.) on my right leg maybee 12 stiches

all this form a non pit bull type animal (not a killing machine dog)

Yep. A Doberman jump through a screen door to bite my ass. I pepper sprayed the fucker and kicked him in the head.

As a side note...I LOVE animals, just not when they want to munch on my balls.

Many times.............

they have weaknesses, but some of them like the pits and rottweilers are just plain warriors
(not a good idea to tangle with a warrior)

I suggest mace, like I have decided to use on my neighbors little barking,
lunging, snapping ankle\shin biter that they constantly let run unleashed with NO supervision

I don't think ANYONE in the neighborhood would understand if I drop kicked the little rat

If you do have to fight a dog, remember........you.....are.....moving.....in.....slow.....motion.....to.....him

if you reach for his neck or try to kick him, whatever body part you use will probably be intercepted with his teeth

pits are almost impossible to immobilize with your bare hands(that warrior thing)
<by immobililize, I mean to hold without injuring>

the side of a dogs nose is a tender spot, they may decide to just bark at you if you get in a good hit there
(using a shoe to hit the side of their nose might work, don't miss)

I have a technique I use that involves kinda faking the hand speed and then putting the open
palm on the side of their open, snapping jaws and turning their head away as they are lunging
however, I don't think there is anyway to teach it over the web, and if you get it wrong they get your fingers..........

When I was a kid, a house down the road had a mean shepard that would chase and even attack me when I rode by on my bike. I got bit several times, both on foot and on the bike. It never really got to tear into me and the bites didnt' break skin so I didn't do anything about it (back in the old days, we didn't sue at the drop of a hat, or even run to tell the parents). Once, he almost got me and the owners (assholes) were standing there watching and laughing! Next time I rode by I was ready with a squirt bottle of pure ammonia. I had it set for "spray" as opposed to "stream". So I'm cruising along and the dog gives chase and just as he caught up, huffing and puffing from running, I laid down a fog of ammonia right in front of his face. He immediately crashed face first into the road, then tumbled and rolled for a while, yiping and yelping, and ran back to his yard. I don't know if the assholes that owned him saw me do it, but the dog never so much as growled at me again.

Actually attacked and injured:  Never.

Almost count?  If so, then yes, once when Miz LWilde and I were out walking.  When this free-running mutt approached growling, with its owner some distance down the block, trying to hurry up to our pos, I jumped in front of Miz LWilde and put my hand on my CCW weapon.  I made a clear and unambiguous posture that told the growling mutt that I was not afraid.  I yelled at it and the owner.  The mutt paused long enough for his dumbass owner to rein the dog in and prevent me from ending the confrontation violently.

I ALWAYS carry when we are out walking.

I will NEVER be a victim either of man nor beast.

I am constantly amazed at how fast my lab/shepherd is when we play.  He can bite you so fast you would not believe it.  The post above stating you are moving in slow motion to the dog is very true.

However, there are a couple good ways to fight a dog.  I used one once when attacked by a white shepherd, several years ago.  It was wearing a collar.  I grabbed the collar, and swung him around my body, in circles.  Keeping him off the ground pretty much eliminates any advantages he has, and he can only bite a little.  Swinging him into a tree, and clothes line poles helped, too, I suspect.

Secondly, when dogs lunge at you and jump, kick them in the stomach.  They are really pretty uncoordinated, and this usually results in them falling down and struggling to get up.  This is a good time to get your hands around their neck and pin them to the ground, if you can't get away.

When I was about 5 or 6 years old, a frined of mine and I was riding my bike, a german shepard (retired police dog), inside a fence, with a chain on, jumped the fence, broke the chain mid air, grabbed me by my leg and pulled me off the bike. My friend kept going. It kept biting me.

Several neighbors came forward and beat the dog off. It went back into the yard. The neighbors called the police and my parents. Dad was coming down the street with his AR about the same time the cop arrived. The cop took my dads AR.

The cop went up to the house to knock on the door. The dog attacked the cop, ripped his leg open, the cop drew down, was about to plug the dog when a little girl ran up, grabbed the dog by the neck and calmed the dog down.

The dog was taken off my animal control and destroyed. My dad got his AR back.

A couple of months later my sister was attacked on the other end of the street by a german shepard. Bit her on the butt. Dad was out of town that time.

double tap

Wow.
Extremely terrifying! Like Mejames, even mean dogs are usually nice to me.
Looks like a good kick, letting it grab your forearm, strangling/snapping it's neck or bustin' a cap in it works pretty well.
I'll forget trying to punch the deranged beast.

Quoted: Yes. I was out looking at a house many years ago. The neighbors across the street had two pit bulls that they didn't keep chained or pinned. The owners were not home as we visited the house. The dogs were just roaming around. I got out of the driver side and was making my way around behind the car as my (now ex) wife was getting out of the car and getting her son (my former step son) out of the back seat. He was approx 3 at the time. The dogs charged from out of their yard, across the street and were in full speed for us. I pushed her back into the car and went over the hood to get back to the driver side. About the same time, the owner of the house we were visting, who just happened to be the mayor of the small time and a deputy sheriff with a larger county arrived. He beelined for the house next door. The neighbor and the mayor both returned, armed with hunting rifles. They had called animal control while in the house. By that time, the dogs had retreated back across the street into their own yard. As we waited for animal control to arrive, we began to relax. I had rolled the window to the car (still parked in the driveway) down and began to talk to the mayor as well as 'meet' my potential new neighbor. The mayor and the neighbor both remained 'on station' but had began to relax a bit as well. For some reason, I still don't know why, the dogs charged again. Each time this had happened, it was at full speed, growling with teeth beared. The first one caught 30.06 round dead center of the head less than 5 feet from the rear of my car. He was dead instantly. The second one took a round center mass of the chest, right between the front shoulders and just below the neck. It dropped him in full stride. What amazed me was that the second dog stood back up (he slid probably 5 feet across the street from the momentum of his charge), looked at us, slowly walked back across the street, stopped, looked and growled, and slowly went down the hill and into the house. We never saw him again. When animal control showed up, we told the guy where the second dog was. He slowly approached the house and found the dog inside. He was dead in the living room, appearently bled out. The worst part was that the owner's showed up after the animal control guy to find their dogs dead and the mayor standing there with a hunting rifle in hand. Not having seen any of what had transpired over the previous 15-20 minutes, they of course blamed everyone around from the mayor to us for what had happened. It scared the shit out of me. I will never forget it. This of course was before I had my CCW.

Terrifying. This one reminds me of Cujo.

Yes.........

Only once, by a friends' killer Boston Terrier (Sparky) that thought he was a Rott. We would cruise by his house on our bikes and he would come charging out. My brother said, "what would the little sob do if he CAUGHT us?" So i turned around and went by real slow with my curb side foot down low. Sure enough the little twerp latched onto my Keds and wouldn't let go. So I pedeled a few rotations and finally broke him loose.
Funny thing was when we went by on foot or dropped by to pick up our friend he was cool. Dogs are nuts.

Just once as a kid.  Summuvabitch bit me right on my ass as I was trying to make a hasty escape up the wrong end of the slide at the local park.  

Yup...got bitten by a dog once, very scary. Thing charged me with no warning and clomped onto my leg. I bonked it one the head repeatedly with my leatherman in my fist while the female owner pulled it by the collar. Animal control and the police really couldn't do much about it. Started to carry shortly after that, but no more attempted maulings since. I did hit a mutt that was running at me with a blast of OC bear spray, and that ended things in a hurry. I'm slightly uneasy around strange dogs as a result.

By a chow once. bite my knee.  years later i heard he died of heat stroke.

A pit bull attacked my old cancer ridden Shepard....he paid for it, I grabbed him and was going to smash him into a tree..when the owner got there.

OK, I understand Pits,Rotts, Sheperds, Dobes, Akitas and what have you,

But what's up with little dogs like Cocker spaniels, small terriers, Dashhunds and yippy yappy dogs
always on the offensive? Napoleon Complex??

BTW-I have 2 pugs(1 RIP) that wouldn't hurt an ant.

i was doing chores for the nieghbor and as i drove along the manger looking at the cows one of there damn australian shephards latched onto my arm that was hanging out the window. I slammed on the breaks and hit the damn thing as hard as i could on his nose and he took off. never messed with me again.

I've never been attacked by a dog, but I've been threatened before. On several occassions they've lunged, snapping and snarling, at me. They backed off when I suddenly came at THEM, screaming bloody murder and kicking and thrashing, anything to bring the hurt to THEM instead of me.

More often the dog simply adopts a threat posture, bares his teeth, and barks or growls menacingly. The best reaction, I've found, is to stare the dog straight in the eye, and in a cold, even voice, explain to the dog that if he doesn't un-ass himself in the next three seconds I WILL fuck him up. The dog might not understand the actual words, but he gets the tone of voice and the body language in no uncertain terms. In every case, the dog has either backed down completely or simply given me the space I need to leave rather than press the issue.

Sometimes, just screaming "Shut the FUCK up!" and raising a hand like you're going to smack them is enough to confuse an aggressive dog for a few seconds, long enough to either intimidate them or put some more space between you and the animal.

Two-legged attackers aren't the only reason I carry a knife on me at all times.

Only once have I ever thought I would actually have to kill an aggressive animal. Two aggressive dogs were wandering loose and had already chased a lady into her car. They kept running up to the edge of our yard and barking and snarling, but as long as I was there glaring at them and yelling for them to get lost, they kept their distance. Eventually, they wandered off down the street.

I went inside to get more staples for the staple gun so we could finish hanging the Christmas lights, leaving my sister and cousin on the front porch to work.

The dogs came back and charged, nearly reaching the porch before the girls could get inside. Our dog was going ballistic and tearing the window blinds apart trying to get at them.

I armed myself with my crossbow and a sword because my mother didn't want me shooting them with one of the handguns. Yeah, brilliant idea. Leave me with less than optimal defense against dangerous animals just in case I get in trouble with the cops for discharging a firearm in city limits. Fucking brilliant.

The dogs had already gone down the street and were barking at somebody else's dog in its own yard. My dad pulled up and ignored the stupid protests when he armed himself with a .45 and called animal control.

Dogs disappeared, presumably corraled by their irresponsible owner, before animal control showed up.

When I was about 6, a neighbor's Rottweiler got loose from the yard, dashed across the street, knocked me over in my front yard.



about a minute later, I was covered in slobber from the tongue bath....

Many times. The best thing to do is not to fear the dog, be the aggressor and always keep your side arm handy.  Patty

It only happened once when I was a baby (18 months old) by our friendly family dog Fluffy.
Fluffy was a mouth Foaming Pit Bull (the nice kind) that wouldn't hurt a flea.   When the attack happened my folks called the Dog Killers Police for help but they were tied up on an emergency call to the station regarding the logging in of a soda beverage as evidence that was purchased at a fast food restaurant drive thru.  

I once received mail that belonged to a house about a half mile away.  I drove over  and knocked on the door, there was no answer.  I was turning to go back to my car when a big black mutt came running up to me growling and barking.  He clamped on to my arm, so I kicked him hard in the throat, he backed off a little and continued to growl as I got into my car.  I think I would have needed stitches if I wouldnt have been wearing a leather jacket.

When I was 7, my doberman bit my tounge.  I had thrown a piece of popcorn in the air and was going to catch it in my mouth, she had the same idea.  No harm, just a little blood.

Quoted: When I was little my uncle's dog bit me.  It was a shepard.  The trick to a dog attack is let the SOB grab your forearm and show the thing to the back of it's throat.  They can't close their trap, and then wrap your other arm around it's neck and hold on.  You can snap his little flippin neck doing this.  If you let the dog thrash you will get torn up.  Bust his neck quickly.

Sounds like you have been in lost of dog fights.

Quoted: Quoted: When I was little my uncle's dog bit me.  It was a shepard.  The trick to a dog attack is let the SOB grab your forearm and show the thing to the back of it's throat.  They can't close their trap, and then wrap your other arm around it's neck and hold on.  You can snap his little flippin neck doing this.  If you let the dog thrash you will get torn up.  Bust his neck quickly. Sounds like you have been in lost of dog fights.

Nah. But he did stay at a Holiday Inn.

I've had lots of dogs threaten, bark, growl… whatever, but have only been attacked once.  When I was little a black lab knocked me down and began chewing on the back of my head.  I could hear his teeth, but it didn’t hurt and he didn’t break skin.  My oldest brother scared him off.

I came close to gettin ripped up one day.  I was fishing at a little lake real close to my house.  I saw these two big dogs in a yard aways around the lake. They looked like they were playin at first glance, so I didnt pay any more attention to them.  I was fishin for awhile, and gettin bored not catchin anything, I started lookin around the lake for other spots to fish.  I looked to where those dogs were, because the lake backed up to a bank behind this house that was real shady.  One of the dogs, a black one,  was running back and forth the length of the yard, stopping sometimes to turn in circles and bark his mug off.  I watched the dog for a little, looking for the other one but couldnt find it.  Then the black one started makin his way towards where I was fishing in a slow trot.  So again, I didnt think anything of the dog, and thought he would break away from the lake toward the street, since I was a good ways away from where he was.  Well, when I looked back toward the nice shady yard, I saw the other tan dog "resting" near a tree close to the lake, or so I thought.  I started to pack up my stuff to move spots, looked down the pond shore line and saw that damn black dog comin towards me still.  I just stood there waitin for him to get to me, to see what the deal was.  He got about 20 ft from me, and I could see he was a big boxer and all wrong in the head.  He started snarling and snapping his mouth like crazy and I could see foamy white and red stuff all around his mouth and sides of his face.  I was standing there w/ my back to the lake and this rabid, crazy dog infront of me gettin ready to attack.  I was hopin he would just bark himself out of a frenzy and lose interest, but he charged.  It all happened pretty fast, but w/ my feet at the edge of the lake I stood my ground, and when he jumped I jumped sideways, smacked him with my fishing pole and he kept goin straight into the drink.  I didnt even look back, I tore ass up the small hill on the bank, and ran a 40yd dash to my truck that would have impressed some NFL scouts im sure.  I wasnt about to tussle w/ a rabid boxer w/ only a fishing pole.  
He got picked up by animal control later in the day, who said he had rabies.  And that tan dog I thought was "resting" under the tree, turned out to be a golden retriever w/ his throat ripped out.

 

Bitten a number of times, only been seriously injured once, Back in December a chow tried to hamstring me while I was loading the car.  Dog never made a sound.  I shot him with a .380 when he came back for seconds.

Never did find the owner.  I spent almost a month getting the wounds scrubbed out by a cute little nursing assistant.  The one giving me rabies shots wasn't as cute.

I've seen two elderly people slaughtered by dogs. One 12 year old girl pulled off her bike and shredded, but she lived because her neighbor lady killed two with a garden hoe.  All were pack attacks.  The one elderly lady was killed by her son's  4 rotties.

Yes.  Rotweiller.  I was faster.  One of the few days I checked mail unarmed.  One of the last days I checked the mail box unarmed.  I was inches ahead when I dove into my truck bed.  

I was attacked and severely mauled by a German Shepherd when I was 12.  My friend and I were walking along behind the yards in the enlisted housing area on Kaneohe MCAS - no fences, and there was a common pathway between yards.  Dog was chained, didn't even look at us the first time we went by.  60 minutes later on the way back he just "snapped" and rushed me - bit right through my blue jeans.  I had to kick him a dozen times (I think I actually broke some of his ribs) to get him off me.  I bled like a stuck pig, too.  I STILL have the scars (26 years later).

as a vet, i am certainly in the line of fire all the time...

the animals i fear the most are those yippy little things...they are so fast and will tear you up pretty quick, but it is also something you can punt across the room if need be.

larger dogs - if we think there is going to be a problem, we find a better way through pharmaceuticals...they are the great equilizer in those matters.

cats are a whole different ballgame...it amazes me how a 5lb ball of fur can destory several people and an entire room in a matter of seconds...

in general, most dogs will "give up" when they realize you have the upper hand...cats, although they know you will win in the end, they will make your win as miserable as possible!

as for me, the worst mauling i sustained was from a gerbil...that's right, a fucking gerbil...when they bite, they bite  hard, draw blood and bite again...it was a rather pathetic situation

Couple of times.

First result:

Dog: 1 My pants: 0

Since then-

Me: 2 Dogs: -2


Sheep

Most of this advice works with a dog with weak nerves, the first time you meet up with one with good nerve or a little training you are in for a world of hurt though.

Bit by a German shepard once.  Chased by countless Dobermans and Labs as a newspaper delivery boy.

Me and the wife came home from a late movie. A strange dog was sitting in our yard when I pulled into the driveway. We pulled around the back side of the house. As we got out of the car the dog came around the opposite side of the house at a dead run, barking and barring its teeth.
Shot it dead with Berretta 92. It was well past midnight and I was sure one of the nieghbors would have called the cops. About 10 min later a county sheriffs car pulls intot he drive and asked what was going on. I repeated what happened. The deputy called animal control and they hauled off the carcass. I called them about a week later and found out it had rabies.

Quoted: Most of this advice works with a dog with weak nerves, the first time you meet up with one with good nerve or a little training you are in for a world of hurt though.

Right. I know Greywolf suggested snapping the dogs neck and all, but what if the dog's neck is 2 times the size of yours?

Charged but not bitten numerous times.

Riding bike to baseball practice as a kid this guy left hie German Sheppard out all the time. We rode about 3 miles to practice. We would have to haul ass up to get by his house - dog chased us every friggin day - guess the guy thought it was funny or something. One day riding to practice we are tearing up rode and notice girl on side of road with her horse talking to man. German Sheppard laying dead in the ditch - horse had f'd that dog up with a kick to it's head - was split wide open tounge hanging out. I remember thinking at the time whew no more sprinting past this guys house - I was happy. I didn't like that guys dog - kids perspective. I blame the owner more than anyone.

Riding bikes often as the only means of transportation I got chased a lot. If I didn't have enough speed to get by or didn;t feel like sprinting, I simply jumped off side of bike away from dog picked it and got ready to feed them spokes and bash the s*** out of them. There may not have been leash laws, but the heck if I was getting bitten. Funny, I know some people liked watching their dogs chase kids, cause some would come running to call their dog back just about the time I got ready to clobber them with the spokes or bike.

Neighbors boxer chased us and we jumped in pool to escape. Dog later put down for taking abite out of someone else.

ETA corrections