Lets say another dog attacked your dog and had a
lock on your dog on public property would you be justified in blowing the other dogs brains out? It would be hard for me not to shoot another dog killing my dog? Either way shooting a dog in a public place could turn into a big legal problem.

Kick it square in the balls, if it has em.  If it runs away, great.  If it turns on you, shoot it.

Shooting the dog with a firearm may be more drastic than necessary to make it go away and never attack your dog again.

I once had a neighbor who wouldn't keep her German Shepherd in her yard, in a town that has a leash law.  Owner said "I can't control my dog,", and response from the county Animal Control dept. was useless.

One day, while the dog was digging up my tomato plants for about the fourth time, I shot it lightly in the flank with a low-velocity BB.  Enough to raise a welt but not penetrate skin.  Dog took off like a rocket and never came back.

I had this happen to me. One day I had my little poodle on one of those screw chains in the front yard. A big ole pit bull go loose and started eating Fluffy. I was in my living room and was in the midst of cleaning my AR (M4 set up, very sweet!), so I jammed in a mag and popped off 6 quick shots through my front window. The third shot or so hit the pit bull in the hip and he scurried away.

Unfortuately, one of the other rounds skipped off the road and nailed the neighbor's nine-year-old daughter as she road her bike. It was a neck shot and she dropped like a sack of potatoes. I never knew there was that much blood in a little kid. So anyway, I run outside (luckily keeping my M4) to check on the kid and the dad starts to come out.

As you can imaging, he's a little pissed. He starts screaming profanities at me and acting all crazy like. Next thing ya know, he charges me, apparently intending to do me some physical harm. So, you got it, I had to put a cap in his ass (actually a few). The mom got smart and kept her ass inside.

Anyway, make a long story short, it cost me a lot of attorneys fees to get out of this one. So take Wolfpack's advice and get some mace.

Right-to-Bear

P.S. Yes... of course this is fictional... a lame attempt at humor and to point out that any discharge of a weapon in a public place is not a good idea unless human life is in certain jepardy.

good story.. but having a poodle of all dogs..

I would shoot the dog if it were dangerous to the public. I.E. Rabid. When shooting in public, etc...yu have to be very carefull or what Right-To-Bear described could very well happen. I would suggest a low power firearm. Forget an AR, AK, etc...Use something that won't blow the shit out. A 22 would be good. Colibri makes some rounds that can be used in the home. Of course, that isn't what you're supposed to do. I nailed a rat that somehow got in my house a couple years ago with a .22 in the ass and one grazing the head. The head shot took off his ear and part of his head. He managed to get behind cover. A few days later it began stinking and I found his rotting carcass behind the dresser.

Fortunately, Colibris are very weak rounds and penetration will not be an issue. For example, they will not most likely penetrate a wall and kill somebody outside. I still shoot up through the roof when I shoot. I have a couple holes from doing that, but it makes sure the shots go clear of any possible people around.

Colibris are nearly silent. Even quieter than a normal 22.

They may pentrate inside walls, but won't penetrate outside walls at least on real homes.

Shotshells are another option. Or even a shotgun. A Rifle or handgun loaded with a shotshell will not overpenetrate and the tiny #9 shot won't likely hurt anybody unless you shoot right at them. A Shotgun is another mattter. #8 or smaller shot is necessary and possibly handloads. I would consider removing the shot and nailing the dog with the plastic wad.

When fired through a rifle, Colibris are quieter than firing a BB gun.  I can't fire BBs in my own back yard because my neighbor's stupid Chow Chow starts tearing up his hardwood floor and he gets PO'd.  But I can get away with Colibris into a soft target.

They do make some noise if you fire them through a handgun.

OTOH I believe my 900 FPS pellet gun packs a lot more energy than a Colibri.

Had a loose running shepard mix attack my 6 month old Australian Shepard once.  Luckily I was wearing hard toed hiking boots.... One shot planted square in the "jewels" was all it took to send the agressor packing.  Of course- the owner of the dog wanted to sue me for damaging his dog if you can believe it.  The S.O.B. is lucky I didn't shoot it with my 357 which I always carry!  [sniper]

Where do you get colibri's? are the .22LR?

My neighbor got a new hired hand with a huge husky/wolf looking dog. I was tired of splitting up dog fights and was friends with the "hand" so he basically told me to pop him if he caused any trouble. I loaded up the black powder rifle with pyrodex and a couple of handfulls of rocksalt so as to just persuade him to go home. I lined him up in the sights, squeezed it off and the dog just disappeared. I couldn't see for the cloud of smoke and when it dissipated the damn dog was sitting by my side looking at me like "WTF over". [shock] He was a big mean looking son of a gun but a whimp at heart. I gave him a few pats on the head and proceeded to laugh my ass off. My lab beat the crap out of him the next week and that persuaded him to stay home.

Reminds me of a friend's Aussie, but it was full grown. Two doberman's jumped the fence and went after it. The Aussie killed both of them, using the twirling dirbish technique they are known for.

What the hell is the twirling dirbish technique?

I think I saw Nick Dundee do that technique in the movie.

I don't understand why people are so afraid to break up a dog fight on their own.  Dogs are very easy animals to defeat because all they have is their mouths, which can be use as a weapon against them.  Try this.  You can use your dog or wait till one attacks you with his mouth open, when it charges and gets close enough grab the dogs tongue and back jaw and hold on.  The dog will be completely defenseless as the natural gag function takes over and you can take the dog down by its jaw.  This may not work in some dogs though as I've never tried it on a pit bull, but have on dobermans, rockweilers, collies, and sheperds.  I always laugh watching cops and see some idiot still trying to run away with one of the dogs chewing on his arm.  I'm not sure I would try this on a pit bull, but instead torque the neck severely to disable it.
I've jumped into many dog fights because the owners just stand there and let their dogs get torn up.
Bill3508
And yes I've been bitten but thats just part of it.

Wait, you grab the dogs mouth?

Yes, you reach inside the dogs mouth and grab its tongue.  The dog is completely defenseless in this position as the gag reflex takes over.  
THis is not a joke, it really works.
Bill3508

Yet another reason to issue a test before selling guns or ammo to people.

Riiiightt....
And I suppose that you would have no problems getting your hand inside of a pit bulls mouth.
No thanks, I'll stick to water, long 2X4's or my gun.

One word.

[pistol]

QS

USNJoe,
  I'm sure you read in my post that I had not tried this technique with a pit bull and probably would not on a first encounter.  Pitbulls jaws are much stronger and their short jaw line may make this difficult.  If you have a dog try it on yours, it works.
Bill3508

Great story! I can't imagine my lab beating up anything except her milk bones!

I did have to shoot a Rottweiler one time that was out from his fence & attacked every do he came across. After he came after the Rottweiler next door (who was the poster doggie for big baby doggies), I popped him with a 45. I still feel terrible about it as I truely love dogs but his master apparently never taught him manners & he paid the price. Sigh.

You've never seen an Aussie spinning before? Basically, they spin around and around as fast as they can, like the dog was chasing his tail, except most Aussie's don't have tails. It's a defensive move to confuse the other dog, as the other dog doesn't see a throat to grab. As he circles around the Aussie suddenly grabs the other dog by the throat and hangs on til the lights go out! You didn't know dogs knew Karate did you!!!

Here's another dog story, but no guns involved. One day my neighbor's golden retriever made her way into my back yard, which my smallish German shepherd mut mix picked a fight with. After hearing the comotion I went out and found the retriever had my dog by the throat; down for the count. I simply wedged my thumb and finger between her jaws back near where they hinged pushing her own skin in between her teeth. When she tried to clamp down on my fingers she bit herself harder than me and just let go. After that she was pretty docile, but my dog was mad as hell and latched onto her back. A foot persuaded my dog to finally let go, as I still had the other dog by the jaw. The hard part was getting the retriever out of the yard without my dog latching on again.

Wait, let me get this straight, your hand inside a dogs mouth...sounds like you've just been bitten![;D]

How about checking on the local laws in your area? You should be able to access your local laws and ordinances on line.  I use and have used pepper spray on all sorts of dogs. It works on most but not all, recently it did not affect a poodle mix as much as it affected a pitbull (I guess every dog is different). I did use an A.S.P. baton on two rotties during a very similar incident about two months ago and that worked very well! I don't give a shit what breed of dog it is, you hit them with an A.S.P. and they react quickly. Hope this helps.

          [smash]        [stick]          

You should have given the owner a swift kick in the "Go-Betweens"![}:D]

BigDOzer66