But have you, and your wife, ever been wandering through the woods, taking
your dogs for a walk when some stupid twit ruins an otherwise perfect day? Take today, I and the wife are walking our two German Shepherds, Sheba and Zeke, out in Medicine Bow National Forest. You know, the patch of woods
between Cheyenne and Laramie? Well, before I get too far into this story, let me preface this rant with the fact that we always have the common courtesy of walking our dogs on leash, AT ALL TIMES, while in the woods.

Well, back to the rant, we, I and the wife, went out to woods to enjoy the really nice weather that we had today (October 5, 2003). We tooled around in the car until we found a trail head which didn't have any cars within sight
so that we wouldn't have to worry about someone's loose dogs. Well, after hiking about a half mile, we crested a ridge overlooking a very large beaver pond. Just about this time, a dog starts frantically barking off to our left
and we immediately notice a man and woman standing about fifty yards away, holding onto their border collie mix which was in the middle of having a fit. We noticed that the man had the collie by the collar and we turned to
continue down the trail, away from the man, woman, and their dog.

All of a sudden, another dog comes running towards us, around the man and woman, at a dead run, straight at me and Sheba. Some kind of ugly mix that looked like I combination of Sharpeia and Pit Bull. This critter pulls up
short of my dog and starts giving Sheba a look over and a few sniffs, here and there. Everythings fine, right? A little friendly encounter in the woods? That's where you'd be wrong.

The next thing I see is this medium sized abomination has the unmitigated gall to claim the woods as his own and assumes a fighting stance with my tethered German Shepherd. All this transpired under the watchful eyes of a
less than concerned owner, or owners. I say "less than concerned" until they observed me reach under my large, loosely fitting shirt and pull out a .45 ACP DA pistol (I have a concealed weapons permit). All of a sudden, I guess the imminent threat of watching their unruly mongrel traveling into the hereafter was too much for them and they finally got off their dead asses and actually became concerned about the situation.

A thought to the those with two brain cells to rub against each other. Tho ye walk thru the woods, ye are most likely not the only ones there. Be courteous and kind (leash your pets) and respect the personal space of others whilst enjoying the wilds. Be forewarned, if ye choose to ignore my warning, Fido may be left to push up daisies instead of chasing Thumper.

It's a good thing you had been carrying. What if the dog came after you or your wife? Glad to hear it turned out all ok but it was good thing you were prepared for the worst.

Quoted: It's a good thing you had been carrying. What if the dog came after you or your wife? Glad to hear it turned out all ok but it was good thing you were prepared for the worst.

Now, let me make one thing PERFECTLY clear, my wife never, ever questioned me as to why I ALWAYS carry a firearm while in the woods. But, she now knows EXACTLY why.

cool.  glad it worked out and nothing was killed.  it's funny how animals somehow know what guns are.

Quoted: cool.  glad it worked out and nothing was killed.  it's funny how animals somehow know what guns are.

I am quite confident that had the little mongrel actually attacked either my wife or I, Sheba and Zeke would have killed the mongrel. Sheba weighs around 75 lbs. and Ezekiel weighs in at around 90 lbs.. The mongrel was a medium sized mutt of somewhere between 60 and 70 lbs. maybe.

My thoughts, at the time, were to put a round in the ground in a safe direction to cause a moment of pause during the confrontation. However, as the seconds passed, and the level of overt threat rose, I began to aim the weapon at the mutt. This is the only time I observed the owners taking any action.

Another GSD that I had before my present two, was also named Sheba. She was an EXTREMELY loyal and loving dog. Once while hiking back to my Jeep, a dog came at us from out of the bushes by a creekside. The dog that approached us was a big old black Labrador who probably had nothing else on his mind but to make a new friend. Sheba went straight at the dog, to the end of her lead, the mane on her fore quarters went up, and she lowered her head and uttered a low growl while bearing a nice set of chompers.

The lab looked like a kid that had just been sternly scolded by it's mother. He came to a screeching halt and gave a look like like, "I'm sorry". He then turned on his heels and went merrily back to his owner who was fishing.

i was riding my mountain bike in the local forest around me *pocatello* and a fucking pit bull started to chase me.  lucky for me adrenaline  kicked in and i was able to out run the beast.

from that day on ive allways packed some sort of fire arm with me in the forest and i will not hesitate to kill any animal that decides to charge me again.


so i agree. please leash your pets if you value their life.

I always pack in the woods as well. Never know what critter might be hunting you.