Ok, a few disclaimers before I delve into more detail on my question regarding man's best friend.  I took 10 yrs of karate and judo training and attained a 1st degree black belt.  Not to gloat, but I am fairly certain that I know more than an average Joe about hand to hand and unarmed combat against another person.  At the time, many classes were puzzled when our Sensei said that in close combat with someone 10 feet or less away from you, he'd rather face someone with a handgun than a knife...  Over time, after learning more, reading more, thinking more, that makes a lot of sense.  I have never owned my own dog, but have been around dogs owned by family/friends, etc.  I am not scared of them per se, like I am not scared of any animal really that is smaller than me.  However, underestimating one's enemy was one of the things Sun Tzu pointed out was the downfall of a great many warriors...


So, in a post SHTF world or any other situation where a dog may come after you, what are the best methods to incapacitate or kill a dog such as a Lab, German Shepard, pitbull etc. that was intent on killing you?  Say its owner sicked it on you or you were minding your own business and violent dogs came upon you.  Say further that you were not able to kill or wound it when it was far away from you with a shotgun, handgun, etc.  So if you had only your hands, teeth, edged weapons on you, what would you do if the dog was already biting your leg or arm?  

KABAR to the neck?  Sleeper hold?  Try to gouge its eyes?  Punch its head repeatedly?  


I ask this in all seriousness and not to offend dog lovers.  I love animals too, but when they are trying to kill you, you will do what you must.

my personal experience in a dog biting is if the SOB wants a piece of my arm, I feed it to him, down his throat.

a choking dog has no interest in biting the hand that's about to beat him.
Running feeds the instinct of the dog. pulling away while being bitten fits the mechanics of the dogs teeth and instinctive bite.
Forcing your arm into the dogs mouth forces the jaw open, cramming your
hand down it's throat causes it to choke and get away from the threat and eventually it chokes out the dog.

I was told by my 5th grade A&P prof, that should a dog bite your hand, the best thing to do was to drive in with your fist. She said no dog would bite while puking and your hand would be released, or you could keep going cut off the air.

I've put my hands in dog's mouths to make them puke before, when they'd gotten int poison. Never been bit.

eta: beat by about 3.5 minutes!

Feed him your weak arm, let the air out of him with the knife you should have with you all the time with your dominant arm.

I must need more explanation on this "shove your fist down the dog's throat" thing.

Feeding a pill or making a dog puke that you know is one thing, but I cannot envision how this could work on a fast-moving writhing, attacking dog.

Even if you got a fist or forearm way back there, the dog would have to be pinned motionless so he didn't just back up and shred the hell out of whatever was in his mouth.

Supposedly, their jaws just open real wide and let you go as they back up. This is supposed to be a defense against a dog eating your hand, to get you free right then. Of course the dog can re-latch. No defense is perfect but this one may be able to buy you some time.

 

A dog got my hand once. When it digs in, your hand isn't going further in its mouth, it's damn teeth are in your skin. Pulling and gripping make the dog thrash, that's his natural kill instinct. I used my dominant hand to choke the dog. Choking naturally makes him cough, the cough opens its mouth, the opening mouth releases the teeth from your skin.

Dogs weakness is its size and inability to grip. If you get him off his feet and control the head his only defense is kicking.

Dogs are not usually trained to bite not your actual hand but your arm(usually the arm holding a weapon), your going to have a difficult time "ramming your fist down its throat" They normally are not trained to go after anything but your arm, some lunatic hillbilly might train to go after your neck but this carries legal problems.

If a trained dog has your arm, it is not going to let go until the command is given for it to let go. Best option is to fight through the pain and attack the dog in its sensitive spots. karate chopping at the dogs neck or gouging the eyes are your best options if you have no weapon. If your are able to wrap yourself around the dog & get a good choke hold on its neck, that will work too. Pull and twist as hard as you can to hopefully snap the neck or chrush the windpipe.

Beating on the skull isn't the best option, skull is dense, windpipe, jugular & eyeballs are much softer targets. Kicking is also an option if you are able to, but again you would need to aim for its neck/head which is difficult. Dogs are interesting creatures, if they are trained properly nothing short of unconsciousness or death is going to make them release you. Breaking there ribs, kicking there gut, its not going to get you free. Even if you choke a dog till it lets go, It is still going to come right back after you. You cannot reason with a trained dog, It wont back down.

If you have a knife all the better. Flesh is weak, steel is strong. Slash the neck, stab at the back of the head into the spine or through the eyes to the brain. Stabbing the chest over & over is a good option but will take a bit longer than aiming for the head but if it is your only option keep stabbing till you are free.

One final thing, Mans best friend are usually considered "sacred" like children. in many states, killing a police dog carries a death sentence just as if you killed any other boy in blue.

Civilians are about the same way. I know if my GSD was harmed by someone, the gods themselves would not prevent me from putting a slug in your head. Just something to keep in mind when you are fighting off the 4 legged critter.

I believe British SAS were skilled in killing dogs, at least sometime back. Might want to investigate their approach.

When out and about a single dog alone usually isn't a worry. It is when it is in a pack that it is a problem. Dogs will often distract you while one sneaks up on you.

Also, dogs are much braver when near their owner.

Imagine "zombie" dogs, say in a situation like 28 days later . . . scary as hell. Add in "zombie" cats . . . pure horror.

That depends. Is the guy seriously intent on causing severe harm, or just waving a weapon to intimidate? The knife requires more serious intent to use effectively then the gun, and most people (including criminals) don't have that intent.

In addition to this, wrap your free hand around the dog's muzzle, push the dewlaps against the dogs teeth and squeeze.  I have yet to have a dog try to hang on while I'm doing this.  You pretty much own the dog at this point.

You then have the option of picking the dog up by its head and "cracking the whip".

"crack the whip" on a 75lb German Sheppard gnawing on your ass? Uh huh ok

If I'm being attacked by a vicious dog, I'm leaning towards putting several rounds into the dog's boiler room while it's chewing on my other arm.

I've faced a two dogs in my short time.  In both cases, I 'fed' them my arm.  Just watch the mouth, and as it is opening, try to reach back and grab the base of the tongue waaaay back in the throat.  Both times, the dog paused, turned away, gagged its way back to breathing, stopped any agressive movement, and just looked at me.

As always, YMMV.

If it's one dog and you're unarmed, wrap whatever you have on your weak forearm, or just take the first bite.
Pull your arm (and the dogs chin/throat) tight to your chest.
Wrap your strong arm behind it's head and lock the dogs head to your chest as hard as you can.
Then bend forward and squat forcibly, using your abs.

The dogs chest will be against your stomach and you will snap it's neck backwards.

If it's one dog and you're unarmed, wrap whatever you have on your weak forearm, or just take the first bite.
Pull your arm (and the dogs chin/throat) tight to your chest.
Wrap your strong arm behind it's head and lock the dogs head to your chest as hard as you can.
Then bend forward and squat forcibly, using your abs.

The dogs chest will be against your stomach and you will snap it's neck backwards.

If a dog has clamped it's mouth down on you or someone else, I heard that putting a stick up its ass will make it let go.

I have no idea if it would work.  Hopefully someone with experience can comment on this.

HighSpeedSteel

I'm serious about this guys! This has happened more than once and it is hard to do but DO NOT RUN! STAND your ground with a dog. It lets him know you OWN your space. YOU run this show. Face him do not turn your back on him. Then defend yourself accordingly! If you run you are dead!

that the dog makes it to grabbing hold of you sucks for you. you've lost already
attitude is everything.stand your ground and own your space.
feeding your weak side arm or fisting?

My buddy is a vet and he told me he's never seen a dog hate anything more than a finger in the butt.  I don't recall if it was just the thermometer or why he was fingering dog booty but he always said if a dog ever attacked him a finger in the pooper was likely to make that dog stop doing anything.

No knife? Wrap with the legs and choke with free hand. Use your weight to advantage. You're gonna need stitches.

I've seen what 230gr P+ do to a big midwestern deer's ribcage

...pretty sure it will ruin Mr. Doggie's day

At close quarters, a knife is harder to fight against, a gun only does damage in the direction it's pointing.



 

eyes....

My X wife was a Veterinarian. She could control any dog by putting a thumb in the back corner of it's mouth on each side. No matter how big or bad the dog was. My current wife had to take down our 1st Rottie , straddle it and choke it to assert dominance, it was an alpha male. She is 5' tall. I'm not afraid of any single dog. Two or more is where you are screwed. You will get torn up by one while defending against the other.

Join, 2014..

Post #3.

Actually I have seen a pitbull walk into my friends vet clinic with 3 FMJ  .45ACP in it's head. You could see the wound channels in the Fluoroscope. The rounds had traveled between the muscle and the skull. Removed the bullets, stitched him up, some antibiotics and he was fine the next day.

smh Monday night two pit bulls rushed my wife on our front porch. luckily I had a walking stick up there. pushed the wife int he house and turned into babe ruth :)

Sharp crack on the top of the head or straight into the nose usually knocks then (canines) out.
I use it on trapped fox and coyotes, not sure how it would work on dogs.

A buddy TRIED to choke out a Dobie and failed, miserably.

Jack Abernathy

This guy caught a ton of wolves with the fist down the throat technique.

When I was young I was around hunting dogs a lot, mostly racoon hounds. When one got real sassy if you got them by the tounge, which is long and pretty thick at the base you pretty much owned them if you could make them gag it was especially effective,  THEY REALLY HATED THAT.

If you dont own a canine It owns you.

Op Im using a knife or a club If a smoke wagon is not handy.

 I saw a guy kill a dog once with an old style bumper jack in 2 licks, broke its back and brained it. It was over as fast as whack 123 whack 123. Very distasteful but he did not get bit.

If the dog is wearing a collar a choke should be a gimme. Don't go to the ground, that's the dog's turf. Pick the critter up off its feet if you can. bodyslam or crack the whip if needed/available. Breaking the neck by driving the upper jaw back with your other arm wrapped around the neck, thumbs in the corners of the mouth, (fishhooking),  jamming your hand down the throat, and grabbing the dewlaps,all mentioned above, are supposed to work but can't say I've tried it. If you can get hold of the dog's hind leg you can control the dog, break the leg or, possibly, get the dog onto its back and start stomping. If the dog has you by the forearm I imagine a thumb to the eye might be effective. Don't just flick it. drive it hard, with every intention of ramming it in to the second knuckle.
I have kicked at dogs and never managed to connect. I've also seen livestock attempt to kick, charge, stomp dogs and not connect. Dogs are quick.
I can tell you that pepper spray works against rottweilers. A walking stick can keep your distance but do NOT overswing or you are toast. OO buckshot is never a bad choice either.
If you get knocked to the ground you are in deep shit. Grab the collar, if available, with your wrists crossed, (juji jime) and choke. Otherwise grab the ears and just keep the animal out of your face. Tuck your chin to protect your throat. If you can get your legs around the dog's body, cross your ankles and stretch your legs to effect a body choke at the same time. I forget the judo term for this technique because it's illegal now but it's often called the rape strangle when sensi's not listening. I'm not sure about dogs but, you can literally crush human ribs this way.