Protection from dogs

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  • Marcolter
    Marcolter Posts: 103 Member
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    one of those loud air horn blasters that hurt even human ears.
  • 12skipafew99100
    12skipafew99100 Posts: 1,669 Member
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    Postal carriers have mace. Is there mace for dogs? I would carry that.
  • 12skipafew99100
    12skipafew99100 Posts: 1,669 Member
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    hornet spray!
    My mom had her sheep killed by the neighbor's dog in her own yard. She was scared to leave the house. Animal control told her to get hornet spray.

    good one ^
  • doubleclick_darling
    doubleclick_darling Posts: 101 Member
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    Small dogs tend to be my problem, and I've turned around before and swung out at them with a kick. Pretty clear by how quickly they quit that I'm not the first person to kick at a snippy dog (worst thing is that it's a house right on my street). And a majority of where I walk, people either keep their dogs on tieouts that are properly put in (there's a house that has two akita/chow mixes and a cur mix, none of which are very friendly) or in yards with fences they can't escape from (house has two GSD mixes and another has a pointer and dobe). IF dos are out, other than the above mentioned snippy dog, they're all either strays or pets that will tag along for a block then go home (but never give any trouble). But it's never the big dogs that are the problem. It's people letting their tiny dogs out and not watching them.

    I do know though that a fellow walker carries a pretty good stick with him when he goes out. And I've picked up a good stick from time to time if there's a dog that does concern me (and I'm thankful for the years my dad had me playing softball, so I've got a pretty good swing on me still). In the end, if it's me leaving with a bite in my leg from an unknown dog or a dog getting whacked on the head, I'm going to take a swing at a dog.
  • joecmoore1
    joecmoore1 Posts: 87 Member
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    I carry a billy club. (available at army surplus stores, or you can make your own). More often than not, If you take an authoritative, loud and aggressive stance and wield that club, they back off. In a pinch, you can whup the tar out of 'em. First thing is do as you've done and alert the owner and or the authorities.
  • Dgydad
    Dgydad Posts: 104 Member
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    If you aren't willing to use lethal force, you need to avoid the situation. A medium to large aggressive dog on the attack IS lethal force. Maybe a different route, running in a group, or using a treadmill. I know I sound really p*ssy and cold, but but getting bitten is really bad news. My wife got nailed on the hand, by accident, while attempting to stop our female GSD from putting a beat-down on her younger brother. It took weeks for the wound to heal, and even longer for the pain to subside and for her to get the full function back. An attack by multiple pits could easily be far worse......................
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
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    1. dog spray or bear mace, good old regular pepper spray wont work. 2. Carry a small tazer, noise will normally scare them off. 3. Always always always carry a knife, if a dog goes for you and you cant punt it like a football and the spray hasnt stopped it, try to gutt it or slit its throat. Gruesome and horrible but I know all abt this from having a dog who likes to get attacked because of all the lazy butthead owners in my neighborhood. And i've seen one or two go for joggers. Some dogs will chase and you cant get away.

    Edited to add i'm not just blowing smoke, I was told all this by animal control after having several run ins with dogs in my neighborhood.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    one of those loud air horn blasters that hurt even human ears.
    Yeah, those things scare the **** out of most dogs, and was going to be my suggestion. If you are bitten, absolutely do not let them pull you to the ground, and if you do need to resort to blunt force, aim for the eyes, nose and underside of the chin.
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
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    Postal carriers have mace. Is there mace for dogs? I would carry that.

    Regular mace doesnt work with large dogs.
  • weber22c
    weber22c Posts: 41
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    Please for the love of god do not get a gun for this reason. It's highly unlikely that you'll practice enough with it to become competent enough for it to become useful AND it's a real pain in the *kitten* to jog with if you want to run in normal clothes (unless you're going to use a drop-leg holster).

    Pepper spray isn't perfect, but it's better than a gun.
  • Kymmu
    Kymmu Posts: 1,650 Member
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    I love dogs, but they need to be kept inside a boundary.
    Running away just gives them something to chase.
    I was walking my dog a few years ago and passed an unfenced house of a guy who like to hunt with dogs. They surrounded us. My dog just laid down and rolled over. I screamed out " Call off your dogs!!' .The owner just whistled once and they all went in.
    PHEW
    I never walked that way again.............
    If you could get a type of cane /stick that folds into itself so it's not too large to have on your person it could work.
    Most dogs are scared of a huge cane swooping at them. However a pack situation is pretty unbeatable.
    I would contact your local council if you even see a pack running around. It might be a small child who pays the price.
    It's illegal to have a dog run loose or own more than 3 dogs here.
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
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    attacked by 3 pits is your friend alive? I saw nothing in the news. When was it?
  • ebayaddict0127
    ebayaddict0127 Posts: 523 Member
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    Hi there. Glad you informed someone. Dogs shouldn't be running loose. And any pack of dogs could attack - a pack of chihuahuas, a pack of black labs.. Just so happens a lot of irresponsible skanks get pit bulls to look tough and then don't care for them and they get loose and roam. Not the dogs' fault.

    Pepper spray is what I've always been told.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
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    I don't have a problem attempting protecting myself with lethal force against a dog attack if necessary. I have no compunction against killing an animal attacking me, if I can. Me against a pack of dogs... I would need help unless they were those little rats that look like dogs. So far I have eliminated guns (I doubt I could hit anything, I bet I would be shaking too much, plus who wants to run with a gun?), and am leaning toward bear spray. I like the idea of the blow horn, would like to see a small one that can fit on a running belt. Clubs--again I would use it if I had to but don't want to run carrying one. Stun Guns/tasers->would have to get close to the animals, and really I would want to be as far away from them as possible, but a distant third idea.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
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    She is ok but her little dog who runs with her was left behind when she ran away. He may live. The owners came out finally (after ignoring my friend's screams) and took the dog to the vet. Yesterday.
    attacked by 3 pits is your friend alive? I saw nothing in the news. When was it?
  • shawmutt
    shawmutt Posts: 74 Member
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    A treadmill ;-)

    Glock just released a .380 that offers a little less recoil in a small package. I wouldn't trust mace to stop a big dog, or a pack of pit-sized dogs. Myself, I have a Sig p290 and I'm in the market for a Glock 19 for more capacity. For all the mysticism and fear surrounding guns, they aren't hard to carry and use. There are plenty of options for conceal carrying safely while running (provided you don't live in a nanny state).

    I wouldn't recommend wasp spray. The label contains a warning that "it is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling". In addition, you are essentially poisoning the dog by spraying it with wasp spray, which is also illegal. You can take your chances and hope the dogs don't have owners, but you can bet in our fun litigious country any dog owner would sue the pants off you for using wasp spray. In addition, I would check your local laws. Some places explicitly forbid anything but pepper spray to be used for self-defense.

    Moral of the story--the law is on your side if you shoot and kill a threatening animal, but not so much if you spray it with wasp spray.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Postal carriers have mace. Is there mace for dogs? I would carry that.

    Regular mace doesnt work with large dogs.

    Just to note, there is a difference between mace and OC spray (pepper spray) ( I don't even know if you can buy mace anymore in the US, its not legal where I am anyway). In my experience, pepper spray is pretty effective on any size dog. I've never used it on a group though.
  • salladeve
    salladeve Posts: 1,053 Member
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    I have spray called SABRE RED Police Strength Pepper Spray - Runner Model. I bought it from Amazon and it works really well. I have had to use it twice, and it stopped the dogs in their tracks, and they ran off the other way!
  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
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    I have spray called SABRE RED Police Strength Pepper Spray - Runner Model. I bought it from Amazon and it works really well. I have had to use it twice, and it stopped the dogs in their tracks, and they ran off the other way!

    Heh, that's what I use at work.
  • withabandon
    withabandon Posts: 168 Member
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    I have a problem with loose dogs mobbing my dog and I when we walk. Some have suggested hairspray - since pepper spray is illegal in some places - it's light. My only concern with hair spray is it is a less direct spray and you don't want to accidentally get yourself (or in my case, my own dog). I have had very good luck with pulling "the crazy lady". I SCREECH, stomp my feet, shout at them to go home. Make myself big and scary OR just crazy enough that they don't want to mess with me/my dog. It has worked well on a couple of occasions. On others we have gotten mauled. :( Another mechanism of self defense is next on my list.

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