Hey guys, I had an event that literally scared the you know what out of me. I was walking my dog within city limits (my neighborhood), which has a leash law ordinance. We were walking by a cul d'sac when two dogs started running towards us.

The owner yelled at the dogs but never ran after them to retrieve them. One was this really small fur ball dog and the other was a massive mastiff. The mastiff had to weigh a good 120-150, as his head came up to the bottom of my chest. They ran up and past us, so I assumed they were enjoying their freedom. The mastiff got to the end of the road when he noticed the little dog approaching Juno. He went completely aggressive. Snarling, Growling, Barking and snapping at us. He kept stepping one or two steps closer every snap.

Now, Juno thinks he's just playing and she wants to play too! I knew better because of how he was acting. I legally carry a handgun (let's not get into that argument)! It was the first time I had ever unholstered it for fear the dog was going to attack. The last thing I ever want to do is take the life of someones pet but he was extremely aggressive!

Either the dog caught wind of something more interesting or realized the potential danger he was about to be in, he ran off with the little one in tow. The little one was extremely friendly... the big one not so much.

I immediately called my dad and told him what happened. He told me to call animal control and inform them of the aggressive "loose" dog. I am an animal lover by far! I'm happy it did not escalate further than drawing my sidearm.

Should I purchase a can of mace and carry it with me when I walk Juno around my neighborhood? Most everyone in the neighborhood already knows I carry because they stop and pet Juno so they know my dog isn't aggressive.

Would you have shot the aggressive dog if he attacked your Sibe or you?

I've weighed in with my opinion on protection a few times. Like you, I carry a handgun for my dog walks. Like you, I don't take the idea of killing somebody's pet very lightly, and actively try to avoid situations that could endanger anybody.

The off-leash dogs you encountered today were a perfect example of why people hate off-leash dogs so much, and its a shame. You shouldn't have to worry about an uncontrollable dog, and certaintly not an uncontrollable Mastiff.

You were right to draw on the dog, and right not to shoot first and ask questions later. I definitely would have reported that owner and his dogs to Animal control.

If I were in your situation, I would have put my dogs behind me, and drew down on the dog. If it was back a few feet like he was, snarling like he was, I would tell him to go and then tell the owner that they need to control their dog, because if it gets any closer, its going to be dead, without taking my eyes or gun off the dog. If it lunged, or made any motion that made me fear my immediate safety, I would not hesitate to fire. A mastiff is just as dangerous as a gun, in the wrong hands. Your situation is a great example of the Mastiff being more dangerous than the gun, simply based on ownership. Letting an aggressive mastiff that weighs as much as an adult roam off-leash is Like walking around spinning a pistol around your finger with the hammer engaged. Its a pointless, stupid risk, and one day he might run into someone a little less reserved about shooting a dog.

I have a carry permit as well. I have yet to actually carry it on my walks, but I'm seriously thinking I may need to. I've had a few situations where the owner could barely control their dog on leash. I'm worried that one may actually get free, and come after me and Lucian. I would try and do everything I could to get the dog away, but if it got to the point trying to lunge or attack me or Lucian I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it. I would be scarred for life either way, being bite, or killing someones pet. I hunt, but wild animals, and domesticated pets are two totally different things to me. I would certainly feel horrible, but I'm not willing to risk my life or Lucian's because someone can't control their own dog.

Thanks for the responses. I did have Juno behind me, which was where the little dog was ironically. I never saw what house the dog came out of because when the owner hey "Get back here", the door closed right away.

Seriously, what dog listens to their owner when they are on a dead sprint towards something they want?

I wanted to yell out something but I felt that might have pushed the dog over the limits. Plus, there are TONS of kids around here (none of which are ever outside) and a multitude of cops.

I understand dogs get loose and things happen... but if you're home and you know your dog is aggressive... Maybe you should keep an eye on it when it's outside!

I carry mace on my walks for situations such as this. I have never had to use it but its there clipped next to the dog waste bags just in case.
If I were you I would get some to attach to your leash. Mace can be just as effective as a gun when it comes to keeping another dog from attacking and carries less of a risk of killing a dog because its owners are stupid....but that's just my opinion. I would most definitely call the local animal control though, at least for the sake of having it documented in case something like that happens again.

ShawnaAD wrote:

I carry mace on my walks for situations such as this. I have never had to use it but its there clipped next to the dog waste bags just in case.
If I were you I would get some to attach to your leash. Mace can be just as effective as a gun when it comes to keeping another dog from attacking and carries less of a risk of killing a dog because its owners are stupid....but that's just my opinion. I would most definitely call the local animal control though, at least for the sake of having it documented in case something like that happens again.

My issue with macing an aggressive dog is that it won't do anything but further ruin that dog, in my opinion, especially if the owner leaves with his dogs before Animal Control can be involved.

Also it is easier, mentally, to mace a dog than to kill a dog. I feel like knowing there is a serious consequence makes a person think a little more before they act.

It is apparent that the owner did not care about the dog or your safety. If he/she did then they would have came out instead of standing behind a door. When I go out for walks with Meeka I take a gun with me but it is only because I live in the country and there are wild animals out that can possibly hurt her. I have seen possums that chase you and you know that they have the intent to harm. I think that they might have rabies because most of the time I see them try to run away from anyone. I also have to walk her alot at night because I work during the day.

If I was in the situation of a mastiff rushing to Mikka and I, I think that I would have pulled the gun. But I would not shoot unless it was very apparent that we were going to be attacked. I know that I would feel bad for it. But the fact that I avoided Mikka or myself getting hurt would out weigh the thought that I killed the other animal.

I walk blu both within city limits and in the country, and we've been attack by numerious dogs (only bitten twice... more on that later). i however dont carry mace or a gun (im not comfortable carrying either personally), because the people are useually around to keep their pets from stepping over that point of being threatening and attacking. most of the time you can just yell at the dogs to go home and they do.

However i was bitten once by a boxer who lunged at blu, this was when he was about the size of a large cat lol, lucky i managed to get blu under my arms and out of range of the boxer... not so lucky for me though. I did not call animal control or the police i simply told the owner to either get her dog on a leash or keep her inside and that if i came by again and she wasn't leashed up i would be calling animal control. i haven't had a run in with that dog since then.

I dont want to see someone have to loose they're pet simply because i was bitten, so i useually only call animal control if they refuse to listen to reason. im glad this lady was willing to listen to reason and the situation didn't escalate further.

I still dont understand why people cant throw a leash on their dog if they have no form of containment.

I, too, carry when I walk the dogs. Good for you in keeping a cool head in that situation.

Did you call animal control?

I had a run in the other day with a dog charging me Lucian, and my almost 4 yr old daughter. Someone left the gate open, and this dog just came bolting out barking, and acting really aggressive. I wasn't carrying at the time, so I just yelled "HEY!" really loud, and stomped my foot at it. It stayed about a foot or two away from Lucian. Any closer and it would have been kicked in the head. The owner came out and got it. Apologized, and then yelled at his kid for leaving the gate open. Still scared the crap out of me.
One other time a few weeks ago I had 3 dogs come running across the street at us. 2 of which were small dogs, and the other being a boxer puppy, probably around the same age as Lucian. I could tell it just wanted to play, but it still made me jump at first. It was ten at night. What irritated me about that was the owner came out to get them, and didn't say one single word to me. No apology or anything. I'm sure if it was Lucian charging his dogs it would of scared him.
I don't get what is so hard about keeping dogs contained in a fenced in area or tied up. Just in the past month I've had 3 different situations of dogs running at us. So far they've all been different dogs. Same ones ever happen again I'll be calling animal control. Maybe teach some people a lesson. Rant over, lol.

I am not old enough to carry a handgun or have a CCL, But my mom has one and she does carry it on walks. We have 3 border collies that live across from us that come across the road to run up and down our fence line teasing our dogs. If they are out, and we go to open or close our gate, or leave for a walk, The brown and white one named Astro will come racing and start growling and do threatening lunges towards us. He gets more aggressive the older he gets, This has gone on for the last 2 years from when they got him as a puppy. The other collie is his mate, the 3rd one is his pup who is fastly learning from its sire. Stepping towards Astro or yelling at him to go home just makes him more excited and more aggressive. He was born to herd and with the right owners he would make a outstanding champion herding dog, But with his current owners he is just going down the wrong path. We have spoken to the owners at least 6 times about it, The last time we did my mom said she will not hesitate to shoot them if they give her reason to. They put them on leashes for a few days then they are out again. We have also contacted Animal Control multiple times, who have done nothing about it. If I go on walks by myself I carry a 3.2 million volt taser.

we have many threads on roaming aggressive encounters with dogs here. i have used my legs to kick away dogs, i have screamed and stomped to deter dogs from getting closer and i have sure as hell have yelled at owners to come get there dog before i did something to it. they do make a dog mace that you can get and i would sure use that over a gun, or walk with a heavy stick/bat before killing something. the first thing to do is always pull your dogs in and get them behind you to protect them. and ALWAYS call animal control and if you can get a picture of the dog.

Papabear wrote:

I, too, carry when I walk the dogs. Good for you in keeping a cool head in that situation.

Did you call animal control?

No, just went home, cleaned the wound and wrapped it up. probably should have but the owner of that particular dog has seemed to of listened to me... we haven't seen it since then and i walk by their house every day.

Wow! That's scary. I have been wondering about that as well since I'm bringing a puppy home. Pepper spray is a great idea and I think I will try to find some here. I was worried about taking him out for relief in the middle of the night.

A scary situation, that is, unfortunately, too common and is caused by irresponsible humans.

I wouldn't shoot an attacking dog.
But I have found that boots are effective, as in ka-boom to the attacker, as is pepper spray to the dog's face.

http://tinyurl.com/bubh6b9
I would rather use Halt on the human that was such an idiot though!

I carry Mace and Halt. Halts supposed to be only for dogs so i'm not sure it would have any affect on a human but i wouldnt feel bad using it on an aggressive dog. the Mace is for people or dogs i suppose if the halt didn't work for some reason. I dont think that Halt is supposed to do any permanent damage so i wouldnt feel bad in the least spraying it at a snapping off leash dog.