Attacked by a Dog-Fight or Run???

[Chad W. Getz]

Seriously, if a doberman was running at you, slob flying all over the place, with nothing but bad intent written all over those sharp teeth showing though his blood lust smile...what would you do? Fight or run? Would your MA training prepare you for such an occasion?

I am not a dog hater, I love them. I am one. But this is a serious question before any one decides to yell "animal rights".

[wong sheung]

If it were you, and you were holding a blade? I would tell you to fight. Most anybody else, run. If it is a fighting breed, most of the time, they have the survival instinct bred out of them. As such, you would be in for one hell of a fight. If it is a guardian breed, (German Shepherd, Dobie, Rott. etc....) Standing and fighting and inflicting damage may cause them to run. Fighting breeds (bull, terrier breeds) will stand and fight, sometimes to the death.

[Evilution]

It kinda depends. I'd say run if you can, but the dog has twice as many legs and will probably get you unless you have a head start. If I couldn't run I think I'd attempt to wrap a jacket or shirt around my forearm and stick it in the dogs face when he gets close enough. The theory is that he'll bite your arm, which I'm sure would suck, instead of your throat or groin, which I'm sure would suck worse. Then while he's preoccupied with my arm (my bad arm btw) I can pull out my knife or grab a stick and try to defend myself. I wouldn't want to kill the dog, I love dogs, but I would do it if it was him or me.

[paw]

What about pepper spray against animals? I've been told that it would be effective, but thankfully have never found out....

[Chad W. Getz]

It's something I've thought about before. Too bad you couldn't put headgear on the dog and practice. Definetely, I would probably jump on someones car or something and sit and think about the whole situation befoer deciding what to do.

[Jim McRae]

Pepper spray is the way to go against a dog. The canine sense of smell is so much keener than ours that the oleoresin capsicum really eats them alive. I saw a doberman do a backflip into a gutter once when it was hit in the face with a one-second burst from about four feet away. Since I can't outrun a dog (it seems like most of them catch up to you and harass you while you're jogging anyway), I will use the O.C. and back away to a safe distance. If that doesn't work, then out comes the Sebenza.

Take care and train hard,
Jim McRae

[Evilution]

The pepper spray is a good idea. How about climbing a tree and screaming like a girl for help? It might work.

[quietanswer]

dogs..I love em..I've always had em...
Big dogs, too. I've had a doberman that went 100 pounds..which is a big, chesty dobe, with a big head. i miss Shadow. He taught me a lot..not about fighting..so much..he just showed me how to be a better guy..

I've found a few things to keep in mind when fighting a dog..from very, very rough play. Shadow probably wanted me to know how to handle other dogs, should they get out of line. He's not with us now, so I'm certain he wouldn't mind me passing this on

1: a dog has his eyeballs stuck in the back of his hand(the mouth, on a dog). He is very good at catching as a result, and he always has knives in this particular hand (mouth).. the jist: it's hard to kick or hit a dog in the hand without him having a twitch-reflex that grabs what is moving towards it - and squeezes..also consider how good a puncher you were if your eyes were located in your fist..you'd have a guided missle. this is how dogs are built..

2: dogs do not like to have their throats messed with.. anyone who has read childrens books about dogs knows they protect their throats..this might be a predictable response you can use against it.

3: if you fight a grabber, and it grabs, kill it very fast. do not waste time yanking your arm out (or trying)..my shar pei has teeth designed to cut you worse on the backstroke...I'd suggest stomping it's back and spine repeatedly, til you obtain some affect. another thing to do to a grabber is kick it's belly or chest in. we arne't talking jabs, either. if it's got you, kick like a machinegun..think of it like a knife fight. you're GOING to get cut probably..so after the guy makes his move, you make YOURS count..keep in mind, a dog like a pit bull will shake you like crazy if it gets you..be sure to use the advantage of it holding on like mad against it..and be ready for it to be strong enough to possibly break your femur..be ready for the pain..

4: running is very bad against some dogs.. dog's like german shepherds and doberman dogs are slicers.. they run after prey and slice away at it's legs til it bleeds to death or can't run. running from one of these may prove very very bad. maybe better to back away from it..it might still attack, but at least you can alleviate the situation.


5: remember the "look at this hand"-smack him with the other trick.. if you've played with a dog (or little brother) you probably know how to show the dog your right hand as an aggressor, when it turns towards it to bite it, you hit it in the back of it's head (lightly, i'm no bastard) with the other hand.. You can trick him with it many, many times..and even after he catches on you only have to adjust it slightly to beat him again..I'm certain this can be used against one in a non-play situation

..especially if you can pick up a long tree limb or something..even if it's not worth striking with, it can really distract a dog from your actual plan..

6: chow-chows are extremely crafty dogs. so are shar pei, and I'm sure a few others (I bet collies are really indirect fighters...).. chow-chows will ignore you til you turn your back, then attack. I'm not joking. they are very good at sneaking around behind you to get your flank..
you should keep an eye on one of these animals even in a friend's back yard, in my opinion.

7: Dogs frequently lauch for an arm if you don't offer a face or kicking leg (especially trained attack dogs). If it grabs your arm, kick the living shit out of it's solarplexus/chest/sternum tip.. they are really open to this, but he'll let go when you start, so make it count.
anyway. what a stupid post.
I gotta second chad's point: hurting dog's is sicko business. Only when the animal is seriously misguided is it ever truly necessary. If I saw someone hurting an animal, I'd go batshit. I can't stand animal abuse.

[Edited by quietanswer on 11-27-2000 at 05:41 PM]

[Chad W. Getz]

http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum35/HTML/000259.html

Good discussion on the same topic here.