Until you run into the wrong bull <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Troy

I walk a lot and I've been seriously attacked twice, with numerous close calls. I've managed to not get bitten yet. Sorry about your dog and hand.

You did excellent. Don't panic. Standing still works quite well. Most of the time the dogs are being territorial and are just trying to scare you off. And they like to circle around and attack your legs, hopefully to bring you down on the ground.

Doggie treats work really well. Most of them go hyper for a handful of milkbones. Every time you walk by, toss half a dozen by them. Eventually they associate you with treats. I don't care if the neighbor says not to feed them.

Shove a mountain bike in its face. The poor boxer didn't know what to do. It kept circling and attacking but never actually biting my Trek ZX's aluminum. I saw it coming and had time to dismount and use the bike as a shield. It's owner just kept yelling at it.

Fight it. Run right at it and don't back down while tossing rocks. It will either engage and bite (which is dangerous for a dog) or it will back down. Some kind of doberman mix did this. Its owner and I had a serious talk later that day.

Make sure any spray has OC in it. The pepper stuff will irritate their nose and eyes. Fox River sells some or check out LA Police Gear. I've never used it but it's supposed to work.

Wear dog tags. If you do get seriously injured, the medics will patch you up.

Carry a knife. I like Al-Mar's SERE 2k or Doug's.

I do a lot of walking and have had several encounters with agressive dogs. First thing I'd say is that I love dogs and have had dogs for most of my 55 years. I REALY believe that there are no bad dogs , only bad owners . Every bad encounter I've had , the owner of the dog was there . The first one that comes to mind is when I was about 14 yrs. old. I was walking home after going for a swim in the pond down the street from my house. I was walking barefoot and had my sneakers in my hand. I was walking in the street about 25 yards from a woman who was doing some gardening with her dog standing next to her. There were no leash laws then and I new most of the dogs in the neighborhood. I had seen this dog around before and never had any reason to believe it would act the way it did. I think the dog picked up some sort of signal from the woman and all of a sudden it came charging at me with its teeth showing .I new it was going to bite me. I calmly stood my ground and when the dog was going to bite I stuck out my sneaker. It bit the sneaker once and then ran back to its owner. The ignorant woman didn't apologise , she didn't even look up from her gardening. Dogs are very perceptive at picking up on body language . Its one of the ways they use to comunicate with each other. If a dog attacks you should try to stay calm and stand your ground , face the dog , dont turn sideways and of course never ever turn your back or run. Don't make agresive moves towards the dog , just stand your ground and try to look like you are the bigger badder dog. Carrying a stick or something is a good idea but I wouldn't try to hit the dog with it . That might make the dog more agessive. If the dog is going to bite just put the stick near his face and it will bight the stick instead of you. . I would never use pepper spray on a dog . I think its cruel and not necessary. As for leash laws , in my town they are a joke. When my dog , a German Shepard , was a puppy I would take her for long walks around my neighborhood , always on a leash. A neighbors dog , that was a very large mixed brred , was always running free around the neighborhood even though there are leash laws. The dog attacked my dog at least 12 times . I did my best to protect her or go the other way when I spotted the dog but it didn't always work. I called the local dog officer after every attack but nothing was ever done . I called the police but they told me they weren't the dog police. The dogs owner saw several of the attacks but made no attempt to restrain his dog. I think he even encouraged it. I wanted to kick the jerks ass but I was worried about getting sued or maybe he'd lie and say my dog bit him. To make the story a little shorter , my dog became old enough to take care of herself and when the next attack came I gave her some slack on the leash and she beat up the dog. Chewed him up pretty good. When the jerk neighbors dog went home all bloody he called the cops and told them I had beaten his dog with a stick. The cops came right over to my house and gave me a real bad time . So I had to go see the cheif of police to straighten things out. The dog never attacked my dog again. My point of this story is that , as usual, you can't depend on the authorities to help you out and that the criminals and law breakers will get off with a slap on the wrist while the honest law abiding citizen gets the [censored] end of the stick.

This is the electronic gizmo that dogs don't like,

http://www.dazer.com/dog-deterrent.jsp

I have used one and it works on most dogs, but if you are unlucky enough to come across an aggressive, deaf dog this thing will not do much.

Haven't heard of using citronella, but i know a few motorcycle riders that use a squirt gun with ammonia. Have a friend that swears that his nieghbors dog always liked to chase him on his bike (he lives around farm land, so country dogs that like to chase things) until the dog got a shot right in the face. Now the dog hides under the porch when he hears a motorcycle.

iF the dogs were about the same size you should have stepped back and let the dogs settle things. Dog fights for the most part look a lot worse than they realy are . Have you ever seen the way wolves settle matters on a nature channel . Looks realy bad but no serious damage is done . Its what dogs do. On the other hand, If the other dog was so agressive that it had to bite you to get to your dog I think you need to take action against the owner. I hate to see a dog put down but the owner needs to be taught a lesson. What if it had been a child with a dog that was attacked.

I used citronella when a new neighbour moved in with 2 rotwellers.
There was big barking sessions happening with my dog and the fence was getting demolished from all the pounding between them.

You'll get no arguement from this dog owner. Leash 'em in town and make dern sure you're alone in the wilderness, before cutting them loose. Leashing doesn't just keep you dog off little Tommy, it keeps the cement truck off your dog. I am in total agreement that the owner is at fault. Perhaps a good they should be made to collect the poop that they undoubtedly failed to pick up.

Biscuits

I agree with the throat kick or a hard square punch to its nose can render it into a sneezing fit.

If a dog is locked on to another dog/person another way of disabling them is to reach over and grab both its front legs and pull them out sideways from under the dog while putting maximum weight or even your knee as leaverage in the middle of its back. This wont work on real big dog because you wont get the force.
This is a weak area and can break its ribs as well as dislocate its shoulders.
Or if you can flip it over and push its legs out side ways can work to if you can get enough weight into it. I herd of someone doing this to a rotweller that attacked someone when I was a kid. I remember my Dad explaining it to me when I was about 7, and it alway stuck in the back of my mind.
It takes more guts and strength than grabbing its back legs and some people wont be able to manage it, but if there is a child getting mauled it is another option to disable the attacker.
Im a dog lover and hate to see dog injuries, but I wouldnt hesitate if it was my family or friends, and I would seriously think about it if it was my dog getting attacked.

I generally am not concerned about my ability to deal with mis-trained dogs (I was a pizza guy in my teenage years). Disclaimer: I love dogs, often times more than people. Still, several times I had to do some "field training" with several misguided dogs who belived I was lunch. Specifically, by their nose running into my fist. However, my girlfriend takes my dog for frequent walks (at night sometimes). She doesn't know it but this is her christmas gift. http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_info.ph...a4c0838ceed4855

Does anyone know the effectiveness of Pepper Spray on things of the canine varity?

You are lucky because pepper spray, mace , tazzers etc are against the law here in Australia.

I even had the police try any take my leatherman wave from my belt because its against the law. I was just walking down the street to get some lunch so I wasn't provoking anything.
I was able to keep it because I argued I used it for work.
I figured it was near the end of the month and they were short on their quota for the month.