Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ok here is my question hand to hand with a pitbull

There was a thread recently about best caliber for a raging pit
But it was suggested you may not have time etc

I understand you have to do what you have to do
But if you could have a direction how do you neutralize/defend from a pit or something aggressive like that barehanded?


I once told my step daughter before she set out on a road trip remember everything is a weapon
I could tell this made her think
but I could see walking down a street and before you know it they are in pursuit


Hank

Pick it up and body slam it. Use my 210 lbs to my advantage. You could win but you will suffer some damage.

Feet and hands are also effective against dogs. I've had to kick or punch a few unfriendly canines. Was attacked on the way to school when I was 8, and learned that morning that the only way to deal with an aggressive dog is intelligent aggression. I don't know what to say to soft-handed women, but to men, I advocate a jab to the nose on an attacking dog, followed by whatever barrage of kicks and punches you can connect with. Go for the head.

If the things lunging feed it your weak arm, grab it and dont let go, take it to the ground and try to crush it's ribcage/head with your knees.

First, never leave home without carrying a reliable firearm. Take them on like they'll kill you, because they will. Go all out death squad on them. Do whatever seems right at the time to destroy them. Take their eyes out, stomp them wherever you can and do the most damage, if you can get them by a foot swing them into the ground until they are dead. Don't let them take you down.If you're armed shoot them in the head until they quit moving. If you're not armed pick up whatever you can to use for a weapon. If the owner gets in your way, kill him too, then finish off the dog.

I don't know. But Pits have pretty impressive strength.

When my pup weighed about 50 lbs he was wrestling around with a Pit pup that *might* have weighed 35. They weren't angry,...just wrestling around like pups will do. My Lab is fairly strong and has always been rambunctious. He likes to play and wrestle hard. But that little Pit grabbed his collar, pulled him down and was dragging him around by it. My pup couldn't get loose. I eventually had to step in and break it up. Like I said, they were just playing,...but it was an impressive display of strength from a dog that size.

Everybody's got a plan until they get hit. Mike Tyson.

If a pitbull gets ahold of you, you have a very serious problem.

Assuming you are unarmed and the attack is eminent, give it your support hand/arm and drive your closed fist down on the bridge of it's nose as hard and as often as you can. A dog's nose is extremely sensitive. I've stunned scores of trapped coyotes with a sharp rap to the bridge of the nose with a shovel handle. It's surprising how little force it takes to stun one. I don't know if a pit nose would be as sensitive as coyote's but it would be my course of action if unarmed and unable to avoid the attack.

In my own encounter the pit was not much influenced by any physical engagement..
What worked for me was strong verbal commands - ordinary commands that dogs are accustomed to obeying.
I was armed and thankful not to have to shoot it.

Not going with any experience here, but if an encounter is inevitable, I suggest being the one that gets in the first blow making it as hard and effective as possible. One has probably lost at least one of his tools if it already has a grip on you. I live in lumber jack boots, so I'm inclined to go for a serious kick. Several of the early morning walkers in our neighborhood pack a very stout stick while getting their exercise.

I'd guess it takes a very calm mind to organize a defense when one is already involved in a tug of war. I usually have at least 2 knives on my person, but they're only accessible to the right hand. The advice to feed them the off side arm if one has to go to ground seems quite sound as well.

Fortunately we're in a small town conservative environment, and it's extremely rare to see a free roaming dog of any size.

I think the title should read, hand to hand with a short bred cur dog. This loose use of pit-bull moniker at every turn is laughable...what you are doing is assuming all bully bred dogs are Pit-bulls...sorry dog men rarely bred people aggressive dogs. What you have today are Cur dogs with lots of stuff in them.

TNrifleman says it best above.

To give you something useful, if the attack is eminent sacrifice your weak arm and do all you can to kill the dog with your other appendages. If they are a hold of you, you will have little power to hurt them by striking...best to choke them.

If it does take you down and you are unarmed, shove your fist down it's throat as far as you can.

Bottom line right there.

Better bring a gun. Don't ever let the dog get ahead of the curve regarding drawing / shooting time.

Bear spray might work. I'd rather try that than just accept losing an arm.

Tom

Put a tip on that walking stick:

"Combative Anatomy: How to fight a dog

August 9, 2012"

https://exigentcircumstance.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/combative-anatomy-how-to-fight-a-dog/

Saw this in a book on "100 Survival Situations" when I was a Boy Scout. This is supposed to work on any dog.

Give it your weak forearm, or I suppose whichever forearm is closest to the dog, and drive it forward as much as possible into the dog's mouth. Reach over with the other hand and place it on the neck behind the dog's head. Pulling with the hand and pushing with the forearm lift the dog's head straight up and over and snap its neck. Dogs have strong neck muscles to hold prey that is struggling to get away but have no real strength to keep their heads down. Like alligators where you can't stop it from closing its mouth but once closed you can hold it shut with one hand. A dog can't stop even a child (as I will explain) from lifting its head against those weakest muscles.

If you have your wits about you supposedly you can kill any dog in about one second, at least preferably before the dog crushes your forearm. Shoving the arm deep into the dog's mouth is not what it expects and will begin to choke them, it also gets your arm into the chewing teeth and away from the tearing teeth. Even this action alone will sometimes get a dog to let go.

Whether this works in practice I do not know for a fact, but being a kid I tried it on our Australian shepherd mutt who was definitely hard mouthed.

A. She did not like that arm shoved back into her mouth at all and what was a fun tussle turned into panic for her.
B. Lifting her head up more than a few degrees caused her to yelp in pain at which point I stopped, not wanting to really hurt her. I really did like her but was curious.

The big deal in all this is you have to make up your mind to kill immediately and do it fast before the dog tears up your arm and the rest of you.


All in all I'd rather have a big stick since you'd probably still suffer painful injuries, but the question was about mano a canus combat.

Make sure you stay on your feet.

Let him clamp down on your week arm then reach for your knife clipped to your pocket( hopefully it is assisted opening) and slit throat and then go to stabbing.

Keep it away from your vitals and do the best you can. Best plan is to be prepared before the attack by carrying a gun everywhere you go. if you can't carry a gun carry a big heavy stick,even if you have to fake a limp.

A NAA .22 mag mini revolver doesn't take up any more room than a medium sized pocket knife. I can't hit a bull in the ass at 10 feet with mine. But I bet a dog would let go of you if you stuck it in his ear and touched it off.