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

it's going to hurt

Some not bad advice there.

I've had to fight 3 dogs in my life, but thankfully they were attacking my dog, not me. In each case I used weapons (improvised, in the first case) to keep the attacking dog off my dog, then when opportunity presented, used the weapon to injure the dog. I do not ever want to go barehanded against any dog, and make sure I have at least a stick and/or a knife

First one, a large GSD size mutt, came at us while I was riding my mountain bike in a large off-leash area. I fought him off with my bike, he ran away, then came back at us from a distance at a full run. I looked around and found a fist-sized piece of concrete, and threw it at him when he was close. Hit him in the shoulder, broke his scapula. End of fight. Owner was very upset with me, so I offered to call the police and have his dog taken to the pound for attacking, that shut him up pronto. So this illustrates what the author of the article above suggested, incapacitating one or both front legs.

Second one, a pit bull, attacked my dog in close quarters near a fence (again, off-leash area, but no human handler in sight this time). I had a fairly stout walking stick in hand, came up on the dogs as they whirled and snarled and swung baseball bat style as hard as I could at the PB's head/neck area. Connected solidly with the shoulder instead of the head. PB spun away and ki-yi'd off into the sunset, limping badly. Probably broke the scapula, again.

Third one was a pair of dogs at night, while walking with my ex. I was carrying my usual walking stick, a Cold Steel Blackthorn... it's actually composite, not wood, but the ball-handle is big and quite heavy. Ex and I both carried flashlights as a matter of course. We were approached by a couple of loose dogs on a back street: a PB and a boxer. They came on fast and ears back, the PB in the lead. They both came at my Spaniel, who was on-leash. I had the ex hold my Spaniel close on the leash and shine her Sure-Fire into the dogs' faces as they got near. This stopped them, and they backed toff slightly, and confused them; they were trying to "get past" the light to where they knew my dog was. I circled around to the side and swung the stick down hard on the top of the PB's cranium. It literally crossed his eyes. He staggered to one side, clearly stunned blind, and I saw blood leaking out of one ear. The boxer took his cue from the PB, and we hurried into a nearby fenced yard and called the police. The PB was found down and convulsing a couple hundred yards away, and was dead before animal control arrived.

I've chased off half a dozen dogs with thrown rocks, waving my walking stick and yelling, etc. I have used a powerful flashlight to blind and drive back dogs on several occasions. I carry a firearm almost always, but I do not want to have to use it unless there is no alternative. When you shoot a domestic animal, there's a lot of paperwork.

My .02 on the matter. For the most part the average human, and yes even those who are more on the aggressive side, will flinch/stall at a full confrontation with an aggressive animal. The animal (pit bulls in this case) won’t even bat an eye because it has no conscience only instinct. Eventually (and that might only be a second or two or three) our instinct will kick in. Then and only then will you realize your full potential as a warrior. Take it from a guy who was mugged by two youts a few years back, most of us are just too good hearted on a regular bacis. That being said, what I did find out is we still have it in us, but sometimes it’s just buried too deep.

This has been an interesting thread. I virtually always have a gun, but I always have a knife. I like what doc said and I do sometimes carry a walking stick because of an arthritic knee. Like most of you my knife has a thumb catch that helps get it open and I believe I'd literally try to gut the dog after using my weak arm as a target for him. I'd hope I could get the knife in his chest and run that blade to his balls or at least ball sack. I've seen a show on tv where an animal control person got involved in a dog incident and shot the dog with a 9mm in the body, hard to see exactly where and it didn't put the dog down, but the dog knew it hurt him and tried to avoid it while still attacking. It was amazing how focused they get in their attack.

I had a friend up in Alaska who was out for a walk with his wife and didn't have a gun (which really pizzed me off because I had GIVEN him a Ruger LCR 38 special) and a German Shepard got loose and attacked his wife. The wife had heavy winter clothes on so that helped protect her but the Shepard with for her stomach. He started putting the boots to the dog finally the owner came out and pulled it off. Police got involved but they didn't take the dog away. Everyone in the neighborhood knew about the dog and if they saw my friend and his wife out walking they would call out and say "have you got your gun? Can I walk with you?" From that time on I think he made every effort to egg the dog on to get him to jump the fence again so he could justify shooting it. US Marshall next to him did the same thing.

Regardless I think some of us old guys would have our hands full with a big dog, of most kinds, that was focused on creating havoc. Better have some kind of weapon. I appreciate Doc's comments on flashlight, I also carry a very bright flashlight for the same purpose.

This seems to be right on.

FWIW...... I have a relative who spent ten years as a LEO in West Virginia. He had many encounters with pit bulls in those calls to the hollers. He said that yes, when the dog comes for you it will go for the closest thing it can get to but they seem to go mostly for hands. Of course, that’s what most people do, put their hands in front of them in a defensive posture. He said he always stuck his night stick down to the dogs face and the dogs would attack it with great enthusiasm but most lost interest in chewing on a hard baton. He said that if they didn’t lose interest quickly, he would smack them between their nose and eyeballs. If that failed, he whopped ‘em on top of the head. Said he never came close to having to shoot a dog. He mentioned that if you had time, put a jacket or something over one hand and then hit that area between nose and eyeballs.

Nothing snotty about it, just adding to the discussion, all is good.

Our electric fence has never failed in preventing bears or dogs from getting into our garden.Would be interesting in hearing about the use of stun guns on cranky pooches. I turned on a mini stungun I have when my dog was around(not on him) to see his reaction and the crackling sound alone sent him out of the room post haste. Makes me wonder if there are additional frequencies of sound put out by the current we can't hear that dogs don't like, let alone the jolt of lifetime they would receive from the contacts.

Having been bit a few times and seen a few more, the thing that seems to get people chewed up most is getting defensive.

You don’t defend against a dog. You attack it. Don’t try to get away. Kill it.

I had a big pit (65lbs) attack me in Anchorage while I was there during the summer during my college years. He came in low and fast off of a running trail behind Service High School on Hillside where I was jogging. I punched it in the nose as hard as I could and knocked it cold. I called my brother and we picked him up. The pit was in bad shape and pretty much abused by its former drug dealer master.(as what we could tell) We took it back out to our homestead in Kenny Lake and tried to rehab it. It was a lost cause and I had to put it down. He had mental problems and a great deal of anxiety. I have owned pits for more than 40 years and they are great dogs. Pits need structure, exercise and love. Real pits are culled if they show any aggression towards humans but are vicious if they are abused.

Thanks for this - they are great dogs when cared for properly, and a PIA when not. I adopted one that I had to put down - was attacked numerous times as a puppy so was super dog aggressive and had crazy separation anxiety as well - generally just unhappy and stressed. A sad, dangerous example of the breed so I had to make a very tough decision. I had another one that was amazing in every way - best dog I've ever known. Made it 13 years before a brain tumor took him.

If unarmed which is a mistake use a rock or stick. If you have an aggressive dog of any breed in your neighborhood walk slowly by with a leased small yappy dog and a ,45 semi auto.....

i was sitting behind a gate yesterday, talking to a friend on the other side of the gate. He owns a belgian malois, who had just taken a stuffed animal from one of my dogs on my side of the gated entry way.
that dog did not want to give the toy up and they had a very vocal confrontation. dog was quite impressive. the thought of him latching on to my arm is not a good thing in my mind. Owner had to establish dominance right now, as dog was clearly contesting him.
I was thinking no way am i going hand to hand against an agressive dog, shoot, and shoot.

I've been around dogs all my life, but I learned something from this thread. The input here and the OP's idea to discuss are good issues to think about.

I own a GSD with working lines from Germany. She is not trained as a protection animal, but she is still a German Shepherd. When out walking, it is interesting how she cues on certain other dogs, but ignores others. This starts at about 40 yards as we approach other dogs and their owners. Surely she cannot smell fear or aggression at that distance? If so, it makes one wonder what triggers these random attacks. We had a pit bull pup come racing out the hedges surrounding his yard headed straight for my GSD. She basically ignored the little turd, other than turning to keep an eye on him. The pup lost interest and went back to the house. I was, of course, alert to a fight that never materialized.

The last time I had to stop a dog fight was when a Husky grabbed my wife's pup off the ground with its mouth. I straddled the Husky and slapped his flanks HARD. When I mention straddling, I mean my butt was towards the dog's head. Doing it the other way around puts your face in reach of the dog's mouth. Anyhow, this SOB yelped and dropped the puppy whom I scooped up and asked all the liberal millenials "Whose dog is this?" No one volunteered, so I examined the pup to make sure she was okay, and eventually the dog went to find it's owner. Surprise, surprise, the owner acted like I was the big azzhole, but she never opened her mouth about it.

At any rate, the flank slap is a good alternative to non-lethal situations that need a quick end with little fuss.

This is the best response so far.

I was 6'2" 240 lbs of pure sinew when my mother-in-law's Chow got hold of my ass about 15 years ago and sent me to the E.R. at the local hospital. It happened SO fast and so furious on the dog's part that I really didn't have much time to react. I went from thinking "Oh sheet, here he comes!" to flailing around trying to shake him off in about 1.8 seconds, suffering multiple bites requiring stitches. I remember telling the emergency room Dr. that I was glad it was just a 40 lb. Chow and not an 80+ dog like a Shepherd, Pit, or Rottweiler or I would have been done for.

Fuggers gonna have a hard time biting or crushing my arm if my first knife stroke severs his wind pipe. That and the main artery is the big target with a slash to the throat. YMMV

But I seriously doubt I'll ever have to resort to fighting a dog off with my knife. I NEVER leave home without caring at least one handgun on my person. Period.

IF you do not get in the hardest kick possible to its head before any other contact
it might not go well for you from there on.
Having any body part in the mouth of a very strong animal that is bred to bite and chew
and never let go just doesn't have a good ring to it.
Make your kicks, punches, etc with extreme prejudice.
Don't quit till it is really over.

Pull out your gun, shoot it.

you might not have a gun on you whens its your own dog that snaps.

The topic of the post question is 'hand to hand'.

Here's what you do: keep a pile of parvovirus-infected dog crap in your refrigerator. When a pitbull owner walks past your place, throw the infected dog crap at them. They will take it home and share it with their dog. Since no pit bull owners
ever seem to vaccinate their dogs the beast will be dead in a week. Problem solved.