Thread: pistol or knife?

Sounds goofy but it's a serious question for the experts here. I Walk my dogs quite often, on rare occasion I've encountered hostile dogs, my question is: supposing a pit bull is charging, am I better off with my pistol hoping to get off one good shot and hit him before he gets me or my dogs, or my 12" seal knife where I could nearly take his head off with one swing?

I think your chance of hitting the dog could be difficult with a pistol. The knife would be more effective, however, I don't know the legality of carrying a 12" knife.
One of the best weapons for dogs is pepper spray. It won't kill them, but will scare them away or at least stun them to make an effective kill with a knife making sure the attaking dog does little to no damage to you or your dog.

Also firing a weapon in an urban area is not always a good idea. The police tend to get mad and want to say it's excessive. Even though it's exactly what they would do.

Good luck

If you are carrying both, and you pull out your knife, you will be hard pressed to get a jury to believe that you feared for your life. The general public will no understand how deadly a good blade in the right hands is.

Quite frankly, I would go with the gun. But that is because I have never done had any edged weapon training. I don't carry a knife just for that reason. I train with what I plan on using.

Just me and my

Try some Bear Spray, and a Sonic Dog Alarm, also carry a knife and gun just in case. That should cover it.

Originally Posted by Newcastle

Sounds goofy but it's a serious question for the experts here. I Walk my dogs quite often, on rare occasion I've encountered hostile dogs, my question is: supposing a pit bull is charging, am I better off with my pistol hoping to get off one good shot and hit him before he gets me or my dogs, or my 12" seal knife where I could nearly take his head off with one swing?

Didn't I post a similar situation not very long ago? The consensus was to "kick it". Sometimes I don't get people's judgment.

Regardless, If you justifiably fear for your life, you are justified in using lethal force. Personally, I think the knife would be more trouble than anything, messy, and way too close to an animal that is most dangerous at such close distances. You wouldn't say the same about big cats out in the boonies. Have a knife, but don't rely on it to stop the animal nearly as well as the trauma from a gunshot wound.

its a dog i dont think you have to fear for your life to be able to shoot it

if it attacks you or your dogs i think you can do whatever you want to it

altho shooting a gun in city limits is a nono only the cops get away with that cause they are special

I always carry a gun and a cell phone when walking my dogs in town.
I have pointed my pistol at pitbulls and they stopped in their tracks showing that they are much smarter then their owners.

Originally Posted by candyman

its a dog i dont think you have to fear for your life to be able to shoot it

if it attacks you or your dogs i think you can do whatever you want to it

altho shooting a gun in city limits is a nono only the cops get away with that cause they are special

+1

I carry both knife and gun.

CRKT: M16-14D and Glock 21

Originally Posted by Twodogs

I always carry a gun and a cell phone when walking my dogs in town.
I have pointed my pistol at pitbulls and they stopped in their tracks showing that they are much smarter then their owners.

Interesting... Perhaps their owners have guns and they understand on some level what they do? They could also just be responding to your confidence. Dog culture seems to have a lot more to do with confidence than anything else (I watched a female mini poodle growl down a male standard poodle yesterday (15 lbs vs. 80 lbs).

In the city limits? Pepper spray. Pulling out a gun on a dog may get you in other trouble. IE: pointing a firearm. Using a firearm in the city limits etc'

I would lean towards kicking an attacking dog myself. Aim for the chest and you will knock the wind out of them.

I have also heard mace works well. My mom used to carry a big stick when walking our family dog and successfully used it to break up a dogfight once.

In general I think you will have trouble taking down a charging dog with a gun unless you have experience shooting at charging animals (ie hog hunting, or animal control or something like that).

Also, make sure you check your local codes before carrying a 12-inch knife around. Seattle doesn't allow fixed blades, for example, and requires folders to be 3.5 inches or smaller.

im chainging my vote to tazer
it mihgt not be the best solution

but tell me it wouldnt be fun

Originally Posted by candyman

im chainging my vote to tazer
it mihgt not be the best solution

but tell me it wouldnt be fun

Fun!

With the bad rep that pitbulls have i wouldn't be worried about the law if i had to shoot one or two, but having to deal with the dogs owner might be a different story.

As far as kicking it go's that just make's them mad.

I always carry a knife - good quality folder I can open quickly. I know it shouldn't be, but trying to explain after the fact why you had a 12" blade or a gun while walking your dog might raise eyebrows. A heavy walking stick or tactical folder could be explained as something you "always have handy." If you don't care about appearance or inadvertently wounding your dog, I'd go with a large caliber handgun.

Dogs fight... no need to kill them over it. Usually physical harm (swift kick the the ribs, or head if it's a pitbull with a locked jaw) is enough to stop the attack. If the dog attacks you, the only way I can see you getting out of trouble in court over killing a dog is if it actually attacks (bites) you.

Yea i guess you could just let the dog bite you or tear up your dog and then sue the owner.

I've been through it a couple of times - with the same two dogs as the antagonists. While I was carrying a handgun, I also had pepper spray and found that it works very well. They don't like the spray and break off right away once they get a snootful of it. Now the same dogs just look the other way when we come by with our dog. I am very pleased that I didn't have to shoot them as I believe they were just protecting what they perceived as their turf. I guess a true pit bull attack would be a different situation, but I am a believer in the pepper spray in most situations.

Don't underestimate how fast and dangerous a pitbull can be. Your knife is may not stop it in its tracks. They are very fast, muscular and have amazing reflexes. Don't forget that when you use a knife you are going up against an animal with more power and speed than you and it has a razor filled mouth. It can jump quick and rip open your neck or groin before you know it. Pepper spray is obviously the way to go with a vicious dog. A small snubnose revolver would be the backup piece for me. The thing I like about my pocket snubby is I can pull it so fast and it is not noticeable and at close range it is quite effective. Since its so small its easy to draw and harder to knock out of my hand than a larger handgun. If I am being mauled by a dog I think grabbing the little snubby would be a much easier feat then pulling out some large knife and hoping I can hit the dog where it counts. If anything you would want to consider a smaller knife for that matter.

Did anybody ever think of maybe saying some sweet things to the dog? Maybe call it pretty? All you guys can think of are ways to kill or maim dogs, when the attack could probably easily be resolved with a few sincere kind words. Maybe the dog thinks its butt doesnt smell enough, and just needs someone to tell it that it smells nasty? Its disturbing to me that all your suggestions are so violent.


And if that doesnt work, bite it about the head and neck.