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So, last night I'm leaving work, heading to my car. I'm parked waaaaayyyy in the back of the lot. There are only a few cars around by there is a large yellow lab mix of something wearing one of those pinch collars. The dog is between me and my vehicle so I slow my pace and scan for an owner. I don't see anyone outside but don't scan the insides of the vehicle very carefully because it was dark and the dog had most of my attention.

I make a wide circle to get around it. We were both on the passenger side of the vehicle. As I'm walking slowly and calmly, the dog circled around the front of my car to the driver side and cam around the back of the vehicle. I'm about 10ft away. It shifts its weight forward, bares it teeth and starts growling and giving a deep bark. So I stop, start to back away slowly. It continues to bark until I get about 15ft. away from it. Then it starts advancing.

So, I draw to the two count and I'm thinking, "Please don't make me shoot this dog." Then, from an old, beat up pickup truck across the aisle about 50ft away at my 10'oclock, an older man, exits and calls the dog to him and yells at me for pulling a gun.

/shrug. Yep, guess I was in the wrong.
 
Greywhisker, glad you and yours are ok. Can be unnerving more because you don't want to shoot someone's pet but you also don't want your family attacked.

I grew up in a very country setting and defended myself against wild dog packs, bear, wolf packs and an occasional rabid skunk. One time I did need to shoot a local domestic dog. Darn thing kept coming at me and ripping my pants to pieces. Had bite marks all over my legs. Ended pulling out a holstered 22 and put one in his head. The dog looked shocked for just a second and then dropped to the ground dead. I was only 13 at the time and felt bad that I had to kill it even if it was necessary. I believe that dog was a pit bull and was owned by one of the locals.

Another time my brother and I killed 4 dogs that were part of a larger wild dog pack that was following us out of the woods. They were circling us and wouldn't back off. My brother and I both had single shot shotguns, he a 12 gauge and me a 20. Neither of us had more than 5 or 6 shells with us so we really didn't want to engage them unless we had to. They finally got to within just a few feet and were snarling and I shot one in the face. My brother fired while I was reloading and he hit another. We ended up killing four out of about 12 that were there before the rest left us alone. Kinda scary for a kid but would have been more scary without a weapon.
 
*snipped*

So, I draw to the two count and I'm thinking, "Please don't make me shoot this dog." Then, from an old, beat up pickup truck across the aisle about 50ft away at my 10'oclock, an older man, exits and calls the dog to him and yells at me for pulling a gun.

/shrug. Yep, guess I was in the wrong.

Old man should've had control over his animal. You did what you could - and while it's a good thing you didn't have to shoot - you still did the right thing. Who knows what the old fart would've done had you shot the dog - you might have wound up having to shoot the old ****** too. Only thing I could think of to do differently in your shoes, would have been to maybe call the cops and make a report just in case the old guy gets a bug up his butt and tries saying you threatened him with a gun.

I've drawn on an animal before - also didn't have to shoot it. I grew up in a rural area - no one bothered to fence or leash their animals. My wife and I moved back to that area for a while to help care for an elderly relative - and one evening while taking a walk down the road - I was charged by a large rotty mix dog - I wasn't quite sure of who owned it but I had an idea. THe dog wasn't responding to verbal commands, I couldn't see any big sticks or anything else I might use to shew it away or use as a non-lethal option. I drew the gun and held low one handed ready with my other arm out in case he lunged. Lucky for both of us - the dog stopped dead in his tracks and then bolted away back home. Took a few for the heart rate to return to normal but I was glad I didn't have to shoot the dog because it had owners that didn't give enough of a damn about it to keep him at home and out of trouble.
 
I don't think you were in the wrong. Sounds like the guy isn't keeping his dog under proper control - may even warrant a call to animal control to check him out before that dog attacks a kid walking down the street.

I've drawn once and come close on a 2nd occasion. The time I drew, I was walking in our yard, came around an out building to come face to face with a whitetail buck. He looked up and immediately took an aggressive stance - I was maybe 15 feet from him. I drew my gun (which I carry at home too), raised it to a ready position and just backed away slowly. I finally got far enough away to get back in the house. I didn't want to shoot him, but they can be quite aggressive, and very dangerous at times. I'm glad he stayed put.

Second time, we were on a walk with our young daughter, who was in a stroller. A big dog came at us barking and growling. My wife and I got between our daughter and the dog, but he just kept coming at us aggressively. The owner finally appeared but really did nothing to call off the dog even though he could clearly see we were in a defensive mode. I raised my shirt and put my hand on my pistol in the holster, at which point the owner finally called the dog off.

I think folks only think about concealed carry for protection against humans, but I can certainly point to instances where you need to think about other potential threats.
 
Never had to draw an animal, but Ive OWB carried at a specific clients house. They have a trained guard dog and a few others that follow the alpha.
This thing would literally go for my throat. It slams into the glass when it barks at me through the window.. Then follows me to their two big yet flimsy swinging glass doors it his it with such force that it makes the doors bow out..

Its enough to force me to have my little pistol at the ready.. Aside from my everyday fanny pack carry.

Ive always wondered what would happen if I just socked a rabid dog in the snout.. A pack of dogs is different than just one.. It would most likely rip my leg or arm to shreds but Ive pictured that scenario.. Do some folks give into fear and freak out when dogs get nasty?.. Id want to know what it was like to fight one off.
I need to stop watching
"Into the grey"
 
You were in the right, dog acting aggressive. I would of totally yelled at the guy for not following leash laws or keeping his animal contained. From the sound of it, the dog must of behaved more like its owner.
 
When I was 15, I shot a German Shepard right between the eyes with a 30-30. Killed him dead!
My current dog has heard me tell the story. I don't think he fully trusts me?
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tweaker neighbors next place down the road have a pit-bull that runs loose , not registered and very aggressive as are the tweaker owners
several months ago the dog came at me going out to the mail box, when I pull my pistol and point at the ground in front of the dog he stops dead only because he sees me freeze in battle stance and knows im not afraid
owners hears the dog snarling & barking & me screaming the dog to sit.....
the tweakers scream at me about pulling a gun on the family dog named .....wait for it...." Outlaw " , I scream back call your dog off, they dont ....they tell me they are going to kick my a$$ !!!
I tell them if the dogs takes one step closer I will start shooting the ground in front of him, if he walks in to a bullet its your fault then its your turn to decide if your up for walking into my space all aggressive.

they call the cops, cops come over to ask questions, I tell them the entire neighborhood is ready to sign complaints over this aggressive dog, they agreed the dog was aggressive and the owners couldnt even control the animal when they were responding to their complaint

they asked me about the gun I explained the dog was 5 feet away when I pointed at the ground in front of the dog Im not waiting till I have a piece of my face or throat missing till someone deals with the animal, certainly the tweakers wont or cant control the pit-bull

cops said the will write them up for no license, and they had 30-60 days to build a dog run or more charges would follow
the dog runs is up and the tweakers are real cooperative

tweakers with aggressive dogs, old men with aggressive dogs ....no matter... Defend yourselves
 
Only thing I can say here... stand your ground. I've dealt with a lot of dogs, even large aggressive police dogs, the one thing that gives them pause is standing your ground.

I've had to shoot more than a few snakes and other animals, only once was it a dog. More or less similar situation to one someone else had... we were out doing a trail cleanup up in the local hills, and the local gangbanger family was headed down to one of the local streams to go dump beer bottles in the river and tag up the rocks. They also had two large pitbulls they were letting run loose ahead of them.

Dogs came up on me and started making a ruckus, but since there were two of them were not all that deterred by me standing my ground, so I started whacking them with my shovel. Then the gangstas showed up and started threatening me. I brandished my pistol and smiled, and suggested they go home for the day, the forest is closed. I called it in, and the sheriff met them at the top, apparently a few of them had outstanding warrants.

I like dogs, but I'm allergic to a-holes.
 
I didn't draw because I didn't have a gun with me, and it may not have done much good anyway:

I landed at a small native village on Kodiak Island in Alaska late one night. This was in late July and it didn't get fully dark. The airport is about a mile from the village, a little higher and within sight. There is only waist-high brush for vegetation, so I could see that there were no bears around. I started walking to town, and about half way there all the village dogs came out in a pack, with an obvious leader. There were about 20 dogs ranging from 10-pound lap dogs to the leader, a mongrel weighing about 60 pounds.

They came up the road, and I kept walking toward them. They parted to let me past, then closed up behind me and kept getting closer. I could tell that they wanted to attack, and when they got within about fifteen feet I angled off to the side of the road. When I reached the brush at the edge of the road, I crouched down and started to circle around behind them.

Once I started to get behind them, you could see the change in the demeanor of the pack. It went from confident and aggressive to confused and alarmed. They sensed that I was acting like a predator, and didn't like it! They started to retreat, and I herded them about 100 yards back up the road, then resumed my walk.

They quickly regained confidence, and repeated the aggressive behavior. I had to repeat the process six times to get to safety. The village elder told me the next day that he felt the dogs would have attacked me had I not bluffed them.

I had a .357 revolver in the plane, but failed to have it with me. I never made that mistake again!
 
I see some close calls with problem dogs here... How about a problem cat?

Back in the summer of 1997, I was trout fishing at a lake about 5 miles up a logging mainline. I was alone, and letting myself get a little lost in the tranquility, focusing on my casts, waiting for the line to come alive with a strike.

Slowly, a sense that I was being watched started creeping up on me, making the back of my neck tingle. I looked across the narrow neck of the lake to see a cougar, crouching at the water's edge, staring at me and twitching its tail. I reeled in my line, tossed the pole at aside, and drew my .45 while meeting the cat's stare. It never changed stance, just stared and twitched its tail. Maybe it just came down for a drink... maybe.

I swung my gun arm toward the ground beside me and squeezed off a round. This startled the cougar... slightly. It took a couple paces back from the water, looked at me briefly again, then turned and sauntered off into the trees, tail still twitching.

At least it left. I decided to call it a day, so I picked up my gear and made a cautious retreat to the road where I was parked. That wasn't my closest call with a cougar, but the only one without human or canine company.
 
Yes, a pitbull. I was out for a run when I saw a pit running down a driveway behind cars as I approached. Just the week before I had been attacked by a different pitbull about three blocks away (interesting story I won't repeat here), so I had started carrying my Sig P229. I stopped and drew my pistol just as the pit cleared the last car in the driveway and arrived at the road where he expected me to be. He stopped the instant he saw me squared up on him, and stared at me. After a couple of seconds he turned and walked up the driveway and I continued on my way. That was close to 10 years ago, and I still carry every time I'm working out on the road.
 
2 Dobermans, one skunk on my front porch, one Pitbull on a construction site. Owner had been warned 3 times about agressive behavior and the consquensis.
12 ga with double buck. Shot gun is next to the front door. Any large dog with in 20 ft grouling and acting agressive is a dead dog. I have no problems droping some ones agressive dog. Yes I own 2 dogs who mind me or the wife and they are not allowed to wonder around. The Boarder Collie loves people, however if you do a B&E on my house she will eat your face. Good doggy.
Why so harsh on dogs? I was 13 when the neighbores Somian decided to try to eat my leg. 50 stiches later and 5 months of limping around. Yes you can still see the scares.
 
In the mid 90's I was attempting to serve an arrest warrant at a car dealership lot. It was one of those lots that has the little house in the middle of the lot where they cheat you on the deal. As we approached the little house two Dobermans came from the back of the house and headed right at my partner and me. I already had my weapon drawn as we approached the structure and I was just about to squeeze off a round when the two dogs hit the end of their rope! It yanked them up in the air and put them on their backs; good dog! We waited for animal control to show up and then served the warrant.
 
I have had to shoot a dog. My dad, brother and I were pheasant hunting in a big open field, like 100 acre big, and saw a pack of mutts running around way off to our left. We just kept on hunting and flushed a hen pheasant up and the dogs came in running. They got about 40 yards from us and I yelled at them to get and the biggest dog, about 40 pounds runs straight at me. I swing up the shotgun and put the bead right on his chest. He gets to about ten yards and I give him a face full of bird shot and he doesn't stop!!! Luckily two more were enough to put him down. He skidded to a stop with his jaw hanging off lookin a mess about a foot from my boot. Scared the crap out of me.
 
There was a good sized spider in the garage a few weeks ago that warranted a 230 grain solution. I managed to escape the situation without having to fire shots - but it was close.
 
A Pit Bull went after a friends Lab and just gripped on the back of the labs neck while my friend and I were fishing. Lab had no chance and there was no sign of a owner to call the little bastard off of sick mode. I punched the pit in the head, nose, between the eyes and it just had a jaws of life grip on the lab...would not let go. I pulled and thought I might get away with the sound scaring it off rather than killing it since it had a leash and clearly had gotten away from its owner. I shot two into the mud and it fled.....The owner came running with the dog and its bloody face on the leash after a minute or so and long story short my friend ended up doing about the same damage to the guy when he tried to go after my cousin as the pit did to the lab.
Aside from that living in the country I have only drawn on raccoon's when they end up in my trap for causing trouble and I take them for a long drive to release them well away from my property. So far only one turned around and made me put my finger on the trigger but bolted...but with those things you never know what they will do when you let them out.
 

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