Bull rushed by two Pitt-Bulls

Out walking with my daughter and my dog, a Golden, through my neighborhood this morning, when we were suddenly bull rushed by a pair of Pitts, coming through the fence from the house on my left... Growling and claws on pavement signaled impending doom, so I dropped the leash, swept up my daughter into my non-draw hand, as high as I could hold her, and swung around putting me between the dogs and my little girl. Turning around, my Golden had one of the dogs pinned, and the owner of the dogs came running around the corner, pulling the other dog away. My hand was on my .45 the whole time, ready. The guy grabbed his other dog from under mine, saying how they were really sweet, normally.

About this time his eyes landed on the 1911 on my hip, and the apologies came flooding forth, trying to shake my hand, saying he was going to kennel his dogs from here on....I simply looked him in the eye and said "It could have been MUCH worse." Made sure my dog was okay, and moved on with my day. Almost filled his "sweet" dogs with holes...

Closest I've ever been to drawing my Colt; the ol heart rate was moving along nicely....

Head on a swivel out there folks, cheers....

I know what you mean, the only time I have ever had to draw my weapon (either service pistol or private) was in my front yard when a neighbors dog came charging at me barking and foaming at the mouth. My wifes cat was behind me but I thought he was coming at me so I drew my Tauras 45. Millienium and took it off safe. The dog was about 4 feet away when its owner yelled and came running making the dog stop. The dogs nose was about 3 feet from my barrel. Another second and the dog would have had a lead facial.

Only time I have ever had to pull my pistol and that includes three wars and working as a Federal Security Officer for 4 years.

Oh but I thought pitbulls were such friendly creatures that could never hurt anything. Every pit owner swears that they are just full of love....

Say it isn't so....

Been told a million times before, "Don't exaggerate." :lol:

If a charging pit (spelled with 1 "t") bull terrier is 3 feet from your muzzle and you haven't fired yet - guess what - you don't have time left to fire before he makes contact.

At 30 mph that dog is going to cover the 3 ft. within .1467 seconds! Faster than you can react with time to stop him IMO. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_fast_does_a_pit-bull_run

Deserteagle8338 said:

Oh but I thought pitbulls were such friendly creatures that could never hurt anything. Every pit owner swears that they are just full of love....

Say it isn't so....

Click to expand...

I was mauled by a border collie as a child, I don't think the breed matters. It just happens that pit bulls are a very popular breed.

WalkingWolf said:

I was mauled by a border collie as a child, I don't think the breed matters. It just happens that pit bulls are a very popular breed.

Click to expand...

You are correct that any dog can attack you, but I would argue that pitbulls seem to attack innocent people more than other common breeds.

A few years back, was walking my mother's dog in her backyard when one the neighbors dalmatians came bursting through the 8ft high hedge, charged, bit my mother's dog and turned on me. I suspect the roofing hammer (that I just happened to still have with me) caught his attention as I charged him--with full intent to kill-- and made the dog reverse course and plunge back in the next yard.

Called the local PD and was told that perhaps animal control will be by sometime in the next few days. I informed the dispatcher that she could cancel the call...the dog (and others) had been doing this for a while, and I would be walking back in the yard again in a few with a .38 to "resolve the issue" if the dog came back. Was told by the dispatcher that "discharging a firearm in the city limits was illegal"...to which I replied "...except in a case of self defense". Hung up and went to wait on the driveway. Amazingly, within 3 minutes a sergeant with the PD arrived to investigate.

Walked him back, showed him the yard with the 6 dalmatians who had been barking virtually non-stop for weeks, and terrorizing the area. He was skeptical until one of them charged him.

2 days later, they were all in a kennel.

OHh man, that really sucks. AND YES! all Pitbull owners always say their Pitts are the sweatest..... I call BS on that

I feel my questions is somewhat related to the thread so Ill post up.

How true is it that you cannot discharge your firearm in your home? I was outside a couple of nights ago and a Coyoto ran passed me and my daughter not 5 feet away. Last night as I was working on a bicicle in the garage I saw a Skunk run out from my back yard, cross the street into my neighbors yard. Dont have a problem with animals in the area, but what happens if my child, wife or myself gets attacked by one and I fire my handgun, shotgun or rifle?

My Sister in law (who lives with us) has told me for the past 3 nights she has heard animals fighting in the backyard.

WalkingWolf said:

I was mauled by a border collie as a child, I don't think the breed matters. It just happens that pit bulls are a very popular breed.

Click to expand...

Deserteagle8338 said:

You are correct that any dog can attack you, but I would argue that pitbulls seem to attack innocent people more than other common breeds.

Click to expand...

Would prefer to defend against a Chihuahua (high top boots work) than a large breed with speed and a powerful bite :uhoh:

Have been bitten by a Scottish Terrier - worked for a vet as a teenager.

By a miniature dachshund when I pulled him out from under a car after being hit....by his teeth.

By a German Shepard on an employee's porch - dog was very territorial - clean puncture wound between thumb and index finger. (ouch!)

Almost did a mag dump on a very large mixed breed that slipped his collar while being walked in a local park. He charged, barking and snarling from over a 150 ft away - was in a firing stance with finger tightening on the trigger before he finally responded to his master's frantic commands - distance(?) maybe 25-30 ft.

Anything with teeth can hurt you if circumstances are right. I'll tell you about my squirrel bite one day and/or my mom's bat bite - we both had to have the anti-rabies shots.

GTShooter said:

OHh man, that really sucks. AND YES! all Pitbull owners always say their Pitts are the sweatest..... I call BS on that

I feel my questions is somewhat related to the thread so Ill post up.

How true is it that you cannot discharge your firearm in your home? I was outside a couple of nights ago and a Coyoto ran passed me and my daughter not 5 feet away. Last night as I was working on a bicicle in the garage I saw a Skunk run out from my back yard, cross the street into my neighbors yard. Dont have a problem with animals in the area, but what happens if my child, wife or myself gets attacked by one and I fire my handgun, shotgun or rifle?

My Sister in law (who lives with us) has told me for the past 3 nights she has heard animals fighting in the backyard.

Click to expand...

Not sure of the laws in CO...but from what I have seen...most laws/ordinances have a self-defense or "lawful" reason exemption built-in. Otherwise, they are legislating no self-defense. Just my $0.02...IANAL...

Might want to check municode or amlegal for your local laws/ordinances.

I've had to pull on dogs to, and I've owned and trained many different breeds of dogs for both hunting and as service animals. I can tell you from personal experience that human aggression (dogs being agressive towards humans) can be found in some breeds such as german shepards, rotts, or dobermans. How ever, the pitbull class (pitbull is a group not a breed) was bred to be very docile towards humans. When you find pits that show signs of human aggression, it is almost always due towards either training or neglect. People these days like to use pits as an attack dog due to 2 things, they look aggressive, and their high drive to please their master. That same drive is what makes them one of the best dogs for soldiers with PTSD. Let's stop the breed bashing and focus on the fact that the OP was able to maintain control of the situation without having to unholster his weapon, and no own was seriously injured.

Also, as a side note, there is no such thing as a locking jaw in the canine kingdom, and while the small skull is an issue for some breeds, the pitbull group does not suffer from that issue. They are generally one of the healthier groups of dogs.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

DamonK said:

--snipped--
the pitbull class (pitbull is a group not a breed)

Click to expand...

Well, kinda, sorta so; but not in total.

The term “Pit Bull” as used in these pages, is meant to refer to the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) breed ONLY. This is a purebred
recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) and the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA). However, the media, legislators and others use this same term incorrectly to describe a certain group of dogs that actually includes several breeds and types. Included in this group are: American Pit Bull Terriers/American Staffordshire Terriers, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers, sometimes Bull Terriers and American Bulldogs, mixes with percentage of blood of any one of these breeds and dogs that simply look like these breeds.
http://www.realpitbull.com/center.html

One of my neighbors has a pit bull, he is a very happy dog, and far from dangerous. I think a lot of people train pit bulls to be mean. I have owned a couple breeds claimed to be mean, I only had problem with one dog. He was dangerous to other people and we had him put down, it was a hard day and decision for both of us.

Dog ownership brings with it responsibilities - not unlike gun ownership is it. [rhetorical]

carolina guy said:

one the neighbors dalmatians came bursting through the 8ft high hedge, charged, bit my mother's dog and turned on me. I suspect the roofing hammer (that I just happened to still have with me) caught his attention as I charged him - with full intent to kill - and made the dog reverse course and plunge back in the next yard.

Click to expand...

I don't think the hammer itself had a thing to do with the dog going back where it should be.
Your retaliatory attack, chasing him off, was probably full of body language that told the dog what you said here in words - if you caught him you'd kill him.
Dogs understand that.
He might have been hit before, & realized you had something to hit him with.

WalkingWolf said:

It just happens that pit bulls are a very popular breed.

Click to expand...

The real problem is that pits are popular with a certian kind of owner. Not all owners, mind you, but many. Unfortunately, it's the breed that gets the bad rep.

O2

Dogs ARE sort of like guns. DOG CONTROL is the issue. Yes- Bull Terriers are really great dogs, and they love to play, but when they "go off" on some pet, or person - it ain't no joke.

Interestingly, I have this theory that some "Pit Bull" owners have for one reason , or another opted for their pet rather than a firearm for homestead defense.

The funny thing was, both dogs we on leashes. Came through the fence, but nobody was holding the other end of the leash! I am really glad that I didn't have to pull my firearm, or shoot his dog, or dogs. It happened so fast though, I am much more aware that I was lucky, and that my dog probably saved us. Had it been only me and my daughter, I would have either had to shoot one of them, or they wouldn't have charged us. That's about all I can say about it.

Just glad it didn't go down any other way...

Grapeshot said:

Would prefer to defend against a Chihuahua (high top boots work) than a large breed with speed and a powerful bite :uhoh:

Have been bitten by a Scottish Terrier - worked for a vet as a teenager.

By a miniature dachshund when I pulled him out from under a car after being hit....by his teeth.

By a German Shepard on an employee's porch - dog was very territorial - clean puncture wound between thumb and index finger. (ouch!)

Almost did a mag dump on a very large mixed breed that slipped his collar while being walked in a local park. He charged, barking and snarling from over a 150 ft away - was in a firing stance with finger tightening on the trigger before he finally responded to his master's frantic commands - distance(?) maybe 25-30 ft.

Anything with teeth can hurt you if circumstances are right. I'll tell you about my squirrel bite one day and/or my mom's bat bite - we both had to have the anti-rabies shots.

Click to expand...

Since you worked for a vet, you are well aware that pitbulls attack humans more than any other breed, so this info from the CDC must not be a surprise.

http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/images/dogbreeds-a.pdf


Pitbulls take the lead for attacks:
Pitbulls- 66
Second place and significantly less, Rottweilers- 39
Third place- German Sherpards, even lower- 17

Happy to hear that the OP didn't have to pull his firearm, and the dogs were (relatively) restrained.

As the owner of a Rott, I know all about the bad stigma. I can't blame people for shooting a dog (even if its mine) if its out of control and barreling after you. Breed doesn't matter. Little dogs can do lots of damage too.