Dealing With Aggressive Roaming Dogs

So tonight I got chased into my house by two decent size dogs that sneaked up behind me in my back yard. I've seen them before with a third dog and chased them off, but this time they seemed to be hunting me. Unfortunately they mistook my run to the house as a retreat, rather than my going to get a gun. By the time I got the pistol the dogs were gone. I've never considered watering the garden as a time to be packing heat.

I went to the the house that I am pretty sure they live at and told the owners I will shoot the dogs if I see them again. At first they pretended they didn't know the dogs, but when I mentioned that they won't mind when I shoot them I got their attention. I have a toddler and a newborn and my wife doesn't need to be watching for berkeleyin dingos in the back yard. My local PD actually told me I could shoot them, or if I possibly have a "rat" problem I can put out some poison (gotta love small town cops).

Anyone else dealt with this crap? I really don't need this right now.

(edit) Just spoke to county animal control. Apparently I am only allowed to shoot the dogs if I happen to have my gun on me at the time. And the shot has to be front facing (head shot) or chest shot. No broadside, no backside. If I go in the house to retrieve the gun, I get in trouble since technically I am then safe. So it looks like I'll be watering the peppers with a heater from now on. On the up side, animal control has been chasing the same dogs for a little while now. At least I'm not the only one.

They're rabid about leash laws up here. I haven't seen a loose dog in years. But holy hell, being chased by aggressive dogs is just not cool, glad you called the cops.

Shoot

Shovel

Shut up.

I am all for being humane.. but if you were in danger.. what would your (I imagine) smaller wife or kids be in? I would have to shoot first and be sick later

mad_machine wrote: I am all for being humane.. but if you were in danger.. what would your (I imagine) smaller wife or kids be in? I would have to shoot first and be sick later

My wife is too busy watching the kids to keep an eye on the woods behind her. I can't tell her her she has to keeps the kids cooped all day either. There were some kids killed in my county a few years ago by different loose dogs, so this kind of thing scares the crap out of me.

Will wrote: Shoot Shovel Shut up.

QFT.

Dr. Hess wrote:

Will wrote: Shoot Shovel Shut up.

QFT.

Just to reiterate this is the proper method I will tell you what happened to me.

We had a neighborhood dog that came around. This wasn't the only one, we all let our dogs visit, but this one wanted to bite people.

He snapped at me, I scared it away,

He snapped at me again, scared it away. I tell my wife if that dog snaps at me again I am going to shoot it. She says no, it is friends with our dog and it would upset our sons.

He snapped at my wife, she scared it away.

He snapped at me a 3rd time, I scared it away.

He snapped at my oldest son, I come home, wife says "You still wanna kill that dog? It snapped at Morgan."

pop from.22 Ruger Bearcat and a trip to the local forest.

Illegal, a little (discharge of a firearm in the city limits) but definitely better than the alternatives.

First you file a report, IF they catch the dog and the owner is fined and the dog is put down. You have to go to court if the neighbor wants to protest, you will get a summons, BTW. Then your neighbor is pissed at you, you have a hostile living environment for as long as you are there with the neighbor.

Do nothing and the animal get more aggressive.

Or the dog just disappears....

Which do you want?

The sad thing is the dog is going to be put down either way or someone is gonna get really hurt. All because the owner did not discipline and train their animal.

sounds to me like you have it under control, just know others have been there.

When on vacation near Haleyville, Alabama; we were traveling down a rural road and a dog came up running quickly out of a ditch and my F-I-law hit it and it stuck under his Delta 88.

I was following in my car and finally the carcass let loose and slid out towards the side of the road. He pulls over a mile later and I freak out asking why he didn't stop.

Pete, he says. When you hit a mans dog in rural Alabama; you don't stop.

A bit of back ground I live in a rural area where plenty of the neighbors dogs roam about. Most of the free roamers are very freindly and therefore I really don't car but there is one that has made trouble, I have had this discussion with my 66yro mother who lives next door to me about a nieghbors dog. I have chased it out of our yard numerous times and it is less aggresive with me, but when it chased her into the house I told her to put a shot gun by the door and unleash hell if it got onto the front porch. I have since talked to my neighbor in a nice way about her dog being aggresive off her property and for the most part she has taken the hint and kept the dog in her yard. I don't want to hurt it as it is actually pretty nice when the owner is with it, but if it comes at my mother again and I am home it might not make it to the edge of the yard.

Buy a good paintball gun, or get salt-loads for your shotgun. Paintballs hurt. Salt loads can kill, but for the most part they pierce the skin and burn like a SOB, especially when you shoot in the hindquarters.

The proper and humane way is to contact animal control. Depending on where you live the response time could be 10 minutes or 10 months.

I dealt with one once. I responded instinctively (because I was scared out of my mind) and kicked. My size-13 caught the dog squarely in the ribs and I felt a few ribs break. That dog was my bitch from there on out. She would slink up to me and roll over while evacuating her bladder. I think the salt loads would accomplish the same thing while keeping you safer. I can't recommend letting the dog get that close hoping for a lucky kick.

I'm a bit of a softie when it comes to animals, but I can't condone killing a dog for improper training or dysfunctional reactions. If a disturbed child does something socially inappropriate, do you shoot it, or educate it?

Check with your local laws, but most states allow you to trap and neuter/spay wild dogs. Most areas also have a free clinic for spays/neuters. Chopping off a dog's nuts goes a LONG way to calming it down. Plus, you are preventing from a near-certainty of mammary cancer, testicular cancer, ovarian infections, uteran cancer and other inflictions which plague unaltered animals. (not to mention preventing them from making more jerky offspring)

Life lesson I am slowly learning: When you move to the country to buy an affordable house and a different style of living, you end up in a neighborhood with a couple three toothed yokels who dun gradjuhmuhtated frum thuh trailer park. We have said yokels across the street. I have a one year old child. Their boxers who used to be in cages barking all goddamned night are now roaming the neighborhood. Neighbor dude is unfriendly, unstable, unapproachable, and weird. I have informed the wife that I will kill them (dogs) if I catch them in the back yard. She's down with the program.

While I'm not a "dog person," I don't want to kill an animal, but will to protect my family. Side note: We've taken care of two of their outdoor cats (had them spayed/neutered, took them to the vet when they had horribly infected wounds.)

Worthless pieces of E36 M3.

The next house will come with so much acreage that I'll not hesitate to kill whatever "accidentally" stumbles upon it.

poopshovel wrote: Life lesson I am slowly learning: When you move to the country to buy an affordable house and a different style of living, you end up in a neighborhood with a couple three toothed yokels who dun gradjuhmuhtated frum thuh trailer park. We have said yokels across the street. I have a one year old child. Their boxers who used to be in cages barking all goddamned night are now roaming the neighborhood. Neighbor dude is unfriendly, unstable, unapproachable, and weird. I have informed the wife that I will kill them (dogs) if I catch them in the back yard. She's down with the program. While I'm not a "dog person," I don't want to kill an animal, but will to protect my family. Side note: We've taken care of two of their outdoor cats (had them spayed/neutered, took them to the vet when they had horribly infected wounds.) Worthless pieces of E36 M3. The next house will come with so much acreage that I'll not hesitate to kill whatever "accidentally" stumbles upon it.

I have one thing to say: "amen." Well said.

poopshovel wrote: While I'm not a "dog person," I don't want to kill an animal, but will to protect my family.

OMG... there was this deer in the back yard. It was totally giving me the "eye."

Long story short, I bought a bigger grill and fired up the crock pot.

Ruger

curtis73 wrote: k. I'm a bit of a softie when it comes to animals, but I can't condone killing a dog for improper training or dysfunctional reactions. If a disturbed child does something socially inappropriate, do you shoot it, or educate it?

No, but I wouldn't assign the same value to a dog that I do to a child.

z31maniac wrote:

curtis73 wrote: k. I'm a bit of a softie when it comes to animals, but I can't condone killing a dog for improper training or dysfunctional reactions. If a disturbed child does something socially inappropriate, do you shoot it, or educate it?

No, but I wouldn't assign the same value to a dog that I do to a child.

Neither would I, but I don't separate them as much as many people do. Animals have souls, its just that they aren't as disassociated from their souls as we are. IMO we need to recognize that our minds and our souls are (generally) separated by a massive chasm. Once we recognize that animals aren't that way, we can learn how to treat these situations that respect both humans and animals.

What I'm saying is: randomly killing animals because they misbehave is not always appropriate any more than killing your neighbor because he/she refuses to cut the branch hanging over your property. Understanding your neighbor and learning how to communicate with mutual respect will often solve the situation while enlightening both of you. The same thing can be true of these vicious dogs.

But, if no common respect can be earned, a .38-55 is my choice of calibers. For the most part, the bullet completely disintegrates which means ballistic matching is nearly impossible. One shot to the vitals can liquify most of the abdominal organs, but make sure its within about 75 yards; after 100 yards you could practically catch that 255-grain bullet with a baseball mitt.

Flight Service wrote:

Dr. Hess wrote:

Will wrote: Shoot Shovel Shut up.

QFT.

Just to reiterate this is the proper method I will tell you what happened to me. We had a neighborhood dog that came around. This wasn't the only one, we all let our dogs visit, but this one wanted to bite people. He snapped at me, I scared it away, He snapped at me again, scared it away. I tell my wife if that dog snaps at me again I am going to shoot it. She says no, it is friends with our dog and it would upset our sons. He snapped at my wife, she scared it away. He snapped at me a 3rd time, I scared it away. He snapped at my oldest son, I come home, wife says "You still wanna kill that dog? It snapped at Morgan." pop from.22 Ruger Bearcat and a trip to the local forest. Illegal, a little (discharge of a firearm in the city limits) but definitely better than the alternatives. First you file a report, IF they catch the dog and the owner is fined and the dog is put down. You have to go to court if the neighbor wants to protest, you will get a summons, BTW. Then your neighbor is pissed at you, you have a hostile living environment for as long as you are there with the neighbor. Do nothing and the animal get more aggressive. Or the dog just disappears.... Which do you want? The sad thing is the dog is going to be put down either way or someone is gonna get really hurt. All because the owner did not discipline and train their animal. sounds to me like you have it under control, just know others have been there.

Unless you can get a head shot on a charging animal, which is highly unlikely, I wouldn't recommend a .22. Of course, if you're going to snipe the animal like this poster probably did, I don't think it matters. Just make sure you actually kill the thing if you shoot it.

I sold a sixty something year old Vietnam vet a .22 rifle because a coyote had been coming around and one of his dogs got missing.

A couple months pass and he tells me he has killed two deer with the gun. I said he was brave to try and use it to take down a deer. He said you just have to know where to aim.

Depending on how far out in the country you live, some counties will rent you traps for a small deposit. Or you can get 550 rounds of .22 ammunition for $20 at Wal-Mart.

pepper paint balls next question

Lesley wrote: They're rabid about leash laws up here. I haven't seen a loose dog in years. But holy hell, being chased by aggressive dogs is just not cool, glad you called the cops.

Not in this part of the province. I see loose dogs every day.

We do have packs of wild dogs, but I've never seen them.

seems to me that you might be able to solve your problem by accidentally leaving the drain pan full of anti freeze in your back yard the next time you flush your cooling system... maybe accidentally leave some dog food out right next to it, too..

Animal cruelty is high profile news these days. No matter how you feel about the aggressive animal circumstances think of the consequences first... be legal... or film at 11

curtis73 wrote: Animals have souls, its just that they aren't as disassociated from their souls as we are.

yeah, all we are is dust in the wind, bro.

novaderrik wrote: seems to me that you might be able to solve your problem by accidentally leaving the drain pan full of anti freeze in your back yard the next time you flush your cooling system... maybe accidentally leave some dog food out right next to it, too..

This, and the rat poison suggestion, are very, very bad and evil ideas.

1) It's a very slow and very painful death. Inhumane doesn't even begin to describe the agony the animals will go through.

2) You have zero control of what will actually consume your poison. You could wind up killing someone's innocent pet or multiple wildlife creatures.

3) If I find that you've done this, I will drive to your house and kick you in the balls. And really, I've got better things to do with my time.