Could you fight off an attack from a dog ?

[Gref]

At a certain point it's jaw muscles are so open it loses a lot of the force it typically would have to bit down, especially if you are pressing into its back gum/ muscles. You could try this on yourself. Bite into a normal sized orange. Then find one that stretches you jaw as wide open as it possibly can and then try to bite down on it. It becomes a lot tougher for that initial squeeze.

Also as already noted here, most dogs have a really bad gag reflex. Shoving your arm/fist into its mouth causes its tongue to also shove down there throat causing them to choke, and the natural reaction is for them to back off from the thing that is choking them.

Yes this. God sake said this already. And others. Dont try to pull but push and try to stablize the dogs headshake. Glad there are people who knows what the fuck to do.

[Arganis]

At a certain point it's jaw muscles are so open it loses a lot of the force it typically would have to bit down, especially if you are pressing into its back gum/ muscles. You could try this on yourself. Bite into a normal sized orange. Then find one that stretches you jaw as wide open as it possibly can and then try to bite down on it. It becomes a lot tougher for that initial squeeze.

Also as already noted here, most dogs have a really bad gag reflex. Shoving your arm/fist into its mouth causes its tongue to also shove down there throat causing them to choke, and the natural reaction is for them to back off from the thing that is choking them.

I can't believe how many of you are trying to make this sound like good advice... If you're a 300lbs gorilla who knows no pain, then maybe shoving your arm down the throat of an attacking dog (and I'm thinking of a real dog here, not some chihuahua) is a good idea. For the rest of humanity it's a very bad idea.

[Kapadons]

I can't believe how many of your are trying to make this sound like good advice... If you're a 300lbs gorilla who knows no pain, then maybe shoving your arm down the throat of an attacking dog (and I'm thinking of a real dog here, not some chihuahua) is a good idea. For the rest of humanity it's a very bad idea.

I've personally done it to my dads German Shepard. Now he wasn't trying to rip my arm off , but he still had his mouth around my forearm, I shoved it as hard as I could back at him and his jaw loosened, he gagged pretty hard and then walked off. He doesn't put his mouth around people any more.

It seems you are thinking this will cause the dog to bite you or bite you harder. You only do this if the dog already has his mouth around your arm or fist. And it does not make him bite harder, it actually does the opposite. Causes him to either lose the power in his jaw or causes him to gag and let go.

[Gref]

I can't believe how many of you are trying to make this sound like good advice... If you're a 300lbs gorilla who knows no pain, then maybe shoving your arm down the throat of an attacking dog (and I'm thinking of a real dog here, not some chihuahua) is a good idea. For the rest of humanity it's a very bad idea.

Ok, it is a bad idea. so why not kick, knee-kick use your other arm to punch, take its eyes out. worst case scenerio, it knocked you down, its on top of you. which would make kicking easier actually. Why not use any part of your body. Won't you fight back? It is a fucking dog, a dog that can't think and feels pain just as you do. why not use the brain you have and instead of surrender and lose your arm,leg,neck or life but fight back?

The shit is serious, you are bitten hard, the dog trying to tear your limbs off, say bonapetit? There are 9238743829743 ways you can do to defend yourself really but yeah as you said not much can be expected from that kind of people.

[Mavett]

Had an incident with a large German Shepherd male which tried to attack my dog (Mini black Schnauzer) no neck strap to grab and pull away and the idiot owner far behind thought there was nothing wrong, i tried to act as barrier between the Shepherd and my dog but he got more aggressive and attempted to bite, so i just jumped on it and applied my weight on it while pressing the neck and head against the ground until the owner ran up and put a leash on it and had the nerve to swear at me for "assaulting his dog", filed a complaint and he got arrested for 25 days and paid a fine (It's illegal here to release such large dogs to roam without a leash or proper training).

Not exactly a small guy myself and was able to put it down without much effort, but still it's a scary experience when you own smaller dogs.

[melzas]

My mum told me a story, that when me and my brother were still infants, she was on a walk in the park with us, pushing one of us in a baby carriage and holding the other one on their arms when she was attacked by a big stray dog. She is a very gentle woman and generally scared of dogs, but back then she was quite fit and she says that adrenaline kicked in and "mother instict" took over and she fought the dog off with kicks (and baby in her arms).

Moral of this story is - don't underestimate yourself, adrenaline rush is a powerful thing, especially when you are fighting to protect not only yourself but your loved ones (like my mum or OP). If your brain turns onto "fighting mode" instead of "run away mode", I think most people would be able to fight off average stray dog (trained dogs are different story though).

[Kaeth]

My family used to have a psycho dog (a fear biter) when I was a teenager. We were suckers and didn't want to put it down.

Long story short, that's how I learned how to put a dog in a headlock without being bitten in the process. But I'd still piss myself if I had to do it to an angry pit bull.

[lonely zergling]

I regulary have to fight off attacks of my brothers dog. He tries to kill me every time he sees me. Its just a chihuahua so its not that hard though.

[Independent voter]

Find a stick like the size of a cane or a pool cue and present it to the vicious dog. The dog will bite the stick thinking it's you, this is a fault in the dog's programming.

I've also put my finger straight into a dog's mouth cause the front teeth between the canines are tiny. Dogs get confused af when you do this.

If a dog does have a hold on you, go for the nose, either pinch it shut or punch it. You can also try reaching under them grabbing their hind leg and pulling.

[Zoibert the Bear]

Dogs have very strong jaw muscles, it's specially strong when closing the bite, but you can easily keep it shut. If you can manage to get a grip around it's neck and hold the mouth shut, it won't be able to do any significant harm to you.

I have a 185+ lb monster at home, and even he can't resist a proper lock. Now, an aggressive dog will not let you get close to it and always keep looking at you. Best bet is get a stick to force some distance and get away if possible.

[Bapestar]

And suddenly everyone is Rambo and Cesar Millan combined.

[Kapadons]

And suddenly everyone is Rambo and Cesar Millan combined.

Now I gotta watch that south park episode making fun of Cesar. Thanks for that

[Flutterguy]

Not sure, but I do know I'd try to do damage to the head and if I had to beat the dog to death if I'm unarmed. I love animals, but not at the cost of my own safety. But who knows what would ever actually happen.

[Deleted]

Really depends on the dog, but I'm only a skinny girl with bad fighting instincts so I would probably die xD then again when it comes to animals I've always done quite well. Stopped a cow charging at me, well she wasn't really charging, she was just running the wrong direction away from the farmer, but she got within a couple feet of me and would've hurt but I instinctively put my arms up and just yelled HEY at her and she just stopped long enough for the farmer to chase her back =p not the same as a raging angry bull coming my way, but it's all that's really happened to me xD

Anyway, when it comes to dogs, any variable could apply; is it large? is it rabid? is it hungry/scared/lost? Also really depends on the breed, some dogs are bred to just clamp down and shake until what it's got dies, whereas some dogs just try to rip and tear their way through. TBH I don't think I would be able to fight off something larger than me, and many dogs would be larger than me, though smaller even vicious dogs I think I would be able to stop, and I would never kill something unless I thought my/someones life was in danger, if not I would just try to subdue it, no point killing a hungry lost dog to me.

[Cephilia]

Considering most fighting dogs weigh about the same as I do, there's very little chance for me to fight one off. Then again, I know a lot about dogs and could most likely discourage one from attacking me and with some luck I might be able to hurt one enough to make it back off if they have any sense in them (most fighting dogs in their adrenaline fueled attack don't though).

[Hyve]

Depends on the dog. It's easy enough to break up a fight between two dogs (Pull their hind legs), but if a dog goes for you, that's a different matter. I think I could, but I'd come out of it pretty badly if the dog had gone totally crazy and snapped.

[Deleted]

You can hold a dog's mouth closed if you can catch it, but then you're stuck holding the dog's mouth closed, so good luck with that.

you could break its neck if you have its mouth shut, just twist and snap

[Ciddy]

Depends on the dog, I guess. I've never been attacked by a dog, so I can't really say how well I'd handle it. I'm not a big guy, so I guess it depends on how well trained and heavy the dog is. I would imagine you're ok as long as you can stay on your feet, but if the dog manages to get you down, it's gg.

Although...before you say anything about how anyone should be able to handle a dog, I've seen vids of police chases where the bad guy got taken down by a dog. This is a police dog that's specifically been trained to take down bad guys, of course (big difference between that and some random stray), but still.

[Reeve]

Yeah, I'm under the impression that I could easily take most dogs. Like I might get chewed up a bit, but the dog would probably be even worse off.

[Ghostpanther]

One dog, maybe. And it depends on the person they attack. Best to be armed when you go for your walks. A jogger in Michigan last year was attacked and killed by 2 Rotts. If it had only been one, maybe he would have survived. I feel pretty confident he would have, if he had been packing heat.