Could you fight off an attack from a dog ?

[Kapadons]

Was on a walk through the neighborhood with wife, kids and our Labrador, when what appeared to be a stray dog started to kind of follow us. He wasn't right on our tail but as we progressed through the neighborhood he was always like 40-50 feet behind us. For like 30 minutes. He finally just stopped and wandered off.

From a distance it appeared to be a boxer and something else mixed. Had the head of a boxer but was smaller than what a typical boxer would be.

My wife started to get worried cause our son is only 5 and our dog is a total pusscake. And she said people had been posting on our nextdoor app that a dog like that had been aggressive towards others in the neighborhood.

I was totally unworried as I felt that I could easily have fought off the dog if it became aggressive. This started a conversation between us that lasted the rest of the walk. She has why many would call an appropriate fear of larger dogs, especially breeds that are known to be agressive like pit bulls and Rottweilers and German Shepard. I don't have this fear. I'm running under the impression (perhaps falsely) that I could kick the shit out of any dog. I may take some bites and scratches but at the end of the day I could snap a dogs jaw or neck if the situation ever came up that it was life or death or protecting my kids.

I've seen videos of people being attacked by police dogs and guard dogs but it seems most of them run away from the dog and get caught from behind, taken down and chewed up.

What do you think, could you take on a dog and live to tell about it ?

[Eviscero]

Misread thread title as "Could Clinton fight off an attack from a dog ?" because of it's proximity to another Clinton-related thread. I love it when I accidentally mishear/see something better than was actually said/written!

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Unless you're armed...you will probably not have much luck fighting off something like a pitbull.

[nonameelf]

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.

[Darkeon]

I like to think that I'd be able to. I'm quite a big built man. Assuming I wouldn't be taken by surprise from a very vulnerable position and\or off-guard, of course.

If things would go sour and if it would turn out to be the case that I'd be overestimating myself, I'd say that it would all depend on the breed and nature of the dog.

[Deleted]

Depends on the dog.

[Kapadons]

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.

I was thinking the other way. Holding it open. Or pulling his bottom jaw so far down it snaps.

[Khadgar]

In most cases yes, I would simply use my fingers and gouge the dogs eyes out.

[Kronik85]

Me? No lol. You vs an actual trained attack dog? Not a sniff either. They are trained to use their low centre of gravity and bite to essentially pull you down and once that happens it's GG. Any dog with a lock jaw will fuck you up too since it will never let go of your arm and you'll be in so much pain you won't think straight.

So you, me, whoever. Not as easy as you think.

[Techno-Druid]

I have and I could.

I was at a friend's house and he invited me downstairs to watch TV, had a nice brown pit bull with some anxiety issues (the dog went through a lot of moving around) so he went for me and I grabbed him around the neck and put him in a headlock and put my weight on him until he calmed down. I did react pretty slowly, but he didn't injure me critically by any degree.

He wasn't an aggressive dog, he was just mentally disturbed with anxiety. After he calmed he was a nice boy who generally kept his distance.

[Jonnusthegreat]

Very easily. I'm a small man, but it really doesn't take much to beat a dog's strength by using your body to your advantage. A 100+ lb dog trained to kill? probably not. But those 60lb pitbulls? What a joke.

[Collegeguy]

Gouge their eyes out? Push towards them when they bite instead of the retarded instinct to pull away. Probably a dozen different ways if you were trained. A single dog doesn't have much of an advantage if you think about it. That's why they hunted in packs in the wild.

[I Push Buttons]

If I got to use a pocket knife or something and assuming I didn't instantly go to the ground, probably.

As long as I am not low enough that it can get my throat, I assume I would be able to take the hand that wasn't being mutilated and stab the dog.

Probably not so much against a trained attack dog unless I already had the knife out and saw it coming right for me and even then, would probably just be luck.

Without a weapon, probably not... I have seen videos of some dogs latching on and literally getting beaten with rods in the head and shit and not letting go... Big dogs are pretty resilient when high on dog adrenaline.

[Polyxo]

The main advantages a dog has are it has 4 legs, and it has teeth. You need to take advantage of your weight, and get the dog off it's feet.

[Kapadons]

Any dog with a lock jaw will fuck you up too since it will never let go of your arm and you'll be in so much pain you won't think straight.

.

I've "heard" that the only way to get them to let go is to stick your finger up their butt. I've never been interested enough to google it to find out if it was just some jack ass saying it or if there was some legitimacy behind it

[Deleted]

Depends on the size and breed of the dog. Anyone can beat the shit out of a chihuahua or terrier, but bigger/stronger breeds like a mastiff or pitbull can easily fuck you up.

To extend it: Humans vastly underestimate the strength of "weak" (and small) looking animals. In a scenario where the animal decides to fight instead of flee, a lot of things can pummel your ass out there. That oinky wild boar or cute deer could (easily) dispatch you if they wanted.

[Khadgar]

Me? No lol. You vs an actual trained attack dog? Not a sniff either. They are trained to use their low centre of gravity and bite to essentially pull you down and once that happens it's GG. Any dog with a lock jaw will fuck you up too since it will never let go of your arm and you'll be in so much pain you won't think straight.

So you, me, whoever. Not as easy as you think.

In a situation like that your body would be pumping you full of Adrenaline, so the pain wouldn't cripple you that much.

[Kapadons]

Gouge their eyes out? Push towards them when they bite instead of the retarded instinct to pull away. Probably a dozen different ways if you were trained. They really don't have much of an advantage if you think about it.

This is how we had to get one of my dads dogs to stop biting. He wasn't biting hard enough to actually draw blood but wanted to put his mouth on your arm. We would just press our fore arm straight back. It would widen its mouth so much he didn't have the jaw strength to bite down. He would kind of gag then walk away. Only had to do it 2-3 times before he learned to stop putting his mouths on people.

[Gref]

Many times already. At this point I give zero fuck about dogs, big or small. Been attacked from front back took bites. I had really funny encounters where other people would shit bricks. Really, I simply can't understand why people fear. Don't panic. A human can use both arms, mouth, legs. Where as a dog can only use its mouth. Got bitten? Easy, don't panic use your other extensions then the bitten one (if you cant use it really). Dont pull that extension but instead push it and stabilize the dogs head shake. Just yesterday a rottweiler suddenly started to bark at me while crossing the road and the guy holding the leash was having difficult time. I was like you better hold it or there won't be anything to hold. Really so fucking easy. Any standard healthy men can stop a dog. No training required, don't panic use your brain.

[Coldhearth]

I have a 100 lb rott, and I highly doubt anyone would be able to take her down unarmed. The strength and determination of these animals is amazing.

However, she's a total sweetheart so it's a complete nonissue.

I'm fine with rotts and pitts, but dobermans scare the hell out of me for some reason.