A debate at work we're having

:hail:

Whether I'd shoot a dog depends on the size of my dog and that of the dog attacking mine. If I'm walking Eve and she's attacked by a Pomeranian, I'm just going to kick the little dog aside. No need to hurt it if you can control the situation otherwise. If a big dog attacks Eve and is biting and making contact with her (not just approaching and making a lot of noise) you bet I'll use whatever I have on me to get that dog off of her. If I kill the dog in the process, tough cookies. I'm sorry, but MY dog's safety is my responsibility. Obviously I'd rather not hurt a dog, but I certainly could shoot one if it was hurting mine.

Letting them fight it out? Ridiculous. The only time I don't step in is if it's a seeming fear-aggressive small dog attacking my larger dog, because I know my dog will be able to quickly and easily put the dog in its place. I trust my dogs to be fair, but I don't trust a random dog-aggressive dog to be fair to MY dog if they were the instigator of the fight. I step in and end it as quickly as possible.

Yes I would report a bite like that. Absolutely.

I have nothing against DA dogs, but for the love of god, keep them on a leash and AWAY from other dogs.

I kinda skimmed. In the OP's friend's case, I think a gun isn't going overboard. I think in most cases I'd prefer something less deadly.

A cattle prod is compact enough to be handy to carry walking and will do wonders for breaking off most dog fights.

Since I don't own a gun I can't really address the shooting issue, although you'd have to be a pretty damnsure shot to be able to KNOW which dog you were going to hit. If you've never dealt with a dog fight, you have NO idea just how fast and how much movement there is going on. Unless one dog has the other one down or has a good hold and isn't turning loose, you'd have a good chance of hitting your own dog.

I thought we were talking about shooting the dog BEFORE a fight happens...? If we weren't talking about that, I think we're all pretty crazy.

Now THATS an idea!!

How much would a cattle prod cost anyhow??

I'm not talking about before the fight, I'm thinking she meant if a dog attacks her dog again, specifically that one, she will shoot it or at it. I can't imagine she or anyone else used to shooting a gun would say oh, there's one that's going to attack - pow.
Does this make me crazy?
The disagreement my coworker & I had was letting the dogs fight it out and her dog better not get shot if it got loose and attacked another dog/owner. She contends it was her fault for getting in the middle. I say she's crazy if a dog is attacking (not going to attack but actually attacking) there is every right to shoot it. Again not a small on big dog but a big dog that can take you on as well. Sorry but that's my opinion. I'm not saying I would shoot it, as I will never own a gun, but if someone/my friend shoots an attacking dog, they had every right to shoot it. Btw my co-worker has american bulldogs and it was her intact male she let fight it out when it happened w/her.

Personally I would change my walk and not go by that house again. I just talked to her and she said she's bruised and a bit sore but not enough to stay home. The woman hasn't come back and the dad was drunk and that's why he wasn't paying attention to the dog. Hopefully this is the wake up call that the dog needs to be restrained while outside and not running loose.
Oh and her dog is 6 yrs old and the pitt wasn't neutered.

what's a DA dog?

My friend was walking her dog on a leash and the other dog came out of his yard and attacked for whatever reason.
Her dog is a pet, not a working dog or from working dog lines. Her dog is a basic black german shepherd. This was in no way my friends fault.

Dog-aggressive, and I wasn't talking about your friend's dog! Just any dog that will attack another dog with the intent to do harm.

DA stands for dog aggressive. Pit bulls are usually dog aggressive and thats why the dog attacked. Akitas, chows, shar peis, and other breeds are also known to be DA.

HA stands for human aggressive.

ah so - thank you,

thought it had to do w/her job. My bad.

Shoot it? No way. Too many things can go wrong in that scenario. She might end up hitting her own dog, hitting someone else with a ricochet, any number of things. Plus a cop who uses their weapon off duty is in for a whole crap sandwich of issues. What weapon you'd use is pretty subjective though. A dog in high drive that has it's sight set on harming another dog or person is going to be hard to stop with a stick. Pepper spray, you'd probably end up hitting your own dog as well. My choice would be a baseball bat. Bust that across the dogs back and break it. I would have no problem doing that to protect any of my dogs.

Fight it out? Your co worker is an idiot. 'nuff said.

Report it? Of course.

As far as the woman telling your friend not to walk by their house again, that would be incentive enough for me to do it every single day.

I don't have a gun, I don't care for them at all. I'd use whatever means I had to protect my dog, though. I'd only use a gun if I knew for absolutely sure that I wouldn't hit my dog. I'd use anything to get an aggressive dog attacking my dog off. I would hate to hurt an animal but you can bet I would if it came down to the life of my own- it's my responsibility to protect my dogs. People need to keep DA dogs controlled, not let them run amok. That seems like such simple common sense, but as has been proven by our experiences, that knowledge is hardly "common" at all.

Letting the dogs "fight it out" is about the most ridiculous "solution" I've heard. No way.

Yes, I would report that kind of bite.