Q: 

A:

I have been in the same situation as you, except that I was walking our dog when she was about 3 months old and we were attacked by a large Doberman.  I did have my expandable baton with me and, in fact, was holding it in my hand as we walked.

The first indication that I had that we were being attacked (it was at night) was the odd sound of clicking on the street.  Because I’ve owned large dogs all of my adult life, I recognized the clicking as the sound of a dog’s nails on the street – and the clicking was rapidly approaching.  I just caught a glimpse of my puppy alerting to trouble and starting to cower which just reinforced my thought that trouble was coming.

I wheeled around and saw the attacking Doberman sprinting toward us about 5 yards away.  This was not a dog running up the street to play with us, this was a dog on a mission. (I have since learned that attack dogs seldom if ever bark before they hit).  I screamed out, “NO, SIT!” which seemed to confuse the dog for a second, but he was so close and sprinting so hard that he still ran into us.  I sensed that the Doberman was going for my puppy and not me since he didn’t leap, he drove forward, into my legs.  All I could think to do in that instant is to hit the Doberman on the top of the head with the bottom part of my baton (the butt end) with a hammerfist type of strike.  The strike was hard and I heard a bony click that was either the sound of the butt of the baton hitting the skull or the dog’s teeth slamming shut from the blow.

In any case, the dog backed up two steps and sat down, licking its lips nervously with its eyes darting from side to side.  I was about ready to deploy the baton (whip it so that the baton expands to full length) so that I could hit the dog again when I heard a women scream something that must have been the dog’s name.  I remembered seeing the woman in our neighborhood before so now all the pieces fit together.  The Doberman obviously got out of the yard and we happened to walk into its sights.

The woman apologized and retrieved her dog.

I returned to my walk with my puppy, only to have that adrenaline dump happen AFTER hitting the Doberman.  So now I’m doing jumping jacks and push ups trying to get rid of the shakes after the brief encounter…who would have thought that a relaxing walk with my pup would have turned into an encounter using a high-level of force?

So, what parts of my story can you take with you?

First, I am not medically restricted and have 19 years of martial arts/defensive tactics training.  My reactions were obviously due to my training, because I didn’t really have a plan beforehand.  I think I yelled to the dog to “sit” because I might have wanted to give it one chance in case it was a friendly dog.  But I’m not sure because the words just jumped out of my mouth before I thought.

Second, I only had one dog to walk, which means I only had one leash.  So my other hand was free to carry my baton.

Third, I don’t think that the sound of the baton opening will have any kind of intimidation on dogs because they don’t have any concept of what the sound means.  All they see is you raising your hand to strike.  Now, that will cause many dogs to cower by itself, but from my limited K-9 experience, I know that certain dogs will simply attack the arm that you are striking with.  I have personally driven off a pack of dogs with two warning shots (12 gauge shotgun), but the sound of the baton deploying is not loud enough.  

So, while I love expandable batons for self-defense, they might not be the best for you in your situation.

For you, I would suggest something that does not take any physical prowess or training.  Something that can force attackers to keep their distance.

I would recommend that you always carry a can of pepper spray.  

You have a lot of options for types of pepper spray, but there are a couple you might want to specifically think about.

One is to carry a spray that is specifically labeled as a “dog repellant”.  It is EPA-approved and no one can argue that you used “too much” force by using it against dogs – that’s what it was created to do.  You can fire it one-handed and it will spray about 10-feet away for about 10 seconds.  The brand that is featured on Defend Gear (www.defendgear.com) is called Muzzle.  It has a key chain and a belt clip so you can always have it with you.  A small detail here is in order.  Because this is a dog repellant, if you are a walker, hiker, cyclist or runner or even a mom pushing a stroller, you can carry this without anyone raising an eyebrow.  Now you can carry an effective self-defense instrument that will have the same deterrent and distraction ability on wild dogs with two legs as well as four.  And no one can accuse you of being paranoid…you simply shrug and explain that you carry it for dogs.

One of my favorites is Bear Repellant.  This comes in a beefy 9-ounce can and has a range of 15 to 20 feet!  Plus, it is formulated with a super-hot 20% pepper spray solution.  It is super potent and has a great range with enough capacity for a number of shots.  The can is big, so you’ll want to carry it in the belt holster (also available on Defend Gear).  For most people the large size of the Bear Repellant is a major drawback (we carry them in our cars although I’ve seen guys carry them in a side pocket in cargo pants), so you can also opt for any one of the personal sized pepper spray units at Defend Gear.

Another unit that I really like is the Pepper Pager.  It looks just like a pager that you wear on your belt, so no one but you knows about your advantage.

The secret is to get one that is right for you and to always keep it with you.  Remember that I already had my baton in my hand in my situation which, undoubtedly, saved me.  You’ll want a unit that clips on your belt or is always available.

It is also known by chemical spray instructors that pepper spray may not work on a sufficiently goal-oriented canine.  The same is true for humans as well.  If the dog is absolutely committed to getting you or your dogs, pepper spray may not deter them.

So what else can you use?  We already talked about expandable batons which work great, but might not be right for you in this instance.  You can use police-type flashlights as a baton, or a cane but, again, they have similar limitations for you.

There is another option that purportedly works for dogs.  Meter readers have used simple umbrellas for years with good effect.  You can open the umbrella and put it in between you and the attacking dog.  Some dogs are apparently frightened off by the opening of the umbrella while the rest cannot figure out how to get around the umbrella.  I've not used this myself so I cannot vouch for it.

The worst situation I got involved in with a dog is recounted on this site in an article which originally appeared in "Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement" magazine.  That was while on duty and included the use of my duty weapon.  There could be an argument made for carrying a firearm to protect yourself from any and all attacks by dogs, wolves, goblins and mutants.  But, be advised that it is difficult to hit a charging target, you are responsible for that bullet that misses, and the community in general gets very, very angry at people that shoot dogs, especially the "family pet" which is how the dog will be remembered after you shoot it.

So, I'm sticking with the recommendations of either pepper spray or expandable baton (or both) when we are out taking our walks.

By the way, I don't know where you live, but I would call the city or the county animal control office and get those aggressive dogs off the streets.

Brad Parker