I killed a Rottweiler... with my mind

[Ten*K]

But she was a good dog, so she's perfectly fine.

And now: the rest of the story.

I was out for a stroll through the neighborhood with my wife, new baby girl, and our jaunty little west highland terrier on Sunday afternoon. We casually know most of the folks... and all of the dogs. I am always a "head on a swivel" kind of guy, and I always carry. I was CC'ing my .45 commander (Kimber crimson trace II in crossbreed supertuck), myself on the outboard side of the sidewalk (with the leashed dog), my wife on the inboard side with the baby in a carrier sling.

We rounded a hedge dividing two yards and there, sitting on the front porch (about 25 feet in from the walk), was an absolute hulk of a Rottweiler. Heavy choker collar and harness, but not leashed. An older woman bent over in the flower garden (exactly like those painted silhouettes you see) at the other end of the house pulling weeds doesn't notice our presence.

I cleared my shirt as the Rotty stood up. I stepped between the beast and my wife and child, and pulled short my own dog's leash.

The Rotty growled, its hackles up. I touched the pistol grip. I mentally committed to shooting this dog the moment it came at us. The 25 feet would have been covered in about 2 seconds (thank you, combat shooting skills!)

"PRISSY! DOWN!", bellows the old lady. Prissy? Are you shitting me? The dog whimpered, then sat back on its haunches, never taking it's eyes off of us.

I dropped my shirt, but stayed between Prissy and my girls & dog till we passed by. The woman looks up as we pass her and says "Hello" and sees the baby and my dog. She says, "beautiful day for a family walk!". I nod and say I should be weeding my own lawn instead of relaxing. She mentions she's here for the weekend visiting her daughter with her "little puppy". We smile, and casually move along.

Prissy is still watching us. I'm still watching her. It's then that I notice my heart beating faster, a twitch in my fingers... The slow, deep breaths. My wife's eyes still wide.

And that, friends, is the closest I have ever come (as a civillian) to using my firearm in the past 7 years. And what a set of circumstances to have surrounding it. Wife... Newborn... Best buddy. I like most dogs more than I like most people. But I can honestly report that I did not hesitate, freeze up, or fumble my almost-draw/shoot. I was wholly committed to the action. That alone is a testament to what training and repetition can do for you. I am certainly thankful for the time I spent slapping leather in the mirror like some fool cowboy, at the range, and in my brain. Doesn't seem foolish at all.

[Curmudgeon]

Just a quick note as I have to head out for work...

This post really demonstrates the importance of good situational awareness, and training.

Caught off guard, you could have fired when you didn't need to.
Caught off guard, you could have failed to fire when you needed to.

Well done, and rep sent.

[MicroMonkey]

Nice awareness. being caught off guard like that is tough. I also had an incident similar, only I rounded the corner of my own house fiddling with pruning shears, when a person walking their "large black and brown dog" (dont know what it was), I didnt know my mother-in-law was on my porch with her shitzu dog, and the person dropped the leash, and that dog was headed towards my wife and daughter on the porch (hindsight, it was after that little dog). I dropped the shears and grabbed the grip on my 1911........Luckily for the dog, the woman regained control of the dogs leash, and luck for me, I OC and the gun is always readily at hand. My heart was beating like nuts, but I was ready to kill it.
The woman who dropped the leash just kept right on walking and playing with her cell phone.......she had no idea lol

I never drew, but un-snapped the holster alot faster than i thought I ever would. Training with a holster does come in handy

[Grizz2720]

I ran as a EMT with the Vol Fire dept for years. We had a rescue call. When we got there we found a person down in the sunken living room. While we were working the patient a huge Rotty walks out of the hall way and sits down at the top of the steps watching us. Before we left a family member walks in and stands buy the Rotty. No one said anything till we left the Hospital but I am positive that the dog would not have let us leave if it decided we were hurting its owner.

[JDC]

This situation definitely would have called for pepper spray. Chances are you would of had a better chance of stopping him with pepper spray than a bullet unless it was well placed. Way too many reasons why a firearm in this situation was the wrong tool to use.

[jukeboxfun]

This situation definitely would have called for pepper spray. Chances are you would of had a better chance of stopping him with pepper spray than a bullet unless it was well placed. Way too many reasons why a firearm in this situation was the wrong tool to use.

I tend to agree, but I wasn't there. Ultimately it was your call.

[Franky4Fingers]

Regardless of verbal control. Having a huge, hulking, aggressive, dog like that unleashed is like having a full auto assault rifle, loaded, with no trigger guard laying on the ground right by a lane of heavy foot traffic.

All it takes is one stray kick and BRAAAAAP.

If this woman wasnt paying attention, what would that dog have done? What if she doesn't have control of it? Like if something riles the dog up so much its beyond control?

you got rep, btw for keeping control of the chaos.

it also probably wouldnt have hurt to mention to the old lady that her dog just almost got shot....invest in a 10 dollar steel cable lead at the pet store. If she blubbers about how she has control...just keep walking.

[twency]

This situation definitely would have called for pepper spray. Chances are you would of had a better chance of stopping him with pepper spray than a bullet unless it was well placed. Way too many reasons why a firearm in this situation was the wrong tool to use.

I can't speak for the OP but there are only so many things I can carry before it becomes completely impractical to leave the house. If I go out for a walk I'm pushing a stroller filled with a toddler plus his accessories and carrying on my person a wallet, wad o' keys, pen, Leatherman, cell phone, iPod, Glock 19 plus maybe a spare magazine and/or a flashlight; I'm going to be hard-pressed to also justify carrying a can of compressed aerosol seasoning.

I'm joking of course about it being "seasoning", I actually have a can of OC spray and I realize it has its uses, but I'm serious that there's only so much I can carry before it starts to seem not worth the effort to walk out the front door. I think the OP did well under the circumstances. It certainly seems to me he would have been justified in shooting if the dog approached in a threatening manner.

[Exbiker]

Overreaction.

[WVneighbor]

Overreaction.

[sarcasm] But it was an "aggressive" breed [/sarcasm]