a Pit Bull came this ---> <--- close to getting dropped...

[Exbiker]

My first obligation is to my dogs. Pit bulls can be animal aggressive yet people friendly. It's they way they are bred to do their job so the fact he rolled for a belly rub doesn't surprise me.

[afdcomposer]

Good on you dude. Don't beat yourself up about it. You didn't kill anyone's dog, and even though you would have felt horrible about it you would have been in the right if you had.

Cheers,
afd

[Jhaydeno]

You did what I would have done; I stuck my hand in a dog fight once involving a large coonhound, and once was plenty! I don't think you would have been able to get a shot off once it started without risking your own pet; you might have had to wait until one had a 'death grip' on the other. I honestly don't know how you got your dogs inside either, nice job!

FYI, one thing I have learned over the years is that spraying a hose on a dog fight will usually end it pretty quickly.

[zlaya]

I am impressed by your patience and restraint. That's the level I am striving to achieve myself before I am ready to begin carrying. Thanks for not shooting the dog man.

[GrumpyBear]

Good job on handling a tough situation.

I'm glad that there was no blood shed by you or your pets.

[Pilot321]

This is why I keep NON LETHAL methods of deterrent handy. Pepper spray, a walking stick, etc are always close by and I take both when I walk or hike, in addition to my 9MM. Part of this is me being selfish, as I don't want to be sued by a dog owner that I've had to put down for fear of bodily harm, but I also really like dogs as pets, and I would feel badly if I had to shoot a dog.

[DavidTM]

Good job man. I, like some others, am amazed that you got your dogs to comply and get back into the house. Dogs by their very nature are territorial and simply will let all other dogs know that this is their turf and that is that!!

That Pit B. was obviously a friendly mutt as once your dogs were out of the picture and it was just you and him, he sat down and calmed down quickly. Good approach as you did what most "dog people" do when approaching a strange dog. I'm LOL on the fact that he rolled over to have his belly scratched!!

Kudo's to you for a job well done!!

Dave

[QuackXP]

ANIMAL < HUMAN

If you disagree with the above equation, then I have nothing to say to you.

I would not want to hurt or kill an animal but if I felt they where a legitimate threat and could cause injury without the use of deadly force I would do what had to be done. I would feel bad, but not overwhelmingly.

Props to the OP though for being calm enough to assess the situation in the small amount of time that he had. You did save allot of heartache of your own and of the owners dog. I hope they learned a lesson but 9/10 times they do not.

[03SVTCobra]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was just glad my dogs weren't injured. Once they stopped circling each other I thought shit was about to go sideways in a hurry. It happened so damn fast my mind was spinning.

Pilot321 - after this I am going to look into some type of non lethal deterrent to have as a first line defense (for dogs/animals)

I know I legally couldve just dropped the dog the second I saw him since he was running loose and in my yard threatining my animals but I wanted to at least try to salvage the situation first. Although had he turned his attention towards me I wouldn't have hesistated. I think the fact my dogs disengaged when instructed to probably saved the pit's life.

[spartakis252]

----> <---- that close is way to much take up in your trigger....


Of course I say that in jest. However I am not an animal person. It only took one German Shepard to the arm to make me feel that way. I will say you did well in a high stress situation to assess the threat as you saw fit. Since I was not there I can't say much more on the matter.

I pretty much agree with QuackXP.