Some tips on what to do if attacked by a dog while out on a run

That picture removed any possible confidence that I had in the contents of the article...

Dude, running in the suburbs is the worst regarding dog encounters. Most people in the burbs have a dog or dogs, so if a runner runs through the streets, either every dog in that area will bark loudly, or the runner will get chased by a dog.

I'm a city guy who lives in the burbs at the moment, and there are moments in the daytime when they'll be a dog or dogs sitting out on the lawn. In those moments, I usually just turn and run the opposite way. However, I like to run at night, and suburban streets aren't well lit, so every now in then there will be a dog that comes running up to me out of nowhere. Most of the time, I maintain my cool. But there have been times when I just took off and didn't look back.

That's not a problem in the city, because everyone is moving fast, so dogs don't get a chance to focus on one thing. There is too much going on. The streets and sidewalks are flooded with runners.....

But the burbs? The streets don't get that type of running traffic, so if a dog sees a runner, his chase/hunting instincts kick in, and he will go after the runner. ...any type of running sets off most animals.

Stone the dog. Then stone the angry entitled owner. Problem solved. Firearm works even better.

But have no illusions: Almost no one would stand against the dogs depicted in that video. Probably not even mma fighters and navy seals.

Whatever he recommends will go out of the window in a panic situation, just like those guys worshiping self defense videos without proper training.

Those are hideous looking dogs in the video.

About three months ago I was walking my dog (on its leash) with my two young children when we were attacked by a pit bull. I've spent nine years doing kickboxing and karate and these 'skills' did nothing (aside from hurting my foot and ankle). I stopped this mf-ing beast by slapping it up the side of the head with my daughter's scooter.

That was a minute well spent even though it may not work out in every real world situation.

Gasser wrote:

Those are hideous looking dogs in the video.

I'd bet that Belgian, the brown one in the first photo, is not actually mean. That's a staged photo. That particular Belgian looks like it would be a beautiful looking dog when not making that face (looks like my dog's mom).

Belgians are trained to be police and military dogs (taking down Osama bin Laden, guarding the Whitehouse). But they are not mean, unstable dogs like pitbulls. They do what they do because it's trained and fun/sport, and when they do their take downs, bites, and holds, they're not trying to kill. It's basically an extension of them playing tug, which they love. They are maybe the most trainable of dogs, and release on command.

Evidence is in this list of hundreds of all the documented fatal dog attacks in the US ever... text search the page for "Belgian" or "malinois" and you get zero hits. Search for pit bull and you get 596 hits:

Rural areas are 100 times worse than suburbs when it comes to dogs.

I found the best method of self protection while running on rural roads where dogs would not typically be tied up was to carry a belt with a substantial buckle on it wrapped around my fist.

If I was attacked by a dog I would drop the belt and whirl it around in a circular motion and back the dog in the head. Usually one or two strikes to the head and the dog would retreat.

Be sure the buckle is substantial, like two inches or more. The one I used was brass.

I hope this helps.

I have encountered so pretty ferocious looking dogs. I have always been able to thwart them by stroking them off. What if it's a girl dog you say? Who cares I say

Just live in a civilized area and you won't have to deal with this. There are something like 500,000 dogs in my city, and I have never been attacked by any of them because I live in a place with a culture of basic human decency.

Story as told to me by a college teammate, I do not have evidence that this story was true but he seemed sincere when telling the story:

He was doing a solo run about 4 miles out and back. At about 2 miles out while running past a fenced company(I believe an auto yard) which usually kept attack dogs inside the fences in case of robbers.

One of the dogs had escaped mid-day. He was running and next thing he knew there was an attack dog standing on the road barking and growling at him but no one was around to help. After attempting to back up, the dog ran and pounced at him. He said he thought at that moment the dog(german shepherd or pitbull or mutt) was going to kill him.

He covered his head with his hands so the dog wouldn't bite his face or neck, and then heard some loud noises. After covering his face for a few seconds the dog had not yet jumped on him, so he moved his hands from his face to see the dog dead just a few feet away from him. He looked to the right where a neighborhood(ghetto/hood) was to see a guy standing there with a hand gun. The only thing he said to my friend was, "you're welcome."

My friend continued his run 2 more miles out, and by the time he was back, the dead dog was gone.

for those thinking they will just outrun the dog, not even you 4 minute milers can do it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfbXF2Fs0tQ

over 20mph, maybe even 25mph for several minutes if motivated

Didn't watch the video so don't know if it's mentioned. I've never been attacked while on a run, but the pepper spray that postal carriers keep works wonders. They have it in a tiny little can with a clip that fits over a belt or waistband. I delivered mail for a year in an urban / suburban environment and was attacked multiple times by large, angry rottweilers and pitbulls (the cliche about mailmen being chased by dogs is 100% true). It was always rottweilers and pitbulls, never dachshunds and the like (though the owner has a large influence in dog aggressiveness, obviously). Time and again the spray would put them down as though they were poleaxed, yet wouldn't cause lasting damage. Ask your mailman, or just look for it on amazon or something. It certainly seems to be a better option than a karate chop or a gun. It's probably also good for a woman running solo.

I did deliveries in a rural area for 12 years. I carried dog bones.They worked wonders.

I got bit three times and it was always by those little yappers. They got me before I even saw them.

With bigger dogs just saying, "Where's the ball, where's the ball?" will sometimes turn a protective, aggressive dog into a friendly one. Believe it or not that worked on more than one occasion.

Dogs sense fear. I had the attitude that if a dog was going to attack I wasn't going into a defensive mode I would go on offense with the aim of killing the dog.

When I was 14 we had a German Shepard, Chinook, that I would fight with.

I'd wrap an old shirt around my arm and work him into a frenzy and fight with him. I would finally lay all my weight on him pinning him to the ground and then start talking to him softly until he calmed down.

You out-weigh most dogs and can use your weight to your advantage. If you wrap some cloth around your hand you can shove your fist far enough into a dog's mouth that he is unable to bite down (assuming it's not an extraordinarily large dog).

Looking back I was a real jerk. Chinook turned into an extremely aggressive dog. After biting the mailman we had to give him to some people who owned an isolated farm. At least that's what my dad told me.

But I did learn that you can outfight a dog. The one time I was terrified (while doing deliveries on my route) was when two aggressive dogs came towards me and worked their way around both sides of me. Luckily the owner came running out and saved my axx.

One other thing I was taught by my dad when I was a kid was to offer the back of your hand to a dog, not your palm. He said dogs that have been slapped with the palm are conditioned to see the palm as a weapon. I'm still not sure if he was right, but I've followed that advice for the last 60 years.

Never run from a dog and don't turn your back on them!

If you can get your shirt off, do so. Hold it out in front of you with both hands, leaving a good 12-16" or so, and offer that to the dog. Usually they will latch onto that. As they grab and pull, bring one hand around the other forming a noose, lift up hard and snap your arms up. Should break its neck. Leave corpse where you found it.

I've been chased several times by dogs (usually the small little yappers). In my experience they like to chase when my back is turned but if turn around and shuffle backwards, lean down toward them, and growl/scream "get outta hear" as aggressively as possible, they always back off. I'm still moving backwards away from whatever property their little dog brain thinks they are protecting, so they decide I'm too big and mean looking to keep chasing. This has worked with bigger dogs too. Although if there was a pit bull or German Shepard that was specifically trained to be a guard dog, I doubt my bluff would work. Hopefully, I never find out.

No, seriously wrote:

If you can get your shirt off, do so. Hold it out in front of you with both hands, leaving a good 12-16" or so, and offer that to the dog. Usually they will latch onto that. As they grab and pull, bring one hand around the other forming a noose, lift up hard and snap your arms up. Should break its neck. Leave corpse where you found it.

Ok, I guess, but why not just use the pepper spray? What's with all the shooting / neck breaking / stuffing hands down throats / martial arts maneuvers every one is talking about? Why so complicated and/or violent?

"What you really need to do is dig a hole ahead of time and fill it with punji sticks. Cover the hole with leaves and stuff. When the dog comes for you, lure it towards the hole and laugh with glee as it falls in. Then finish your run in a spirited, carefree manner."

Many decades ago in Jim Fixx's book he provided a useful strategy. As soon as the dog looks like he is going to break towards you yell STOP very loud while at the same time acting like you are bending down to pick up something. Almost all breeds will change course or pause at this aggression. If they do you pretty much have the upper hand...repeat as necessary. I have used this countless times. Always keep a eye on the dog. That's what they do so they have no idea if you've picked up anything against them.

Do you really get a good hit with the pepper spray BEFORE the dog or dogs have latched onto you?

Why are these people not arrested for assault ,even if the dog, or pack or them, does not bite you? It's as bad or worse than being threatened by some guys with baseball bats or something like that. At least you know you can out run a human.