# How do you deal with stray dogs?



## Deleted member 27861

I'm curious, how do most hitchhikers deal with stray dogs? The best defenses I can think of is to either use mace, carry dog treats, or just carry around and wear a bite sleeve to use as a shield or something.

Has anyone here ever had bad encounters with stray dogs?


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## Deleted member 24782

Is this a trick question


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## Deleted member 27861

No..I didn't think so? I mean, run from them is one thing, I guess.


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## WyldLyfe

It depends on the dog breed and situation, in my experience normally they are just wondering about doing there own thing, sometimes they may follow ya a bit, being friendly, then go off.



Wheat2020 said:


> No, I don't think so. I mean, run from them is one thing, I guess.



Iv only ever ran from one stray dog and it was an angry rottweiler in an ally, cliche right?

Out in the mountains, in some areas, we have wild dogs and they are stray/abandoned dogs that have breed and actually now live in the wild like wolf packs, iv not encountered them, but I know people who have and they can be a bit aggressive at times apparently, thats something else you could possibly look into if you plan to camp out exposed in some wilderness type places, if thats a thing there, though I recall a documentary about this kinda thing happening in Detroit U.S.A aswell once.

Anyway here is a picture to help you better understand dogs behavior, I think you can click on it to enlarge it/image in new tab, there may also be more detailed ones of these online.


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## blank

I like dogs a lot, but some people don't socialize them well then just leave them outside overnight. I really like dogs and do not enjoy hurting them. Most animals, really, I think are pretty cool. You just punt them or stomp on them, or if they've really got you, you can grab their front legs and pull them sideways really hard to break their ribs. 

If one if biting your arm or whatever tho, I think you're supposed to push your arm as hard as you can to the back of their mouth where the shorter teeth are.


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## Deleted member 27861

blank said:


> I like dogs a lot, but some people don't socialize them well then just leave them outside overnight. I really like dogs and do not enjoy hurting them. Most animals, really, I think are pretty cool. You just punt them or stomp on them, or if they've really got you, you can grab their front legs and pull them sideways really hard to break their ribs.
> 
> If one if biting your arm or whatever tho, I think you're supposed to push your arm as hard as you can to the back of their mouth where the shorter teeth are.



Jesus all of that sounds horrible! But thanks for the techniques, I think? I mean you gotta do what you gotta do to defend yourself, though I might avoid using the rib-breaker and hope to never do it.

Well what about mace?


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## blank

If it'll stop a bear it'll stop a dog.


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## Desperado Deluxe

You really shouldn't have to worry about strays. However you should worry about people who let their aggressive dog run the neighborhood. Know your environment. Be careful in any area where you could potentially be attacked.

Edit: the best thing you can do is not run. Face the dog if it's approaching and let it know your not going to make it easy for them. Try not to act aggressive you could potentially coax it out of attacking you. A lot of times it's a territory thing like with coywolf a mother dog is likely to attack for little to no reason or a guard dog trained to be aggressive. 
Stray packs of dogs will probably only become aggressive if it's over food. Most wild animals won't risk injury because it's vital to survival.


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## NewMexicoJim

Yell, throw rocks, pick up a stick, keep eye contact and back up slowly if possible. If attacked, pepper spray, pocket knife, sticks, fists, legs and feet are all weapons. Packs of wild dogs have attacked people in NM and AZ on the reservations. No advice on that happening! but I've encountered aggressive dogs and a walking stick or cane will often scare them enough to back down.


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## Coywolf

Brodiesel710 said:


> Is this a trick question



🤣🤣🤣 for real!



Desperado Deluxe said:


> You really shouldn't have to worry about strays. However you should worry about people who let their aggressive dog run the neighborhood. Know your environment. Be careful in any area where you could potentially be attacked.



I have HARD AGREE with this. Watch your ass in residential neighborhoods, especially lower income ones with short fences. I think that out of everything I've ever had to worry about while traveling, its aggressive dogs. It's usually easy to avoid people (gangs, hostile locals, rednecks) but it's another story with dogs.

You have to get from one point to another in residential areas and that comes with all those peoples pets. I try to avoid alleys in residential, and walk on lit streets, down the middle, further away from the dog's 'territory' if possible.

As far as defense, I carry bear mace and a straight blade. Smileys work too. Bear spray is highly recommended for both people, and animals.

I've been attacked 5 times in my life. 3 pits, 1 Sheppard, and one chihuahua. The last time was a pit, and I had to put a blade into it, in front of an owner. Mother pit, obviously just gave birth. Ran 75 yards out of its property very agro towards me. Huge ass animal. I talked to it while facing it, softly, back away slowly. Every time I took a step back it lunged at me. I had my guitar case in my hand to block it. I was yelling at the lady 'Get your dog! Get your dog or I'm going to kill it! Perro muerto!"

She was afraid of it, she just kept saying "perro, perro va!"

The dog lunged again and bit down on my case, I sideswiped it with my blade and it took a step back, growled, whimpered and ran back to the lady. I GTFO there ASAP. That was North Shore, CA. If you are around the slabs trying to ride the bus or hitch around there, be careful. Many a property with the same potential.

This is a serious issue that I dont think many new people think about enough when out there.

As far as strays. Yes. If you are in border towns to the rez, or in the southern states near the border, this is absolutely a concern. These dogs will pack up to survive. I've heard a few stories out of Kayenta and Tuba City where drunk people have fallen asleep at the wrong time in the wrong place. I'll leave that up to your imagination.


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## Deleted member 27861

Damn maybe I SHOULD pack a BB gun, assuming it would even do anything against a pit.

I'm sorry, the story you told sounds both hilarious and tragic. "Perro! Perro va!" I'm happy you got out of it OK and I hope that lady forgave you.

I can see it now: I'm holding my rucksack like it's a buckler, and my pocket knife like it's a sword, staring down a bully.

Again I don't see how it's a trick question, especially considering I want to go to Arizona, but thanks for the tales and advice!


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## Coywolf

It's a trick question because almost every traveler ever has had to deal with aggressive dogs.

Ya, I could give a shit less about the lady forgiving me, if I would've killed that dog, I'm pretty sure the world would be a better place.

BB gun wont do anything. I'd get a knife or a smiley, and some mace of some kind, preferably for bears.


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## Deleted member 27861

I'm so green-horn. What's a smiley?


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## roughdraft

blank said:


> or if they've really got you, you can grab their front legs and pull them sideways really hard to break their ribs.



okay just to clarify, this is to be done while a dog is already clamped down on some part of you..? im a little confused but mostly curious if you'd elaborate


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## Deleted member 27861

roughdraft said:


> okay just to clarify, this is to be done while a dog is already clamped down on some part of you..? im a little confused but mostly curious if you'd elaborate



I'm pretty sure he means as a last-ditch kill move, ha-ha ha! Ha haaaah......

Or at least I hope so.


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## Coywolf

Wheat2020 said:


> I'm so green-horn. What's a smiley?



Something like this:






Doesnt have to be exactly the same. Some people use bike locks, just a heavy chain, and other things. Pretty good defense


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## Deleted member 27861

Hey speaking of aggressive dogs my dad's dog just killed a guinea today after it landed in his cage, and I was really tempted not to tell my father that it happened because I knew that if I did, he'd probably freak out and try to do something stupid like crawl his 66-year-old ass into the cage WITH the dog, and try to wrestle the bird from the dog, which is exactly what he attempted to do, but he's too damn old to even crawl into the cage.

He wanted to me to beat the dog back into its dog house while he got the guinea, but I wasn't about to hit it while it was in a cage, so I yelled at it and slammed the rake in front of him, and he cowered and stayed inside his house. Like yeah, he was going to maul that bird, but it was almost like I could sense the fear and desperation in his face.

And the entire time I'm like thinking to myself, "Well you've had the dog caged up almost all of its life, how do you expect it to behave when a fresh big bag of flying meat jumps into its cage? Like a perfectly sane and professionally trained pup?"

And that's one thing I notice a lot in the South, and I think is part of the reason why I have such mixed feelings about dogs, and part of the reason I hate the South. People around here (and elsewhere I'm sure) either:

A. Let their dogs roam free and don't train them so they can go terrorize people

or

B. They cage them up all their life like they're some sort of living alarm system rather than a living thing.

Unlike cats, which seem to be evolved to not fuck with humans and are small and smart enough to know better than to mess with anything bigger than it, that if got out of hand you could just, football punt across the yard, dogs are pretty unique and dangerous.

A dog who is raised to be a good dog is a good dog. But a dog that's either neglected or trained to be a hunter and a killer, is basically a half-breed, half-assed wolf, and wolves hunt and kill things. Including fowls and humans! Who would have thought?!

Either way I'm so done with this redneck place and getting dragged into bullshit. I'm leaving soon after I help my mom with her last church class this week.


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## WyldLyfe

@Coywolf ya story bout the pit reminded me years back a friend had a dog it was half pit an something else, dunno, anyway every one was in the yard hanging out an stuff, but some started playing with the dog, n hyping it up nothing bad you know just the normal playful stuff. It go quiet excited tho and ended up biting one of my friends head and ripped the bottom half of his ear off, it was hanging. Everyone thought that was funny, except for the guy who got bit, he ran out the front in a panic and slammed into some bins which had sharp metal sticking out of them and sliced his arm up too. So he ended up getting a few stitches after that. So yeah..


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## blank

roughdraft said:


> okay just to clarify, this is to be done while a dog is already clamped down on some part of you..? im a little confused but mostly curious if you'd elaborate


Yeah, like if they have you by the leg real good or something and you can't shake them off. Also may help to shout FATALITY afterwards.


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## roughdraft

blank said:


> Yeah, like if they have you by the leg real good or something and you can't shake them off. Also may help to shout FATALITY afterwards.



if they have you by the leg, ok nice i gotcha now. that visual works better for me

FATALITY is good to shout but i heard if you flex your leg hard enough their teeth can pop right out


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## LuckyMinnie

Wheat2020 said:


> I'm curious, how do most hitchhikers deal with stray dogs? The best defenses I can think of is to either use mace, carry dog treats, or just carry around and wear a bite sleeve to use as a shield or something.
> 
> Has anyone here ever had bad encounters with stray dogs?


I have been lucky enough not to have had any bad encounters with dogs. Btw, dogs that are not strays but just got out of their yard can be equally dangerous, so I wouldn't only focus on strays. Most strays just tend to be scared and not want any human contact. I try to be nice, but they tend to run off. In preparing for new adventures, I've watched a ton of bicycle touring videos. Sometimes neighborhood dogs will chase cyclists. And that's why many cyclists carry pepper spray. But of course they don't use it unless they feel truely threatened. Most dogs only chase for a few minutes and then they get tired out. And the dogs that chased the cyclists in the videos were not strays. They were hanging out in their front yard and decided to run after the cyclists. In fact, whenever I heard of a pit bull attack, the pit bull is not a stray dog but instead is a dog that has an owner who apparently has not trained and taken care of their dog very well. I think the only time I would be worried about a stray dog posing a threat to safety is if they appeared rabid. In that case, get indoors away from that dog and call 911 because they are an immediate danger to public safety. And here's a sweet story regarding strays. I was selling jewelry in San Antonio, TX. SA has a big stray population.  Too many people who don't take care of their animals. A few of them had gotten together and were buddies looking out for each other. My kids and I got some tacos at Jack in the Box and gave it to them. They scarfed it down. We went back into Jack in the Box and orderec more and told the dude we were giving it to some stray dogs that were hanging out around the bank next door. The guy pitched in extra tacos. The cute dogs had a good night that night.


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## Deleted member 27861

LuckyMinnie said:


> I have been lucky enough not to have had any bad encounters with dogs. Btw, dogs that are not strays but just got out of their yard can be equally dangerous, so I wouldn't only focus on strays. Most strays just tend to be scared and not want any human contact. I try to be nice, but they tend to run off. In preparing for new adventures, I've watched a ton of bicycle touring videos. Sometimes neighborhood dogs will chase cyclists. And that's why many cyclists carry pepper spray. But of course they don't use it unless they feel truely threatened. Most dogs only chase for a few minutes and then they get tired out. And the dogs that chased the cyclists in the videos were not strays. They were hanging out in their front yard and decided to run after the cyclists. In fact, whenever I heard of a pit bull attack, the pit bull is not a stray dog but instead is a dog that has an owner who apparently has not trained and taken care of their dog very well. I think the only time I would be worried about a stray dog posing a threat to safety is if they appeared rabid. In that case, get indoors away from that dog and call 911 because they are an immediate danger to public safety. And here's a sweet story regarding strays. I was selling jewelry in San Antonio, TX. SA has a big stray population.  Too many people who don't take care of their animals. A few of them had gotten together and were buddies looking out for each other. My kids and I got some tacos at Jack in the Box and gave it to them. They scarfed it down. We went back into Jack in the Box and orderec more and told the dude we were giving it to some stray dogs that were hanging out around the bank next door. The guy pitched in extra tacos. The cute dogs had a good night that night.



That's such a sweet story.

Somehow it doesn't surprise me that neighborhood dogs would be more of a concern than stray dogs. It seems like lots of strays also just want company, from what I've seen.

This all kind of reminds me of my first time through Salida, CO, when this hostel kept this pretty stray mutt, that I can't remember the name of. It just wandered into town, I think, and just started eating leftovers on the streets, so the hostel owners took it in, named it, and gave it a bed and feeding bowl, and it became the neighborhood dog. at least until it ran off again.

It would never cause any problems. Whenever someone new came into the hostel, he just walked up to them, sat in front of them, then tilted his head to the side and stared at them. It was his way of begging for food.

If you gave him food, he'd scarf it down, and then either beg again, or he would sit beside you and let you pet him and play with him. 

If you didn't feed him within a minute, then he'd just walk off towards someone else and wouldn't let you play with him.


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## coltsfoot

Maybe a lil late on this one but I'm on a reservation in Arizona. Just pretending to pick up a rock and throw it while shouting is enough to scare away the stray/wild dogs here. They often have a history of abuse and are wary of people. And yea like others have mentioned, residential dogs (ie people's pets) are definitely more of a challenge in my experience.


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## saria wanders

I've never had any bad encounters with a stray, they are usually either friendly and begging for food/attention or terrified of people and unwilling to approach. I have however had a TON of bad experiences with dogs that had irresponsible/neglectful owners. Imo people are the problem. Either they are neglectful or they're ignorant and entitled and don't understand their dog's body language (a common problem with yuppies at parks, rest areas, etc).

I have dogs so my worry is always along the lines of getting injured while breaking up a dog fight rather than personally being attacked. Mace/bear spray would be good as a deterrent but unless it was life or death I wouldn't want to mace my own dog in the process. Things I've learned the hard way is to never use your hands! Kicking is safer because your foot has some protection if you're wearing good shoes. Or an object like a stick or the end of a leash. A last resort solution I've been told but never had to use yet, is sticking your finger up their butthole.

Had two gang up on my dog while on leash and follow him down the road trying to hump him. I had to slap them in the snout with the end of his leash and shout at them before they would leave. I've also had bad experiences at farm jobs, one time someone let their dog run up and attack my dog while he was playing in a stream. The owner was close by and didn't try to even call their dog and I had to physically pull their malamute off my poor lab.


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## Bushpig

saria wanders said:


> I've never had any bad encounters with a stray, they are usually either friendly and begging for food/attention or terrified of people and unwilling to approach. I have however had a TON of bad experiences with dogs that had irresponsible/neglectful owners. Imo people are the problem. Either they are neglectful or they're ignorant and entitled and don't understand their dog's body language (a common problem with yuppies at parks, rest areas, etc).
> 
> I have dogs so my worry is always along the lines of getting injured while breaking up a dog fight rather than personally being attacked. Mace/bear spray would be good as a deterrent but unless it was life or death I wouldn't want to mace my own dog in the process. Things I've learned the hard way is to never use your hands! Kicking is safer because your foot has some protection if you're wearing good shoes. Or an object like a stick or the end of a leash. A last resort solution I've been told but never had to use yet, is sticking your finger up their butthole.
> 
> Had two gang up on my dog while on leash and follow him down the road trying to hump him. I had to slap them in the snout with the end of his leash and shout at them before they would leave. I've also had bad experiences at farm jobs, one time someone let their dog run up and attack my dog while he was playing in a stream. The owner was close by and didn't try to even call their dog and I had to physically pull their malamute off my poor lab.


 Great tips. But Jesus Christ, I hope I make it through life without having to anally finger a dog.


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## saria wanders

Bushpig said:


> Great tips. But Jesus Christ, I hope I make it through life without having to anally finger a dog.


Likewise lmao! Better than getting injured trying to break up a fight but....yeah not my ideal scenario for sure.


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## MFB

Bushpig said:


> Great tips. But Jesus Christ, I hope I make it through life without having to anally finger a dog.


My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.

Two dog stories;

I had a few beers and 20ish grams of oxy; I was feeling great.
Walking down the street to the corner liquor store in a nicer area 
Out of nowhere and before I know it there's a meaaan chow with my lower leg in it's mouth.
I, quite literally, instinctively smashed my glass road soda over its head.
It backed up, laughed at me, and got my other leg.
Right as "im kinda fucked mode" was kicking in, the owner came out, the dogged snapped out of it, and he gained control of it. 
The owner was most excellent, offered to take me to the hospital, and gave me 200 bucks so I could miss work the next few days. I just ended up going to the liquor store and bleeding alot, so it was a pretty cool night.
I also learned that night that animal's adrenaline is wayyyy better than human's.

Number 2
I was walking with my dog in a bit of a sketch area in CO springs.
Angry ass pit pull hops over a low fence and is charging at my extremely overmatched companion pup.
I get in between the two and get big and loud and yell at the pit to get on.
He stops, takes an aggressive stance and starts barking
I think we're cool and then I hear "YOU YELLIN AND MY FUCKING DOG YOU FUCKIN PUSSY!"
Some prison yard buffed out mexican vato dood twice my size is walking toward me lookin' all coked up.
Without even thinking I scooped my dog and ran across the street the opposite way saying sorry over my shoulder.


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## Deleted member 27861

MFB said:


> My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
> I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
> Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.
> 
> Two dog stories;
> 
> I had a few beers and 20ish grams of oxy; I was feeling great.
> Walking down the street to the corner liquor store in a nicer area
> Out of nowhere and before I know it there's a meaaan chow with my lower leg in it's mouth.
> I, quite literally, instinctively smashed my glass road soda over its head.
> It backed up, laughed at me, and got my other leg.
> Right as "im kinda fucked mode" was kicking in, the owner came out, the dogged snapped out of it, and he gained control of it.
> The owner was most excellent, offered to take me to the hospital, and gave me 200 bucks so I could miss work the next few days. I just ended up going to the liquor store and bleeding alot, so it was a pretty cool night.
> I also learned that night that animal's adrenaline is wayyyy better than human's.
> 
> Number 2
> I was walking with my dog in a bit of a sketch area in CO springs.
> Angry ass pit pull hops over a low fence and is charging at my extremely overmatched companion pup.
> I get in between the two and get big and loud and yell at the pit to get on.
> He stops, takes an aggressive stance and starts barking
> I think we're cool and then I hear "YOU YELLIN AND MY FUCKING DOG YOU FUCKIN PUSSY!"
> Some prison yard buffed out mexican vato dood twice my size is walking toward me lookin' all coked up.
> Without even thinking I scooped my dog and ran across the street the opposite way saying sorry over my shoulder.



Somehow I believe that chow really did laugh at you.


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## Deleted member 27861

Also holy shit the thought of having to put your hand up a dog's ass and pull something out just hit me Jesus Christ. 😬


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## saria wanders

MFB said:


> My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
> I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
> Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.


While I've never had to go that extreme....my dog is exactly the same, eats toilet paper, pads, and my panties.... he usually poops it out ok, I did have to use gloves once to pull a difficult strand out of his butt after he spent like 10 minutes scooting his butt on the ground looking embarrassed as hell but fortunately didn't have to go in for the extraction as the end was sticking out. 🤣 he has totally given himself a hemorrhoid doing this, which fortunately went away after a bit. He was all crusty and bloody for a bit though.... our little dog got really into cleaning it up for him which was......kinda weird. Dogs lmao.

Sorry if this was all a bit of TMI lol.

Going back to the original topic, I was at a weird little rest area one time and some tweeker lady in a beat up truck had her dog running around off leash, it kept approaching the car and my dogs are protective of the car and reactive so they were freaking out and it was doing laps around the car trying to jump up so I rolled down the window and yelled at it to get. Tweeker lady shouted back from across the parking lot, "No, YOU get."


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## LuckyMinnie

MFB said:


> My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
> I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
> Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.
> 
> Two dog stories;
> 
> I had a few beers and 20ish grams of oxy; I was feeling great.
> Walking down the street to the corner liquor store in a nicer area
> Out of nowhere and before I know it there's a meaaan chow with my lower leg in it's mouth.
> I, quite literally, instinctively smashed my glass road soda over its head.
> It backed up, laughed at me, and got my other leg.
> Right as "im kinda fucked mode" was kicking in, the owner came out, the dogged snapped out of it, and he gained control of it.
> The owner was most excellent, offered to take me to the hospital, and gave me 200 bucks so I could miss work the next few days. I just ended up going to the liquor store and bleeding alot, so it was a pretty cool night.
> I also learned that night that animal's adrenaline is wayyyy better than human's.
> 
> Number 2
> I was walking with my dog in a bit of a sketch area in CO springs.
> Angry ass pit pull hops over a low fence and is charging at my extremely overmatched companion pup.
> I get in between the two and get big and loud and yell at the pit to get on.
> He stops, takes an aggressive stance and starts barking
> I think we're cool and then I hear "YOU YELLIN AND MY FUCKING DOG YOU FUCKIN PUSSY!"
> Some prison yard buffed out mexican vato dood twice my size is walking toward me lookin' all coked up.
> Without even thinking I scooped my dog and ran across the street the opposite way saying sorry over my shoulder.


 What is scary is what if a dog has rabies? If you got bit by a dog with rabies and you wait until you start having symptoms to get medical care, you can kiss your life good-bye. The shot series for rabies only works if you get help right away.


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## MFB

LuckyMinnie said:


> What is scary is what if a dog has rabies? If you got bit by a dog with rabies and you wait until you start having symptoms to get medical care, you can kiss your life good-bye. The shot series for rabies only works if you get help right away.


It's ironic you mention that;
When I told my parents that story a few days later the gave me so much shit for not going to a hospital and getting a shot.


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## LuckyMinnie

MFB said:


> It's ironic you mention that;
> When I told my parents that story a few days later the gave me so much shit for not going to a hospital and getting a shot.


lol. Well, I'm in my 40s and have kids. I try not to lecture, but I guess sometimes it's just part of who I am.


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## MFB

LuckyMinnie said:


> lol. Well, I'm in my 40s and have kids. I try not to lecture, but I guess sometimes it's just part of who I am.


Ha! Heard that sis. Im 39, no kids,
But I learned a long time ago that my parents lecturing me came from a place of love, so i smile and tell them they are right and things are good. 😊


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## Losttraveler420

I am in mexico. And have dealt with alot of agro dogs. Most of which are the stray dogs that roam around. Even had a few try to attack me. I hate to hurt living things but its either me or them. Usually just try to kick them when they get close or throw rocks at them. They know rocks. And i back away while watching them. More often than not an animal will attack when threatened or when you harm one of their pack.


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## beersalt

Alright. As you can see, stray dogs will be the least of your worries in the US. Neighborhood dogs are definitely those you will be dealing with more often. And most people, fucking suck at training dogs, or are so selfish, that they provide "freedom" to their dog over other beings safety.
People suck at dealing with people. 
People also suck at dealing with dogs. 

One thing I'm gonna say right now is: 
DO NOT STICK ANYTHING IN A DOGS ANUS. 

This is something I've heard multiple times from people on the road as a solution to break up a dog fight. It's fucking disgusting, and abusive. 
I've broken up COUNTLESS dog fights, never have I had to subject a dog to such torture. 

I've now been inspired to add or create a thread about ACTUAL NON ABUSIVE TACTICS to break up dog fights. But considering this thread is aimed at advice for folks being aggressed by a dog of foreign nature, here's what I gotta say-

If you are this worried about getting attacked by a dog, carry an air horn, and/or citronella spray.
These are two major deterrents to get a dog to stop attacking you, or something else. 
If a dog it approaching you aggressively, the airhorn will likely scare them away. 

Sheesh. All of these people talking about using smileys on dogs, and breaking ribs n shit. It's utterly ridiculous. A rabid dog is one thing. But that makes up such a small percentage of dog encounters.

Two simple tools. These can really make a difference. Use airhorn first, Citronella spray last. 
Mace if you're really worried. Detterence, not violence.


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## Wingsday

Yeesh, this is reminding me I need to sharpen my knives


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## BillyOtea

I gotta ask you though, how many aggressive dogs have you actually encountered? I traveled around the country for nearly 8 years and I can say nearly EVERY dog that is a cause for concern is a residential dog (someones pet). When you're in the moment staring an angry fanged beast in the eye who's snarling at you, the only things you're thinking about are the options you have to not get attacked and whatever you have to prevent that and the more effective an option may be the better. You're not going to want to have something that you just HOPE will work, you're walking down the road usually trying to get to your next ride with a big ass backpack on your back generally not trying to be concerned with having to be aggressive at all because it's directly counter intuitive to appearing like someone who people want to pick up and interact with. Believe me the least lethal options have always been my highest priority and desire, but I don't think you should judge certain tactics so heavily that might actually prepare someone and possibly save their life... As for my experience I've always basically imagined that things were going to be alright and traveled without much preparation for dogs, yeah I usually had a knife but never pulled it when in direct confrontation with a dog, because first instinct is generally to have something that gives you some distance like being ready to kick, swing or throw something. However if I had something and felt the need to use it out of pure self preservation you're damn skippy... that shit can be scary.


dumpsternavel said:


> Alright. As you can see, stray dogs will be the least of your worries in the US. Neighborhood dogs are definitely those you will be dealing with more often. And most people, fucking suck at training dogs, or are so selfish, that they provide "freedom" to their dog over other beings safety.
> People suck at dealing with people.
> People also suck at dealing with dogs.
> 
> One thing I'm gonna say right now is:
> DO NOT STICK ANYTHING IN A DOGS ANUS.
> 
> This is something I've heard multiple times from people on the road as a solution to break up a dog fight. It's fucking disgusting, and abusive.
> I've broken up COUNTLESS dog fights, never have I had to subject a dog to such torture.
> 
> I've now been inspired to add or create a thread about ACTUAL NON ABUSIVE TACTICS to break up dog fights. But considering this thread is aimed at advice for folks being aggressed by a dog of foreign nature, here's what I gotta say-
> 
> If you are this worried about getting attacked by a dog, carry an air horn, and/or citronella spray.
> These are two major deterrents to get a dog to stop attacking you, or something else.
> If a dog it approaching you aggressively, the airhorn will likely scare them away.
> 
> Sheesh. All of these people talking about using smileys on dogs, and breaking ribs n shit. It's utterly ridiculous. A rabid dog is one thing. But that makes up such a small percentage of dog encounters.
> 
> Two simple tools. These can really make a difference. Use airhorn first, Citronella spray last.
> Mace if you're really worried. Detterence, not violence.


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## Tony G

BillyOtea said:


> I gotta ask you though, how many aggressive dogs have you actually encountered? I traveled around the country for nearly 8 years and I can say nearly EVERY dog that is a cause for concern is a residential dog (someones pet). When you're in the moment staring an angry fanged beast in the eye who's snarling at you, the only things you're thinking about are the options you have to not get attacked and whatever you have to prevent that and the more effective an option may be the better. You're not going to want to have something that you just HOPE will work, you're walking down the road usually trying to get to your next ride with a big ass backpack on your back generally not trying to be concerned with having to be aggressive at all because it's directly counter intuitive to appearing like someone who people want to pick up and interact with. Believe me the least lethal options have always been my highest priority and desire, but I don't think you should judge certain tactics so heavily that might actually prepare someone and possibly save their life... As for my experience I've always basically imagined that things were going to be alright and traveled without much preparation for dogs, yeah I usually had a knife but never pulled it when in direct confrontation with a dog, because first instinct is generally to have something that gives you some distance like being ready to kick, swing or throw something. However if I had something and felt the need to use it out of pure self preservation you're damn skippy... that shit can be scary.


I see more aggressive cats then dogs


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## rotttenj

I always keep my bear spray and machete in quick access for anything aggressive. Been fortunate enough to not have to use though


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