Dog Attack Defense

A Focus in Dog Attack Defense No One is Talking About

Do you know how to deal with a vicious dog if ever you need to save yourself or a loved one? Here's how:

A 125-pound dog attacked five-year-old Selena Burks as she played with friends in Alabama on April 8, 2008. She suffered crushed ribs, a punctured lung and liver. An heroic 11-year-old boy kicked the dog away and possibly saved her life.

If a dog is attacking another person or dog, kick it full power in its ribs. If you're barefoot or are wearing flimsy shoes, lift your toes and use the “ball” of your foot (the first big knuckle on the bottom of your foot) or use the top of your foot just below the ankle. Or use the bottom of your heel in a stomping motion (a “heel stomp”) – while adding your torso weight for greater power. Or you could turn around and use the back of your heel in a “hammer-heel” kick (using your entire leg in a chopping motion to your rear).

An elderly woman was walking her little dog when a pit bull suddenly attacked her dog and clamped its jaws around its head. The woman had no luck trying to pry the pit bull's jaws apart and could see her dog dying. So she bit the pit bull’s neck as hard as she could. It let go and backed off, but came back to attack the little dog again. The woman bit it again. That’s when a neighbor ran up and hit the pit bull with a baseball bat and drove it away.

Children are more common victims of a dog attack because their small size is perceived as less dominant and their behavior – running, yelling, making sudden moves – often disturbs dogs.

As a huge Mastiff lunged at the 10-year-old boy’s throat, Kenny instinctively thrust his arm forward. The dog clamped onto his forearm as Kenny remembered his father's advice, “Plunge your thumb into the dog's eye.” He burst the dog's eyeball like a grape. The dog let go and fell whimpering to the ground as Kenny's older brother arrived with a pipe and beat the vicious dog to death.

I once ferociously roared and lunged at a charging Doberman while it was still a good 10-15 feet away. It turned tail and ran off. Lucky me, my show of bravado scared it away.

A dog usually shows it's ready to attack when it stands still with its tail stiffly upright while barking and snarling, and might try to circle around and attack from a different angle.

AN INITIAL DOG THREAT DEFENSE

Resist your impulse to run when threatened by a dog. It’s the worst response – it triggers the chase instinct in a dog (and it’s very easy for a dog to knock down a runner from behind).

Better to stand still and act calm. Maybe try yawning (“calming behavior” that dogs use to signal passivity) while slowly backing away. Do not turn your back. Hopefully, the dog will eventually lose interest and wander off.

Be prepared to protect your primary targets – the front of your body from your throat to your groin. Let the dog sniff you. Quietly say, “No!” Don’t move until the dog leaves. Slowly back away until it's out of sight.

An ultrasonic dog repellent whistle is useless on a vicious dog, but pepper spray usually works.

A SECONDARY DOG ATTACK DEFENSE

If a dog attacks you, “feed” it your bike equipment, jacket, briefcase, or purse while you back slowly away. If you fall down, curl into a ball (face down on the ground) and wrap your arms around your neck, face, and ears (with your hands curled into fists so it won’t bite off a finger). Stay still.

If a dog has clamped onto you, do not try to pull yourself free – that’ll just increase the damage and tighten the dog’s grip. Since a vicious dog can severely injure or even kill you, an aggressive defense may well be necessary.

LAST CHANCE DOG ATTACK DEFENSE:
ATTACK THE BEAST!

You can strangle an attacking dog by fiercely pressing your thumbs on the carotid arteries on both sides of its throat (a few inches below the jaw hinges). That quickly deprives the dog’s brain of blood/oxygen and it will be unconscious within 5-10 seconds (or die, if held longer). YOU NEED TO USE BOTH HANDS with your thumbs pressing on both carotid arteries while your fingers grip the back of the dog's neck for leverage (in martial arts, it's known as a “blood choke”).

Don’t release the unconscious dog too soon, it’ll quickly regain consciousness and attack again. You may want to first break its ribs by ramming its chest with your bent knee, or bang its head against a solid surface to knock it out, or heel-stomp its legs to break them – so the dog will be unable to further attack you.

A stray pit-bull dog attacked a two-year-old Detroit boy in 2002 and dragged him down the street. Witnesses tried to rescue the child but the dog briefly attacked them then resumed dragging the child. No police were near, six people were bitten, and the child seemed doomed until a passing driver stopped and shot the dog to death.

If a vicious dog has latched onto another dog or person, use the same grip but now you’ll be behind the dog and your thumbs now will be on the back of the dog’s neck for leverage while your fingertips press on its carotid arteries.

Be sure to press on both carotid arteries on the frontal sides of its throat (an inch or two below the jaw hinges), rather than pressing in the center of its throat on its windpipe because that merely chokes it (depriving its lungs of oxygen) and takes 30-90 long seconds for the now violently convulsing beast to lose consciousness (or die, if held longer). [In martial arts, a windpipe choke is known as an “air choke” – but a “blood choke” (on the carotid arteries) is much faster.]

What do you do if the dog has already clamped onto one of your arms or hands? IF YOU CAN’T USE TWO HANDS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE DOG’S THROAT, try to grab its loose skin or collar to wrestle it down to the ground and kneel on its throat. Or, the quickest dog attack defense of all, as Kenny did, plunge your thumb deep into the dog’s eye to burst it! That'll probably stop the dog attack. If not, the most effective dog attack defense is to strangle the beast!

Have you ever seen the ghastly wounds on dog attack victims (if they survived)? Better to save an innocent victim than a vicious beast.

By Michael Edward Loftus Sr at www.Crime-Safety-Security.com
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