Scary experience/neighbors dog

[YanmarFever]

Joe, you dont have to defend yourself 2x you did the right thing and let it drop at that.
Who cares what others think, (I dont) and I sleep better at night. I only have to please 1 person on this planet and thats my lovely wife, which is the same thing you did.

On Dec. 25 my neighbor had a cougar in his front yard (Its common around here) now everyone is packing a little heat. another neighbor lost a new born calf to the cougar.

Im upgrading from my pea shooter 9mm to the .45 for a while. ..44 is in the shop
Ern.

 

[johnk]

If Joe did something wrong the lawyers or the law would have been knocking on his door, either to pay for Vet Bills or to surrender his weapon.. Good Job Joe... You must've been right.

 

[Syncro]

Interesting thread. My only comment is when the unexpected happens people sometimes don't follow proceedure. I was once confronted by a nasty preditor at nite, point blank range, with no warning. I drew and fired never hearing the muzzel blast or feeling recoil, and not at all handeling the gun as I was trained to do. When the incident was over I was really mad at myself as I knew better, besides that I completely missed the critter who by then was glad as **** to get outta there. The fact that Joe actually hit that dog under those circumstances was probably better than I could do. A whole lot different than the controlled environment of a range or simulated attack. You're alright Joe!

 

[Sigarms]

Joe R. As T.Earnie mentioned, you don't have to defend yourself.

I do appreciate the response thought.

I should not of said "B.S", wrong term on my end. It seems that you really are not sure what happened to the dog after you shot it.

Off of memory, very general. 230gr JHP .45ACP @ 800fps gets you around 350 ft/lbs at muzzel. 185gr .45ACP around 1200fps gets you @ 606 lbs/ft. Pushing it up a notch, a .45-70, 420gr @ 1850fps gets you around 3200 ft/lbs.

Either increase the velocity or weight, you'll increase the ft/lbs (keep in mind, excluding the barrel length and some other factors).

My point is no matter what the ft/lbs, the body will react the same way. The body "absorbs" the energy (shock). Exit wounds are another matter depending on the bullet type.

Since you mentioned to ask questions, what I'm curious about it the angle the dog came at you. I'm figuring 3:00 or 9:00 o'clock. When you left your wife to distract the dog, you put distance between you and your family. The closer the dog got to your family (and yourself being away from the family), the chances are increasing that you put your family in your sight picture when you went to take the dog out.

Armchair quarterbacking I realize, but you could of made a serious mistake.

Bottom line, in the end, I would of made sure the dog was down, period.

To answer your question, no, you never posted B.S before.

 

[JoeR]

Hi Joe,

The dog came from the house and I moved away from my wife. The dog came straight for me from the house. I turned towards the house, so the dog was at my 12 o'clock, and my wife as at 3 to 4 o'clock. I put my hand on my weapon when he went under the fence. The dog then turned just before getting to me and headed for my wife. He was on the pavement, when he turned and most roads are about 12' wide. I think he was about 6 to 8 feet away when he turned. So the dog was going at about a 30-40 degree angle towards my wife from me. When I took aim the dog was about 12:30 to 1 o'clock and I fired when he was around 1 to 2 o'clock. Yes, you are correct, any further, and the dog would have been too close to the family for me to even consider doing anything besides throwing myself on the dog. The round landed behind the dogs ear about 1 to 2 inches back. I can also say, I did not hear the shot, and my ears did not ring either! Another strange effect was that I was real thirsty after that. My mouth was extra dry! I guess adrenaline does that to you.

Anyway, I hope you and your family have a Happy New Year!

Take care,

Joe

 

[TomKioti]

If laws stopped crimes......well, we'd be in a different reality, wouldn't we? Laws punish those who commit crimes. They may act as a deterrent, but I have never heard of any one who has ever been saved from being murdered by reminding their assailant that his/her actions would violate a law. A gun in the hands of the victim would have been far more effective.

I wish with all my heart the above WAS true because I would still have my Father. He was shot in the back of the head for $400.00 by a crack addict at our family business. Since then I have ALWAYS carried a sidearm.

Joe... don't you dare take any crap from some here about what happened. If I could have been there for my Dad like you were my whole life would have been different. You never get over that kind of tragedy. You did the right thing regardless of what some may say. You are a marksmen and you handled the situation like a pro. Thank God.

 

[billbill1]

JoeR, I have a fear of mean dogs and I for one am sorry that this animal survived to do this again. You did the right thing. More people are bitten by dogs that don't bite- than mean ones. Certain breeds are meaner than others but you never know what one is going to do. You protected your family, that's the right thing to do.

 

[dmccarty]

Joe,

Last week, an officer shot a lab in the head but the dog seems to be ok except for a ear ache. The situation sounds similar to yours.

The woman that owns the lab was bitten in the face by the dog when she petted it when it was asleep. It woke up and bit her. She went to the hospital to get fixed up. The hospital reported the dog bite and an officer was sent to the house to see what happened. When the officer got there the dog went after him so he shot the dog in the head. The owners said the dog was tied up. Officer said differently and was just cleared by the Magistrate. The fact that the officer shot the dog in subdivision was not an issue nor should it have been. Just like you situation.

The head is a real poor target since its round and moves around quite a bit. While your shot did not kill the dog it did stop its attack which is what counts.

In my county a year or so ago a deputy was attakced by three pit bulls. She was pretty chewed up. All three dogs where shot multiple times by responding officers but only one died.

One thing that can chase off a dog at night is a Mag Light. I don't mean a whack up side the dogs head though that might work. I had a dog get a bit too close one night. I had my Mag Light, 4 D cells, in my hand so I just pointed it at the dog and flashed the light. That dog yelped, jumped back and ran away.....

Later,
Dan

 

[Pilot]

FWIW, when I was a meter reader, my boss told me that if a dog came after me to shove the meter book toward it and the dog would bite whatever is nearest. Worked when a boxer came after me. Meter book had an aluminum cover and the dog left 2" long teeth marks in it as we fought over it. Attack only lasted a couple seconds before the owner called him off. If she had been another second later, the dog would have been smacked real hard on the snout with my flashlight.

Anyway, the lesson is that if a dog comes at you and you have something in your hand, give it to the dog. Especially if you have a pistol! Might make for a real accurate shot, right down the throat!

 

[JimR]

Nice shooting Joe. Now all you need to do is get a laced steak for the pooch to eat and finish the job before he bites someone else.