I thought it was going to be one of those days

[JowGaWolf]

So I'm out training on day #003 of my shadow boxing day and I was just finishing up some kicks that I was training and a dog came into the yard. It wasn't a big issue for the most part. At first glance from a distance I actually thought it was a pit bull that came to the yard in the past. Until I saw that it wasn't. The pit bull was nice. I knew nothing about this dog.

You can clearly see that I'm not comfortable with this dog. The reason why is because I saw that this dog drooling at the mouth and I couldn't tell if it was drool because it was a hot day and it was thirsty or because it was rabid. This is a realistic concern because the area that I live in is known to have rabid foxes. The drooling was something that was visible from a distance.

We often talk about body language and positioning in terms of self-defense. So I thought this would be a good video to see how that plays out.
I removed the sound so you wouldn't hear me scream like a little girls lol.. just kidding. I removed the sound so you can focus the body language. I am yelling in the video but I'm yelling common commands that a dog may be familiar with. Things like "No" and "Go" The "No" command actually stopped the dog and the "Go" command made the dog life from my area.

 

[jobo]

So I'm out training on day #003 of my shadow boxing day and I was just finishing up some kicks that I was training and a dog came into the yard. It wasn't a big issue for the most part. At first glance from a distance I actually thought it was a pit bull that came to the yard in the past. Until I saw that it wasn't. The pit bull was nice. I knew nothing about this dog.

You can clearly see that I'm not comfortable with this dog. The reason why is because I saw that this dog drooling at the mouth and I couldn't tell if it was drool because it was a hot day and it was thirsty or because it was rabid. This is a realistic concern because the area that I live in is known to have rabid foxes. The drooling was something that was visible from a distance.

We often talk about body language and positioning in terms of self-defense. So I thought this would be a good video to see how that plays out.
I removed the sound so you wouldn't hear me scream like a little girls lol.. just kidding. I removed the sound so you can focus the body language. I am yelling in the video but I'm yelling common commands that a dog may be familiar with. Things like "No" and "Go" The "No" command actually stopped the dog and the "Go" command made the dog life from my area.

you can tell the disposition of a dog from a 100 yards, much as you can tell the disposition of people at the same distance


on a system of reductive reasoning, id give it a drink of water, then move on from there

 

[Deleted member 39746]

"Ma get the gun a dogs just come in the yard... MA!"

If i recall correctly, making yourself bigger and loud is the best thing to do if they are aggressive to scare them off, along with grabbing a pole or some throwing things. (if the making yourself bigger and loud doesnt work)

 

[jobo]

"Ma get the gun a dogs just come in the yard... MA!"

If i recall correctly, making yourself bigger and loud is the best thing to do if they are aggressive to scare them off, along with grabbing a pole or some throwing things. (if the making yourself bigger and loud doesnt work)

no the best thing you can do with a dog that snarling at you is back slowly away, if it was going to bite you, it already would have done so, dont antagonise it in to doing such

threatening it by shouting and waving sticks about can turn a minor issue into a hospital visit, much as it can with aggressive people. dont do it unless your reasonably confident that you can win any encounter that ensues, which if we are talking pit bulls you generally cant .talking to either in a calm voice can work wonders


i take it we can add dog behaviour to the list of things you feel competent to give advice on

 

[Deleted member 39746]

no the best thing you can do with a dog that snarling at you is back slowly away, if it was going to bite you, it already would have done so, dont antagonise it in to doing such

threatening it by shouting and waving sticks about can turn a minor issue into a hospital visit, much as it can with aggressive people. dont do it unless your reasonably confident that you can win any encounter that ensues, which if we are talking pit bulls you generally cant .talking to either in a calm voice can work wonders


i take it we can add dog behaviour to the list of things you feel competent to give advice on

It all ways goes down to situation specfics, if its a threat to you, those are the two things i recall as what you should do. The stick/projectiles is so if it comes for you, you can fend it off or to be used with the shouting at it etc. Like you assumed you could back away from it, you cant always do that. Much like with a aggresive person, you cant always just ignore them.

Your going to be better off with a firearm in this case, or second to that a knife. Rather than a few tennis balls you might have lying about for example.

That dog for example unless it was growling etc, probbly wasnt going to do anything.

 

[jobo]

It all ways goes down to situation specfics, if its a threat to you, those are the two things i recall as what you should do. The stick/projectiles is so if it comes for you, you can fend it off or to be used with the shouting at it etc. Like you assumed you could back away from it, you cant always do that. Much like with a aggresive person, you cant always just ignore them.

Your going to be better off with a firearm in this case, or second to that a knife. Rather than a few tennis balls you might have lying about for example.

That dog for example unless it was growling etc, probbly wasnt going to do anything.

if its not snarling at you and hasnt already bitten you its not generally a threat, growling is it telling you to back off,, dogs arnt that sophisticated that they launch subterfuge attacks, if your in such close quarters that you cant get out of its personal space, then for gods sake dont try hitting a pit bull with a stick
or a roided up weight lifter for that matter, it can only end badly, try reasoning with them or wait for their handlers to arrive

 

[Steve]

First, that dog didn't look like he was at all aggressive to me. Tail was up and he looked like he was having a good romp.

That said, I totally understand your caution, and if this were my dog, I'd be anxious that someone who didn't know the dog would harm it out of fear.

 

[JowGaWolf]

It all ways goes down to situation specfics, if its a threat to you, those are the two things i recall as what you should do. The stick/projectiles is so if it comes for you, you can fend it off or to be used with the shouting at it etc. Like you assumed you could back away from it, you cant always do that. Much like with a aggresive person, you cant always just ignore them.

Your going to be better off with a firearm in this case, or second to that a knife. Rather than a few tennis balls you might have lying about for example.

That dog for example unless it was growling etc, probbly wasnt going to do anything.

I had a dog bite me in the eye when I was a kid. It didn't bark or growl. It just waited for me to be vulnerable, which was a slight turn of the head. Ever since then I try to take a dominate posture. Not sure if it recognized the staff as something dangerous or not. But I was ready to use it lol

 

[Deleted member 39746]

For refrence, me citing a stick was only because i saw a broom or something in the video that you could have used if it was hostile that would have kept it back a bit. Wait, its a actual staff.


Addendum: didnt see above reply, never hurts to take a weapon to any animal near you just in case it rushes you or something, or it has freinds.

 

[jobo]

For refrence, me citing a stick was only because i saw a broom or something in the video that you could have used if it was hostile that would have kept it back a bit. Wait, its a actual staff.


Addendum: didnt see above reply, never hurts to take a weapon to any animal near you just in case it rushes you or something, or it has freinds.

i take you your psychosis of people extends to animals

 

[JowGaWolf]

First, that dog didn't look like he was at all aggressive to me. Tail was up and he looked like he was having a good romp.

That said, I totally understand your caution, and if this were my dog, I'd be anxious that someone who didn't know the dog would harm it out of fear.

Well if they think the dog is rabid (like I did) then that person would probably just keep their distance like I did. I had no plans on hurting the dog so long as it didn't attack. I'm a dog person and I know I wouldn't want anyone to harm the family dog out of fear. I think I would have grabbed my staff had it not reacted to any of the commands or to the tone of the commands. You can see me ease off the staff once the dog start turning it's head. I wouldn't expect a rabid dog to care much about a command. Also it never came back to my area after that and I went back to working out feeling comfortable that I wasn't going to get blindsided..

 

[Steve]

Well if they think the dog is rabid (like I did) then that person would probably just keep their distance like I did. I had no plans on hurting the dog so long as it didn't attack. I'm a dog person and I know I wouldn't want anyone to harm the family dog out of fear. I think I would have grabbed my staff had it not reacted to any of the commands or to the tone of the commands. You can see me ease off the staff once the dog start turning it's head. I wouldn't expect a rabid dog to care much about a command. Also it never came back to my area after that and I went back to working out feeling comfortable that I wasn't going to get blindsided..

I'm not at all critical of your reaction. In fact, the opposite is true; I think your reaction was very reasonable to a dog you don't know. If anything, I was editorializing about the owner of that dog who either intentionally or unintentionally let the dog roam around the neighborhood. If it's intentional, then I think that's negligent on the part of the owner. If unintentional (e.g., the dog escaped the back yard), then I can imagine how worried the owner would be.

 

[JowGaWolf]

For refrence, me citing a stick was only because i saw a broom or something in the video that you could have used if it was hostile that would have kept it back a bit. Wait, its a actual staff.


Addendum: didnt see above reply, never hurts to take a weapon to any animal near you just in case it rushes you or something, or it has freinds.

ha ha ha. yeah that was the staff that i train with. I was doing some martial arts training that day

 

[JowGaWolf]

I'm not at all critical of your reaction. In fact, the opposite is true; I think your reaction was very reasonable to a dog you don't know. If anything, I was editorializing about the owner of that dog who either intentionally or unintentionally let the dog roam around the neighborhood. If it's intentional, then I think that's negligent on the part of the owner. If unintentional (e.g., the dog escaped the back yard), then I can imagine how worried the owner would be.

Sorry about that. I wasn't trying give that type of vibe. It was supposed be more of a comment in agreement with you and not a defensive one.

When I was growing up, I would let my dog run at night. Lived in a different neighborhood and the dog was a hunting dog that needed to run often. So I would let her run late at night. I wouldn't let her run in the day time the same way because I was concerned that someone would be afraid of her and over react. Again. not trying to be defensive. Just agreeing with your perspective and sharing with you as of conversation that from my experience as an owner, that your perspective of the worried owner is correct.

The bigger the dog the greater the chance that someone will over react in a away that would be harmful for the dog.

 

[geezer]

That looked like one happy dog to me. His body posture, the way he held his tail, the spring in his step...
do rabid dogs act like that? I'd think they'd be acting both sick and aggressively...

But then I'm no Cesar Millan, and even Cesar has gotten bitten ...right on TV! Heck ...I've been bitten and still have scars all over my left hand. Still, regarding that dog, I would have been the kinda idiot to check on him, see if he had his owner's name and contact on his collar ...that sort of thing. Your's was probably the smarter course of action.

BTW check this out. You had possible symptom #4 right, but I didn't observe any of the others, like lethargy, unsteady gait, odd or sick behavior...

6 Symptoms of a Dog with Rabies

 

[Steve]

The bigger the dog the greater the chance that someone will over react in a away that would be harmful for the dog.

This 100%! I've had a lot of dogs, but they're all rescues that I got as adults. I've had a Danes, Pyranees, Newfies, and currently have a Great Pyranees and a St. Bernard. They all learn manners to one degree or another, but because they're all rescues, they come to me with their own hang ups. I have to be really careful. My St. Bernard is very vocal, and she will scare the **** out of our neighbors, even though she's just a big snuggle bear without an aggressive bone in her body.

 

[Steve]

That looked like one happy dog to me. His body posture, the way he held his tail, the spring in his step...
do rabid dogs act like that? I'd think they'd be acting both sick and aggressively...

But then I'm no Cesar Millan, and even Cesar has gotten bitten ...right on TV! Heck ...I've been bitten and still have scars all over my left hand. Still, regarding that dog, I would have been the kinda idiot to check on him, see if he had his owner's name and contact on his collar ...that sort of thing. Your's was probably the smarter course of action.

BTW check this out. You had possible symptom #4 right, but I didn't observe any of the others, like lethargy, unsteady gait, odd or sick behavior...

6 Symptoms of a Dog with Rabies

I felt the same way from the video. Dog seems to be frolicking to me. Like you, I probably would have called it over to check its collar for a phone number.

 

[JowGaWolf]

do rabid dogs act like that? I'd think they'd be acting both sick and aggressively

From my understanding, it depends on the stage that they are in. We usually see them in the late stages of the disease, with the nervous ticks and all out aggression that makes it clear that something is wrong with the animals. But in the earlier stages, the signs aren't as clear. In some cases certain symptoms may not occur.

I didn't bold the text here.(straight copy paste laziness)
"The early signs of rabies typically include behavioral changes — the animal may appear anxious, aggressive or more friendly than normal."
Source: Rabies Facts & Prevention Tips - American Humane

 

[JowGaWolf]

I felt the same way from the video. Dog seems to be frolicking to me. Like you, I probably would have called it over to check its collar for a phone number.

ha ha ha.. I still pass on that even with 20/20 hindsight.

I was less worried about this type of dog that tried to make itself home at my house where it stood guard over the door and the yard. I walked out of the yard and up the thinking the owner was near by. As I was walking back to the yard the dog approached me like. "Whatcha want"

Throw some drool on your dog and I'll be like. hmmmmmm No. I guess the thought of me being bitten by a dog that I think has rabies is worst than the thought of me just being bitten by a dog without. lol I also don't like spiders lol

 

[JowGaWolf]

In Georgia we have Bobcats. These things.

A woman here had to strangle a rabid bobcat that attacked her. I was like "Oh Heck NAW" lol. It tore her up but she survived and thanks to the dead Bobcat they were able to tell if the animal that attacked her was rabid. Not sure how many cat owners are here, but I used to own a cat and one day something spooked the cat and she clawed my hand with her hind legs as she jumped from my arm. 3 more inches towards the center and it would have been a slit wrist. Cat claws are sharp. So I'm thinking. Would I rather choke out a rabid bobcat or be like the guy in California who chocked out a hungry mountain lion lol. I'm leaning very heavily towards the mountain lion ha ha ha