what do you do if your dog attacks someone?

If my dog is trying to protect me or my family in life or death situeation or even a breakin or something mugging or anything in that nature. I consider this a situeation where i deffentally would praise my dog. I expect my dog to protect my family. If she didnt i wouldn,t have her.

 

My problem with this, is we know the dogs have a sixth sense, but how easy is it going to be for the bitten victim (i.e. attacker) to say they were doing nothing wrong and this crazy pitbull owner just siced his dog on him for whatever reason. I see very little black and white. If the person pulls a gun, or a knife, or touches me is one thing....but for the dog to act aggressively (barking, lunging, snarling) when there have been no outward physical threats-I dont like it. I dont mind the dog staying close, keeping his eyes on me and the other, and ready in case they do make a move.....being attentive and ready is great, but I expect stability from them, and without a clear provokation, I dont want any actions from the dog. I will admit Odin is a bit more protective than I like. With friends and family (i.e. people I readily accept into the home) he is as happy as can be. With someone who I'm unsure about walks into the home, he will pick up on that and act with what he feels is right. This involves sticking right by my side the whole night, and the occasional low growl if the person makes any sudden movements towards me. Never biting, but making his presence known. I am more than capable of protecting myself from most any threat, and the last thing I would wish for is my dog to get in trouble doing something he didnt need to. I have been confronted a few times with folks wanting to fight while I happened to be walking Odin, I actually told them to hold on, and tied the leash to a tree and told them if they wanted to handle their business, we could without the dog getting involved. Now with any other dog, I could of probably left them running loose as they would of licked the attacker while I was getting stabbed on the ground. ROFL

Since everyone else is sharing stories, I have a good one to go with this thread also. LOL

I used to hold boxing tournaments in my garage quite frequently, where people from everywhere would show up and fight just for the fun of it. Imagine a "fight club" without Tyler Durden,lol. Anyways, I was getting the room ready when some friends showed up early. The second the mat was layed and the space was cleared, we began fighting before the crowd showed up. When I saw them pull up, I placed Odin downstairs in the basement, but did not lock him in his kennel, nor did I throw him on the chain, I simply locked off the basement and let him have his run for an hour or two. Me and a close friend started to fight and when the first punch is thrown I hear a loud crash and the most insane barking I've ever heard...I had time to look towards the basement door, and realized Odin could see out the bottom of it, and when that first swing went...he busted out of the door and was coming for the "attacker". I luckily tackled him before he made contact,and I learned my lesson-just locking a dog in the house isnt enough, busting through locked doors is to be expected from a driven dog...put them on a chain out of sight. LOL

 

Uh, 14 rock,I thought that I made it clear that my dogs didn't attack or bite anyone, but they sure looked out for me...Of course I don't want my dogs lunging or snapping and they don't, or didn't ever. Martha(the dog that caught the "peeping Tom") growled at him and lunged, but she never snapped at him. She also calmed down once I told her to...and this was an "untrained" dog. And Sparky did not even lunge at the "homeless guy" . She just let me know he was there. And stayed right by me.
And if someone did attack me, I'd do my best to make sure that they never attack anyone else and also that I was the one to tell the story to the cops or whatever...I mean, really, I am sure the cops could understand if your dog protected you...
If someone is hitting me I am going to worry about the legal ramifications later...I will defend myself. We still have that right(self defense) in this country...to some extent, anyway...

 

My pup is the same way...he lets me know about anything that doesn't seem right. He hasn't bit anyone and I don't intend on ever allowing him too, but I always know when something is wrong anywhere near me. I'm not so sure about praising him, because some counties/states have a 2 bite rule and praising my dog for biting someone seems to only advance the problem. I' am working to keep my dog from biting anyone.

 

Reason for not praising, he was already trained to do so. That would be his job.