# Avoiding a dog by jumping in the water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117 "2012-12-15T17:09:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/21 "2012-12-16T03:32:24Z")
Dogs lose a lot of their advantages in the water. They can’t swim very fast, and they no longer have a base for their feet, compromising most of their strength. But they still have large powerful jaws and sharp teeth. Unless you’re very comfortable in water, you’ll have those same disadvantages, and your jaw won’t get any bigger. I’d say in most cases, no difference overall in the water. The exception would be where you could swim away. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/22 "2012-12-16T03:38:59Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > For example, what if the dog got you by the throat? How would your intelligence work that problem out? Again, I always pick Me to win against a Dog but I think the odds are much better that I get the dog’s throat in the crook of my elbow than he gets mine in his mouth. Without having ever been in the situation, I’d say I could handily beat any dog I can lift. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/23 "2012-12-16T03:51:30Z")
My tactic would be to dive under and swim away as fast as possible. I am fairly confident I could outswim most any dog. I’d avoid engaging the dog in the water – its gonna go straight for the face. The absolute best case scenario would be to kick the dog off the bridge then go on my merry way while it splashes ashore. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/24 "2012-12-16T03:55:57Z")
If it was an attack cat, it would probably be pretty safe to do just that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/25 "2012-12-16T13:13:30Z")
Why not climb a tree, OP? ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/26 "2012-12-16T14:22:45Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I think a large dog who was really intent on killing you would be hard to survive, land or water. They are much better predators than most people imagine. For example, what if the dog got you by the throat? How would your intelligence work that problem out? Thumbs through its eye sockets. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/27 "2012-12-16T14:57:41Z")
People underestimate the force of a dog bite. They can break your arm bones, snap them right quick. However, I still think I’d have a better chance in the water than on land. If I can keep my forearms out of Fido’s maws and get a grip on his shoulder skin I can keep him under. With two dogs, all bets are off. I also bet a good swimmer could outswim a dog, at least, most attack dogs. A decent swimmer could outpace a retriever at first, but darn those pups can be tenacious and swim a long way. Fortunately, they’re rarely trained as attack dogs. The big problem is that we can’t swim for crap with shoes on. Taking the time to pull off shoes might not be advisable. They also make our feet considerably more formidable as weapons. But I suspect we’d lose the swim race against the dog with shoes on, as well as much loose clothing. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/28 "2012-12-16T15:18:41Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I think a large dog who was really intent on killing you would be hard to survive, land or water. They are much better predators than most people imagine. For example, what if the dog got you by the throat? How would your intelligence work that problem out? This answer covers it pretty well. We use trained dogs to hunt feral hogs on our deer lease. The hogs frequently try to escape by jumping in the river. The dogs follow them into the water and take turns pushing them under (by climbing onto them). This continues until the pig is exhausted and nearly drowned, and eventually climbs back onshore (to meet its gruesome fate). AFAIK, no hog has yet escaped via water. Admittedly these are well-trained dogs, but the that seems to be the question the OP asked (“attack dogs”). I suspect it would work a little better for a human who could stand up though. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/29 "2012-12-16T15:27:49Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > I also bet a good swimmer could outswim a dog … Various googling suggests that best canine swimming speed is about 60% of a top-level human swimmer. Which means that a good human swimmer should have no problems against a good dog, but a mediocre human probably would. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/30 "2012-12-16T19:12:28Z")
The dog in the film _No Country for Old Men_ did not hesitate to jump into the river and swim after its human prey. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117/31 "2012-12-16T21:48:52Z")
One of my dogs does competitive [dock diving](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_jumping). He is extremely driven to “win” and because he is determined, fast, utterly unafraid of water and by nature a carnivore and hunter, I can’t see a human avoiding an attack \*by jumping in water. - Not that he would attack anyone; he is a marshmallow. But I’m pretty sure he could outswim or out-maneuver any human. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-a-dog-by-jumping-in-the-water/644117.md?page=1)