# Clueless Scared People **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 8, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152 "2011-05-08T13:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/41 "2011-05-08T22:19:46Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > With bees in it’s mouth. My fave solution to life in this Biffed up world. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/42 "2011-05-09T00:21:49Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > A dog is a much better weapon for a \*young \*child than a gun. > Just saying. Not only this, but in SOME places you can not get a gun unless you are “somebody”. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/43 "2011-05-09T00:22:25Z")
Squid Gun! [http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/upload/2010/10/friday\_cephalopod\_watch\_out\_i/humboldt.jpeg](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/upload/2010/10/friday_cephalopod_watch_out_i/humboldt.jpeg) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HcVZZCdLRQ) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/44 "2011-05-09T01:01:15Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > It may read like I think the acquaintance should get a gun; I don’t but I see how my post looks like I do. I’m saying they’re putting too much faith in dogs and expecting them to have the same use as a gun. I don’t think a gun is what they need, I think a burglar alarm attached to 911 is what they need. > But I likewise don’t think she should expect a dog (ha, I typed god twice there) to save the family if it’s really a **pet**. The drunken SO was let in under a pretense of the friend needing a babysitter in an emergency, then turned grabby/pushy/assaulty. One can’t expect a pet dog to turn into a protector at the snap of a finger or a command unless that dog’s well-trained. All the barking in the world wouldn’t have stopped anything, it might only have dissuaded the drunk and from what I hear the inebriation was deep; the dog might not register w/ someone so out of it. > Those of you w/ dogs, do you think there’s a level of training they could receive where they could be all things to all people in all situations as needed? Growing up with dogs all my life, in my experience they are very good at seeing threats way before their ‘masters’. They don’t need to be specifically trained to do so. They are quite good at defending the pack. Often they are too good (and for the wrong reasons). I believe you are completely wrong at how fast a medium to large barking dog can but a grown man into a complete freeze. Drunk or not. Our girls are very good as alarms. And I doubt anyone would try to, or be able to break into our house easily. They are pets. That they are part of the pack and help protect us is a bonus. Similarly, I own guns for recreation. That they could be used for protecton is a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/45 "2011-05-09T01:13:12Z")
I have a dog and a baseball bat because like **Joey P.** said, I don’t think I could shoot someone. Actually, I’m not sure I could hit someone with a baseball bat either but it makes me feel better. ETA: I wish my dog could shoot bees out of his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/46 "2011-05-09T01:34:01Z")
We used to have a St. Bernard who was a great watchdog. She was scared silly of anybody but the immediate family. She would have gone through a wall if necessary to avoid a stranger. But she was really, really big for a female Saint B, and had a very loud, deep bark. She could look out the window while still on all fours and would bark and slobber if someone came up the walk. If an unwelcome person approached, we needed only to hold the dog by the collar. Nobody wants to enter unbidden when there’s 160+ pounds of growl and snarl appearing to be barely under control. They didn’t have to know it was because she wanted to leave the room, not because she wanted to go for the jugular. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/47 "2011-05-09T01:37:16Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > We used to have a St. Bernard who was a great watchdog. She was scared silly of anybody but the immediate family. She would have gone through a wall if necessary to avoid a stranger. But she was really, really big for a female Saint B, and had a very loud, deep bark. She could look out the window while still on all fours and would bark and slobber if someone came up the walk. If an unwelcome person approached, we needed only to hold the dog by the collar. Nobody wants to enter unbidden when there’s 160+ pounds of growl and snarl appearing to be barely under control. They didn’t have to know it was because she wanted to leave the room, not because she wanted to go for the jugular. My aunt rescues and boards dobermans. They haven’t locked their door in years. _No one_ goes near a house with 15-25 barking dobermans in it. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/48 "2011-05-09T13:04:36Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Or misfiring when being cleaned. I don’t think you can discount this, have you ever bathed a dog? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/49 "2011-05-09T13:09:20Z")
Uh, I’d rather have a dog nearby than shoot a drunk guy. But that’s just my liberal I-was-trained-to-think-of-guns-as-hunting-tools-for-citizens background talking. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/50 "2011-05-09T13:26:04Z")
And guns don’t or hump your friends legs. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/51 "2011-05-09T13:49:18Z")
I agree with the narrow part of the OP that insinuates that people who buy a dog solely for protection are likely to socialize the dog improperly and be poor guardians of the dog’s welfare. I snort in amusement at any implication that a dog is more dangerous to the family than a handgun. [ul] [li]US firearm deaths total (2005): 30,694 (Center for Disease Control)[/li] [li]From January 1, 1965 through June 30, 2006 there have been at least 540 fatal dog attacks in the United States. **That’s just over 13 per year**. (Source: National Canine Research Council)[/li][/ul] 13 vs 30,000. Note regarding potential quibbles – _both_ figures include accidental deaths and “deliberate” deaths such as when an attack dog is sent after a criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/52 "2011-05-09T14:17:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Let me rephrase it then. I’d get preachy if I felt she was getting a stereotypical ‘fighting’ dog that you thinks she can train to attack an intruder. Or worse will just instinctively know to attack an intruder. Whereas I’d leave this whole thing out of the conversation if she’s not appearing to go that route. The JRT was just a random small dog that popped into my head. Substitute mini-schnauzer (of which I have two right in front of me) if you wish. Well, I want to be careful not to be confusing in my reply. Certainly _some people_ confuse “stereotypical ‘fighting’ dogs” with guarding breeds or attack-trained dogs. I hope your point is that the person in question might have been so uneducated. “Stereotypical ‘fighting’ dog” breeds are _not_ bred for protection or for aggression toward humans, and _tend_ to be _less_ effective at deterring strangers than traditional guarding breeds. For example, the police will use pit bulls as scent dogs, but they don’t employ them as attack dogs, because pit bulls tend to be openly friendly to strangers – they’re just not suited for it. People who run pit bull breeding operations have said they keep guarding breeds like German Shepherd Dogs and Rottweilers to protect the pit bulls, who would otherwise happily get into the cars of dog thieves. I am aware that certain people claim a pit bull or other “fighting” dog is a good protector, but (as a generalization) they lack aggression toward humans, suspicion of strangers, and sense of territory (although it’s been said “a pit bull owns only the ground he’s standing on,” a reference to the dogs’ supposed unwillingness to back down). They were originally bred to fight _dogs_, not people. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/53 "2011-05-09T14:29:45Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Sounds like an inside job. Did you watch to see if the dog was spending more that normal afterwards? Addressing the OP, the friend is upset and dogs can have a calming effect on people. Plus is sounds like an excuse to say yes to something she wanted to say yes to anyway. Now when the kid isn’t holding up his promises to be the one to do all the dog-tending, she doesn’t feel so bad that she’s having to do all or some of the work. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/54 "2011-05-09T14:50:06Z")
What if the burglar takes the dog away from you and bites you with it? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/55 "2011-05-09T14:52:31Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I want a dog with a gun. I should warn you not to be misled by the name of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_dog). I bought one and it took _ages_ to teach it how to reload properly. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/56 "2011-05-09T14:52:46Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > To the bemused Euro-dopers - what do you keep around as a weapon? (I have my Grandfather’s shillelagh beside the bed.) Nothing. Why would I need a weapon? I don’t live in the Wild West or Somalia, I live in a civilised country, in a rather quiet city (considering it has over 1 mio. inhabitants). We don’t have gangs of armed people breaking down our doors in the middle of the night (we do have gangs of people breaking open doors during the day or at twilight, after carefully checking that nobody is home.) And I live in a 1-room flat, so if anybody did come in, I have no time anyway. And if I lived in a big house out in the country, and was worried about strange noises at night, I still wouldn’t want a weapon to go around checking things, I would want an alarm system. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/57 "2011-05-09T14:59:40Z")
In one house there is a dog that will bark when a burgler enters the property. In a neighbouring house there is a gun that the burgler is not aware of. The burgler will back away from the barking dog’s house and enter the other house. Conclusion: if you want to deter a burgler from entering your house, get a dog. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/58 "2011-05-09T15:04:59Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > What if the burglar takes the dog away from you and bites you with it? It is the responsibility of every dog owner to ensure that their “living weapon” is kept out of reach of young children. When not being used, dogs should be muzzle-locked and stored in a dog safe, and their removable teeth stored in a separate, secure location. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/59 "2011-05-09T15:07:35Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > It is the responsibility of every dog owner to ensure that their “living weapon” is kept out of reach of young children. When not being used, dogs should be muzzle-locked and stored in a dog safe, and their removable teeth stored in a separate, secure location. And by all means. get a permit if you plan on carrying a concealed dog. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152/60 "2011-05-09T15:19:16Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > In one house there is a dog that will bark when a burgler enters the property. In a neighbouring house there is a gun that the burgler is not aware of. > > The burgler will back away from the barking dog’s house and enter the other house. > > Conclusion: if you want to deter a burgler from entering your house, get a dog. OTOH if you want an excuse to shoot someone… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-scared-people/581152.md?page=4)