This is a bit like telling a rape victim that she was asking for it, even though she wasn’t asking for it. If a dog can be “provoked” into attacking a person simply because that person is nervous, then the dog is a dangerous animal; an attack under such circumstances ought not be blamed on the nervous person.
…which is why I said the dog needs to be put away when he is there. He doesn’t need to deal with the dog being in his presence, they are not going to get along, better safe than sorry.
No need to bring rape into it, or accuse me of accusing anyone. There’s no victim here yet. Why not avoid the threat of there being a victim at all?
fair enough. I was afraid of a number of pit bulls that their owners said were safe. They were later destroyed because they attacked the owners and the owners pets. It wasn’t hard for me to realize how dangerous their dogs were.
This could dissolve into another “Pitbulls be evil” thread or we could acknowledge that owners are inclined to a bit of blindness when it comes to their pets.
BTW, the policeman in the video had a lot of balls. He faced that dog and calmly kicked it away while reaching for his taser.
Sure, a stun gun will stop a pit bull same as a kitchen knife. But you probably don’t want the dog getting that close! A stun gun has to be held in direct contact to the aggressor. It’s a taser that shots electrified darts as in the video.
IANADO, I am not a dog owner, but how should I know or anyone know if your dog or any dog is a peaceful and has no history of aggression when he comes running full tilt barking his head off looking like he means business?
Regardless of the dogs history of non-aggression going into full protection mode with a stun gun or a super soaker loaded with tabasco seems to me to be a reasonable reaction.
Typically if we’re arranging maintenance on a tenant’s property, we send them notice and ask that any pets that will be on the property on the day of the maintenance/work be locked up somewhere they will not be exposed to the workmen, or the tenant be present to properly restrain the dog.
If someone goes into a unit and there is an unrestrained dog, they’re expected to lock the unit back up and leave notice that said work cannot be performed until the dog is put away.
As a lawn person, you need to make it clear that you need the tenant’s dogs put away to do your job. If the property manager or property owner finds it unreasonable to request that of his/her tenants I’m not sure you want to continue a business relationship with such a foolish person anyway.
I also would agree that informing anyone you’ll be carrying a stun gun might be provocative, just make it known the work doesn’t happen while animals are left unrestrained in an area where they can reach you.
Meanwhile, I’d recommend some form of pepper spray. Loach’s story should be instructive in that it does not always work, but the spray often causes lasting discomfort for the animal that deters further attacks. It’s effective enough that it’s used successfully on bears. In fact, bear attacks in which the victim resorts to using a firearm to fend off/kill the bear actually have a higher rate of injury than bear attacks in which the victim uses the spray. The spray can be very effective on animals.
There are multiple problems with stun guns to keep aware of:
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If this isn’t a projectile-style TASER (brand name), the initial shock actually isn’t powerful enough to disable anyone, dog or human. Instead it’s simply a pain compliance tool no different than how a cattle prod is used on cattle. It’ll hurt, but it won’t debilitate and sometimes hurting just makes animals (and people) angrier.
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If it a projectile-style TASER, the initial shock will debilitate a person or an animal briefly. But most importantly, once the shock is over, the pain is gone. There is virtually no residual pain. As Loach mentions, a human probably won’t want to feel it again, but a dog may have no such sense.
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Projectile-style TASER has typically one shot, if you miss it’s problematic.
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Non-projectile style prods or TASERs in drive-stun mode require you to be basically close enough to touch the animal. That increases the chances you get bitten and again, since they are just a pain compliance tool it may not deter an attack.
The OC/pepper spray on the other hand, when it works effectively it can be such an eye irritant that the animal stops its attack; and the effects take far longer to wear off.
To me it isn’t the dog, it isn’t the breed, it isn’t whether you’re afraid of this one dog or of dogs in general. It’s the dog’s owner. You’re always hearing about the little old lady who tells you, “Oh, Fluffy won’t hurt you,” as some German shepherd/grizzly bear mix lunges against a flimsy chain-link fence, barking and barking and barking MURDER KILL DEATH at you. Or the owner swears the dog is inside the house, but somebody comes outside and lets the dog out, and it charges you while you’re looking the other way or have your hands full.
Yeah, I don’t think a stun gun is the answer. Maybe mace. But letter carriers routinely carry dog treats or something, don’t they? Is it the kind of dog whose loyalty can be bought with some Liver Snaps?
If you don’t have a relationship with the dog owner, then yes, I agree with this. Although I think bear spray (if legal in your jurisdiction) is a much better option.
But if this is a client of yours I think the much preferable option is to make sure the dog is secured before you start work. If the dog isn’t secured, no work gets done. If my dog (and I don’t currently own one) is secured properly then you should have no need for protection against it.
I delivered newspapers as a kid and dealt with lots of dogs, even got bit once. We simply wouldn’t deliver to houses that we didn’t feel comfortable at. If you want your paper in the door you kept your aggressive dog in the yard. Otherwise it goes out by the curb. Since most houses didn’t have fenced yards and the dogs were running free this wasn’t always possible.
But if the dog wasn’t aggressive we would play with them during the delivery. 
Who’s a good boy?
Letter carriers always carry OC spray around here. One of my friends is a letter carrier and he’s sprayed many, many dogs. One story he’s told, a small white fluffy type dog used to lunge up at his hands anytime he put mail in the owner’s mailbox. The way it was setup was the owner had a box right near where their fence was, so the dog couldn’t actually get out of the fence, but it could jump up to bite you while you tried to put mail in the box. He actually spoke to the owner on several occasions to no avail, finally he sprayed the dog one day when it caught some skin–and it stained its white coat orange for a long time.
The owner actually called the local postmaster and everything to complain, but he didn’t get into any trouble over it since he explained the situation pretty fully and had documented several instances in which the dog’s owner had been informed about its behavior.
Absolutely.
Also, inform the dog’s owner that being around running lawn equipment is a danger to the dog. Dogs (and small children) are low to the ground, and at greater risk of injury from rocks/sticks/debris being thrown from under a lawnmower.
On top of that, being around loud motorized equipment is generally uncomfortable for a dog. The typical dog will be much happier inside.
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Curious about something: LiveFree, do you have reason to the believe that this tenant will be especially stubborn about bringing the dog inside? As a life-long dog owner, keeping the dog(s) away from working servicemen is de rigeur. Even friendly dogs can get in the way and be underfoot.
Yeah, I’d forget the stun gun. I’d get some bear spray; should probably just have it anyway despite this customer since a dog could just as easily come from a few doors down. Have the owner sign something saying that no work will be done if the dog is out and they’ll be assessed a $? service charge if you have to leave and come back later.
Haven’t talked to the tenant yet (will talk to him this weekend). I don’t foresee him being stubborn about it.
No one has been attacked in this instance, but there’s already been fearmongering about the Pit Bull Menace. There is indeed blindness here.
Everthing that’s been said about pit bulls in this thread appplies to all dog breeds. They’re just dogs.
Nonsense. All the people killed in my town by dogs died from pit bull attacks. It’s not a function of more dog bites than other breeds, it’s the vicious nature of the attack once it starts. The breed has a history of being bred for dog fights. There’s no comparison to breeds like Labradors. and it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to recognize a problem dog when they see one. The op sees a problem in the making and asked about non-fatal solutions if attacked.
Whoa!!!
You need to check with the local authority to determine if you can even, legally, have a taser or pepper or OC spray on your person. I’m in Fairfax, VA and we had a serious problem with an aggressive dog in our neighborhood to the point it involved Animal Control, the Police, ADA, and a court hearing. That all being said, we were NOT ALLOWED to carry any of those.
So, before you get any crazy ideas and buy from Amazon or eBay make sure you are legal through and through or you might find yourself liable for damages.
BTW: the best offense is a defense. The suggestions to notify the lawn owner that you have a concern is the adult and correct thing to do. That way, if something does occur then it is clear that they failed.
Also, I would suggest buying citronella spray. It overpowers the dogs sense of smell and “takes them offline” without injuring them. It is like an unbearable whiff if ammonia to a human who then runs away. No harm done.
Here is a link to what I am talking about, I have no relation to the seller or product:
Why not just tell the owner of the pit bull that it must be inside the house while you’re there working on the lawn? If the dog’s out, no service. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request.
Can we stay on topic… Will a stun gun stop a big dog? My mom was out the other day walking her two little dogs when a pitbull broke through a screen door and went directly for her one little dog. My mom was able to kick it in the face to deter it but then it started to go after her dog again. She was luckily able to keep her dog from being bitten until the owner was able to harness the pitbull. My mom is now scared to even walk her dogs now which is unfortunate. If we didn’t live in the communist state of Maryland I’d tell my mom to proceed with obtaining a gun and a concealed carry permit. It’s only a matter of time before something like this happens to someone else. If a taser will stop a dog of this size, whether it kills it or not, it’s a person’s right to carry one for protection. But if it doesn’t work then what’s the point.
My solution would be to notify the dog owner that the animal must be secured (preferably indoors) for you to do work on his property. Carrying a can of bear spray to handle unforeseen problems might not be a bad idea.
It is, if by “analogous” you mean “insanely divorced from reality”.
Typically, your attacking two-year-old human doesn’t draw blood when they attack. As a former preschool teacher I’ve been attacked by several, but the only injury I’ve ever sustained was when at my parents’ request I tried to put my brother’s shoes on him when he was a toddler and he accidentally(?) kicked me in the nose. Dog attacks far more often lead to stitches and plastic surgery than attacks by toddlers.