Fact: Any breed of dog is capable of attacking a human. But 56 percent of all fatal dog attacks in the United States in the past five years were committed by pit bulls, according to a report released last week by the organization DogsBite.org. “During the 1980s and 1990s, fatal dog attacks averaged 17 per year. The death-by-dog-bite rate now is nearly double this amount at over 30 per year and largely due to pit bulls,” the group says. The tips below can be used against any breed of dog that happens to attack, up to and including the pit bull. (And to those who claim that humans’ anxiety about pit bull attacks is fostering an environment where pit bulls are subliminally encouraged to attack: I will not discuss matters of human culpability and mind-reading pit bulls because YOU ARE INSANE.)
“Trying to make friends with strange dogs is not a good idea,” says David Wiley, a Seattle dog behavioral therapist with BarkBusters.com. “Don’t try to pay attention to a dog in a car or behind a fence—even friendly dogs can be territorial.”
Never let yummy little kids—who make sudden, startling, unpredictable movements—anywhere near unleashed pit bulls.
If you find yourself on what feels like the verge of being attacked: “Don’t run—the movement can make the dog more excited and chase you. Stand completely still and cross your hands in front of you. Don’t make direct eye contact, which can come across as a challenge. Don’t turn your back, as it may embolden the dog. Just stand still. Once the dog loses interest, back away,” says Wiley.
So you’ve stood still and avoided eye contact, and still the dog in question shows signs of dangerous aggression. If you can get yourself somewhere higher than the ground, do it. If you can stand on a car, stand on a car. (You can worry about possibly denting a stranger’s hood and roof later—just get the fuck up there.)
If there’s no car or any other higher level handy, “don’t try to defend yourself, just protect yourself,” says Emily Keegans, behavior program manager at the Seattle Humane Society. “That basically means to get down on the ground, pull your knees to your chest, clasp your hands behind your neck, put your elbows around your face.” This play-dead-while-defending-your- tender-face-and-lap-bits approach is seconded by Wiley: “Stillness is the best thing. If a dog gets its teeth into you, fighting back can make things worse.”
There’s nothing as low drama as spraying the animal with a pain-inducing repellent. If your life regularly takes you through areas populated with dogs, get Mace (or pepper spray, or citronella). Do it now, because all other “fighting back” options are nauseatingly violent. Butch’s Gun Shop on Aurora Avenue sells a small container of Mace for around $12, while REI sells an eight-ounce “bear spray” for $30.
Is there something heavy you can grab? A rock, a brick, a boom box? If so, smash it against the dog’s head until it retreats or loses consciousness.
Or can you or someone else grab the attacking dog’s legs? If so, yank them apart to break the dog’s knees.
If that’s not possible, choke it. Don’t straddle the dog, but get into a position with the bony part of your forearm against its throat and put pressure on the windpipe “for at least 30 seconds until the dog is unconscious and has stopped struggling,” says self-defense specialist Charles Prosper.
Is choking not in the cards? Do you have something to wrap around your arm? Say, a jacket? If so, wrap it around your nondominant arm and let the dog bite it. Then fall on top of the fucker and dig your fingers into its eyes. Don’t stop until the dog’s a whimpering mass of blindness, then get yourself to safety. 
The follow-up: How to Defeat Someone Made Furious by ‘How to Defeat a Pit Bull with Your Bare Hands.’
Hmmmm… how to beat a DOUCHE BAG with your bare hands.
I delivered newspapers for four years, and was bitten 12 times by “good dogs” whose owners insisted that I “must have done something to him.”
In those years, and in the years since, I have learned that there are effective strategies in dealing with dangerous dogs and their equally dangerous owners.
Firstly, stand your ground and make sure the dog sees that you are watching it. Most dogs are cowards and will back off. If this fails, then you have to kick it hard, or get something between yourself and the dog.
Finally, if you are threatened by a dog, the best strategy is to tell the owner in no uncertain terms that if it bites you, you will kill it. Then, carry a heavy steel rod or a pistol with you, and make good on the threat if you have to. Fortunately, I’ve never had to, as the owners have made sure their dogs are in their yards, or under control, when I’m out for a stroll or a bike ride.
if your a hipster don’t worry, as soon as the dog realizes your an ineffectual waif full of self rightous opinions and pseudo intellectual bullshit it will realize chewing your face off isn’t worth the jaw calories and move on
Considering how many people have had their faces mauled by dogs in the northwest recently, I consider this article quite pertinent. Thank you, Stranger, for the useful and fearless advice. No other paper would have the PETA-repellent balls to tell me to gouge the dog’s eyes out or break its legs.
Hoorah for that.
As soon as I saw dogsbite like alot of commenters I knew the story lacked any legitimacy. I wonder if perhaps the writer of this blog is the same person who writes the dribble over at that hoakie other blog. The name escapes me at the moment. Way to throw more gas on an already out of control fire. Were not all irresponsible with our dogs, some of us work hard to educate and help people better understand the breed. If people want to learn about the real American Pit Bull Terrier tune in to The Pit Bull Positive Show every Saturday night @ 8 pm central on Ustream and Pit Bull Positive.
Dogs have attacked and in a small percentage of instances, maimed or killed humans. Bacteria, cars and cigarettes have each killed far more people. PEOPLE have killed in far greater numbers than dogs.
If you have to defend yourself, by all means do it. But know one thing:
I have two very non-agressive, but very high energy dogs. They love to run towards other dogs and sometimes people, so that they can lick your face and sniff you. That’s what they do. If you don’t want to interact with the outside world, stay indoors.
Learn how to greet or avoid a strange dog just as you must learn how to deal with a dirty, scary looking drunk you happen across. If you mace, kick or otherwise damage my dogs, I will fuck you up.
Seriously? Is there even and editor around to question this garbage? Let’s vet the statistics cited here first. How bout a little fact checking Stranger? Weird. I used to read this rag but after being exposed to a couple of ill informed articles like this, I quit reading. Vile and ignorant. Very bad combo.
Love it!!! You nailed it!!! Go to http://www.pitattacksbystate.blogspot.com and see all the times when tazers, pepper spray, hammers, guns, etc., were used on pits and they still kept coming. Go on YouTube and see the contest on how high a pit can jump a fence. I believe it is over 10 feet now. The best way to handle pits is to ban them. The bloodsport they were bred to do is now illegal and pits should be too.
I’ve never been attacked by a pit bull, but I have been rushed by dogs when biking, had dogs run at my toddler in Seattle parks (not dog parks), etc. The info on preventing and protecting yourself from dog attacks is useful–thanks! Too bad not all dog owners are responsible so that it’s not necessary.
Ban the breed. Period.
Ban the breed. Period.
http://blog.dogsbite.org/2008/10/dog-bit…
Butch’s Gun Shop on Aurora Avenue also sells GUNS. Do as the cops do and shoot the motherfuckers.
It is absolutely incredible that pathological liar Colleen Lynn gets cited as some sort of authority in dog behavior and genetics, when in reality she is a freelance web designer. She is not a dog trainer nor animal behaviorist. She is the publisher and profiteer of DogsBite.org.
There is NO proof that she donates any money to any dog attack victim, yet she gladly accepts donations on her hate site, so she can stuff the money in her own pocket.However, her greatest claim to fame is that she is an admitted paranoid delusional that must take medication to prevent a level five anxiety attack.
Pathological liar Colleen Lynn is a certified crazy person on a crusade to complete the circle of victimization by preying on responsible dog owners, and those that follow her over-generalized agenda are of the same mindset as those that drank the Koolaid in Jamestown.
This is the most disgusting piece of trash I have ever read. You know how much more likely it is that a pit bull/other dog will be killed, injured or tortured by a human than the other way around? Ya ever wonder how they got to that place where they feel like attacking someone? No probably not, I’m no longer a reader of The Stranger, so I don’t care anymore.
Seriously!? Encouraging violence against animals is your way of solving the problem? Let’s not go to the source and deal with the people who neglect these animals. That’d make too much sense…
This is irresponsible and disgusting. Spread the fear, Stranger – that’s definitely the best way to deal with something you don’t like.
Let’s substitute pitbull with gay people, since 68% of all serial killers (Past & Present) are gay. Maybe it is time that us normal people defend ourselves against these creeps.
Gay people are so wonderful http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200…
(Dutch shock over gay HIV rape gang)
@173, they actually weren’t originally bred for that. They were cattle herders originally.
this article disgusts me.
I will no longer read the stranger
I agree with the many people who’ve commented here that the problem is not the animal, but the people who’ve trained it to attack and mistreated it. This article is really disappointing. It plays up the shock factor in order to delight the readers who like it when the “liberals” get pissed off, but it completely undermines the issue of animal cruelty, which is the real problem. One more reader lost.
I’ve only been bitten by a dog once, and surprise surprise, it was one of those bastard pit bulls. Bit down on my leg, and I had no clue what to do. I didn’t move, and told it a couple times in a loud voice to get down, which it did, and then it slunk off. I consider myself lucky.
Next day, I bought myself a nice little CRTK folding knife, you know, for peeling apples. Or gutting the next vicious fucking beast that thinks I look like lunch.
If you are sick and tired of “articles” (ok, I use the term loosely) like this one and the fear-mongering that it perpetuates, then please join Families Against Breed Bans and help fight breed specific legislation!
If you are sick and tired of “articles” (ok, I use the term loosely) like this one and the fear-mongering that it perpetuates, then please join Families Against Breed Bans and help put an end to breed profiling! http://www.fabbseattle.org
So you are using a website (Dogsbite.org) that is NOT a fact finding, research heavy driven website to site your source? Dogsbite.org is by pit bull haters, about pit bull haters. They aren’t about finding facts. That have continuously reported pit bull attacks, when it was completely different breeds. Want to get real fact, go to the CDC, you know, Center of Disease and Control….oh wait, a few years ago, the CDC made an announcement it was IMPOSSIBLE to list specific dog breeds as attacking more or less than others because witnesses are often wrong, many breeds look similar, and many dogs are mixed bred and thus, cannot properly be classified….how does one classify a Pit bull lab mix when it attacks? As a pit bull or as a lab or as both? See how they saw it? The CDC also does not advocate ANY breed bans, they are 100% against it. And when websites like Dogsbite.org and similar news rags and dog haters used their stats and the CDC’s good name to trash dogs, the CDC fought back, and now only lists “DOG ATTACKS”, as in, NO BREED is identified because as the PROFESSIONAL GOVERNMENT AGENTS, SCIENTISTS, and the like said….it is IMPOSSIBLE to get SPECIFIC numbers on what breeds attack. So please, before you post a blog that is pretending to be some fact based how-to, do some REAL research. Open a book, go to non-agenda based websites, etc.
Now THIS is a blog, written by a man who has first hand experience not with one or two dogs, but 100s. He is a professional and educated. His agenda is about FACTS, not headlines and craptacular comic book art.
For those who actually believe the BS of Dogsbite.org, please go here. I’m sure if you beliefe Dogsbite.org you won’t, because you like being that incredibly ignorant and moronic. But least for those who are seeking to allow their minds to grow out of the small shell that is their thick skull, they may learn something.
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2…
Now THIS is a blog, written by a man who has first hand experience not with one or two dogs, but 100s. He is a professional and educated. His agenda is about FACTS, not headlines and craptacular comic book art.
For those who actually believe the BS of Dogsbite.org, please go here. I’m sure if you beliefe Dogsbite.org you won’t, because you like being that incredibly ignorant and moronic. But least for those who are seeking to allow their minds to grow out of the small shell that is their thick skull, they may learn something.
http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2…
This article is useful for the information it provides. If I am attacked by ANY dog – be it pit bill, rottweiler, or Yorkie – I damn well better know how to defend myself.
And as a person who would never choose to own a pit bull themselves, I understand why the Stranger would target pitt bulls as the main dog to defend against.
But at the same time – Dan Savage throws a hissy fit anytime a journalist writes an article that uses scare tactics to frighten people away from taking drugs. How is this that much different? Throw out some facts, don’t bother to explain them, and keep from examining the ‘pitt bull’ problem in depth.
How do I know that its a pitbull attacking me? Should I get a DNA test first before employing your defense tactics? Thanks.
My question is this: Of all the people who see this article as superfluous… how many of them have been the victim of a large dog attack, much less a pit bull? I agree – there should be more regulation of the breed, but all that mean bubkiss when you have one strolling toward you while your talking you kids for a walk.
I agree with #8! How to defeat a hipster with your bare hands would have been much more useful.
What upsets me the most is not that the article was written to tell people things they can do to protect themselves, it is the manner in which it is written. It reads as if it was written by a 9th grader who loves to swear. I am disgusted that it would promote violence against dogs. I think a much better article would be the truth, that the only real way to prevent dog attacks is to promote and educate on good dog ownership. It isn’t the dogs fault, humans are the ONLY reason why any dog acts the way it does, based on the care and training and home life it receives. We are the ones who know right from wrong yet so many people take a dog home and just forget about it, not training it, socializing it and even using it for the wrong reasons. You should be writing to promote animal ownership education. To classify “Pit Bulls” as the US’s most deadliest dogs is proof alone that you did not even try to research facts before writing this, because they absolutely are NOT, that is not a statement that is a actual statistical fact. If you had real statistics, you would be taken more seriously here but you do not. I am in pit rescue like some others on here and we are very educated on the myths and facts about these dogs and some of us have houses full of them, some plucked right off the street. It’s not the dog, it’s the owner. Always. I am done w/ the stranger simply due to it’s writers blatent disregard for finding the real truth before writing such an article. You have lost a lot of readers from this article. For REAL information on myths surrounding this breed…go to http://www.realpitbull.com/myths.html. Sorry Stranger, but you’ve really done it this time. To all, those for and against this article, please know that our jobs are only to educate, not start issues, this article truly is not factual and there is absolutely no real research done here. Alls they did was looked on one website and copy/paste quotes from some man they’ve never met or talked to. A man that is not even a dog trainer or expert. This article should not be taken seriously but if you really do want to know how to help the bully breeds or even just know how to truly protect yourself so you don’t have to fear what is more afraid of you, please see pitbullrescuecentral.com or post a comment on how we can get more educational information to you. Maturity is the only way to educate, and this article missed that by a long shot.
Bite statistics are difficult to obtain accurately. Dogs that are referred to as “pit bulls” in statistical reports actually are a variety of breeds and mixes all lumped
together under the “pit bull” heading. Also, many people have a difficult
time properly identifying a true Pit Bull, so added to the statistics are
those dogs that have been misidentified. Considering these factors, the
actual number of attacks attributable to American Pit Bull Terriers is
considerably lower than represented. Also important to understand is
the extreme popularity of the Pit Bull and pit bull-type breeds. By some
estimates, numbers-wise they are the most popular of all dog breeds. It
is only logical to assume that the breed with the higher number of
individual dogs would be represented with a higher number of bites.
Viewing older statistical reports for the Center of Disease Control, one
will see that trends in breed popularity reflect in the number of bites
attributed to a specific breed during a specific period of time.
-Information provided by http://www.realpitbull.com/myths.html-
This is a sad display of pure ignorance. IT IS THE OWNERS TO BLAME, NOT THE ANIMALS. I own two wonderfully behaved pit bulls. I also have three children under the age of 10 you LOVE and ADORE those dogs. What is wrong with you people? You have nothing better to to than to put down a breed just because of the bad rep they got due to horrible owners?? Give me a break and do everyone a favor…go get some education on a subject before you go bashing it!!! It’s all in how you treat and train your animals people…get with the program here!!!
“A Brooklyn couple watched in horror Sunday as their pet pit bull suddenly snapped and viciously mauled their 20-month-old son.
The usually docile dog suddenly turned on little Elliot Korenblyun, sinking its teeth into the helpless tot‘s face inside the family’s apartment in Bensonhurst.”
@240 Christopher Frizzelle,
Gay people are so wonderful and responsible.
Dutch shock over gay HIV rape gang
A homosexual gang that raped victims lured on the Internet, drugged them and infected them with the HIV virus has shocked the Netherlands and raised questions over its liberal sex culture.
Health Minister Ab Klink called the case “horrible”, as the press splashed the news across its front pages.
The matter came to light ON Wednesday, when police said they had arrested three seropositive homosexual men two weeks ago after four victims, men aged 25 to 50, accused them of rape and premeditated bodily harm.
Ronald Zwarter, the police chief in the northern town of Groningen, where the alleged crimes took place, said two of those arrested, a couple aged 48 and 33, had confessed.
“Their stated motive was that it excited them – and also that, the more HIV-infected people there were, the better their chances of unprotected sex,” he said.
“They considered unprotected relations to be ‘pure’.”
A fourth man who allegedly supplied the three suspects with several litres of the date-rape drug GHB and ecstasy tablets was also arrested.
The gang risks up to 16 years in prison.
According to police and prosecutors, eight more victims have come forward since the case was publicised.
Officials said the three seropositive men invited men contacted on the Internet to private homosexual orgies.
@240
Toddler at home after dog attack
Posted: Apr 04, 2010 4:13 PM PDT
Updated: Apr 04, 2010 4:13 PM PDT
WARREN COUNTY, MS (WLBT) – Easter Sunday brings good news to the little boy from Warren County who was mauled by a dog.
Family members tell us he returned home Sunday. Twenty two month-old Jack Gaines has been at Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital since Wednesday night. That’s when a six year old Black Mouth Cur dog, belonging to his grandmother, mauled the infant.
Gaines suffered multiple lacerations on his head and face. His parents, Robin Causey and Brad Gaines, say their son may not be able to open his left eye again. They have since moved out of the grandmother’s home and are currently living with another relative.
According to Vicksburg Humane Society Officials, the dog was euthanized Friday afternoon.
Let’s not ban the Pit Bulls. Instead, let’s petition that it be required that all owners of Pit Bulls be sterilized along with their animals.
@239, “IT IS THE OWNERS TO BLAME, NOT THE ANIMALS.”
Would you mind providing some facts to back this re-occurring theory up?
Of pit bulls involved in an incident what % of their owners had a criminal record compared to other dog owners?
Of pit bulls involved in an incident what % of their owners had been convicted of animal cruelty/negligence compared to other dog owners? Compared to other animal owners?
Any verifiable scientifically measured facts you can provide to support this claim would be great.
Let’s not ban those poor animals. Instead, let’s require that all Pit Bull owners be sterilized along with their pets.
It’s not the advice, it’s the tone that saddens me … and the assumption that ONLY pit bulls attack.
This article is infuriating. I’m a huge advocate of the pit bull breed. I have owned a couple myself and am currently looking to rescue another. I am very, very tired of paranoid people throwing around loaded statistics. Here’s a good statistic for you: 77% of dog bites happen to a member of the family who owns the dog or a friend. 77%. Dogs, pit bulls included, don’t just go around foaming at the mouth and maiming innocent people. This article is only going to serve to incite more panic in people and cause them to take violent action against a dog that has no intention of harming them. I’ve seen many people freak out when a totally friendly put bull comes up to say hello (even on a leash). Freaking out, getting angry is a great way to provoke a dog. Shame on the Stranger for publishing such a hateful article.
@MacGruber, #246:
Dobermans used to be involved in more dog attacks than pit bulls. Dobermans used to be the dog of choice for people who wanted aggressive dogs. People who want aggressive dogs opt for pit bulls now. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle.
You can read more in this article by Malcolm Gladwell: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/02…
I’m a Dachshund owner and those little beasties can be devilish opportunists.
But really, the Jack Russell issue needs to be addressed in this city. they may not attack humans as oft as PB’s but they cause problem after fucking problem at doggy daycare and at the park.
I’m in people’s yards all day – constantly meeting new dogs – and I love them, mostly. Over the years I have been attacked by a German Shepard, a Rott, a Lab, pulled a German Shepard off a kid, and once took my friend’s awesome Rott on a walk, on a leash, when he unexpectedly lunged at a bicyclist and literally tore flesh from the man’s ribs. That one was eventually put down after randomly biting a kid. But IMO the big dogs, when they charge you aren’t nearly as scary as the little ones. A Rott jumps at me; I shove my arm in his mouth, but I confess when small dogs rush me I usually run.
So what I want to know is how to defend yourself against a pack of tiny dogs. Three times I have been attacked; twice by Boston Terriers, once by Chihuahuas. They jump up and bite and run in a circular pattern, leaving me bleeding from numerous contusions and bruises below the knees. I kick, stomp, punch and never connect with the little bastards, while the owner inevitably screeches “don’t you hit my dogs!”
@202 “how about just banning all dogs over 25 lbs within city limits? “
yeah right.
I’m in people’s yards all day – constantly meeting new dogs – and I love them, mostly. Over the years I have been attacked by a German Shepard, a Rott, a Lab, pulled a German Shepard off a kid, and once took my friend’s awesome Rott on a walk, on a leash, when he unexpectedly lunged at a bicyclist and literally tore flesh from the man’s ribs. That one was eventually put down after randomly biting a kid. But IMO the big dogs, when they charge you aren’t nearly as scary as the little ones. A Rott jumps at me; I shove my arm in his mouth, but I confess when small dogs rush me I usually run.
So what I want to know is how to defend yourself against a pack of tiny dogs. Three times I have been attacked; twice by Boston Terriers, once by Chihuahuas. They jump up and bite and run in a circular pattern, leaving me bleeding from numerous contusions and bruises below the knees. I kick, stomp, punch and never connect with the little bastards, while the owner inevitably screeches “don’t you hit my dogs!”
@202 “how about just banning all dogs over 25 lbs within city limits? “
yeah right.
#115 and #137 are right. Unfortunately it IS the breed. Maybe positive trait pits were once the majority but as the popularity of pits as aggressive guard dogs grew, so did selective breeding for aggressive behavior. Yes yes, there are still many sweet as pie pits out there–I’ve met a couple–but unfortunately there are many that are genetically predisposed to violence despite how responsible their owners are. One of my dearest friends recently had to put her pit down, despite the hundreds of hours she’d invested in training this dog (which they rescued as a tiny pup), because this beast was so f#cked up you couldn’t even look at it without it wanting to eat your throat. She is by far the most committed and responsible pet owners I’ve ever known and still she couldn’t save this dog. Some are just bad seeds. I think we should require any bully breed to pass a canine good citizenship test before being adopted out and then the owners should be required to have some additional licensing that discourages irresponsible ownership.
@239: Well said! I agree.
Just browsing one of NYC’s main animal shelters. Astonishing. Out of 17 dogs up for adoption, only ONE is NOT a pit bull or pit bull mix.
http://www.nycacc.org/adoption.htm
And the pro-pit idiots think we don’t have a problem.
http://injurylaw.grossmanjustice.com/201…
Spay and neuter will not stop this.
BTW, this is not from dogsbite.org, it’s from a op/ed piece written over 10 years ago:
“First, the pit bull is quicker to anger than most dogs, probably due to the breed’s unusually high level of the neurotransmitter L-tyrosine. Second, pit bulls are frighteningly tenacious; their attacks frequently last for 15 minutes or longer, and nothing—hoses, violent blows or kicks—can easily stop them. That’s because of the third behavioral anomaly: the breed’s remarkable insensitivity to pain. Most dogs beaten in a fight will submit the next time they see the victor. Not a defeated pit bull, who will tear into his onetime vanquisher. This, too, has to do with brain chemistry. The body releases endorphins as a natural painkiller. Pit bulls seem extra-sensitive to endorphins and may generate higher levels of the chemical than other dogs. Endorphins are also addictive: “The dogs may be junkies, seeking pain so they can get the endorphin buzz they crave,” The Economist suggests.
Finally, most dogs warn you before they attack, growling or barking to tell you how angry they are—”so they don’t have to fight,” ASPCA advisor and animal geneticist Stephen Zawistowski stresses. Not the pit bull, which attacks without warning. Most dogs, too, will bow to signal that they want to frolic. Again, not the pit bull, which may follow an apparently playful bow with a lethal assault.”
People make dogs into monsters, dogs are not born to be bad. Pit bulls have been made into monsters by people, bred down to destroy, people are at fault not these dogs.
after reading this article, and assessing the callousness of humans, I have decided to no longer read the stranger, after enjoying it for nearly 15 years. I hope that David Schmader enjoys his cat, he is most certainly a pussy to write a pathetic article like this one, and the illustrations? Not funny, not cute, just ridiculous.