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So, just came back from shooting on the pea field. While I was fiddling with my decoys on the field a Rottweiler sneaked up behind me. 100 pound + , brown colour, collar. No dog walker around. There shouldn't be because it is a private land. Retreated into my high seat kind of hide, blocked entrance with foldable chair. I was genuinely scared like hell. What can I do if it attacks me? Watched it for 10-15 minutes wandering on the field then it left, got out collecting my decoys, dog came back again. Wasn't aggressive. Back to the hide. Another 20 minutes wandering on the field amd left again. Finished collecting my decoys and left. Sopke to my farmer straight away. He recognised the dog from the description because last week there was a near incident on the same field, different hide. There is another young gentleman who shoots pigeons there for my farmer, he got a Jack Russel gun dog. So, 2 of these Rottweilers attacked his dog, one holding it's throat, the other his dog's ear and there was a lady owner of them nearby. (Shouldn't be, private land). There was some verbal exchange and else before She called back her dogs. She lives nearby according to the farmer.. I've been bitten in the past while cycling, wasn't nice, scared of dogs like hell. The farmer told me to shoot it if I think I'm in danger and no owner around. What does the law say? What should I do? Don't want to, but? Advice me on this please! Don't want read abuse from dog owners please! Need genuine advice, gentlemen! Thank You!

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Personally if I felt I was in danger and it was wandering around on somebody else's land I'd shoot the darn thing. But that's just me. Everybody knows I love my dogs but this isn't a Yorkie we're talking about after all

Edited by bigbird
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Personally if I felt I was in danger and it was wandering around on somebody else's land I'd shoot the darn thing. But that's just me. Everybody knows I love my dogs but this isn't a Yorkie we're talking about after all

How would you quantify in danger,I think you would have to have the dog actually attacking you before you took the drastic measures of shooting it,anything else is going to get you into trouble,if you can retreat to somewhere safe as the op did then you cannot justify shooting it.

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How would you quantify in danger,I think you would have to have the dog actually attacking you before you took the drastic measures of shooting it,anything else is going to get you into trouble,if you can retreat to somewhere safe as the op did then you cannot justify shooting it.

Good point. I suppose it coming towards me like a Hound from Hell, barking, snarling with its hackles up. Mind you I know from experience having seen dogs attack that that isn't always the way that dogs about to attack do things.

Edited by bigbird
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If you, or anyone else, is, in your opinion, in imminent danger of attack, you are entitled to take whatever action you deem necessary at the time. If that involves shooting the dog, then that is entirely your call. You are also allowed to use the same judgement for the landowner's livestock, or to protect your dog (if you have one with you).

 

I've had to shoot 2 dogs over the years, both of which were worrying livestock. In the latter case, the owner was 3 fields away, and the dog was not responding to their shouts. Lambs were being cornered, and I took the action I felt was required to stop a number of them being killed.

Edited by robbiep
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Secse you say there was a verbal exchange between the jack Russell owner and who?? The rott or the owner if the owner it might be worth having a word with the jack Russell owner to see if she knows who,where that owner might be. Then have a word with them.

 

Jim

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How would you quantify in danger,I think you would have to have the dog actually attacking you before you took the drastic measures of shooting it,anything else is going to get you into trouble,if you can retreat to somewhere safe as the op did then you cannot justify shooting it.

Would that not be a tad too late ! I imagine it would be difficult to do anything with a rott once it had a grip.

Edited by Sha Bu Le
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If you, or anyone else, is, in your opinion, in imminent danger of attack, you are entitled to take whatever action you deem necessary at the time. If that involves shooting the dog, then that is entirely your call. You are also allowed to use the same judgement for the landowner's livestock, or to protect your dog (if you have one with you).

 

I've had to shoot 2 dogs over the years, both of which were worrying livestock. In the latter case, the owner was 3 fields away, and the dog was not responding to their shouts. Lambs were being cornered, and I took the action I felt was required to stop a number of them being killed.

Sure I've read something very similar in some kind of on line 'official' document. Long time ago and I don't remember where. Will have a wander on goggle.

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The OP suggested that he is terrified of dogs so his own fear could cause him to over react to a non threatening situation and shoot the dog, based purely on it being a Rottie and the image associated with them. That would be terrible.

 

Dogs also react to fear, not necessarily aggressively, but if the OP was being very nervous it is likely the dog will also be on edge which the OP would pick up on and again possibly lead to shooting the dog for no reason other than a lack of understanding.

 

As Welsh1 said, if there is the option of retreating to a safe place then absolutely that is the best course of action. Only if it was absolutely certain that an attack was imminent would I consider using lethal force on the dog, but that is so subjective.

 

To answer the question in the OPs second post, if the dog is actually biting you then take whatever action necessary to protect yourself, you are more important than a dog.

 

The upshot is that the dog & owner shouldn't be there and there is previous history of conflict, the landowner knows this and knows where the woman stays so he should involve the police, as should you. If it was a dog being a nuisance in a public park what would you do?

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Would that not be a tad too late ! I imagine it would be difficult to anything with a rott once it had a grip.

I was attacked by a big male Weimaraner and they are built like a Doberman, i would not give a dog that size a chance of getting his teeth stuck in me. One bite from the Weimaraner was enough to knock me down and rip my left Pec muscle half off. I had over 20 staples on the outside, lots of internal stitching and 3 days in hospital. Only thing that saved me was my old Boarder Collie jumped at it than ran like bejesus and the other dog chased her allowing me to get home.

 

But you must be sure that the dog is agressive before you shoot. A warning shot might well be enough to scare it away.

Edited by rimfire4969
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Shooting a dog is a civil matter and the owner can, and very likely will, bring a prosecution for damages.

Be prepared to defend your actions in court and justify your action to your firearms licensing manager, particularly the conditions of use of your firearm to kill someones pet. Just because you feel frightened is not a reason to shoot it. It's probably friendly towards people as most of the breed are.

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The OP suggested that he is terrified of dogs so his own fear could cause him to over react to a non threatening situation and shoot the dog, based purely on it being a Rottie and the image associated with them. That would be terrible.

 

Dogs also react to fear, not necessarily aggressively, but if the OP was being very nervous it is likely the dog will also be on edge which the OP would pick up on and again possibly lead to shooting the dog for no reason other than a lack of understanding.

 

As Welsh1 said, if there is the option of retreating to a safe place then absolutely that is the best course of action. Only if it was absolutely certain that an attack was imminent would I consider using lethal force on the dog, but that is so subjective.

 

To answer the question in the OPs second post, if the dog is actually biting you then take whatever action necessary to protect yourself, you are more important than a dog.

 

The upshot is that the dog & owner shouldn't be there and there is previous history of conflict, the landowner knows this and knows where the woman stays so he should involve the police, as should you. If it was a dog being a nuisance in a public park what would you do?

:good:

 

The only way you can know how you personally would react is somewhat after the event, we all behave differently around dogs and even a dog lover such as I, faced with a Rottweiler out of the blue would in all probability miss a heart beat, just enough for the dog to sense you're not completely at ease.

 

I've had nuisance dogs (Rack Russell, Spaniel and Labrador) around the hide over the years but never even felt the need to reach for the gun because I knew I could do more damage to them in a tight corner, but a big thing with a gangster reputation would mean gun ready and looking for signs of the dog fancying a duel.

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I'd go with warning shot, hopefully owner would then respond - if dog comes at you, I'd follow it up with a real one.

 

Hopefully the owner will think she shouldn't let the dogs off lead into fields incase if gets shot in the future then.

Any dog being killed is sad to me but not at the safety of yourself. You shouldn't have the risk of being bitten whilst on private land by a dog that shouldn't be on it.

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This is a hard one, especially being a dog lover myself. I would say you can only really shoot the dog if worrying livestock. Or obviously in self defence. The land owner would need to make sure the land was signed to be private and dogs not allowed and will be shot. The dog owner however also has a legal responsibility to be in control of their dog. If it is not in sight, it is not in control. Of course there is the case of trespass.

 

The easier option would seem to be precautions to prevent trespass access.

 

Very hard to say what is right but what is legal is a higher priority.

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When I've been confronted by dogs that are loose I try using commands on them i.e. sit, See if you can obtain control of them. Most dog owners use the same commands and reward words like "good boy". You can see if you can get a response without getting close. Although I can understand that if you are wary/uneasy with/or scared of them it can be difficult. Like grrclark says, if they can detect your fear or unease this can be a problem.

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Shooting a dog is a civil matter and the owner can, and very likely will, bring a prosecution for damages.

Be prepared to defend your actions in court and justify your action to your firearms licensing manager, particularly the conditions of use of your firearm to kill someones pet. Just because you feel frightened is not a reason to shoot it. It's probably friendly towards people as most of the breed are.

 

Pet? A pet is a chiwawa....also, pls reread my post, question was about shooting if being attacked, not because being frightened.... Edited by londonercsecse
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The problem with all the dramatic options that involve a firearm are exactly as grrclark and charlieT describe. For instance the dog is known to be accompanied by it's owner (sometimes) therefore if the dog is about it's owner might be too. So if you fire a warning shot you do so knowing that either you can see the owner or more worryingly you can't!

The problem is more the owner than the dog - and the sheers numbers of useless, lazy, ignorant dog owners who care nothing for the impact of their ownership are sadly on the rise. Surely the best thing is to establish who the owner is and present them with a letter from the landowner (you write it/they sign it)which accurately, politely but firmly tells them what they can and can't do on the land. List the incidents as the reason why the letter is written and don't pull any punches (that can be backed up). Surely this has to be done before anything else can develop.

 

I only know of one incident of a shot dog from when I lived on the Somerset Levels a few years ago - no matter how much local support the farmer got it didn't end too well in terms of his certificates (certainly in the short term). I've often had to intervene on my neighbours behalf when there has been sheep worrying - wading our river fully clothed only a couple months ago because of 2 ******** teenagers and their dog. Discharging a firearm has got to be the absolute last resort - by which time it's probably too late. Even from an IC ward the law is unlikley to afford you much protection.

 

The only way to deal with persistent trespassers who won't listen to reason is to (within the law and this includes accusations of harrassment) make their life a flipping misery every time they appear. No walk becomes an enjoyable one. You lean on them in other ways too. She is disrupting a lawful activity. This has a commercial cost associated. I believe a recent test case applied a 30x compensation so, at a value of £90-£100 for a days pigeon, each time she goes out carries the threat of a costly walk. You just have to make it a mission to be more persistent than they are. Unfortunately once you've given them a chance and they prove themselves to be an arch **** the gloves just have to come off. However you must give her that chance first................

 

Personally, if I were that concerned, I'd probably not shoot there until that letter has been delivered. Good luck anyway.............

 

Oh and Bigbird is right....it's the dog that shows no discernable body language that I would worry about. A growl is a warning.....you can do something with that.

Edited by LeadWasp
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Shooting a dog is a civil matter and the owner can, and very likely will, bring a prosecution for damages.

Be prepared to defend your actions in court and justify your action to your firearms licensing manager, particularly the conditions of use of your firearm to kill someones pet. Just because you feel frightened is not a reason to shoot it. It's probably friendly towards people as most of the breed are.

+1 shooting should be the absolute last resort.If it was attacking livestock/lambs/sheep the law is clearer...however I would not in the situation you describe even think about it.

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