Gear defense against biting dogs in the forests?

Shortly after I married we were living in Eugene, Oregon while my wife finished her degree at U of O. A child was out of the question so we got a little puppy. She was an Alaskan Eskimo. White fuzzy ball of fur. My wife and I were walking the puppy in a park when a girl approached toward us. she had a full grown German Shepherd on a leash. Suddenly the dog started running toward our puppy. The girl let go of the leash and the dog pounced on our puppy right in front of us, and started choking the puppy by clamping its jaws on the puppies throat. I had no weapon other than pounding on the dog with my fists. When I finally got the dog off of our puppy, picked up the puppy and dashed to a vet about a mile away. but by the time we got to the vet the puppy had died. We returned to the park to find the girl and the murderous dog, but they had fled the scene.

Following my wife's graduation we moved to Chicago so that I could finish my degree. After the death of our puppy, my sister got another puppy for us. A much sturdier Samoyed, but still a white fuzzy ball of fur. We lived in the Hyde Park section, which was fairly secure but borders three sides on high crime areas. We would see dog owners walking their dogs and teaching the dogs to be very aggressive. One of the things I brought from Oregon to Illinois was a Browning Hi-Power. When I walked our Samoyed I would take the Hi-Power locked and cocked. I was not taking any chances on a recurrence of the Eugene tragedy. Whatever actions authorities would take after I had defended my family from an attack dog, they would be minor to allowing a repeat. Fortunately a recurrence was avoided.

Bullthrower338 said:

A sock with a fist sized bag of coins to the side of the head tends to stop most. You can always tell the police it is your change purse. Works quite well on people as well.

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Puck In a hockey sock does to.... but then you don't get invited back to gentlemans league...

Asp! No , not the snake. It’s a collapsible steel baton/nightstick with a steel ball on the end. It’s carried inconspicuously in a holster on a belt. I sometimes carry one when walking on trails in the neighborhood when I don’t have my CCW Glock with me. But, in the forest, I ALWAYS carry one of my Glocks for protection against four and two legged predators.

An old college chemistry professor once told us that ammonia in a spray bottle would deter even the fiercest of dogs without any real harm. He used it while riding his bike.

Air horn.
Scare the crap out of the dog AND the owner.

Bullthrower338 said:

A sock with a fist sized bag of coins to the side of the head tends to stop most. You can always tell the police it is your change purse. Works quite well on people as well.

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This approach works well. I carried a sock sap when I had my paper route. Had to use it twice, never had those two dogs come after me again. Tricky though while riding a 3 speed bike!

Trogon said:

This approach works well. I carried a sock sap when I had my paper route. Had to use it twice, never had those two dogs come after me again. Tricky though while riding a 3 speed bike!

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A 18” section of 2/0 welding lead is also a great attitude adjustment device that is less than lethal. Not sure how you could explain carrying a section of rubber clad copper wire around unless you are a welder by trade but it works wonders on explaining you don’t like the corner you have been backed into!

Very difficult to imagine putting your family's safety in jeopardy over an aggressive, uncontrolled animal that can also ruin you financially. We are facing the same issues in the USA. Visiting public parks I would have a sturdy walking staff at a minimum. Priorities are seemingly skewed in the wrong direction.

Here in South Africa one may use your firearm to shoot an aggressive animal to save life and limb , but my view is I don't want to hurt an animal unless I have to . In many cases the problem is not the dog but its ignorant owner , sometimes I think it is them that needs to be shot . Any decent pepper spray should do the trick , alternatively ammonia is also a good option .
Air horns seem to have a big impact too on dogs but whether it would stop a determined attack I cannot confirm .
Another device which seems to scare dogs and modify their behavior is a stun gun . In South Africa we can buy fairly cheap chinese made stun guns which make a loud noise when triggered , just this noise makes most dogs scatter in all directions , if that doesn't work one can always shock the dog .
I have also seen one of these stun guns applied with great effect to scare off problem baboons and Vervet monkeys in the Kruger Park .
Whether the above are legal or available in other countries I don't know , but maybe they are suitable non lethal options .

Another good option maybe a paint ball pistol loaded with pepper balls or solids if allowed .

can of wasp and hornet spray is longer range and viciously effective

Foxi said:

We have almost no feral dogs in Germany. Sure,where there is no plaintiff, there is no judge, it's not Brussels either, not at all, ,it's automatically the increasing urban population which is spreading more and more, and they are becoming more and more stupid.
Our problems are mostly the uneducated dogs of the walkers. If such a dog runs towards you, or your dog growling and 50 m behind the owner calls - in vain - for the dog, then it is usually clumsy to kill the dog. The shitstorm you get is often not worth the trouble, of course, if it is very serious ,then you give only determination, but that is with the pussy - mutts here usually not the case, but I also do not want to let me pinch in the leg and a kick works, but with a German sheepdog, or dobermann you think about it.

In addition, in Germany most hunting grounds are between 500 and 2,500 acres large, and only in your concession you are allowed to carry a gun. Outside, if you do that, you make yourself punishable and here you lose your gun license just because of little things.
Bear spray is not allowed (I think, in some other European countries as well), but there are also smaller agents that should work well.
Foxi

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I believe you can carry blanks guns in Germany, if you use something like 9mm PAK the noise they make should be enough to scare a stray dog off. Otherwise pepper spray works on dogs, I’ve used it once, and it didn’t take much, can you carry small containers in Germany?

Pity that we don‘t get BEAR SPRAY in South Africa. Once in the Kalahari, I would have loved to have such spray near me. Lion outside the tent...

Opposite Pole said:

I believe you can carry blanks guns in Germany, if you use something like 9mm PAK the noise they make should be enough to scare a stray dog off. Otherwise pepper spray works on dogs, I’ve used it once, and it didn’t take much, can you carry small containers in Germany?

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not allowed to carry blank guns outside,you need a license for that(kleiner Waffenschein=small gun license)
But you can carry small cans .
And where I was apparently mistaken, the big cans like the Canadian bear spray it seems to be allowed ,so Google.
But walking around with a thermos like for a picnic is not practical.
Now I have ordered this :


5m reach and in a 100ml can
and for my wife:

Guardian Angel,flat and easy,two shooter Pepper,hope she hit,2-4 meter

When in bear country I carry a large can of Frontiersman bear spray. It comes with a pouch/holster that you can attach to your belt and fire straight from the hip.

I use it when I hike in the mountains. With the belt holster you forget it’s there, not inconvenient at all.

Bushpig4Ever said:

Pity that we don‘t get BEAR SPRAY in South Africa. Once in the Kalahari, I would have loved to have such spray near me. Lion outside the tent...

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Hi Bushpig4ever.
If google can be believed it appears as if pepper spray meant for self defense against humans is stronger than bear spray .
When you in the Kalahari again take some pepper spray and test it on the lions but please ensure you video the result for scientific purposes , might also make a great youtube moment .