A dog is a very good warning system, but will not/should not defeat a bad guy by himself, not unless you want to bury your dog. He will however buy you time and that is what you need in the middle of the night. As I have said before, 1911 style guns are fine as long as every one knows the "state" of the gun, otherwise a SA/DA style gun (like a SIG P220,) or a striker fired gun (Glock, S&W Sigma) is best. Just MHO.
Peter.

Actually, I have owned dogs that were fight stoppers, that could be relied upon completely. That said, you should still be prepared and armed and assume they will get through even that layer of defense.

Sorry Marko, but I will NEVER send my dog against a man with a gun. The dog will lose. It is my dog's job to warn me, and then my job to take care of the potential assailant.
Peter.

You've got the wrong dogs then! You assume that someone will successfully shoot an attacking dog. You need to just visit your local range to see what the average marksman can do when not under the stress of an attacking canine. I am not advocating sending your dog after an armed man, but as a layer of defense the armed man would have to go through.

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
Beautiful dog, Mike!

Thanks bud, what he is saying here is "don't screw with my cook"....

As to sending the dog into a gunfight, no way. But if anyone thinks they are getting in the house with out him getting in on it there sadly mistaken unless they take him out first.

Even then we will already be well aware they are in the yard much less trying to get in the house. He somehow knows when someone steps foot in his territory including friends and family.

We always know before someone knocks on the door that they are there as he is up to the door waiting with tail wagging or braking his arse off.

Hell I live with him, and wouldn't want him upset at me. All my wife has to do is point and say, "watch him" and it's game on, even with me. He won't hit me but he puts up a darn good show. Course when I say it and point to her, he bites me. LOL

Once did security with a 130 pound rott, solid black. Came up to the door during a 3 day power outage, after hearing a couple gunshots from across the creek. Covered by ex-Green Beret with select fire AR-15, and a weapons expert with a full auto M-16.
Dog was a lap dog, unless we needed him. I took him to the door, no leash. All you could see where the front fangs, in the limited light.
It was a police officer, checking to see if we were all right, and, if we knew anything about the gunshots. He didn't notice the dog for about 20 seconds, then he glanced down, and saw the fangs, as his eyes adjusted, they got REAL big. Apparently he noticed the lack of leash, and, he went from cordial to down right nice.

"I can see you are doing real well down here. Let us know if you need any help."

I loved that dog, and wished he was mine. Sweetest dog in the world, but, at night,
with the right command, I really don't think you'd ever know what hit you if you were a bad guy. He also didn't bark when the guy was coming down the pathway. He went to alert, and let us know silently that something was out there by his actions, and this gave us time to prepare.

If it was a bad guy, or guys, they would have had 64 rounds of .223, and 32 rounds of .45 ACP in a very big hurry, before we had to reload, plus the dog. Rotts bite so hard don't think many people can stand the pain, and still hold on to a gun, plus, if trained right, they break your gun arm first.

I'm torn on this one. The dog was REAL capable of taking care of himself. Some guy broke into the back yard one day, and Dax, grabbed him by the balls, and held him. When the guy tried to get away, Dax bit harder, until the guy figured out he better not move. Police came over later, and took the guy to the hospital.
The owner was the ex-Green Beret. Kind of surprised it wasn't a "shoot, bury, and shut up."
knowing this guy.

I bring this up, since certain dogs are nearly impossible to shoot, given the right conditions. That same ex-Green Beret had a dog that was too much for him. It was an 80 pound Bovier(SP?). It would come at you bobbing and weaving it's head, at full speed, maybe 30 miles an hour, solid black, and go for your throat, then rip your guts out with it's back leg claws. He had the dog put down, since it was both dangerous, and mean. You'd never see this missile coming at you at night...

I said all that since one, I question of most bad guys would ever hit either dog, and, if they did, they would be in more trouble with the owners. I know if that dog was shot, the owner would have made sure the bad guy was dead, justifiable homicide...

I know how that guy feels. I love my cat more then 99% of the people I know...Wish she weighed 40 pounds...