You’ve seen it in the movies or maybe you have encountered it in real life. You are stealthing onto an unknown territory. Everything is going well until you hear the growl, the bark, and the next thing you know an attack dog is running straight for you ready to leap for your throat.
What do you do?
The answer will depend on the situation. With proper preparation, this situation will never come up. However, we have five scenarios with different solutions for dealing with attack dogs:
Example 1: Disable the Dog’s Nose
Have some heavy duty pepper powder or crushed pepper leaves available. Plant a portion of the powder along the dogs search perimeter. Then when the dog comes up, he sniffs it and the pepper will disable the dogs ability to track scent for some time.
Then all you have to do is avoid the dog’s sight and stay silent when the dog is near. Also, if things go wrong and you need to escape, have this powder available so you can plant it along your trail during escape.
Example 2: Drug the Dog
This may be a warning to the handler that something is up. But if there is no way around the dog, disable it with a strong sedative
Plant some food with the sedative along the dog’s path. Make it small enough that the dog can eat it in one bite without notifying the handler that it just ate an unknown subsistence.
Example 3: If the Dog Attacks
If the dog attacks you and there is no one else around, then it is one on one situation.
This is what you do:
1- Always stay on your feet. Never let the dog take you to the ground.
2- Take off your jacket, shirt, or any other type of clothing and wrap it around your left forearm. (If you are left handed, wrap your right arm).
3- Feed your left arm to the dog’s mouth. Don’t let the dog drag you to the ground.
4- As the dog’s mouth is closed on your arm, strike the dog in the eyes and nose. (Or use a knife and stab at the throat.)
5- If you don’t have a knife and if the strikes aren’t working. With your free hand, wrap your fingers around the bottom half of the dogs jaw, and pull down as hard as possible to break the jaw. (This will work better with Dobermans that it will with Pitbulls who lock their jaw making this maneuver nearly impossible.
Example 4: Spy Type Scenario
If you are a spy and watching the area for a few days. Then you have more options. You watch the grounds and study the security. You notice every evening they do a grounds sweep with the attack dogs to introduce each dog to the security staff for the evening.
The night of your infiltration, you enter the grounds disguised as one of the security officers. As the handler and the dog do the rounds, they will have the dog smell each security officer to let the dogs know they are not a danger.
Once you are introduced to the dog and it moves on, you escape and prepare for the night.
(This tactic is not for the faint of heart.)
Example 5: Disable the Dog – Final Option
Not the most animal friendly tactic nor the best for stealthing and moving unseen.
However, in a military type situation and if it comes to life and death, make sure the dog goes down before you. Shot for the head or neck if from a distance. If the dog is running at you, just make sure you hit the dog and brace for the impact of the dog jumping at you.
Note: This should be a last resort, by disabling the dog in this manner, you will be giving away your location and making the rest of the security force aware of your presence.
Here you have it, five different solutions for dealing with the problem of security dogs during your night missions.