As a dog trainer and handler many times I get questions from people about how they should defend themselves against a dog attacking them.

This is a very interesting question but it has no instant clear solution. But maybe this article can help you and set you on the right track. First of all before we are going to deal with the techniques and tactics let's take a look at dog handling and training.

There are different types of dogs and different types of handlers/owners. Some combinations between dog and owner work fine and some don't. Those who don't work out are the ones that give problems. The ones that work fine are those were the owner knows his animal, it's needs and temperament. The ones that spoil the fun are those who either:

Got themselves a dog to show of. Don't have a clue about the needs of a dog. Think their dog is a human. Need a dog to boost their ego. Selected the wrong dog for the job.

Next we should take a look at the dogs. There are different races of dogs, each of them bread for a different purpose. A Maltezer will never attack you the same way as a Bloodhound would. Their purpose is different as is their body size.

But within the different races I need to say that every dog has it's own character and temper. Some are easy going, others are nervous, some like to bark and some just bite without a warning.

When buying a dog make sure you know exactly what you want the dog to do for you. Do you want him to guard you (defence dog), do you want him to attack trespassers (attack dog) or do you need company (companion dog)?

When reading the papers and listening to the news we always hear about the same dog races to be the bad ones. They are called dangerous, attack dogs, vicious, etc... and the law is trying to ban those dogs or put restrictions on breeding them. To my opinion this is completely wrong. Most of the time the dog is paying for the stupidity and ego of his owner.

The dogs listed usually as dangerous are : Rottweiler - German Sheppard - Pit-bull - Doberman - Bulldogs - Alaskan Malamutes - Siberian Huskies - Great Danes - etc...

If you take a look at them it is easy to understand why these dogs are on the blacklist. They are all working dogs of considerable size and weight. But if you look at statistics you will find that people are attacked more frequently by the terriers than by a dog of the blacklist. The only difference is to be found in the damage the attack provokes. A 45kg dog with a bite pressure of 750 kg per square centimetre does a lot more damage than a little doggie reaching 10 cm of height and weighing 3 kg.

Well now, how do we defend against a dog that is going for us? first of all if it's a trained police dog 100 ure, than stand still and don't move at all. They are trained to bite when you flee or resist. Lie down on the floor face down or stand still with your hands up. They are trained to recognize these signals. These dogs are the easiest to deal with.

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