[Land Shark]

It seems that I actually have some experience in the subject of this thread. As a police officer, I have had three occasions to drop pit bulls. I used an M-4 on two of them and a Crown Victoria on one. I have seen dismal performance with the use of handguns on dogs. A shoulder weapon, such as a rifle or shotgun, is the only way to go – unless you can run them over. The .223 ammunition used was never fancy. I used a 55 gr. HP on one and 55 gr. JSP on another and they did what they were supposed to do.

I have not used this drill, but one way to specifically train for shooting attacking dogs is to use a 2 or 3 liter bottle with a long cord tied to the end. Set the bottle on the ground near the backstop and run the cord between or near the shooters feet. One person starts moving away from the shooter, pulling the bottle toward the shooter for him to engage. Safety Note: stop before the bottle gets to the shooter so he doesn’t shoot himself in the foot or turn toward other people on or behind the line.

The bigger issue with LEO’s engaging dogs is that they tend to move with the gun elevated. The habit of Guns Up/Sights Up creates a tunnel vision that floats about 4 feet above the ground. Pit Bulls rarely bark before attacking. In fact, they seem to move to attack from the side or behind to surprise their prey. Operating with the muzzle depressed below the belt opens up a funnel of vision that allows the officer to see the threat faster – dog or human. Once the threat is located and recognized, then it is a simple matter of Sight-Press-Sight-Press until the threat is rendered safe – dog or human.

Flash Bangs have been successful when we’ve had intelligence about the presence of dogs. This has to be a mission planning issue because there is no time to deploy a flash when an ace-eating pit bull is launching for your business. Even when it is planned, your cover element has to be ready to make the shot(s) if/when the flash fails to deter the dog.

Thank you for the oppotunity to share,

Land Shark