Can you realistically fight off a 100+lb dog or are you going to lose?

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I’ve had a few run ins with dogs but have never been bit. A neighbor down the dirt road where I grew up had Chows. Those dang things would come after me every single day when I walked from school in Jr. High. I always picked up a rock or stout stick before I walked past that house. Thought I made it one day and dropped my stick. Out comes this dog on a full run. I stepped back and kicked him in the face dislocating its jaw. He turned tail crying back to that house with the owners standing there watching. I told them next time I’ll have a gun with me and the dog won’t make it. I always have a knife with me and even though I may get chewed on some that dog eventually is going to lose. I can take flesh off something pretty quick or pop a joint.
 

Fatcamp

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Definitely. Two? That's gonna be tough.

I've had big dogs my whole life and trained bjj enough to be spicy. Dogs gonna die, even if I lose some fingers.

I will say that as an OR nurse I've worked a couple dog attacks coming from our reservations that have a real dog problem, so I've got an idea what I'm gonna look like at the end. And it isn't good. 😬
 

Marbles

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I find animal vs human conversations funny. So much falls either in the fatalist realm of you will loose, so why take it seriously or the braggadocios realm of of course I'll come out on top.

I don't want to be attacked by any animal, but I have an understanding of how I would deal with it to have better odds of survival.

A 100 pound dog attacks my kid, I'm pretty certain of two things, I'll get torn up, and the dog will die. While not life and death aggression, I have physically controlled several large dogs without any restraints (collar and such). I have witnessed people scared of getting hurt just screaming at an aggressive dog rather than actually doing something, which is pathetic.

Get an arm around their throat while putting your weight on their back and hold the jaw so their lips are forced between their teeth if you don't want to actually hurt the dog.

In true aggression, you might have to feed it an arm to save more valuable body parts and be able to get ahold of it. That would suck.

Scooping out eyes (don't just press the eyeball), can at least contribute to a lasting advantage.

Obviously things change with a weapon.

In any lethal encounter, be willing to accept none lethal injury it it affords you the opportunity to inflict worse injury in return.
 
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I have a 100lb Labrador. He was a gnarly little dude in his prime. I might have been able to take him, but he wasn't just going to be taking a loss either. Now, he's an old timer and I still don't want to tangle with him.

I have no illusions that a 100lb dog would wreck my day. I probably don't die, but it's going to hurt.

Unarmed, against two of them and they eat you for dinner.
 
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It is an interesting question because everyone seems super concerned with grizz but dogs kill and severely injure way more people a year than bears. Last weekend, I was on a pretty rural area turkey scouting with kids. Area has a few roaming trailer park dogs. Much more concerning than bears out west.
Our hunting club land has some dogs that come through in a pack. I feel pretty sure that they are trailer park dogs as well. I don’t like to be out there on the property by myself without a rifle, although they’ve never posed a threat. I would hate to have to shoot one because it’s the fault of humans who are not fit to own a dog more so than the dog itself.
 

7mm-08

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The bone crushing pressure that a trained bite dog can put on a limb is pretty impressive. Not saying that if it was a true life or death struggle a fit, athletic man couldn't prevail, but it would be a sobering experience. I ultimately believe a wrestler or jiu jitsu practitioner would win, especially if they had body mass exceeding 150 pounds.
 
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Even a 60lb dog can throw down. I'll never trust anyone that says "he's never done that before" or "he'll never do anything like that"

Straight up liars, people don't wanna admit their precious pup has a mean side.

I pulled a knife on a newfie once that got out of his yard (the dog not the Canadian) while my wife and I were walking our newborn. Didn't have to use it but I didn't even have to think about pulling it out.
 
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How many squirrels to bring down an unarmed, but physically fit man?

If we are saying that a 100 lb dog can potentially take down a fit human man then this hard hitting analysis should answer your question.

Fox Squirrel average weight = 1.8 pounds.
Amount of Fox Squirrels to equal 100 pounds is about 55 Fox Squirrels.

Pine Squirrels are about 9 ounces so to equal 100 lbs would take around 177 pine squirrels. No man is fighting off 177 pine squirrels. Even if you had a cattle prod like that guy in Jurassic Park I still think that's too many squirrels.
 
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Feb 14, 2025
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If it's a LGD or fighting/protection breed and weighs 100 pounds and actually wants to kill you I think a lot of people aren't going to as well as they think. I'd give them one arm and try to eye gouge em then go for a choke if possible. Dogs I don't want to fight...presa canario, dogo Argentina, pits, rotties, caucasian Shepard and any of the LGD breeds, cane corso, all of them dogs that were bred to protect or fight.
I had a pup that passed a few years ago, 140 pound mix of pitbull and mastiff/bullmastiff/neopolitan mastiff...the guy was trying to create a "Bandogge". Bought her to be a guard dog and she was real good at that while being sweet as could be with my family. I kenneled her up when anyone came over because I didn't trust her around anyone but us and an attack by her would have been bad news for anyone on the receiving end. She took a few raccoons out that tore her up a little before she got a good hold of them and she was wagging her tail the whole time. She didn't shake the coons, just crushed them with her bite. Her brothers were quite a bit bigger than her.
Won't get another dog like that again.
 
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If it's a LGD or fighting/protection breed and weighs 100 pounds and actually wants to kill you I think a lot of people aren't going to as well as they think. I'd give them one arm and try to eye gouge em then go for a choke if possible. Dogs I don't want to fight...presa canario, dogo Argentina, pits, rotties, caucasian Shepard and any of the LGD breeds, cane corso, all of them dogs that were bred to protect or fight.
I had a pup that passed a few years ago, 140 pound mix of pitbull and mastiff/bullmastiff/neopolitan mastiff...the guy was trying to create a "Bandogge". Bought her to be a guard dog and she was real good at that while being sweet as could be with my family. I kenneled her up when anyone came over because I didn't trust her around anyone but us and an attack by her would have been bad news for anyone on the receiving end. She took a few raccoons out that tore her up a little before she got a good hold of them and she was wagging her tail the whole time. She didn't shake the coons, just crushed them with her bite. Her brothers were quite a bit bigger than her.
Won't get another dog like that again.
We had a LGD kept with our chickens and small animals. Really was to keep neighbors aggressive dog out of our yard. Two Christmases ago we left and went out of town and someone must have been watching but didn't realize the dog stays. He jumped our fence and tried to break into my shop.... before she hit him. My camera had already went off before she got.to him and was on the phone with the cops already. By the time they got there 7 minutes later she had broke his arm and had to have over 100 stitches. Cops couldn't get in to the yard until they called me and put me on speaker phone and I told her to kennel and she went in it. Ended up in a lawsuit with the guy and had to put the dog down.... i wish she would have killed the bastard
 

Jon Boy

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We had a LGD kept with our chickens and small animals. Really was to keep neighbors aggressive dog out of our yard. Two Christmases ago we left and went out of town and someone must have been watching but didn't realize the dog stays. He jumped our fence and tried to break into my shop.... before she hit him. My camera had already went off before she got.to him and was on the phone with the cops already. By the time they got there 7 minutes later she had broke his arm and had to have over 100 stitches. Cops couldn't get in to the yard until they called me and put me on speaker phone and I told her to kennel and she went in it. Ended up in a lawsuit with the guy and had to put the dog down.... i wish she would have killed the bastard

What state?
 
Joined
Feb 14, 2025
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We had a LGD kept with our chickens and small animals. Really was to keep neighbors aggressive dog out of our yard. Two Christmases ago we left and went out of town and someone must have been watching but didn't realize the dog stays. He jumped our fence and tried to break into my shop.... before she hit him. My camera had already went off before she got.to him and was on the phone with the cops already. By the time they got there 7 minutes later she had broke his arm and had to have over 100 stitches. Cops couldn't get in to the yard until they called me and put me on speaker phone and I told her to kennel and she went in it. Ended up in a lawsuit with the guy and had to put the dog down.... i wish she would have killed the bastard
Good girl, sorry you had to put her down and sorry we live in a society where a court would even take on that case.
 

dusky

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Dec 6, 2020
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Yes I have experience and scars. If I have a tool, I win every time. No tools, depending on where the dog grabs at the first clash, will determine the chances. You won’t leave the fight without needing stitches regardless. I think this question depends on the persons size and fighting experience. Dogs are easy to choke out.
"Every time"? What on earth is putting you in a position to regularly be attacked by 100 lb dogs?
 
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