Reply #121: My second job was as a delivery driver for a dry cleaners ...

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The guy that had the job before me had been attacked by a Doctor's German Shepard and he ended up in the hospital. After the attack he was terrified of all dogs and when he delivered dry cleaning to any home with a dog, he had a small billie club in his hand. Obviously many of the customers were upset when he threatened little fluffy with the club and they complained to the owner of the dry cleaners. Therefore I ended up with the job.

This incident occurred back in the 60s so the doctor was allowed to keep his aggressive dog and remained a customer of the dry cleaners. At least once a week I would deliver to his home and when I knocked on the door to the porch the dog was at a window of the house growing and barking. It was obvious that he would have loved to send me to the hospital.

One time I knocked and the lady of the house came to the porch door looking sleepy. I returned to my truck to get her dry cleaning and I heard a commotion behind me and turned. The dog had managed to gain access to the porch and had knocked the lady off her feet and was launching itself off the porch steps at me. I caught the dog in mid air at the level of my head with a sharp left hook on his nose and he feel to the ground. It was fortunate that I knew a little about boxing.

The lady regained her feet and yelled, "Down." It amazed me that the dog obeyed her. Perhaps my blow had stunned him.

I have no fear of dogs and am a good judge of whether or not a dog is aggressive. I can assure you that this animal was extremely aggressive. I was very lucky that day.

To call a dog "unarmed" is a very foolish statement.

Of course back in the 60s I wasn't carrying a firearm for self defense. I was under 21 at the time. Had I been, I would not necessarily shot the dog unless it had persisted in attacking me. I have no desire to end up in a hospital so today I would not hesitate to use my concealed firearm today if I was attacked by any dog of significant size such as a pit bull or a Rottweiler. While I have been confronted by a number of dogs who have been aggressive I do know techniques that work that enable me to avoid being attacked and fortunately they have worked well so far. Possibly the fact that I don't fear dogs makes the difference as I have heard that I dog can smell fear.

I do wish that dog owners would fence their dogs or walk them on a leash. It's sad that so many dog owners are so irresponsible.