A Personal PM9 Self Defense Story

[SGT5711]

Last week, my family and I were returning from vacation and we stopped at a hotel to spend the night. When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw a man with two dogs standing right outside the front entrance. I parked away from the front entrance and told my wife I would go check-in and asked her to take our dog out. My daughter asked to go with me, and we started to walk toward the entrance.

Just then, one of the dogs started to viciously attack the other dog. I quickly observed the man had one dog on a leash, but the other dog was a pitbull with no collar or leash. The man began yelling and physically fighting the pitbull away from his pet. After a few moments, the pitbull ran away toward the other end of the parking lot.

The manager apparently saw what happened and quickly ran outside, and it appeared he was calling 911 to report the incident. I told my wife to stay inside the car with our dog, and my daughter and I walked toward the entrance. The manager was still on the phone and not knowing how many employees were working, I assumed we would have to wait until he finished to check-in.

We returned to our car and briefly told my wife to remain in the car with our dog until I told her it was safe to exit. The pitbull was still 70-80 yards away at the other end of the parking lot. My daughter and I then began to walk back toward the entrance. As we did so, the pitbull began running back across the parking lot.

It began charging directly toward my daughter and I in an aggressive manner. My daughter yelled, "Dad, Dad, Dad" and I made sure she was behind me. The pitbull continued charging directly at me, and I drew my PM9 and fired one round when it was approximately 5-6 feet away, immediately stopping the threat to my daughter and myself.

I was thanked by the hotel manager and the family of the dog who was attacked. The wife later told my wife she never understood why people feel they need to carry concealed firearms, but now she does.

[sharpetop]

I'm glad it ended well for you and this is indeed, a reason to carry.

[Bawanna]

This qualifies as a happy ending and I just love happy endings.

[kwh]

Thanks for the story. Personally the neighborhood I walk in I am more likely to be attacked by a large dog then a B.G. I pocket carry a CM9 with Federal HST when "socially " out and about,but carry a 40 S&W Shield when walking/jogging. My reasoning is that in a two legged threat anything 9mm or above does not make much difference. I am not so sure about a large 4-legged 80-120 pound canine charging. I would like to hear details. Was the threat immediately stopped, dropped, ran away, etc. Where was the pit bull hit?
I am glad you and Daughter are safe.
I would like to hear from any one who has knowledge or experience in a charging large dog. Carry pistol only, barrel length limited to 3" to 3.5". Any difference between 9mm, 40 S&W , .45 a.c.p.? Facing an attacking big dog head-on is not the same as shooting a coyote broadside.

[SGT5711]

Here's some more detail. The dog immediately stopped advancing, rolled to its right on the ground, and began yelping loudly. I immediately thought, "Great, this dog is severely injured and is going to be flopping around in the parking lot yelping for awhile." After a few seconds it got up and ran toward the other end of the parking lot again, seemingly uninjured. It was a relief that it wasn't just laying there suffering, but I was shocked it ran away like that, and wondered if I hit it. The manager later found a small spot of blood in the parking lot.

I heard the manager say into the phone, "A guest just shot the dog" and later, "It's holstered." I then approached the manager and told him to tell the dispatcher I was an off-duty LEO. A couple of minutes later, the police officer arrived, and I began to approach him with my hands extended from my side and clearly visible. He jumped out of his rig, grabbed a shotgun, and asked where the dog was now. I pointed to the other end of the parking lot and he said, "Let's see if it attacks me." He then proceeded toward the dog, but the dog ran first to the north and then to the east, across the street, and out of sight. He returned to gather my info, statement, and the same from the manager and the guest whose dog was attacked. I told him I would need a case # for my agency, and he said he would have to email it to me later. He said he thought he knew where the dog belonged, and was going to look for it.

When the officer emailed me a couple of days later, I asked if he found the dog and if it was injured. He said he did find it, and, "It sustained an injury to the face, but nothing serious." I didn't bother to follow up with any more questions. It was a quick action and I drew and fired with one hand. I was point shooting and never saw the sights, but was aiming at the head/upper torso. Thinking back, I was proud I acted so instinctively and I don't really remember making a conscious decision to fire. I just reacted like I was trained to do.

I don't know if I simply grazed the dog. I suppose it is possible the round went through its open mouth and exited the cheek. Also possible the round simply deflected off its skull. That's been known to happen with humans, but I don't know how canine skulls compare. The ammo I was using is 115 grain Horandy Critical Defense. Not the result I expected, but in the end it was effective.

The gentlemen whose dog was attacked was active duty Army and traveling with his family for a PCS move. He told me he had went to a restaurant across the street to bring dinner back and the dog followed him back to the hotel. He said he took his dog outside about an hour later and the pitbull quickly approached them. He said they were both just smelling each other at first, but the pitbull suddenly attacked.

Also, I would consider this a medium sized dog, and not a large dog.

[b4uqzme]

...so glad everyone is safe. Good shooting. Like KWH I too am wondering if more caliber would have been safer and/or more rounds fired. Well done tho.

[Bawanna]

I got no scientific information to back this up but I believe the breed of dog and the dogs disposition, just like humans has a lot to do with what it takes to knock it down.

Some dog breeds are just tougher than others. Also depends on what they are doing, in this case being aggressive, probably take more to put one down than one that just woke up from a nap. Guess there wouldn't be no need to shoot a dog that just woke up from a nap but you get the idear.

[CJB]

Glad everyone and their animals are safe from the offensive beast.

I got three dog stories, but none ended in shots fired. They're for another day... just glad for the happy ending

[piguy]

Outstanding. You did what we all would want to do in that situation.

As a retired LEO, I used deadly force a couple of times against bad guys. Dogs are a whole other story and I used deadly force on many occasions against them.

The only handgun load that worked every time was the .357 125 JHP. The second best was the 9MM Federal 9BPLE (+P+).

[knkali]

wow thank you for the post. I too am glad you and yours are OK. You were cool under pressure. Good job.

I will tell you what I was taught but it seems hard to do in a high stress situation and I cannot say for sure it is THE correct way to do this but.....

when you see an aggressive animal charging you and you have time to wait for its approach, you take a knee and shoot. This way the target angle is not changing so dramatically and rapidly as the dog(animal) advances so there is a high % of hitting your target. I know, taking a knee when all you see is teeth and jaws running to you seems counter intuitive. Also got to worry about stray bullets with this approach to neutralizing.

[CPTKILLER]

I love dogs but I would do the exact same thing!

[Tuco]

Wow. Thanks for the report. With a dog, I can see myself hesitating to take the shot thinking that a kick to the face is the right response. Your story made me think it through.

[CJB]

Gotta add..... YA SHOULDA USED A FORTY FIVE! :-)

[kwh]

Can you remember the loads that did not work so well?
Outstanding. You did what we all would want to do in that situation.

As a retired LEO, I used deadly force a couple of times against bad guys. Dogs are a whole other story and I used deadly force on many occasions against them.

The only handgun load that worked every time was the .357 125 JHP. The second best was the 9MM Federal 9BPLE (+P+).

[piguy]

Can you remember the loads that did not work so well?

This was some years ago so keep that in mind. Loads I used that did not perform well, .38 lead swc, .45 acp hardball, 158 grain jhp .357, are those that come to mind.

The .357 125 jhp and the 9mm BPLE pretty much stopped them in their tracks. The .357 seemed a bit more dramatic upon impact.

[Amacro]

Another example of why it's important to practice practice etc.
This an example of how things can go wrong suddenly
Al

[Riverbend]

Good Job, handled like a pro,

[kwh]

Thanks for the info. Real world experience is the best. It is my humble opinion that a large breed 80-100 pound dog charging would be every bit as difficult to stop as a crack -head/Special-K 300 lb. person. Fortunately, no experience with either for me. Good info when I can OWB carry and have a choice.
This was some years ago so keep that in mind. Loads I used that did not perform well, .38 lead swc, .45 acp hardball, 158 grain jhp .357, are those that come to mind.

The .357 125 jhp and the 9mm BPLE pretty much stopped them in their tracks. The .357 seemed a bit more dramatic upon impact.

[lee1000]

Outstanding sir, you'll forever be a hero in the eyes of your daughter and wife.

[KCAutoBob]

knkali, good comment. Anymore I generally carry a 9mm (PM9 or a Shield) for whatever threat.
In the one case of an aggressive animal charging me, I went to a kneeling position just for that angular advantage, but fortunately I didn't have to fire a shot. The dog stopped as if he sensed that I, or my own dog who I'd called to me, was neither threat, nor victim, and went away. Sometimes, your intuitive response can interfere with the ol' OODA loop. Better to stay aware of surroundings and situations, I say, so you CAN have time. Timing, like they say, can be everything, especially in standup comedy.
2nd thought- remembering back, I think my threat animal was a pitbull or pitbull mix- you see a lot of those (or Chihuahuas) running loose where I live. Another time we had a pitbull in our neighborhood that had made the mistake of trying to attack a PD officer as he was getting out of his patrol car, and got shot.
Just remember, Chihuahuas are much smaller and more difficult targets....

[Bawanna]

I was getting my mail back in the early 80's when the German Shepard that lived across the street decided to try and eat me. I was standing at the mail box, looking at the mail when I just got a bad feeling.
I turned around and he was coming on, ears down, just didn't look like he was coming to play.
I drew my Colt Cobra which I carried at the time and cocked it, yeah I'm a thumb buster, even double action, if it has a hammer I'll cock it and was going for the squeeze when about 10 ft away or so he suddenly stopped. Turned around and walked away. Had about 3 gallons of adrenaline flowing through me.

A few days later the lady, called her the crazy German, accent and spit when she spoke told me her dog would never hurt anybody, so I assume that she must have called him and I didn't hear it. It was a very close thing and I played with it several times after that. Glad I didn't have to shoot it.

Another quick dog story. I worked for a fence company for my first job, had worked there 6 or 7 years. Boss had a German Shepard that I got along great with, good dog. One day for the first time I arrived at work riding my new motorcycle, I won't say what it was since it was a rice grinder and not a Harley.

That dog went into attack mode. I saw him coming, stopped got the kickstand down before he launched and took me off the bike and to the ground. Fortunately I was wearing a leather jacket and helmet. I was talking to him and calling his name and he must have recognized the voice plus the boss came a running too and he let me live.
Don't blame the dog, with helmet and stuff, he didn't know it was me, just doing what he was supposed to do I reckon.
Rode the bike several times after than and he never bothered me again.

[berettabone]

Before conceal carry was passed in my state, and our Lab was still alive, the wifey and I were confronted in the neighborhood by a Pitbull and a Rottie. Did a lot of yelling and screaming at the wifey to keep moving and head home to call LE. The dogs were honed in to our dog, and I kicked the rottie in the head twice to get him off of our dog. I thought that it could be my day of being chewed up. The pitbull was a bystander, just waiting for the action to start. I managed to get the wife away, and got the dogs to go towards their property. LE arrived with 3 cars, and the first officer immediately drew his weapon and asked where that pos rottie was. He said that they were the most useless animal on the planet, and actually it should be the owners who get shot for their lack of training skills and stupidity. As we were talking, the rottie came across the street, and started sniffing the officers leg. He had his firearm pointed at the rotties head, and was just waiting/hoping for the first ***. He came to the house and made sure my wifey and dog were ok. We found out later on, that the owners had been ticketed over 100 times for loose/vicious dogs. I told the officer that had I had a firearm, they would have been taking a report on two dead dogs. He said that I should make sure to drag one of them on to my property, for my own legal protection. I give you much credit for how you handled the situation. I can say, that if I would have been carrying at the time, the owner would have been carting two dead dogs away. Where my wifey and a pet are concerned, I don't play nice, and would have dealt with the consequences. I'm glad your family was unharmed. You did the right thing in my book, and the dog got lucky, and the owner should have had a swift kick in the arse.