I don't like bringing food into the equation with an aggressive dog. Don't want to be fumbling for a biscuit when I should have all attention on the dog. Lol, a conflict of interests.

Yeah, you have a snarling, foaming at the mouth beast ready too eat your face, it would not be advisable to lose focus on the threat or just GTFO...also adds another smell that won't fool a tracker, especially if the bag leaks; then you're only marinating yourself...
I figure like pepper spray, food would work in less blatantly dangerous confrontations, and would be more humane than outright spraying a dog...assuming of course that there isn't the smarter and safer option of just avoiding direct contact, or bugging out. Like the old line goes...don't take a ham to a gunfight. 😉

I don't care what anyone says, Milkbones are delicious.

Lol, never had a Milkbone per-se, but I once ate a dog biscuit just to see what it was like...wasn't terrible, kind of a cardboard, grain like, fiber taste. Not super great, but I've eaten worse (like beets...guh, I'll eat dog treats all day for a week if I never even have to smell a beet!!)

Rule #1 never run, it will trigger an attack.

Many times people including myself have had a go with dogs when we were running or riding a bike.
It's that predator thing; prey runs.

If you got a bike, dismount and simply block the dog with it; yelling and cursing generally brings the mutt's owner.

Posted by blackhawk There was a pack of strays that decided to call the abandoned Toyah school home. Between them and the hag across the street barking I decided best to bug out I used to carry company supplied treats. Only good dogs got them. I don't like bringing food into the equation with an aggressive dog. Don't want to be fumbling for a biscuit when I should have all attention on the dog. Lol, a conflict of interests.

Carrying treats actually sounds like a really good idea. Never even crossed my mind. I was hearing that even when encountering the homeless or some crackhead, carrying around a cigarette and offering them a pack in the case they approach you could be a good way to deal with the situation.

Rule #1 never run, it will trigger an attack.

Agreed; every single time...I forgot another encounter I had last year; I was on an abandoned property and at one point saw 3 dogs hauling ass towards me. First (idiotic) instinct was to bolt, but I stood my ground. No mace, no food, just my camera...facing them, I waited til they got up to me, no barks or growls, they kinda sniffed around me, I started backing away, held my hand out (as I was taught as a kid, at least). They lost interest and wandered off while I slowly made my way off site and to my car.

One other possibility although relatively rare now is a rabid dog or cat.
Any warm blooded mammal can contract it; birds are not carriers of it.
Any unusual behavior including aggression are signs of rabies.
If you are bite you'll need to either capture or latter locate the animal or $uffer getting the rabies vaccine.

Rabies is simply too dangerous to risk a possible exposure without vaccination. 100% mortality rate.
Strays are the highest risks but never assume the dog has been vaccinated and it's vaccine booster schedule was met.
Vaccine failures do happen, rarely, most often because the booster wasn't given at the proper interval.
No vaccine is 100%, failures happen.
https://www.bmj.co...350/bmj.g7827/rr-4

Have the animal put under observation or if dead submit it for autopsy asap.
If the biting animals rabies status can't be confirmed... you'll need the vaccine


*Head and neck bites may require immediate vaccination for it to take in time. The closer the bite is to the brain or spinal cord, the less time you have to get the vaccination if exposed. It infects the nerve pathways and travel along them to the brain.
If the virus reaches the brain, you will die.

Posted by Cfourexplore Agreed; every single time...I forgot another encounter I had last year; I was on an abandoned property and at one point saw 3 dogs hauling ass towards me. First (idiotic) instinct was to bolt, but I stood my ground. No mace, no food, just my camera...facing them, I waited til they got up to me, no barks or growls, they kinda sniffed around me, I started backing away, held my hand out (as I was taught as a kid, at least). They lost interest and wandered off while I slowly made my way off site and to my car.

Holy crap...
If I didn't know any better, I would have run the hell away, even knowing that I wouldn't outrun a pack. Just thinking about it gives me small panic attack. That's always a recurring nightmare of mine to be running like there was superglue stuck to my shoes that prevented me from running fast enough... and then getting mauled by whatever creature was chasing me. Well at least I have some idea of how to better react now

Posted by Cfourexplore 3 dogs hauling ass towards me. First (idiotic) instinct was to bolt, but I stood my ground. No mace, no food, just my camera...facing them, I waited til they got up to me, no barks or growls, they kinda sniffed around me, I started backing away, held my hand out (as I was taught as a kid, at least).

Posted by MysteriousExpedition Holy crap... If I didn't know any better, I would have run the hell away, even knowing that I wouldn't outrun a pack. Just thinking about it gives me small panic attack. That's always a recurring nightmare of mine to be running like there was superglue stuck to my shoes that prevented me from running fast enough... and then getting mauled by whatever creature was chasing me. Well at least I have some idea of how to better react now

Running generally isn't an option. Shepherd's can do 30 MPH and some other dogs 40+
Surprisingly some small dogs clock in much faster than bigger ones.

If you really feel you need to escape go high. Dogs can't climb effectively.
A car, tree, building, high fence, etc.
Be fast about it.
You may have to fend them off something like a car but it's better than the ground.
Best not to trigger this behavior by running to begin with... it's a predictable hardwired behavior trait in canines.

Playing with a known friendly dogs will give a better understanding of their capabilities and weaknesses.

Posted by blackhawk Rabies is simply too dangerous to risk a possible exposure without vaccination. [. . . ] If the virus reaches the brain, you will die.

The real bitch of that is, If you're presenting symptoms, it's too late.
I've heard that the rabies vaccine is quite painful, and requires several treatments - but better than psychosis followed by death.

Before they had vaccination and a cure for rabies, a person who caught it was pretty much dead. They had a video in black and white where a man was slowly dying from rabies. That was probably one of the most horrifying videos I've ever seen. I just had to let my curiosity get a hold of me :/

Posted by Dee Ashley The real bitch of that is, If you're presenting symptoms, it's too late. I've heard that the rabies vaccine is quite painful, and requires several treatments - but better than psychosis followed by death.

3 shots in the arm... not like it use to be.
The price tag though is very painful.

Something to remember with a rabid animal is they don't need to puncture the skin to infect you. It's in their saliva.
If that comes in contact with your mucous membranes (eye, nose, mouth) or even the slightest break in the skin, infection can result.
Do not let strange dogs and cats lick you especially your face or scratch you!

Rodents seldom contract it but can. Keep all unvaccinated mammals inside.

Creepy that the psychosis drives the afflicted to attack others and thus spread the disease. Zombie shit.

Posted by uLiveAndYouBurn Creepy that the psychosis drives the afflicted to attack others and thus spread the disease. Zombie shit.

They can go bonkers on you like the rabid racoon that jumped out of a tree on a lady in her backyard in Harrisburg PA a few years back. Landed on her shoulder, bite and scratched her. Because of the deep puncture wounds near on the neck and head this could have been fatal even with the vaccine.
She survived.

Many rabid animals aren't aggressive but display odd behavior.
May act normal as well.
Like the man infected recently who was feeding bats honey from his fingers in his bedroom; he died.
The bat was acting abnormal but seemed friendly; lack of fear of humans.

Never trust any mammal especially in areas dealing with an outbreak.
Never fed wildlife.
Birds, cold blooded animals and insects aren't carriers.

Posted by blackhawk [. . . ] Birds, cold blooded animals and insects aren't carriers.

Oh, but birds and other critters have many other gifts to bestow! Some of them possibly even more delightful than the dreaded rabies...

Posted by Dee Ashley Oh, but birds and other critters have many other gifts to bestow! Some of them possibly even more delightful than the dreaded rabies...

Birds are cool, especially the Corvid family. Just read that ravens may be smarter than chimpanzees. If you treat them nice, they have been known to bring you gifts.

Posted by Howie Dunnet Birds are cool, especially the Corvid family. Just read that ravens may be smarter than chimpanzees. If you treat them nice, they have been known to bring you gifts.

Yeah like the Firestarters in Britian
I bring you fire...
Crows and ravens rock
Crows have a rudimentary language of roughly 100 words.
They are very intelligent... brain to body mass only slightly lower than humans. Tool users. 3D problem solvers.

Birds can be infected by the rabies virus but it's self limiting because the virus can't infect their nerve and brain cells due to an evolutionary alter pathway in their nervous system development from most mammals.
Rabies must reach the brain to cause death but can't replicate in their neurons due to their DNA coding. It lacks a pathway the virus needs.
Even if infected they can't transmit; not present in the saliva.
Lucky bastards.

Many rabid animals aren't aggressive but display odd behavior. May act normal as well.

This is true...paralytic rabies can cause an infected creature to appear lethargic and disoriented, without the commonly stereotypical symptoms such as foaming at the mouth, or blatant aggressive behavior. I have a story about my first, and hopefully last, encounter with a rabid animal...
(Time for another KCMO story)
Back when I worked at the pet cemetery, one morning just after dawn, I noticed a skunk sitting up against the building. Cute little guy (or girl), though I saw the fur was rather matted; looked like its hackles were at DEFCON 2 😏. As he was right by the door, I'd not noticed him until I came back from a trash dump. As I approached...very carefully...he went into a rather shaky defensive posture.
The fact that he was out in the morning sun, in an area where there are humans coming by, and that he didn't run like hell when the door opened (or spray me at once) told me something was off.
We fed our pond ducks with corn...I tossed some out to him, but he showed no interest in eating. Mostly he would sit there, or occasionally go into an 'I'll spray your dumb ass' posture every so often...
My boss called about a half hour later; and I told him what was going on. He said, "sounds like rabies or something". I'd never encountered this, but he told me it was likely a paralytic form of the disease.
Well, I don't want to get into the specific details of how we dealt with this poor creature, let's just say it was done quickly and as cleanly as possible, and nobody was contaminated or even sprayed...

^ There's distemper and other diseases as well.
In high risk areas skunks are prime candidates* for rabies.
What skunk wouldn't gobble up food?
No appetite is a definite symptom of disease.
Being out in open sunlight is another clue but it's not unheard of to see them in shaded areas sometimes during the morning or early evening.
They are very susceptible to birds of prey though in daylight.
Birds can't smell their odor... taste like chicken


*a dog is a prime candidate until proven otherwise and still account for most of the human rabies exposure.
A while back a women on vacation befriended a seemingly healthy cat in Spain. No severe bites, it acted normally, but she played with it.
Latter she died of rabies never realizing she had been infected until it was way too late.
Be especially wary of rabies outside of the US or Canada...

A rabid animal normally wouldn't charge at you though, right? In fact, I think most act very tame. Which should be an automatic warning sign when encountering any animal that behaves too comfortably when you first see it.
Regarding birds, I do remember the bird flu epidemic that was going on many years ago when I lived in Cincinnati. Those were scary times...

Posted by MysteriousExpedition A rabid animal normally wouldn't charge at you though, right? In fact, I think most act very tame. Which should be an automatic warning sign when encountering any animal that behaves too comfortably when you first see it. Regarding birds, I do remember the bird flu epidemic that was going on many years ago when I lived in Cincinnati. Those were scary times...

They might easily attack you, not charge, attack.
Like blind rage no fear here sort of stuff...
Given the painful nature of the disease I would expect the worst.
Eventually it will incapacitate them.

Google it and you'll find stories like this:
https://www.google.../%3foutputType=amp

Here's another one:
https://www.google...com/amp/4538662002


From wiki:
Three stages of rabies are recognized in dogs and other animals.

The first stage is a one- to three-day period characterized by behavioral changes and is known as the prodromal stage.

The second stage is the excitative stage, which lasts three to four days. It is this stage that is often known as furious rabies due to the tendency of the affected animal to be hyperreactive to external stimuli and bite at anything near.

The third stage is the paralytic or dumb stage and is caused by damage to motor neurons. Incoordination is seen due to rear limb paralysis and drooling and difficulty swallowing is caused by paralysis of facial and throat muscles. This disables the host's ability to swallow, which causes saliva to pour from the mouth. This causes bites to be the most common way for the infection to spread, as the virus is most concentrated in the throat and cheeks, causing major contamination to saliva. Death is usually caused by respiratory arrest.[3]