Dog Bites Man! or "No Fight, No Regret"?

K

Kozmo

Wuji
News worthy? Maybe not, but I was bitten in the crotch last Sunday while visiting in Northern New Mexico by a 100+ lb. mongrel that stalked and ambushed me suddenly. Not that I wasn't aware of the threat--the animal never did take my scent much less lick my offered hand earlier in the day. But I was following the owner's direction "not" to make direct eye contact and to maintain a non-aggresive demeanor with the animal.

The attack was silent. Not even barred teeth or raised hackles. I had been watching it circle in on me interacting playfully with the women in the yard until it was about 5 yards off with no obstacles between us. As instructed, I watched with a peripheral gaze and took a 3/4 stance. Its first step seemed promising: perhaps we'd make friends now? Then it bum-rushed my dick!

I've watched videos and have practiced a movement like our Za drill to "prepare" for this moment! I "know" to offer a forearm (as well as raising the leg) to protect the crotch. And I "know" to keep that forearm penged to the rib cage when the dog latches to keep it from being able to pull your arm out of its socket. And I "know" to use the free hand (of the arm raised to protect the throat) to gouge the dog's eyes. Yeah, I "know"!

But, no, I didn't actually get into the defensive posture in the time available. Didn't get to deliver the protective push kick to the animal's chest. I did somehow manage to get my knee heading in the right direction with enough force to keep the animal from actually grabbing my dick or nutsack or even getting an actual latching hold in the inguinal fold.

And I must have rooted, because I didn't fall or crumple. I also didn't shout, or curse, or strike out as the animal caromed off.

Only after its owner removed it, (still all in silence) did I release my stance, go to the ground, and inspect the wounding. No pumping from a femoral artery. Equipment in tact. Cool, now for hours of frustration seeking medical attention . . . . And listening to asinine theorizing about canine psychology . . . .

So the encounter has raised lots of issues for me. Some specifically about martial arts training, and that's why I'm writing for your responses here.

In many ways I feel I failed as a fighter in this event. I would have liked to correct the situation preemptively. I would have liked to have had a defensive posture to dissuade the attack. (As a paperboy in my youth I did much better actually making eye contact and acting tough with ban dogs!) I certainly would have liked to have gotten into the defensive posture I'd prepared. And, yes, I guess I would have liked to get in a few kicks, eye gouges--maybe even a neck break--or at least a couple of impressive yells during--or even after--the attack!!!!!

But I'm also getting the idea that fighting is not necessarily the same as self-defense. I withstood an attack--did not aggravate it. I minimized injury without inviting more. And held my stance with focus and readiness. I did not cause others to get involved and bit trying to break up a dog fight. And I remained verbally civil with the individual responsible for my attack who I now depended upon for the medical care I would require for actual survival going forward.

Anyhow, I'm hoping some of you may have insight into this type of encounter and into the relevance of our art and training with non-human adversaries, animal owners, the urge for revenge, the silence of violence . . . . defenses that work . . . .

. . . . And even, as was suggested by at least one canine psuedo-psychologist, whether our training and preparedness actually makes us a more attractive--even deserving--target for other aggressive males, animal or otherwise. Or at least less deserving of sympathy if an attack occurs, as we can--unlike, say a small child or defenseless woman--just handle it.
 
Marin

Marin

Lao Tou
Staff member
I do not have great words of wisdom here. Animals are not especially unpredictable but they don't follow the human game plan or pattern so it's not so easy to see how they fit into the martial art paradigm. The worst case of that is when they are domesticated but uncivil, such as this. So, I'll tell you my general approach, which is probably not very popular in general sense.

What I do is generally stay away from animals, I just avoid them and don't let them come near me at all, UNLESS I know them and/or fully trust the owners. I am generally not particularly friendly to any random animals, passersby or otherwise. If people have pets and I think those people are super reliable I will ask about the demeanor of the animals before considering engaging in any way. Outside of that situation in which I know and deem people reliable I just don't let the animals come anywhere near me. I have had enough bad experiences with irresponsible pet owners and have learned my lessons well.

Does this relate to martial arts? Unfortunately yes, because having practice outside in at least semi public places for decades I am constantly under threat and scrutiny by local dogs especially. Pet owners often think their pets are special and many are simply selfish entitled idiots who would gladly let their dog ransack your life and then say "Oh he didn't mean anything by it, he's such a sweetheart". In my experience practicing gongfu outdoors, basically every dog is threatened by the activity and the energy and take it as a challenge. They either want to attack or innocuously wander over looking cute and snigging your stuff so they can immediately piss on it, your bag, your clothes, etc. It is immediate a very reliable pattern. Practice outside and you too will learn, and smell bad.

I am not trying to condescend to anyone who knows already, but animals, dogs specifically are only slightly domesticated, ever. Most would still enjoy tearing your guts out and eating them if they don't know you, and that is not an insult, just a fact. They operate in a world of dominance hierarchy and challenge that is always on the edge of actual violence. If you tell yourself that they are domesticated pets that's fine, it's an idea that sometimes works and sometimes fails. I realized that I was tired of being on the receiving end of un-volunteered dominance behavior and so I changed my behavior. If I know someone and find them reliable and their dog seems fun I would like to relate to them, but outside of that I will generally pre-empt any engagement with my own dominance behavior. This is what they understand.

If I am out and about in whatever capacity I just don't let other people's dogs come near me for the most part. Sick of getting pissed on, barked at, bit, humped scratched or slobbered. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs, but I keep them away and off me until and unless I choose to engage. This became more intentional after I had kids, because the irresponsible dog owners are fine with having their dogs run up and know the kids over and scratch their faces as well, it's all cute and fun apparently, scares the shit out of the kids. When the kid are little their faces are at mouth height and again, the dog owners are clueless. Many would let the worst happen.

Reading your story there I cannot say you failed in a martial context, but your failure (if there was any) might have been in the area of judgement, of character (of the owner?) and awareness of surroundings and threats. I don't know the situation there, but clearly the owner in this case was not in charge, not responsible and not aware, could have been worse. Failure to realize the shortcomings of the owner was perhaps a mistake, which allowed you to give that badly behaved dog an opening. I cannot critique your response as my own ideal approach would have been to prevent and pre-empt instead. Once that fails, I don't know. I often carry a stick or a weapon of some kind anyhow. I don't want to use open hand against teeth. That would have pissed me off and I likely would have reacted badly or harshly and including litigiously.

I have likely written too much, but to put it simply I would have probably prevented that dog from coming near me, unless I failed to judge the level of responsibility of the owner. That's just because I have had bad experiences.

These days much of what informs me about dogs is specially linked to martial arts. They just do not like gongfu practitioners, so I am constantly disliked. In return I dislike, dissuade and instill fear. If that does not work, I am often armed and would not hesitate. The wild animal attack situation is not something I find entertaining or 'ok'. I am so used to dogs being aggressive when I practice, I sort of wonder if they sense something even when I am not practicing. Maybe they do. I generally don't fuck around and find out. That is my approach.
 
angryclown

angryclown

Jingang
Kozmo said:
But I'm also getting the idea that fighting is not necessarily the same as self-defense.
Click to expand...
It is not. Self defense is a legal term, with specific requirements in order to be met. Semantics aside, though, fighting is the last and least important aspect of self protection/self defense. A more important aspect would be situational awareness, but that has to be preceeded by what Marc MacYoung calls situational literacy. Or, in other words, you have to know what normal is before you can decide if something is abnormal.

In this context, the answer would be to not let yourself get in that situation. You are never going to win a fight against a 100 lb. dog. The fact that you got out alive and un-maimed means you did a phenomenal job of protecting yourself. The future goal should be prevention, not learning how to fight animals better. In the future you'll know that if you are in a situation with someone who has a potentially aggressive dog, you can either ask them to remove it and, if they are not willing, remove yourself. The best defense against an attack is to not be there.

The incidence of attacks coming "out of nowhere" is almost non-existent. What's not uncommon is people not recognizing the signs of an imminent attack. This is true for dogs, muggers, psycho killers, hypothermia, and just about anything else. Unfortunately, it all takes work ahead of time. If you're worried about dogs, learn the basics of canine body language. If you're worried about getting mugged, learn a bit about how muggers work, and then spend some time out walking around and figuring out how you would mug people. Etc. etc. It's an ongoing process.

It bears repeating: The fact that you got out alive and un-maimed means you did a phenomenal job of protecting yourself. Anybody that says differently can fuck right the hell off. In my world, what anybody else thinks about the situation (other than you) doesn't matter. If you want to spend additional mental energy on it, then the goal (for me) would be better understanding the circumstances that enabled the attack and how to circumvent similar things in the future without undue cost (i.e. never leaving your house again would prevent future dog attacks, but is probably more of a cost than the likelihood of it happening again warrants).
 
Marin

Marin

Lao Tou
Staff member
I just want to add here, I liked Hassler's post. I am not as well versed on this subject anyhow, but basically it's awful to be attacked by dogs. So yes, anything you did or did not do is definitely not worth self critique other than just trying to make a safer approach in the future.
 
Q

qureshlatif

Jingang
Mark told me about this event during our grueling 3-hour ride home from the airport. I had not read this post until now. There is another big insight that Mark shared with me and I think is worth reiterating here. It's very easy in the stress of the moment to not want to hold friends accountable or feel like you're tough by being stoic and not filing charges, but that's the opposite of what we need to be doing as good citizens. Perhaps more important than standing up to the dog is standing up to the owner by filing a full police report and telling the police that you want charges pressed if you are bitten. Otherwise, you're passing the buck on to someone who might be less trained and less vulnerable than we are. It seems to me that part of learning martial arts is having the tools and attitude to defend those who are less trained or less able to defend themselves (e.g., children). I think that means holding people to account using established procedures even if (and perhaps especially if) they are our friends. If a dog is biting you, the owner doesn't understand the responsibility of being a dog owner, so authorities need to step in, period.
 
Marin

Marin

Lao Tou
Staff member
qureshlatif said:
Perhaps more important than standing up to the dog is standing up to the owner by filing a full police report and telling the police that you want charges pressed if you are bitten
Click to expand...

I cannot agree more. I mentioned a bit of this in my previous comment but just did not want to add to his feelings of inadequate response and stress. I agree completely that accountability for the owner is the most important aspect behind one's own safety, health and recovery.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top