I got a country station in my shop, so I hear all these commercials about donating money to buy bullet proof vest for police dogs (www.mavestadog.org). Right off the bat the idea sounds a bit crazy to me.
I realize that these vests protect against not only firearms, but also stubbing and blunt trauma. It doesn't make sense though. Typically, when dog attacks you, it leads with a head forward, an exposed head. I believe that dogs are trained to attack the closest protruding object from the target. For most people it would be an arm. For an armed person, that should be the barrel of the gun pointing at the dog.
If I would defend myself against a dog, hitting the body with a bat is not the best tactics (sorry for the imagery if you are into dog loving), head is usually it.
I just don't see how these are useful. I tried to find any statistics if these things really save service dogs. Also, a friend of mine had a service dog and I believe that they have well defined span of years and have to meet some requirements to remain in service. Anyone want to chime in if these are more than feel-good gimmiks?
I realize that these vests protect against not only firearms, but also stubbing and blunt trauma. It doesn't make sense though. Typically, when dog attacks you, it leads with a head forward, an exposed head. I believe that dogs are trained to attack the closest protruding object from the target. For most people it would be an arm. For an armed person, that should be the barrel of the gun pointing at the dog.
If I would defend myself against a dog, hitting the body with a bat is not the best tactics (sorry for the imagery if you are into dog loving), head is usually it.
I just don't see how these are useful. I tried to find any statistics if these things really save service dogs. Also, a friend of mine had a service dog and I believe that they have well defined span of years and have to meet some requirements to remain in service. Anyone want to chime in if these are more than feel-good gimmiks?