>From: "Mrs. Duck" <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: ferrets- what else? >I read with horror about the Pit bull jumping the fence and attacking the >ferret and owner.... My advice- get a baseball bat ... A toothless dog is >better than a mauled baby. What if the dog attacks a child? An elderly >person? There's a way to force any dog's jaws open that I discovered by accident a few years back - grab it under the lower jaw, fold it's jowls over it's molars, and *squeeze*. Mr. Doggy will think he's biting his own mouthparts and let go. Now, that's *if* you can get a good grip on it. If you're in any situation where a dog attacks you, remember that it's gonna tend to lunge *up* at you, and go for your throat. Doing so is dumb on the dog's part - it exposes his whole throat/belly to a solid punch, a stranglehold or better yet, a knife. A knife is far more useful than a baseball bat against a dog. If the dog is police or military trained, it'll stay *low* contrary to it's instincts, it'll be very wary of any attack from above, and it'll try and knock you over and perhaps grab one limb and *pull*. When faced with *this* kind of doggy, you need to stay low and balanced, but then it'll try and circle you - put your back to something to prevent that. Don't kick, you need your balance too desperately - for any low-attack trained dog, make a grab at the collar/neck skin and do a pull-spin number, ram the whole dog sideways into something solid if you have the strength - or twist it off it's feet and sit on it while strangling. Any fert owner who's had them out in public has to face the possibility of wrasling with a dog going after the ferret - I once tackled a German Sheperd from behind as it lunged for a furslinky. [Posted in FML issue 1741]