Being a father has taught me a new gold standard for fear. Also, a legal question.

[protective measures]

In Ga. one of the justifications of the use of deadly force is in the event that you or someone close to you is in fear of grave bodily injury or death. It seems like this case as you described it meets these qualifications.
As others have suggested, O.C. spray is a very good less lethal option. After you shoot a neighbors dog, quite often it can escalate into a violent encounter.

Use this situation as an excuse to go and get you & your wife some professional training.
As many other Instructors including myself has said over & over, you can't form a plan in the middle of a fight.
You did pretty well... but you also were lucky.
Learn the law & defensive handgun fundamentals from someone who teaches it for a living professionally.

That way, if there is a next time, you might be able to either avoid it (not that you could have in this event)or at least have the mental & physical tools to do so more confidently.

 

[sunnydale slim]

You handled it pretty well but I think you would have been justified if you had killed one or both of them. I can't quote the law and it could have led to more problems with the owners but I most likely would have shot them early on in the encounter. I would suggest you find out who they belong to and get the proper authority notified of this incident. It might save you or someone else trouble down the road. I am glad your family was unharmed.

 

[bearpugh]

thats why we have leash laws. 2 dogs running free......... you have every right to protect you and yours if they act aggressively.

 

[Leatherhead]

If you were hesitant to shoot one of them, putting a shot into the ground to scare them off would,ve been a good alternative. Bravo for protecting your family in a sticky situation!

 

[Bioshock]

I do not have any dogs now "My wife is allergic to them"
But,I have own a few APBTs in my life.

One thing I will say is that they do not like small fast moving items and will pass
other "prey/toys" to get get what they have afixed their attention on.

Call you local pound and have them set out cages to trap the dogs.
Hopefully they can be removed from the area before they do harm.

 

[Junior_357]

I've been faced with a similar situation twice...but luckily neither of them involved my kid - and I am thankful for that. I would say the time I had two wild dogs pin me in my ground hunting blind was one of the scariest moments of my life. Yeah...I had a gun, but I didn't want to shoot them in case they were the neighbor's dogs.

Glad everything turned out OK with you and the family...

 

[Kman]

This can easily be solved with some bleach and water in a spray bottle( worked great from my paper route on a bike as a kid),now you can get a pepper spray to carry that will work fine and is more compact. Don't kill a dog unless it's wild or the owner might do something crazy. A shot in the ground would scare those dogs, but might cause issues with the police and neighbors. I have a 5 and 7 year old and feel your concerns. I carry a pistol most of the time,but I allways have my sizable pocket knife that I keep razor sharp. Give an arm,proceed to fillet aggressive dog with one pass. Yes,my pocket knife is probably to big. No one can argue if you defended your self in hand to hand combat with an aggressive dog.

 

[Bear44]

You handled it EXACTLY right. You could not have done better. Legally I think you could have killed them both at any time after they became a threat, however, there is a good chance that trying to or firing a warning shot would have triggered an immediate escalation and a full on attack that would have been very hard to stop even if you had had a shotgun. The same thing applies for any type of chemical deterrent. Forget the OC and bleach.
What you experienced was a totally primal situation. A pack of large powerful carnivores were in hunting mode and your children were the target. Your protective instincts were dead on. These two dogs are dangerous and will remain so. Call animal control and get these dogs off the street. They need to be picked up by AC or the owner needs to be found and they must be properly confined. The owner has probably never even seen this behavior. It probably only manifests when they are out on their own and in pack hunting mode.
If you need me to get directly involved in this PM and we'll go from there. In case you don't know, I'm a trainer and an expert witness in the courts. Do not underestimate the ongoing threat these dogs represent.

 

[jwhited]

A pack of large powerful carnivores were in hunting mode and your children were the target.

I'm just nitpicking here, but dogs are omnivores.

 

[Bear44]

I'm just nitpicking here, but dogs are omnivores.

Only by a very strict interpretation of the definition. If they have a choice they will eat meat for well over 95% of their diet.