If a dog is running at you fast, and with obvious bad intents. Where to place the shots?
Sometimes it seems just as likely that a CCW permit holder would have to draw against a large dog/s vs. actual bad guy/s. Shot placement on people seem to be discussed enough, but what about viscious pooches?
Brain?
Where the neck meets the chest?
Can standard pistol rounds penetrate the skull without deflecting?
Wherever you can get hits quick, center mass. If your good enough to see a dog running at you that wants to hurt you and you can draw your gun from wherever it is, and then decide where to shoot the dog such as the head vs the chest, and place numerous rounds at the desired place, you are way beyond many shooters. Just shoot the damn thing until it’s no longer a threat. Haha. But seriously, wherever you can get hits.
I haven’t seen that drill before, but I love it already. I had the unpleasant experience of having to shoot a pit in my driveway, and that was eye opening as well. Drawing from concealment, while backpedaling, and making a well placed shot on a relatively small, fast moving target is definitely a challenge. Doing it when your heart has just about jumped out of your chest, and in low light, just adds to it. I got very, very lucky.
The shot went in at the back of the skull and continued on a low angle into it’s body. It didn’t exit, and I don’t know how far it penetrated. This was 230gr +P Federal HST. The damn thing dropped like a sack of taters, snarled at me a couple times, and died. I didn’t even hear the shot.
From my experience, I would suggest aiming at the head/neck/upper chest area if it’s coming at you head on. If you break the shot off late or aren’t leading enough you would still have the dog’s body coming into your shot.
It looks like I’ll be taking some jugs and cord to the range next trip. Thanks for posting that drill.
Wherever you can, my friend. Wherever you can.
Depends upon the breed of dog, cartridge, angle of incidence, etc., etc.
Ive had the unfortunate experience of killing mans best friend due to an attack, not with a gun though. I can add that the dog (Collie) was fast, and I mean fast from about 10 yards away to my leg. It bit my thigh and tore a lesion above my knee. It bolted toward me, but then changed direction in the last second to come in from the side…I guess to bite me with its head sideways… anyway, it happened alot faster than I thought, so that drill sounds very applicable.
Crap, THERE’S a mental image!
FINISH HIM!!
Yup, as long as your sights are on fur, send it.
Since you will have a height advantage and if it is charging towards you I would try to aim between the front shoulder blades you have the spinal column if you can damage it the hind legs will collapse then you can finish it off.
If you have a side shot then pretty much like any animal in the front shoulder region or a little bit behind it.
The dog charging drill looks interesting. I will have to try it thank Grant.
Awesome drill! Thanks for the contribution!
The drill is very hard and even harder if person pulling the rope is wanting to test your skillz. 
C4
I think that’s a great drill for reasons that go beyond dogs.
I’m going to have to try that.
It’s a great drill and I have used it on a cadet class with a lot of success.
Make it harder by using a half gallon container.
Me falling over with dog attached to crotch.
FLAWLESS VICTORY! 
I shot a BIG (70+#) pit in the head with a .45 230gr HydraShok a few years back. He was DRT, and much debris (bone, teeth, brain) was ejected from the exit hole in the bottom of his jaw. Shot was from above and from the rear. No pen problems there.
No shit, there I was…making a midnight notification on the rez…ambushed on the front porch by a land shark…
I wound up taking a three step backpedal and using the old “Speed Rock” technique (worked great). Fired one shot at a distance of about two feet. Bullet went in the open / snapping mouth that was getting way too close to my groinage area. Bullet exited the cheek area. I kept backpedalling. Dog stopped, eyes went wide, just like a cartoon, shook its head, ran the other way breaking whatever rope/chain it was on. Occupants woke up… “Hey, your run-away daughter in your stolen car has been found; and I just shot your dog.”
At my current agency, dogs get shot on entries enough that its not really a big issue. .40; 12g; 5.56 have all work fine. Head shots are best, of course, but any shot pretty much takes the fight out of them. Repeat as necessary.
For our purposes, it’s been recommended that the 12g with lock buster rounds be used, as they have good terminal perfomance on the sharks, without overpenetration issues. We haven’t tried that yet.
I have once using 147gr 9mm Winchester SXT’s from a G17 on a large breed. Two shots near the ear= drt.
from the looks of the diagram a shot to the sinus area would discourage the dog from its mission…I would think…alot of nerves in that area
Some dogs die promptly when shot. Some simply get mad. They move quickly and will be on you before you know it. Thinking about shot placement is an exercise in optimism. Often, the only choice in shot placement you’ll get is to whatever body mass you can see or whatever holds still long enough for you to aim.
Aim, press, recover, plan to repeat.
Won’t dogs bite the closest thing to them when they come at you? (heard that somewhere when I was younger) In other words, if you miss during the run up to you, wouldn’t extending your gun out and pull the trigger when the dog hits it be a last ditch effort? I’d hate for it to come to that, but it’d be better than recoiling away and letting it gnaw on your arm or something.
Great drill. Something to add to training. Thanks for the videos Grant.