H'ok so, here's what is noteworthy about the dream. I remember being in a familiar place, like a shack or something but it was kind of an extension of another building which wasn't connected at all, and I don't even remember anything else about the other building. Anyways, this shack was about the size of a garage and was set up like one as well, but it had windows that were a bit low for it to be a garage, thus is why I'm going to call it a tool shed. So, the room smelled like a garage, that musky smell of sawdust and had tool benches and was as clean as a tool shed is able to be while still being used. Colors were muted earth tones and whatnot, and the rest of the details aren't very memorable, so they must not be important.
Nuff bout the tool shed, onto greater things. I walk outside the shed towards the start of the dark time of night, and out of nowhere comes this black dog that I am wrestling with for the rest of the dream. This dog is about mid-sized dog and I remember its teeth weren't as sharp as one would expect from a dog. I remember they weren't that sharp because to wrestle the dog, I controlled it by gripping its bottom jaw from inside its mouth. Now I know in the real world this doesn't make much sense but for some reason my logic in there was "The strongest way this animal can fight is through its jaw, so if I control that I control the fight". Theoretically that would work, and in the dream it worked, and the dream ended me by wrestling it to the ground and then telling it what to do and it did it, finishing the dream with "Good dog".
With that said, I want to make this clear, that is not how you fight a dog in real life. In fact, you should take almost the direct opposite approach when faced with a vicious dog. Here is how you deal with it.
First of all, hide in a safe spot such as a room, an unlocked car, or the closest sealable spot you can find. Please, for your own sake, don't try to run to a locked car. We saw how that turned out in "Cujo", we don't need a repeat.
Secondly, if you can't find shelter, stand defensively. Don't panic, don't show any signs of weakness, the dog will think of you as prey if you bust out the sissy-side.
Third, sound strong. Don't try and coddle the thing, tell the dog "No," in a firm voice. Speak firm, but don't yell that will only antagonize it.
Fourth, do not make prolonged eye contact. Making eye contact will tell the dog you want a fight, and it WILL bring the fight to you.
Number five, back off slowly. Dogs love their own little bubble, so chances are that once you leave their space, they'll back off themselves.
Six, don't leave yourself unguarded. After the initial attack, keep the dog as far between you and it as possible using your environment, such as sticks and stones (Hopefully those live up to the old adage). If the dog hesitates, run at the dog and yell loudly.
The seventh step is to trick the dog. Remove a jacket and wrap it loosely around your arm, then once the dog attacks the protected arm, get your arm out of that jacket as quickly as possible.
If after all that, the dog still hates your guts, pull yourself together. Curl up into a ball and cover your vitals (throat, face, below the waist). Do not get up until the dog has left and you are sure of it.
Keep this in mind, running from the dog is not only stupid (it leaves open several critical hindering spots on your body) but it also is pointless (top speed of a human is 15 mph, dogs get up to 45 mph).
So those are my thoughts for the hour or so, something to mull over.
Jammin' out.
