Well  that'll get your blood pumping.  I was walking Pandora, my female Husky, on the back streets of Clementona (my development) earlier today.  We were walking along with a neighbor I had just met, Donna.  We were talking about pets and stuff when out charged an extremely large, loose Pitbull.  He was in the eighty to one hundred pound range.  The Pit charged right at Pandora.  Experience has taught me to always carry a stout "walking stick" just for such occasions.  For the past few years my Peacemaker has been a long, heavy wooden shovel handle. 
    As I said, the Pit charged straight at Pandora.  I think I shocked poor Donna.  The Pit assessed the situation and decided he wanted no part of the large, angry man swinging the big stick and hollering obscenities and death threats.  He went on his way which I was grateful for.  It's not easy to get a Pit to back down plus I've seen Pits whacked with baseball bats and basically ignore it.  I was very pleased that just showing him some teeth worked.  There was about ten seconds where I thought we were really going to get into it. 
     The moral of this story?  As Teddy Roosevelt said, "Walk softly and carry a big stick."  99% of the time just showing the stick and that you intend to use it will be enough to keep the peace.  In all of my many tens of thousands of miles of dog walking I only ever had to actually whack an attacking dog three times.   I HIGHLY recommend that everyone who walks their dog(s) regularly carry something like that.

Blood pumping is right.  Wow!  Very scary encounter.

Pits are great dogs, but once they get their mind on an attack, sometimes there's nothing that will stop it.

    Yes, I've seen battling Pits beat with baseball bats to no effect.  When something like that happens thought is gone.  You go primal.  Flight was impossible and fight inadvisable so my only chance of escaping with no one getting injured was to get him to back down.  It was all on adrenaline and instinct.
    If a fight had actually broken out I figure I would have had one good swing before he was on me.  I'd have to time it perfectly and pray for the best.  I'm very grateful that my monkey dance was effective. 

There is of course the fact that a husky can usually take a pitbull.
But avoiding dog fights is always better.

Can't beat a good stick.

One of the toughest and murderous dogs I ever knew was a small female husky.

She even climbed a 10 foot fence to kill a full grown sow.
Lika was a lovely little ball of fluff, but her killer instincts were pure wolf.
Our friend, who bred her, initially sold her to a Dutch farmer (we were living in Germany at the time, on the Dutch border).

The sow was the last straw. She'd killed a bunch of chickens and some other animals before that.

She ended up as companion to a mountain postman in Andorra.
If he'd ever been attacked by a bear, my money would have been on lika.

I just finished a conversation about this with some friends at work. Pitbulls are scary creatures even with that shovel handle thats not at easy fight at all. Funny you mentioned the baseball bat as someone here literally just said the same thing about pitbulls.

I know a guy that told me a story about a St. Bernard that lost it and bit the owners child's head. He had to beat it to death to get it to let go. Ive wanted a big German Shepherd for years now but stories like these always make me question that.

   German Shepherds are wonderful, super intelligent, protective, loyal dogs.  I've had two at different times.  There will always be stories of dogs going rogue and doing horrible things.  I always have to wonder if there's more to such stories than we're getting.  I believe that if a dog is properly cared for and getting everything it needs such occurrences are highly unlikely.  I say get your German Shepherd. 

  Pandora is about fifty six pounds.  This Pit was pushing a hundred.  My best hope if a fight had broken out would have been the Pit being distracted by Pandora long enough for me to break his neck or bash his skull in.  In any case it would have taken a great deal of luck for all three of us to escape uninjured. 
    I've also thought about what would have happened if I chose another route that day.  Donna would have confronted the Pit by herself.  God only knows how that would have ended. 

lol, lika was even smaller.

Was there any evidence the dog was aggresive ?

Most pitbulls are friendly beasts.

Curious Aardvark wrote on Feb 6^th, 2022 at 1:03pm:

lol, lika was even smaller. Was there any evidence the dog was aggresive ? Most pitbulls are friendly beasts.

     I don't hate Pitbulls.  Though I've never owned one I've known and loved several close friends' Pits.  Plus I've been involved in countless loose and stray dog encounters.  I can tell when they're harmless and when they're about to go South.  Yes, this big boy assumed an aggressive stance.  He was very interested in battling Pandora.  He charged her, stopped to bark and growl, and was about to continue the charge when I interrupted him with my crazy man routine. 
    Is it possible nothing would have happened? I guess but that's not how I read it.