From: snorthc@relay.nswc.navy.mil (Stephen Northcutt - K31)
Subject: Star hand, was Fighting animals
Reply-To: snorthc@relay.nswc.navy.mil
Organization: Naval Surface Warfare Center	
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 14:22:07 GMT

Sam Hulick wrote:
>I read somewhere that if you open your hand into a star shape (fingers
>outstretched) and hold it front of a dog's face, it frightens them and
>brings them under control.  Is this true?

Richard Drury wrote"
>Try making
>your hand look like a little star and stick it in the face of
>the nearest hostile canine.  Please do post the results so we can
>all learn from your experience.  I read somewhere that typing
>with your toes is slower

Oh gosh, I'm still gasping for breathe, that was FUNNY!  Star hand
does indeed work.... for puppies who are at the chew on everything stage.
I does confound them.  I have tried the above experiment with a couple
full grown dogs, amazing how much harder to confound them now that their
brains are fully developed!

As long as we are sharing chuckles, here is one.  I like to "fight" with
my dog.  I took a suggestion I read off the original dog kun do post, and
got gautlet style gloves a really nice pair designed for welding.  The main
advantage is it keeps the scratches down to a dull roar.

Anywho my brother in law is humungous, 6' 6" 225lbs, in really good shape,
young and fast, studies Wu Shu.  He is becoming a really good fighter and
has the opinion if I can do it, he can :-)  So he saw me fighting Yogi out
on the deck and he tried it w/o gloves... 2 minutes later he looked like
he had put both arms in a blender.....  the next time he came down, he
borrowed the gloves.  2 minutes later the gloves were completely shredded
and his arms looked like he had put them in a blender :-)

The point I am trying to make is that, you can't learn fighting by reading,
no way, no how.  Across the several dog threads, that have honored R.M-A
with their presence there have been some excellent techniques and some
seriously bogus ones.  Off this particular thread, Joel Stave (I think, pls
forgive if wrong) posted the cross hands move where you scoop em up and
toss em on their backs.  One of the original founders of this list Barbara
posted about the dog sweep.  I have managed to teach my dog to avoid these two
techniques.  I still think the best bar none, is to use two hands, one
to keep their attention, the other to reach behind the head and grab the
collar, then you can do the amazing hanging dog trick if you have good
curling strength; be sure and twist the collar so it doesn't slip off.

The original Dog Kun Do thread, did not start by me asking how to fight a
dog, but rather what breed(s) and training were conducive to a dog with
the qualities of a martial artist :-)  Our family has continued our efforts
along this investigation.

Yogi (for which I received comic book status :-) has really blossomed.
He is child safe, excellent obed. scores, strongly protective, has
made several friends on the K9 force, does real well on their training range,
except he is a lousy tracker.

We may start on another dog with intention to train and place in
the spring, Kathy wants it to be a Swiss Mtn dog, I am pitching a
Staffordshire bull terrier, so if you live near WASH DC and are interested
drop me a note, we deliver at 18 mo.
================== We Design and Build Fine Networks ===================
		Stephen Ray Northcutt (703) 663-4447
Disclaimer: The Public Affairs Officer speaks for this Naval Lab, not me!
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts,rec.org.sca