The first dog that I named Kaluah, was a glossy black brindle Pit Bull Plott mix with a head like a bench vise. She was about 23" and 90 lbs of lean meat. She was an unusually quiet puppy, and not much of a barker in her adult life either. I had went with my father, to meet a hunter who bred them and we decided to pick her up. She was the biggest pup in the bunch, which normally I wouldnt have chosen. However, there was something about this dog that told me that I just had to have her. Over the years kaluah grew into an absolute specimen. On the occasion I'll tell you about today, she had reached the age of about two and a half. We were not hunting at all, I had taken her to the Dawson National forest. A place in North georgia that at that time abounded with bear. We started hiking on the south end of the WMA past the check station toward the Amicola river. We walked for about an hour following the muddy, rocky banks of the river. I had hoped to give her a chance to spot a hog or two to see what she would do. Just as we rounded a large outcrop of boulders that lined this part of the river, I heard it. The sound of alot of paws crunching leaves ahead of us. We couldnt see past the rocks and then came the barks, alert short woofs that told me there were dogs up ahead and not the friendly kind either. Before I could gather my thoughts, a dog that looked like an airdale mix topped the largest rock. Kaluah didnt make a sound, but the intensity of her gaze as she looked up at him, let me know all that I needed to know. Before I knew it about 5 mutts of varying size were working there way towrd us, hackles raised and growling cautiously. They slowly circled one by one around the rocks. The one that worrried me the most was a big red dog that looked like a Redbone mix. The Airdale mix looked like a tough old cobb too allthough not really that large. I didnt have a pistol at this time because it was illegal on a WMA to do so. So in fairness to Kaluah and anticipating the bad things, I took off her leash and suprisingly she didnt move. She was dead still her head swiveled trying to keep a bead on all of the slinky curs. I grabbed a stick that lay nearby and prepared for the worst. The dogs came together in a group as they cleared the second rock. I could tell by Kaluahs body language she had bad intentions for our new guests. as the dogs cautiously drew closer her body leaned forward, her muscled twitched neath her skin like a tight spring. All at once Kaluah shot off toward them. It looked as if I launched her from a cannon. When she hit the group of dogs it looked like a bowling ball hitting pins. the smaller 3 beagle size dogs screamed out immediately while the other 2 stuck around I ran in to help with a large pine branch that I quickly discovered had the interior consistancy of a pudding pop. It broke into a thousand pieces on the big Red dogs back He didnt even notice it. Kaluah had the Airdal by the back of the neck and was shaking hard while the red dog grabbed her back, The Airdale screamed and turned to bite and she relesaed him. I then grabbed the red dogs tail and pulled like a devil. Before he could turn to me Kaluah was now on him. She was giving the two all that they could handle. The Airdale was pretty bad off and though he was now retreating he screamed the whole way up the hill. apparantly her bite had done some nasty work. All the while the smaller fiests kept their distance and acted as annoying chearleders for what was quickly becoming the losing team. The big red dog was a real fighter, he and Kaluah were toe to toe, snapping and growling. I got in an occasional kick on him but he payed them no mind. He was not backing down, I ran around and managed to find a nice sappling that I busted in half and ran back toward the carnage with. As I got there I gave the dogs back leg my best Derek Jeter impression. His back leg swept from under him and that was all Kaluah needed to find his cheek. The Airdale was now coming back toward us When I yelled and approached him with the stick he changed plans, and went back over the rocks for good. I heard the red dog squeal and saw that Kaluah had grabbed a mouth full of face and that was all the convincing he needed to join his pals. Kaluah didnt follow, When she was sure that the dogs had quit she lay down. That really worried me, she was panting rapidly and her ear was torn in half. I looked her over and she had some good bites around her face. I sat with her and patted her for about ten minutes, her panting slowed and she got back up. We went straight home to a nice bath and to the vet the next day. I was informed by some of the locals a bit later on, that the area we were in area was pretty thick with feral dogs. And to think that I was worried about bears!