An immediate solution, yes. I do not believe you have to strike back at an on coming dog with something that may hurt it or cause it suffering. You 'usually' only need something that would distract it from what it is doing. A squirt of water may offer the same distraction as pepper spray.

When our first potlicker adopted us (he was living at Ramons at the time) he would walk everywhere with us and yes he would snap at many people especially on bikes. We then started carrying around little rocks and when he started going at someone we would throw a rock near him (not at him) with a stern NO. That was enough of a distraction it would stop him in his tracks and eventually he stopped snapping at people. Maybe we were just lucky, who knows? But I think its worth a try than immediately resorting to painful methods.

I still often get chased by dogs on my golfcart (I think its because my dogs insist on marking my wheels). When this happens I usually slow down and tell the dog NO. They usually go on their merry way once they realize I'm no fun to chase.





Last edited by JZB; 02/02/10 11:12 AM. Reason: punctuation