Last night I pulled up into my driveway, and as I stepped out of my car, a dog ran at me from the side. He stopped, tail wagging, and I spoke to him softly and evenly. Then, in a flash, he began barking and growling, lunging back and forth. This is really NOT an attack indicator, from what I've been told, but can lead to it - the dog who is absolutely motionless is the one who is about to slam the throttle down. I couldn't access my back seat where the rest of my work gear was located, but I do have one work related item on my belt, always - pepper spray. Puppy took off at
HIGH speed after his nose membranes became saturated with some LE quality OC. Absolutely no permanent damage, no shots fired, and situation ended. The dog belongs to some less than savory members of society down the street, and I'm sure when he came home that the smell woke up some old memories.
If you live in an area where dogs are routinely or even only occasionally out and about, get a small keychain canister of OC. It doesn't have to be the latest romper stomper of gas - civilian grade gas works just fine on puppies. If you CAN get a can of Phantom...get some AND a quickly deploy-able mask for yourself - that stuff is FOUL!