Thanks for the support, rij.

Sandra, I'm glad to hear you were using it for personal safety -- sounds like you have the right idea.

Scarlet: Several times it's *looked* like the dog would try to bite me, but like I said, they just licked my leg. I've come across dogs along farms and narrow, winding mountain roads which are steep enough so that a quick getaway would be unlikely. Which is probably while I had to learn to deal with them. Fortunately, people who have truly dangerous dogs *usually* keep them confined.

I did encounter an aggressive-looking chow chow once while mountain biking. It was sort of scary because I was alone, and the trail winds around a lot, so if I'd kept going, he could have easily cut through the brush and reached me. So I calmly got off my bike while I was still at a safe distance, grabbed a water bottle, stood facing the dog, and put the bike between him and me. I kept track of Mr. Chow but pretended ignore him while I sipped some water. This went on for 5 or 10 seconds until he lost interest, turned around and walked away.

KSH: You're right, there's definite potential there for a wreck. That's partly why (unless the dog is very, very far away) I usually slow down instead of speeding up. Once I let them catch up, dogs will usually run alongside me at a safe distance, not toward me.

I actually had a close call once with a *cat* who seemed to think that he could outrun me. When I slowed down, he jumped right across my path and gave me a nice scare. What a nut.