Good thread to keep reviving. I'm new to these encounters and in my last 5 or 6 rides have encounter some of the situations describe already. The worse was yesterday when about 5-6 dogs all came onto the road from a house and got in front of us to slow us down... fortunately I was with someone who had some experience with these dogs although he said that last time they were friendly... but this time around they seem more aggressive. In this one ride of 50 miles we encounter dogs about 4 separate occasions.... so now I'm looking for solutions as I want to enjoy riding and can't keep avoiding every street I think there might be a dog.

I see the various types of sprays and Spazzdog’s suggestion (with link) looked good, anybody have some success stories with it. I also read of using snap poppers...

"I carry "Snap Poppers" they are paper twists that one throws on the ground to make a popping noise like a cap pistol. They have always worked for us. We buy them around the Fourth of July when fireworks are sold."

I also read of some sort of sonic gun, which sounds promising to me as it’s not going to seriously hurt you or the dog but does the trick of stopping them? Any body using something like this?