I’m a dog owner of three semi-aggressive dogs. In the mountains where it will be just me and my dogs, they are allowed off the leash. If they are to be where other people and dogs will be, they stay on a leash. When people approach my dogs (on foot or bike) I make my dogs sit and calmly tell the people that my dogs aren’t friendly and to keep their distance.
I was out walking my dogs through a park early this past summer when I realized that we would be passing a little girl and her teacup Yorkie. I told the girl to keep her dog close as I made my dogs sit and tried to put my body between my dogs and the girl/pup. The girl said “my dog is friendly” and refused to pick up her dog or put it in a leash. I repeated my dogs aren’t nice.
long story short, my dogs got tangled up with her and her puppy. A Park Ranger saw the whole thing and issued her parents a citation for not controlling the dog. The park was a park where dogs could be off their leashes, but the owners had to have 100% control over their dogs.
I would love to take my dogs for bike rides, but because they are aggressive I leave my dogs at home.
As to the person wanting to use pepper spray on either the dog or on the owner… be warned some people and animals are immune to pepper spray. I’m one of those people, all it does is makes me mad and I am not responsible for the actions of spraying me or my animals.