Originally Posted by
Zaskar
As
Iride01 said, most stop with a lout "NO!" or "BACK!" Even the 80-100 pit bull with clipped ears and tail... yeah, I was shocked. He came out of the woods like a silverback - all shoulders and muscly... I yelled "BACK!" and he literally skidded and turned back. I actually felt bad for scaring the little fella... okay, not really.
For the one dog that didn't react like that and the did want to latch on to my foot, I managed a solid and direct shot in the eyes with the water bottle. It worked like you'd hope it would.
I've found the biggest danger isn't being "attacked" it's being (accidentally) tackled. Often, the dog focuses on one rider... then turns away - into another rider. Most dogs that chase us aren't mean... just being dogs.
I have tried that and it worked on one dog a few weeks ago. Tried it with this particular German Shepard and he was not buying what i was selling. I totally get the dog thought he was protecting his property from me.. just doing what dogs do, I might try the water bottle trick first, it's the least obtrusive but might get his attention.