Farm Dogs

I walk with my collie through and by farms often enough. Only once did we have an issue and my wife was with me at the time.

Thankfully we had sticks with us so we went back to back circling with our old dog in the middle and got to a gate and beyond to safety.

I usually pick up a big stick if one is around and I’m approaching a farm (these will be on my map)

I don’t really care what the law says when I’m being attacked – by anyone or any animal. I’m going to save myself.

Hear, hear!  Link above suggests you should always check state & local laws before spraying a dog.  What, ask Fido to hold off his attack till you get your research done?

I’m not convinced that dogs will be “messed up” by bear spray.

Me neither, but even if I were, Fido’s getting it anyway.  Deescalation is fine during the snarling stage, but once he attacks, there’s only one rule.

I carry the stronger 2% bear and self defense formula to use against dogs as well, even though it’s about twice as concentrated as the dog pepper spray, mainly because I want to cover all threats. Yet there is a case to be made for using a less potent dog formula when it’s plenty strong enough to work on canines. First of all if the dog has very serious lingering effects from strong bear spray you may have to deal with a raging, gun-toting owner. And what’s more is it necessary to hurt a dog anymore than you have to when it’s the dog owner who is really the most at fault? Giving a dog a slight whiff of the weaker dog spray will provide the deterrence needed when all you might want to do is send a warning, and it’s more likely to keep you out of legal trouble or the gun sights of an irate dog owner. I mean why use an AK-47 to kill a squirrel? There’s a reason why mail carriers and other utility professionals use the diluted dog formula. Overreaction can be costly. Nevertheless, I’m still going to always carry the stronger 2% formula because as I said, it covers all the bases. https://expertpaws.com/dogs/will-bear-spray-hurt-a-dogpepper-vs-bear-spray/

Atif, as a road cyclist in rural Oklahoma cattle dogs were a regular issue. We would take long range squirt pistols filled with Windex. The ammonia would turn them away on first sniff. The solid stream would work in strong winds with proper aim. And if we got a bit of blowback it wasn’t end of the world. Some fresh water on the eyes and you could ride again. Cheap and effective. And UL too. Bear spray isn’t cheap and its heavy. Of course if that is all you have handy by all means use it – downwind!

So now I have to arm myself with an ammonia filled super soaker to entertain a leisurely walk thru the woods.  This is gonna tip the scales for my TPW.  Gettin’ to be a rough hobby.  sigh.

Perhaps the posties etc carry the weaker dog spray version because it is provided free as part of the gear?

Cheers

My brother was a rural mail carrier in Washington state. He was issued this – http://www.postalproducts.com/bigpicture/S1001152.htm. 0.35 capsium. Really weak compared to bear spray.

I personally carry small 1% pepper spray bottle for feral dogs or similar. If I ever went to Joshua Tree I would take bear spray in larger size to deal with the wild dog packs roaming the park.