Twice this week, my dog has been attacked while we were out for our morning jog. In both instances, we were fully on the street and not on the property line. My dog is fine, in case you were worried. I have to admit, that I don’t care about yours. In one instance, my dog must have made contact with a sensitive body part, because one of the two dogs present yelped. In this latest situation, I at first thought the animal was a cat, but I’ve never known a cat to attack a moving dog six times its size. Only dogs are that stupid. I did not hear any yelping, but I did have to pull my dog off yours. What really bothered me was that there was no owner within earshot, not that the other dog owner shouting an apology as her dogs came hurtling down their drive at us was acceptable either.
This letter is to inform you that I have purchased Halt!, a pepper spray for dogs. It will hurt them, but the pain is only temporary. Any dog who approaches my dog while we are on the public roadway will be sprayed. I have no desire for my own dog to suffer injury, nor do I truly want her to inflict serious injuries on another animal. In addition, I am not interested in being pulled off balance and having my own ankles, knees or other body parts twisted, scraped or broken. If your dog will not remain on your property, I suggest you keep your dog indoors or on a leash, especially between the hours of 6 and 7 am. For those of you with “friendly” dogs, I am sorry to say that I can not differentiate between “friendly” coming-to-say-hello running and aggressive running, especially when it is still dark out, so all dogs will be subject to the spray.
If you have any concerns, feel free to stop by my home to discuss the matter in person. I will keep the can near the door in the event that aggressive humans require encouragement to remain “friendly”.
Reit This Way 
Oh my! As if jogging at early hours isn't a challenge in and of itself! Just make sure Mary doesn't use it on Billy. 😉
Yes, yes, yes! Thank you!!!!! I have fumed and whined about this issue for years and not because our dog has been attacked but because our CHILDREN have. And do you know, I've never bought the spray because I felt like maybe I was unreasonable. But now I can do it and know that I'm not. I will only add that even in the daylight my children and I can not discriminate between “friendly” barking, growling dogs and unfriendly ones.
Just in the past 2 days I've had dogs race out to the road and bark at me while I've been running. I stop, yell NO! and tell them to go home. Neither time did an owner come outside to call their dog in. I might be getting some of that spray to take with me as well.
Kat, despite my dog nipping the one dog, it continued to follow us down the road and I had to stop, turn around and sternly say “Go home” even though the owner was pathetically calling and calling to no avail. The thing is, most dogs assume you are running away when you go jogging past, so they treat you like the threat you must be (otherwise, why would you be running?). I wish more owners realized what a nuisance their loveable family pet is and kept them under control.