UPDATE IN OP- Apparently I need something stronger than pepper spray...

[newg]

I'd put the AC phone number in your cell phone and call as soon as you see the dog on your walk.

I found this article about homemade dog repellents.........not sure if any of it would be helpful while walking though.

http://www.pet-net.net/homemade-dog-repellents.php

they do seem to sell dog repellent sprays on amazon too.

[Toba]

Wow, I can't believe pepper spray didn't work ... that's kind of scary. You said it was a black lab? I have never encountered any kind of lab that's been that aggressive. That's also kind of scary ... I wonder if THEY are doing something to the dog that is making him so aggressive.

We had three incidents with pit bulls recently. One was years ago (in a rental property that is next door. This stuns me but given the tenants, probably not, but they actually opened the front door and let their two pit bulls out to go potty. Yes, I'm serious. No leash, no poop bag, or even an OWNER to walk them ... they just let them out to roam around and pee and poop on everybody else's yard. It's just absolutely absurd.

The second was when my husband was doing yard work out in the back yard. He turned around and found a snarling pit bull (different tenants ... aren't we lucky??) about two feet away from him. DH never heard him, so must have been stalking or something. I don't remember what he did ... I think he just slowly side stepped it to get into the back door.

The third was the TWO pit bulls. We had been parking our Ody in the back yard for a while. DS was three maybe and DH had been taking him out of his car seat. I turned around to open the back door and they got in between me and DH and the door. There just happened to be a pretty large stick and told DH to get the baby inside while I was holding the stick above my head. Then they started advancing on me and DH came back out and got in front of me so he was in the middle of me and two pit bulls (who were snarling, showing teeth and moving forward. I side stepped to the door again, DH threw the stick towards them and then ran to the door (he was only a feet away). I called the owner of the house and told them about it ... they were furious. The tenants told the owners that the dogs had gotten out of a secure fence and they were NOT pit bulls ... BULL, I know what a pit bull looks like and there's nothing that can convince me that they were not pit bulls or that they were very aggressive and had scared the crap out of us.

Thankfully the pit bulls haven't escaped again but just knowing the potential scares me to death. I'm glad you got away, I would have been like a deer in headlights. I suggest changing your route too. Do you have another option other than the busy street?

[bubbaray]

Pepper spray expires, too. I'm wondering if Lisa's spray is expired???

Bear spray is stronger than pepper spray, plus it usually has a longer range. I'd go with bear spray if I had to choose between the two.

An aluminum baseball bat is a good backup. Not kidding. Light weight, highly effective. Hit the dog across the back of the neck, NOT on the head.

HTH

[PearlsMom]

ITA about calling Animal Control -- they should have more experience and more resources for dealing with aggressive animals than the police. I HATE those invisible fences. They're not reliable and I believe the training required is cruel. I have found multiple lost dogs with invisible fence collars on. Happily those were all friendly and eventually reunited with their (clueless) owners.

[infomama]

eventually reunited with their (clueless) owners.

That is a little offensive. We have invisible fence on our property and we are NOT clueless dog owners or cruel to our dogs. I would much rather have them endure a few shocks during training rather than have them get hit/killed by a car going 50 miles per hour down my street. All they have to hear now is the audible warning that they are near the line and they back off.

[gatorsmom]

UPDATE in original post.

[DrSally]

Glad that fence is now working. It's still scary to have a huge dog bounding toward you. The vacuum hose, scary