Beware the dog(s)

One of my worst fears about running outside is getting attacked by a dog.  I haven’t encountered any serious problems yet, but my last two sessions outside have me thinking… This weekend on my long run I went a new route and came across one dog that went absolutely NUTS when I ran by his front yard.  It was a big black Doberman-type dog and thankfully he was leashed in his yard, but I gotta say, with the force that he was pulling on that thing, I didn’t have the greatest confidence that it was gonna hold him.  Then this morning, I was taking the route through our neighborhood, and there’s a house down the hill from us on a corner that has a big dog that is out every.single.morning without fail.  He’s a big guy, and although he’s never made a run for me, just always barks like mad, he’s NEVER leashed.  Never.  And he makes me nervous.  Which I’m sure he can probably sense, and that probably makes him bark even more, but I try and avoid looking at him and go on the other side of the street until I’m away from his house.  So this morning I’m going by his turf and I’m trying to get by there as quickly as possible when out of the corner of my peripheral vision I see something darting out at me from the right side.  My first instinct was to run faster and get the heck out of there, but I know that’s not what you’re supposed to do, so I stopped and turned to see that it was a Pug.  He didn’t seem aggressive and wasn’t barking or anything, but that little dude just kept coming at me as fast as his little legs could carry him.  I kept on going, and after about a block he stopped following me and just stood in the middle of the road while I went on my way.  So the more I run outside, the more I wonder…should I be carrying pepper spray or something?  Up until now my biggest safety concern has been cars and other vehicles on the road, but now I’m wondering about other situations…