Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

Around where I live I rarely see a stray dog. I remember on one of Ed's video's he said to stand in between your puppy and the stray in case one does come around.

Well this morning a little after 7:00 I took my puppy outside and there was a stray on my driveway and he immediatley got curious. He started towards us, but not agressivley. I immediatley stood in between my pup and the stray. I made a shhh..sound and waved my hand at the dog and he went away from us a little ways then started back, so I did it louder and he took off.

Have you ever had do do this? I really wasn't scared for me just my puppy. I am suppose to be his protector in these situations.

Not sure if from now if I should carry a stick or something just in case while walking at night. Like I said;I rarely have stray dog problems.

I carry a clatter stick. I've had to use it many times. I can run off most dogs with it just from the noise. It's light and that allows you to swing it quickly but it doesn't pack as much of a wallop as a walking stick. I have had to lay it between the ears of a couple dogs and it worked, but a serious dog would need more.

Constant problem where I live. 4 out of 5 walks have led to strays barking at or trying to approach my pup. One pitbull stray was in attack position, focused on my pup, ready to attack. I picked up my pup and walked 3 houses back to my home. I can no longer pick him up. These confrontations have led to my pup barking every time he sees a dog and I'm in the process of trying to figure out how to remedy this. Had he been old enough to bark at the pitbull (pup didn't see him) I'm sure it would have triggered an attack instantly. Only thing that saved him was picking him up and holding him close.

I have decided in the meantime, that 4 out of 5 walks are not good odds, and won't walk him unless I take pepper foam. Even then it still concerns me, what if I miss with the foam, that type of thing. It also makes me tense, which I'm sure pup picks up on. In other words, walking is a d*** chore, anything but fun or relaxing. My 23 yr old son walks with us sometimes, he brings his buck knives with him.

There are plenty of threads on stray dog situations, lots of people run into the problem. For me, a stout stick would do no good. I can't wield it to fend off an attack or hit a dog and hold my strong pup at the same time, just wouldn't work for me.

My old town, which had a leash law, was actually worse than the town I moved to now, which doesn't. Most of the dogs that came up were driven off as easy as your incident. I only had one that scared me and I was completely unarmed and had to put on my best bluff. That one sobered me, and it is not that hard to carry pepper spray in my pocket, so it always goes just in case.