John, your wife was lucky. What she did was assault and battery, and could have put her (and you) in a world of hurt: both civil and criminal penalties.

Pepper spraying an "attacking" dog is fine, esp. under the circumstances Dorrie related (she saw the dog coming and had reason to fear for her safety); doing it to the owner is right out.

Okay, gotta ask this.
It is my most likely mistaken belief, picked up god knows where, that dogs are unaffected by such things as pepper spray and tear gas, etc., because they have no tear ducts? pepper spray conceievably irrates the nasal membranes then? So fast as to dissuade them from an attack? Or maybe just enought to annoy further?
What gives? Are we giving legit advice or is like giving the poor WWII fighters "shark repellent" spray for when they get shot down in the Ocean? Correct me if I've been misinfomed-I know I heard this somewhere before and it stuck with me...
I say, carry a big a** walking stick. Legal, and effective. Lots of bikers and walkers have them. Pepper spray is a bear, sucks on windy days, and especially if you're scared too-easy to spray YOURSELF in the face instead of the dog!
And, you know, dog owners are much quicker about keeping charge of Fido when they think he might get hurt...a stick is good. They can see it.

Dogs certainly do have lacrimal glands (tear ducts). THey also have a nictitating membrane (third eyelid) which does give some added protection from pepper spray. I've used it only one time, on a Samoyed, and I got him heavily full in the face (that was one ORANGE sammy!) and he never even blinked or sneezed. It might as well have been colored water. I don't know if that is a very unusual reaction or not.

Dave, be a little careful OF OFFERING LEGAL ADVISE HERE. You sound like an attorney - GOD FORBID !!!!!

My experience is that lawyers will warn you not to put you dog shit in the gutter for fear of being kicked out of town. They live their lives in fear of being sued.

I on the other hand take the opinion that if this fool was dumb enough to allow his dog to attack my dog - who knows if he is not trying to use his dog you distract me and drag my girlfriend into the bushes and assault her. SO HE NEEDED PEPPER GAS TO WAKE HIS SORRY ASS UP (please no swearing on my board - its not tolerated)

Pepper gas works on a lot of dogs - I have used it on very tough dogs - maybe they have had tear ducts that no one knew about.

I have known more people than dogs that need pepper gas and using it on them falls under the category of ONE GOOD CORRECTION IS BETTER THAN 1000 NAGGING CORRECTIONS. If the cops complain - cry RAPE !!!!!!

Dave,
I hear your advice,will I take any notice of it, NO.Most lawyer$ advice would seem self-seving to me most of the time.
I think I could say that most people who allow their dogs to knock someone over & then try to bite them, as was the case with my wife, are hardly responsible dog owners or citizens?Australians are not(not yet anyway)as litigious as Americans.The local cops would have told this joker to pull his head in & wake up to himself.Australian men in general would be to ashamed to go to the cops & tell them that they were done over by a women. Rgds JD

Dorrie, is your dog ok? I think I would be concerned that he might become dog aggressive over this incident. Your dog did an excellent job at 8 month old trying to defend you by barking and growling at the chow. Even though your dog was not attacked, it might be a good idea to make sure this scare did not affect him too much. He may even become overly protective of you. Get him around other nice dogs to make sure. AS for the Chow owner, contact animal control to get this incident on record. This dog will likey do this again if allowed too and if your attack is on the record, the chow owner would have a hard time pleading that his dog is a pussycat and was just having a bad day. Steven I have had so many incidents and fist fights over this type of thing i feel like walking my dog in my living room goood luck. I find this very disturbing. You might want to consider anger management. Most people do not assault other people over a dog threatening your dog. If the dog was sic'd on you, then that's a different story, but it doesn't sound like that's what is happening. There are laws in place to protect even idiots who allow there dog to attack your dog. You will find yourself in jail if you haven't already. I only hope that your temper is never directed at your dog or family.

Ed, John--

I am not a lawyer, just an ordinary citizen who feels it's my responsibility to have some awareness of the law, esp. as concerns the situations dog ownership may get me into. However, I stand by my opinion, which is merely that.

And, Ed, No offense intended, but I guarantee you that if you offered that excuse to a judge ("if this fool was dumb enough to allow his dog to attack my dog - who knows if he is not trying to use his dog you distract me and drag my girlfriend into the bushes and assault her. SO HE NEEDED PEPPER GAS TO WAKE HIS SORRY ASS UP") during your trial for criminal assault, it would be your *ss that would be waking up!

Again, common sense (leave alone the law) dictates that the dog be the first target of any defensive reaction, the exception being, of course, if the owner actually "sics" him on you or otherwise encourages the attack. In that case, of course, all bets are off: you'd have a good case for self-defense.

In any case, hypotheticals aside, the advice given by others about reporting the incident to animal control is spot on. Get this on record immediately; you'll not only be building a case for your own safety, but doing a service to your community and all the responsible dog owners in it.

Dorrie,
This is of concern to ALL Dog Owners, as if it hasn't happened to you yet I guarantee it will at some stage.As Dave has said report the matter to whoever is the appropriate authority involved in your area so it is on record.There is high frequency devices that are available in electronic stores.Some posties & delivery people have them in Australia I'm sure you could find where to purchase one from in your local area.I spoke to our postie today & he informed me that they work well on 95% of dogs-cost approx $25 (AUD).In Australia where I live, you can not walk the streets with large sticks,baseball bats etc as it is an offence & the cops Will charge you. Most cops think this is crazy as well but street gangs use them & we can,t have different laws for them can we??(tongue in cheek)
I walk my dogs after Midnight (advoidance behaviour) so as to mininize this risk of dog fights etc perhaps Mr Aggro might consider the same, because you will find someone that will pound your head or something worse, like shooting you.Renee is spot on "Welcome to dog ownership" Over & out Rds JD