The average adult male may be bigger than the average dog however again I state that I'm concerned for the safety of my child. A 3-yr old Chinese girl is significantly smaller than most dogs. To think only adult males get attacked by dogs shows a very large lack of awareness.

As for sticking one's forearm into the mouth of the dog. You are welcome to do that but I'll stick to using a different sort of 'armed' response. If a loose, growling dog gets within 10-15 feet after my repeated attempts to scare it off anything I do next is justified. This is assuming I am not tresspassing somewhere but in a public street/park where leash-laws are in effect.

-Blast