I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the importance of body language when dealing with dogs (and other animals).

Animals gather a great deal of information by how you carry yourself, how you move, direct eye contact (or not), the sounds you make, even how you smell. Are you predator or prey? Are you the top dog in a pack (territorial challenge)? Are you a predator that's just passing through and not looking for a fight today?

This doesn't mean the proper body language (or scent) will prevent all animal attacks. But it can deflect quite a few, and buy time in other situations.

(Aside: you may laugh, but I'm beginning to believe a person can learn to generate the right scent in an animal-related stress situation --at least in relation to dogs -- and so influence the situation. Sounds like voodoo, I know. But you can talk yourself into a certain mindset, and respond to an animal from there -- tone, body language, scent all arise from that mindset.)