Another option you may consider is snake shot/rat shot/pistol caliber shot shells. Back in the day when I was picking blackberries in the undergrowth in North Carolina, I always carried a revolver and the first two rounds were snake shot followed by four jacketed hollow points. I figured I was most likely to encounter snakes which the shot shell could effectively deal with. In the only agressive dog encounter I had under those circumstances, a shot shell round fired in front of the dog was sufficient to change his mind without the fear of bouncing a heavy lead round into an unexpected place. The shot shell has a very limited effective range. Buy a box and put a few rounds on target to see if this would work for you.
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