Dogs, I love them, and I hate them.
Pretty strange when I think about it.

Somebody mentioned dogs trying to circle and I have had that happen when hiking. Some dogs don't recognize you as human if you have a pack on.
One of the times a pack of three snarling mutts turned into tail wagging sucks as soon as I dropped my pack.
Another time a tail wagger came out of the end of some farmer's driveway and tried to get me to pet it, and then tried to bite my leg.
The worst I find are the times when a small yippy yappy mutt comes out with one or two bigger dogs.

For years pepper spray was illegal here and was counted as a weapon. Then the posties started carrying it as defence against dogs. After that it became a defence against bears too.

Benjamin is right about pepper spray.
Blast is right about carrying a stave as a walking stick.
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May set off to explore without any sense of direction or how to return.