I spoke to the Denton County Animal Control about my mountain lion incident the other day and i received some advice I'd like to pass along.  He suggested that I run with a small air horn, not just for a mountain lion situation, but also for dogs.  I asked him about pepper spray and he said that it doesn't always work on dogs.  He told me about a recent incident where someone had abandoned a Pit Bull that was obviously trained to dog fight.  He didn't want to shoot the animal so he sprayed it starting at about 10 feet.  He nailed the dog in the mouth and eyes and all the dog did was eat it's way up the stream to him!  He was barely able to subdue the dog before getting bit.  At any rate, he sad the air horn works well because it disrupts the animal for about 2 minutes before they go back to what they were doing.  In addition, a nice blast in the ear could help ward off an attacker.  They make some small ones that can clip onto your shorts or be carried in your hand w/ a lanyard attached to the wrist.  I'm going to buy one and see if I can run comfortably with it.  Hope this info helps!

The loud noise must disorient them.  If you think about how loud one of those things can be, wootchie!  Huff, let me know how it works carrying one.  I run by myself predawn and in the woods.  Always thought pepper spray was chancy, especially if it were in windy conditions.

sounds like a good idea.  thanks for sharing.

Thanks Huff. I bet that would scare a human as well.  Noise like that draws too much attention.

 

that's usually a good thing.  if a homeowner has their dog out at 5:30 AM to do their morning business and then the dog decides to chase me I have no problem aiming the sound toward the house and letting them know their dog is out of control.