[bikerbill]

"A vicious, attacking dog can be stopped without killing it. The question is how much pain and bites are you willing to endure to stop the dog and restrain it so it is unable to continue attacking. The average person has no idea how to restrain an attacking dog so in their case, resorting to shooting it is probably their best bet."

Good one ... I guess the question is, why bother trying to save a "vicious, attacking dog?" adios, Fido ... I'm not willing to suffer so much as a single bite; if the dog attacks and I can do it, he's toast ...

I always carry when walking my dog, especially in the early morning hours when it's still half-dark ... we were rushed a while back by three pets who'd gotten loose one morning when all I had was a 3-inch folder; fortunately the dogs peeled off before they attacked, but I won't risk that ever again ... I carry a Surefire also, mostly looking for skunks my dog for some reason believes are his natural enemies but when you see those glowing eyes in the beam, look out ... usually it's a whitetail, but not always ...