To op - considering you live in upstate New York, you will need to consider what the dog threat is, and act accordingly.
Small dogs can be as annoying as their owners typically are, but they also tend not to be tremendously destructive to tissue, flesh and/or bone. A couple of whacks with a pump is usually enough to stop an attack. Larger dog breeds trained for aggression (Alsatians, Rotties, Dobermans, Akitas, wolf-husky mixes) will require major incentives for the dog to break off an attack. Tasers or firearms are frequently required.
If you are squaring off against pit bulls (APBT; AStaffT; StaffT; American Bulldog; Presa Canarios and mixes) you will need something stronger than a baton, whip, taser or pepper spray. These particular breeds were bred to be resistant to pain and to latch onto flesh, shaking and tearing. They have a long history of maiming and killing human beings, sometimes without warning - and that history is a result of deliberate natural selection ("non-human aggressive" is pure humane society BS). Pitbulls tend to be owned by people who cannot manage their own personal lives, let alone that of a dog - owners that tend to be "judgement-proof". No cyclist can risk being bitten by one. Subsequently, if you have real concerns about the cute-little-face-lickers (humane society BS) you may need to consider filing for a pistol permit. Depending on the municipality (not sure how Webster is), the permit may be granted, or it may not be. Such is life in the "may issue" state.
My own personal solution (perfectly valid in PA - a "shall-issue", "stand-your-ground" state) is to carry a Sig-Sauer P229 with 180-grain Speer Gold-Dot hollow-point bullets. The combination is heavy to carry, tends to chafe, but it is a proven pit-bull stopper (two or fewer shots). The George Zimmerman solution (Kel-Tec PF-9 with 115grain hollow-points) is also perfectly valid, less likely to snag on clothing, and weighs a lot less, though they are certainly misery to practice with at the firing range.
Those of you who feel shooting an attacking pit-bull is cruel - I really don't care what you think. Firstly, your love of animals does not give you moral authority to judge anyone, unless you are the Pope, Dalai Lama, Billy Graham or some other religious leader - and even then you'd be pushing it, considering the lifestyles I observe most of you leading. Secondly, you're elevating a breed statistically responsible for the most human deaths of any other classification of dog, and in the process of excusing its faults exhibit a rather twisted value system - one which devalues human life.