If you were to actually shoot the dog, I see all sorts of escalating scenarios that would also be a nightmare.

1. If a dog owner purposely has a "dangerous" dog on his property, I can bet you he has gun(s) in his house, and I can see this escalating to an actual gun battle. Seriously. Folks who keep dangerous dogs who aren't under control are not nice folks.

2. I can see you in court, defending yourself against "cruelty to animals" charge with the dog owner and possibly even assault and/or battery against the dog owner - and he and his family or whomever - lying in their testimony as to how you simply shot their wonderful, lovable, friendly dog who was simply going to say "hello" to you.

I think the idea of blowing the dog away with a 357 or 327 is simplistically appealing, but be sure you have thought through all the possible after scenarios before engaging in that behavior.

I like the idea of the bear spray - or perhaps some device that emits a high, ultrasonic sound that drives dogs nuts.