I think the reason these threads always degenerate into an argument (and this one will) is because this is absolutely an instance where your situational awareness should determine your response under the immediate circumstances. Dogs come in many shapes and sizes, some of them are bred to grab on and make big animals stop, some of them are just looking for a race, some of them want to be pet, some of them are hilariously small and pose no threat other than getting under or into your wheels. Sometimes you can see them coming from far away, sometimes they come at you from a right angle immediately adjacent to your route (from behind a bush, say). Some dogs are feral, some are just goofy clowns.

It's the classic "you had to be there" scenario. Anyone who wants to say "always do x, if you don't you're wrong" is going to get argued with, it will get personal with accusations of dog-hating and abuse, and this process can be repeated ad infinitum until a mod shuts it down. Pretty sure it already has in a bunch of threads.