I had another near altercation with an unleashed dog today. It was on a bike path where dogs are legally required to be on a leash. The dog was off the path, on the grass with the owners walking several feet behind. I slowed down to pass (as I always do under those circumstances, and I really wasn't going at all fast to begin with, it was fairly busy on the trail and I had to navigate my way around a lot of people), and as I passed everything seemed cool, so I continued on my merry way, but about 5 seconds later I hear a growl and look down to see the dog is right next to my wheel, so I hit the brakes to avoid a collision. By then the owners started calling to their dog to come back, but it was too little too late. It took a lot of restraint on my part not to go back and tell the dog owners off.

Not only is it the law (at least where I live), but it's just plain common sense, that if your dog is prone to chasing cyclists, you keep it on a leash when on the bike path. What is wrong with some people?