Originally Posted by hyena

I was a mailman for a year in the mid 80's. (Hated that job.) I worked with a woman who showed me nasty scars front and back on her legs. She had been attacked by two German Shepherds. One would attack from the front, and while she was spraying it with the little spray cans they issued. the other would attack from the rear. And so on. She told me she was off work for quite a while, but what stuck with me was she said the spray had no effect at all. One incident, I know, but my takeaway from her experience was the spray won't stop a dog or dogs who are in full attack fury. Probably works pretty well against dogs who are mostly bluffing. Again...just one incident.

A quick related story. I was only bitten once in my year on the job. Walked up to a screen room to put the mail in the box, small yapping dog was jumping against the screen door. Older woman saw me coming, and without thinking cracked open the door to take the mail from me. Dog flew through the opening and bit me on the front of my right foot, above my shoe. While he was biting me, I punted him. He flew back, and as he bounced off the screen I clubbed him with the mail I was still holding in my right hand. He went yelping back into the room. Woman was looking at me with her mouth open, and I said "Appreciate you opening the door, maam." Whole thing took 5 seconds.

As for the effectiveness of .380, I hope it works. I walk three miles every morning in a semi rural area, and I pocket carry a .380 as much for possible four legged attacks as two legged.