Luckily, me and Wheeler have never come across an aggressive dog yet but I was wondering that, if somewhere along the line we were faced with a dangerous dog, what should we do?
hoping somebody on here could guide me on what to do as I'm so worried it will happen one day!     

Hi Sara unfortunately it happens to us all at some time in our dogs life, in my opinion keep an eye on your surroundings if there is a dog your not sure about place your dog under control on a lead, if the other dog is aggressive and approaches I would stand my ground and shout a command at the dog and stamp my foot, some times this has worked for me in the past but sometimes more than often not, I now carry a big stick which I have never had to use yet but I would bang and wave around and hope it would distract the dog if not I would defend myself and the dog using the stick, but  until this happens its really hard to say what to do or what would happen, all anybody can do is their best in that situation, but if it did ever happen report it to your local dog warden and hopefully the dog might get picked up, or if the owners of that dog is about beet him with the stick and show them what its like to be attacked lol.

I'm quite nervous too about this as my coat got bitten two years ago by a dog.

Would a personal alarm which makes aloud noise hurt the other dog or would it be a good deterrent?

A personal alarm would terrify your own dog too :(

Keeping calm is the best way - then any decisions can be made with a clear head.  That said, it's easier said than done :P  Fortunately it's rare for another dog to be so aggressive that it will dive in on another dog on lead but of course it does happen and I think as owners we would probably instinctively do something to defend our own dog - just couldn't say for sure what that would be - adrenalin taking over etc.

Regards, Teri :)

The best thing to do is to stay calm, i know its easier said than done, but if you stay calm you can think straight!!

Ages and ages ago I was walking my Cocker (she was still a puppy) and came accross a lone dog in the park who when we approached was very obviously aggressive.  It's fur on the back came up and it was snarling.  When it got to a few feet away it started trotting faster towards us and was obviously intent on having a go at my dog.  It had a collar on so thought the chances of it being trained should be quite high.  I ordered it to sit which it hesitated to do at first so I demanded he sit in a more aggressive manner which it then did.  I offered it a treat (I was carrying them as part of training my own dog to return) A few seconds after I could hear a voice calling, the dog pricked up it's ears and shot off to what might have been its owner.  I was really shaken after as although I tried to take control of the situation I hadn't picked my dog up!  I could have as she was so small.  Anyway, reported it to the warden and fortunately to date haven't encountered anything else like that.

Hi Maudilly,

well done for keeping your wits about you :)  I reckon that's a very important part in any unknown situation.  BTW, not picking your dog up was probably safer - you may well have been attacked yourself had you done so.  IMO it is safer for both yourself and your dog to let your own dog's lead go so it has the opportunity of self defence or flight than to try and lift it - a genuinely dangerous dog would not be put off by your lifting yours up and the risk is then that the attacking dog will have a go at you too and also your own dog may injure you if trying to flee while being restrained.

Regards, Teri :) 

Good point Teri.  It was a fairly large dog that had it jumped to get my dog could easily have got to my face.  I dread to think what I would have done to this dog though had it got my puppy :D  Funny enough now though, my Cocker is becoming increasingly intolerant towards other dogs.  If they start sniffing around her she will tolerate them for a few seconds and then give them a sharp turn with a snap.  Not sure why this is but we have started to introduce a muzzle which is a shame because she is a well socialised dog although never been a 'dogs dog' if you know what I mean.  Would much prefer the company of people.

Hi,

Dogs do pick up our own fear, maybe your dog is sensing nervousness in you when other dogs approach. He will react to this. 

I say this because when I had problems with my rescue dog, I was petrified everytime a dog off lead came near us, he sensed this and the situation was worse. As time went on and I started to trust my dog more I relaxed more and consequently things improved a lot. This said its almost impossible to control you feelings and even now if I'm walking on my own I still have times where I get anxious if there is a very large dog.

Mine (cocker) does this if dogs keep on sniffing her backside but I consider her reaction as a warning and wouldn't even consider muzzling her for this. Some cockers get grumpy as they get older. When she's snapping is she actually biting or just telling them off.
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I carry an alarm (bought it from a camping shop, ones that have a torch on them)with me that I can switch on and off. Its not as loud as a personal type alarm but I think it would do the trick if need be as I often do trail walks on my own. Having had my 11 month old cocker treated as a pull/tug type toy by two staffies who didn't want to let go I think the quickest thing to distract them would have been this alarm (she was scared already but these dogs weren't eager to let go and would've killed her if they'd carried on trying to pull her between them). Thankfully she escaped with shock and small puncture wounds and I escaped with a lovely mouthshaped bruise on my arm.