"People will buy anything that is 'One to a Customer.'" - Sinclair Lews

First things first.
I'm on a mission, in full-blown Clint Eastwood mode. We've tried all the good citizen remedies without success so it's time to take care of business however that has to happen.

We live almost a mile down a dead end road, meaning if you want to go for a walk there aren't options. Pam walks every morning and I walk Buddy twice a day. About 1/2 mile down is a driveway that goes up to a lot and a house that can't be seen from the road. The homeowner has 4 dogs - one large, one medium, and two small yappers - that regularly come down the driveway and onto the road in a very threatening way. If we continue walking they come up behind us. If we turn and face them they stop but bark aggressively. The second we turn our back they move closer behind us.

I've been chased twice in the last three days and Pam was harassed this morning. I've called county animal control twice as has another neighbor who walks her dog. Today they told us all they can do is talk to the owner and encourage them to keep their dogs fenced. They go out to the owner each time they get a call so they've been there at least three times. Time to find something that works.

I bought some pepper spray at the running store last year and used it this afternoon. But it puts out a very fine stream that makes it difficult to hit any one of the two larger dogs in the face. I got one of them, but only on the fur and that clearly had no effect.

Interestingly, another place on our road with four large and aggressive dogs had their gate left open. One of them came at me and kept coming even when I yelled at it. So I used the spray and got it full in the face. It turned around and went back into the yard shaking his head, clearly irritated. I was hoping for a more drastic reaction, something that guaranteed he'd think twice about charging again and maybe that's accomplished. But that still leaves the pack further up the road.

I looked at bear spray which has a "hotter" mix and sprays up to 30 feet. But it sprays a mist, and I'm afraid of the wind blowing it back on us and on Buddy so I decided against that.

How about one of those monster pump squirt guns that shoots a stream 30+ feet? Fill it with a mix of water and vinegar, or maybe cayenne pepper. It's a hassle to carry.
Paintball gun?
BB gun?

I'm going to put a note in their mailbox telling them I've exhausted all reasonable solutions without effect and am now moving on to more certain measures.
I probably won't sign my name.

A year ago I made a stand for the goats that I could use for trimming hooves, giving shots, etc. I rigged up a head cradle using some heavy PVC pipe and a leather strap. It looked pretty clever but I quickly discovered it didn't work. Even that 2" PVC pipe bent like a twig under the power of a panicking goat.
Today I used scrap lumber to make a wood head gate. I'll get a tray to hold grain to keep the goat busy while I trip hooves.
Especially with my back and hip problems getting them up on the stand will help a lot.

I'm filling in for Brett this Sunday night. Twice a month he and a couple of other guys go up to the Oregon State Penitentiary to conduct the chapel service but he's going to be out of town so I'll do the preaching part of the service. This will be my fourth time doing this and I've always enjoyed the experience. OK, the first time I was terrified going in but coming out was blessed. I'm going to preach Daniel chapter 1. We'll talk about resisting assimilation.
Whatever you picture for this setting it's probably nothing like the reality. At least my expectations that first time were nowhere close to the reality.
I can't wear anything blue. (They wear all blue.)
I'd take pictures but I can't take a cell phone in. Or anything else except my Bible. They take my driver's license at the entry and give it back to me when I leave. Everything else stays locked in the car.

Gonna be a busy weekend. But that's OK. Boring is bad.