If you truly sense danger, I would pick the dog up as a large dog can be on your dog is the fraction of a second if they launch toward you and cover 25 feet in literally 2 - 3 seconds if you happen to look away just as they launch. Years back, I had my 3 lb. Yorkie attacked by a 65 lb. dog out on a walk and the ONLY thing that saved her was a walking stick I picked up on our way out the door, so some form of protection is actually necessary in today's reality. After emergency surgery that evening, my baby healed, rehabbed and, thankfully, wasn't fearful of large dogs after that!
The truth of the world that has more big, powerful, off-leash dogs than ever in it is that you and your dog are just not safe out walking without something that you can rely on to dissuade or fight off a large, aggressive dog. I carry a large, button-open umbrella when out on walks and if an off-leash bully approaches, I just use my spare hand to press the button and whoosh that big thing open out in front of us and most big dogs just fade away out of fear of the whole process they just saw and heard.
__________________  Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |