Pepper Spray for Hiking and Walking:
One of the biggest problems we face in this business is the possibility of an aggressive off-leash or stray dog attacking us or the dogs we walk. It has happened often enough over the years that we have had to come up with some solutions. Our dilemma is that we don't want to hurt or kill a stray dog that is probably acting out of fear, but have to be able to protect ourselves and the pets we are responsible for. A similar situation comes up during some of our back country adventures when carrying a firearm just isn't appropriate, but we want to be able to reasonably defend ourselves from wild animals or free-range mountain hippies. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!
We spoke with the Denver Police Department, and as a
civilian your options to carry a weapon are very limited- if in doubt, you may
contact them at 720-917-2000. They recommended that we carry Pepper Spray, so we
looked around for the best selection and prices. Chief Supply Law Enforcement Division
had
the most comprehensive selection and best prices available out of the 25+ web sites we visited.
This is the one we chose- it has a 10% Pepper content; the sprays we found locally had between 2% and 4%. It is available in lots of sizes and is water-based. Additionally this spray contains a non-toxic dye, so identifying the offending animal is easy. Look through the site, they have three full pages of pepper sprays.
