"We have been pet owners for about 40 of 48 married years. Our dogs were always on a leash except in the house, fenced yard, or dog park."
And haven't learned enough.
"We would let them run if in a remote area with no other people around, and kept a close eye on them."
First off, a dog should never be off leash unless he has been distraction trained and advanced correction trained, and will always come back to the trainer/owner when recalled. And that is very, very, very few owners/dogs, so keep your dog on the leash. You don't have a right to be lazy when it comes to dog ownership.
Second, a dog park is for humans, not for dogs. Dogs don't need doggy friends. Never take your dog to a dog park, you are just begging for trouble. You don't know the humans or their dogs. This socialization/interaction is baloney. Appropriate socialization means training the dog to ignore people, sounds, and places.
A dog needs engagement training so they know that they must keep their eye on you and are not distracted into ignoring you.
As to the pepper spray, I wouldn't get to hung up on that it won't be useful because police dogs and maybe a specific dog has been trained to ignore it. Almost no owners would do that. The other choices are a stun gun, and some dogs will retreat just at the sound of the voltage crack and as another thread responder said, a police baton. Frankly, a small wooden bat ought to do just fine as well. Our job as head of the pack is to protect our dog from attack by an unleashed dog owned by a dingdong owner, even if they are otherwise wonderful RV owners or not.
