This is the reason I don't own an aggresive dog. Right now my back fence is down. Me and the neighbor are working on putting a new one up and his young boy 4 yrs old is always out back playing. I let the dog out and half the time they play I don't understand people with aggresive dogs. I am the one who will decide when it's time to be aggresive not my dog.

If you feel your life is in danger then you have the right to defend yourself. My only problem with dogs is that sometimes people are pussies and afraid of them to begin with. My dog one time ran out the front door and up to a lady walking by she was just playing and barked, Scared the hell out of her. ops: I appologized.

I just always worry that in a situation (like my dog above) that if somebody shot my dog I can gaurentee you 100% I would without any hesitation shoot them dead.

In your situation I would have to say that you had a right to be prepared to defend yourself. The dog was on a leash and even if the owner struggled he did keep the dog from attacking you so no way you could have shot legally. Since the owner was struggling to keep the dog under control and there was a possibility he could have lost that control I would say I might have drawn just not took aim and probably kept it out of sight to the best of my ability. If any time your unsure best to be ready than caught by surprise.