PetSafe SprayShield Animal Deterrent Spray - Non-Toxic & Humane Personal Safety Spray to Deter Aggressive Animals & Stop Dog Fights - Powerful Citronella Scent

I have a 140-pound, almost 30-inch-tall dog. She's a fantastic pup, but she's not warm and fuzzy with new people or other dogs. When she goes into attack mode, nothing stops her but this. It's effective for when other dogs run up wanting to fight. This solution works and doesn’t hurt the dogs; it just has a bad smell for them. It’s definitely worth getting if you encounter aggressive dogs.

I have been using this citronella spray for several years. I carry it with me whenever I walk my three dogs just in case we were to get charged by an off leash dog. It is not harmful but dogs dislike the citronella smell and will back off when coming at us. I also use it as a training tool for my own dogs. Just a spray in front of them (not at them) can stop bad behavior like excessive barking or counter surfing.

I have 5 large dogs, 3 of them are males who can sometimes have "disagreements". I was getting bit trying to stop them from fighting and needed a safer option. This spray works, no doubt about it. After I sprayed it the first time, all I had to do was grab the spray and they knew what it was and they stopped immediately. If you spray indoors, just know that the smell will linger, but it's not terrible.

We have used this spray more than once to stop a bad situation from escalating. This review isn’t speculation, it’s from experience and the TLDR is you should be carrying this on every walk. First, let’s talk about what it is NOT. It is NOT pepper spray. That is both good and bad. The good news is that you will not do any damage or cause pain to yourself, your dog, or any other animal. The bad news is that because it does not cause pain, it may not be effective at stopping a truly red-zoned attack. What it DOES do is produce a decent strength stream of pressurized water with a slight citronella scent. It’s designed to annoy and deter by interrupting the situation. Think of it as a quick blast from a super soaker. It’s very easy to use, just flick and press. Aim for the head and you do not need to worry about hitting your own dog as again, it is not pepper spray. It’s best when used before an encounter gets physical. We have a husky that is always on leash. Unfortunately it seems there are far too many people who ignore leash laws despite not having any recall and can’t tell when their dog is being aggressive (and as any husky owner knows, huskies seem to trigger an abnormal number of aggressive reactions from other dogs). A squirt from this results in a confused sputtering dog, but no yelps of pain and no trips to the vet. We’ve used this 3-4 times, and it has defused the encounter every time. Only downside? The clip adhesive is awful. Get some super glue or a pouch, because it’s a “when” it detaches, not “if”.

You hope you never have to use a deterrent spray like this — but if you do, it needs to work. Unfortunately, mine didn’t. That’s partly on me for not testing it right away. A dog-walking company owner recommended this product, so I trusted it without hesitation. It arrived on October 22, and Amazon’s return window closed November 21. On November 25, while walking a client’s dog, we ran into three large coyotes. I reached for the spray I’d kept in my pocket since unboxing it. Realizing I should probably make sure I knew how to use it, I unlocked the nozzle, pressed where it says “press”… and nothing happened. I could hear liquid inside, and I was definitely pressing the red nozzle, but no citronella came out. Completely dead. Of course I discovered this three days after the return window. When I checked PetSafe’s own site, I noticed their return policy is 45 days — a full 15 days longer than Amazon’s. Interesting. Now I’m stuck with a defective can and no reliable protection. I want a non-toxic option in case another dog, or a coyote, comes at us, but tonight’s experience left me feeling like I showed up to a duel with a plastic sword. Luckily the coyotes ran off, but that won’t always be the case. I’ll be looking for an alternative, and if I ever try this product again, I’ll test it immediately instead of assuming it’ll work when it matters.

I’m a cyclist riding often on very rural roads. Occasionally deal with dogs of course, but normally just speaking to them works. Something in the air today I guess as I had two incidents., first one was a group of I think 3.. I could not power by them so tried stopping and talking.. this worked great with two of them but another kept acting bad.. and when I tried moving on, they started chasing.. first time ever I pulled out my spray, gave a blast towards them.. BAM! They all stopped immediately.. whew.. thought that’d be it for the day but few miles later another gaggle come out of a yard and in no time one has my foot in its mouth and another chomp’s down on my front tire! I give i them I think two blasts from the canister and fortunately they lay off and the owner lady comes out and calls them off. Foot is sore but ok thx to my tough mtn bike shoes.. without the spray it could have been a lot worse!

The spray thing is very easy to break off. Used it against a dog that tried to attack my two dogs. I used the whole canister and the dog's owner was just barely able to get the dog under control. If the spray actually stung the dog's eyes and nose, this wouldn't have been such a close call. I wouldn't recommend this product. It came in handy but I see I should carry a better spray if I need to get out of a really aggressive situation.

I ordered this spray two years ago because I’m a dog walker and it provided peace of mind in case anything ever happened. Dog owners of the neighborhood! A couple important things to be aware of! Just now I was walking two leashed dogs in a park that is adjacent to a beach. A stout, unleashed pitbull gunned it from the beach and tried attacking the dogs I was walking. I carry a this dog deterrent spray with me, but over years have never had to use it. I managed to pull it from my bag in time and sprayed the dog like crazy. The deterrent worked, the dog was stunned for a moment and retreated long enough for the owner to grab him. This spray likely saved me or the dogs from being badly injured. Citronella deterrent spray is amazing. Anyone can get it at pet stores or on Amazon. You can use it and be confident that while the dog will HATE that it is happening, it may provide a chance to get into a safer spot with your dogs