Forgetting for a moment whether the dog was being aggressive or friendly - (and I would say from ten reruns of the video, plus many years of canine experience, that I would come down on the side of friendly) - But forgetting that for just a moment.......
Hasn’t anyone in Oklahoma ever heard of Mace or Pepperspray?
Works just fine for Mrs. shibumi, who’s been a USPS Letter Carrier for over 20 years.
Definitely a better solution when you have the benefit of hindsight. However, when you have seconds to react, you don't always think of the best way of protecting yourself.
Considering the size of the dog, a swift kick would also seem to be a reasonable solution if the dog was aggressive. Unless there is an imminent threat to themselves or someone they are protecting most dogs will back down if the person doesn't. Of course most dogs would also stop short.
I had a friend who's wife had a rescue dog that was a border collie. The dog seemed really nice when she got it, and was really nice around women. The dog was however unpredictable at best around men.
The dog would often be wagging it's tail when I would walk up, then would suddenly lunge and nip at me and start barking like it wanted to rip my head off.
They used to make sure the dog was under control when they answered the door, but one time the looked over and it looked like the dog was sleeping when they were answering the door for the pizza guy. Next thing they knew the dog was flying out the door with the impressive speed that border collies have, tore into the pizza guy's leg , and had to be drug off of him.
Most dogs aren't that way, but there are all kinds of dogs just like there are all kinds of people.
Works just fine for Mrs. shibumi, who’s been a USPS Letter Carrier for over 20 years.
It's also her only real weapon for defense, so it's the first thing she would think of when threatened.
The officer might have had pepper spray, but when facing a threat he's far more likely to reach for the gun first, but if he has time to think things through he would then grab the pepper spray.