i mainly carry a handgun in the woods and thats what i would be firing in the air as a warning shot for the wild dogs and such. and even though i know its miles of woods i think i will at least consider trying to fire into a tree from now on. its just habit to never, ever fire a round with no real target as if i miss the tree that bullet can go a long way. and while there should be no one in my woods.. still..
Fire in front of the dog.
that would have very good odds of seriously hurting it via ricochet/spall, and hurting it is worse than killing it.
i have no wish to harm any animal, much less kill it. if it looks ready to attack, fine, dead dog. but if its pondering the situation ("hmm.. is that thing good to eat?") scaring it off is fine by me. scaring and hurting it via spall so it suffers is not.