I remember seeing a vid of this guy who was a naturalist...he got mauled by a grizzly---has like half a face. He became an advocate. Because he said that he was in the Bear's territory, I forgot the story, but he ended up truly fucked.
In the same vid, there was this Ranger who got fucked up by a Grizzly, she played dead and didn't get bit that much. But, what she did was go check out a elk carcass that the bear had been feeding on. The bear saw her from the top of a hill and came down like lightening, fast as hell...
Each time, it was the human that was encrouching on the animal's territory.
Maybe those dogs thought you were encrouching on their territory...and like "guard dogs", they went after you.
Who knows...but, I know where my grandparents live, which is a very rural area. They are "beware of Dog" signs all over the place...
Shit, one guy has a pack of hunting hounds, like he going "let loose the hounds" on a runaway slave.