Yes. It was a dog and the owner called him in time.
I had a similar incident many years ago. I was walking my dog when we were set upon by an aggressive dog I did not know. It was late at night, a few blocks down the street from our old home in the city. This strange dog was barking, growling, snarling, and advancing on us. My dog, abused before we got her, was cowering behind me. I was yelling at the strange dog to go home.
All of a sudden, on a darkened porch across the street, someone started egging the other dog on. There were at least three or four people over there (I counted glowing cigarette butts) laughing and drinking (I could hear the bottles clinking too). They were yelling,
"Get em boy, get em!"
I pulled my Ruger P89 out of my pocket and racked a round into the chamber, pointing it at the dog. Instant silence over on the porch. Then, after a few seconds I heard,
"Come on boy, don't bother that man, come on home now."
I gave the porch a long hard look, put the gun away, and walked away. I never had any trouble on that corner again, although I made it a point to avoid it while walking the dog.
Now that I have told this story, I can just see someone showing up to tell me how lucky I was that someone on the porch didn't pull their gun and shoot me, and call the cops, and take my guns, and my permit, and my wife, and my children, and all that I will ever have!
But you know what? I would do it again if I had to.
