I have been told, repeatedly, that attacks like this are rare.
Yeah, it is the owner yada yada yada...
The only time I have had to go into my yard armed with a firearm was when I had to retrieve some toys taken by my nieghbor's two male pit bulls. They could easily jump the fences and seemed to think a particular corner of my yard was their territory.
So I'm out there with a revolver in one hand and a rake in the other...and it wasn't their owner I was afraid of!