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Sorry, this is catastrophically dangerous advice.If a herd of cows is running at you, let the dog off the lead straightaway. The cows are heeding their anti-predator instincts, and to them the dog is a wolf. If they have calves with them they will do all they can to trample and kill it.
You, on the other hand are a human, the same sort of thing that feeds and milks them, so not a threat. The dog can make its own way to safety faster than you can, and if you hang onto it they'll trample you as collateral damage.
Any advice when your dog has a cowardice gene for anything bigger than her, and on encountering such a beast (horse, bigger dog, sheep, you name it....) her instinct is run behind me and hide behind my legs.
Picking up the dog also works (no longer recognisable as a dog).
If I'm on my bike I'll chat to them in a soothing voice so they know I'm a human not a weird machine. Running through a field of bullocks at dusk is usually quite exciting for all concerned - sometimes I feel I have to stop and chat to calm things down a bit.
I always talk to livestock, including the two rather large bulls I came across in the Southern Sierra. I think it helps them realise you are a human and not some 2 wheeled monster.
The Lynx I saw however did make me jump. Didn't have a clue what to say to it either.
Let of fireworks and Chinese lanterns, they love it.
One of my local trails (Cumberland Brook near Macclesfield Forest) often has had a herd of black cows that seem to hang around on the trail, just before the interesting rocky bit. The first time I encountered them, I stopped for a minute wondering what to do, then 4 blokes on MTBs appeared and one was a farmer, so I rode through the cows with them. Since then I've encountered the same herd twice while riding alone, and I just say hello and ride very slowly through them. They don't back off though!
If I'm on a ride with friends I'm less brave and ask them not to leave me behind when there's cows about!