kamikaze cocker spaniel

Today one of my fears came upon me. I was walking Blue Bear and when we passed our neighbor's house, neighbor man was getting out of his car with his little black cocker spaniel (off leash) and the cocker spaniel noticed us near his territory (I guess) and made a beeline for Blue Bear. I screamed NOOOOOOOOOO and turned my head from what I thought would be the end of that dog. I think Blue Bear thought he was coming to play, so he didn't go into fight mode at once, and when the cocker spaniel figured out what type of dog he was messing with he retreated and was scooped up by his owner. I just yelled at the man "This is a pitbull," and the man answered, "I know!" I was shaken up and had to pull Blue Bear by walking backwards a few doors down to our home. I saw the cocker spaniel later, and he was fine. I hope this never happens again, but there are so many dogs in our small city, that meeting an unleashed one is almost inevitable. I'll just pray it is not another pitbull.