Touring - dogs........

who else has had run-ins with dogs?
i dont mean physically running into a dog but having a large vicious beast run after you wanting to tear your face off for just riding by their masters propterty? this has become a large problem for me, but i cant find any pepper spray to destroy their eyes.

today was funny, a little yippity dog chased me so i slowed down and tired it out a bit by staying infront if by a couple feet.

I don't hate the dogs, I hate the masters. They're the jerks that let them run free.
If I am ever attacked by a dog I will make sure the owner does not have one penny to his name when I am done. I'm tempted to call animal control next time.
I also want to get an air zounds horn, figure a 115db blast might get rid of em.

my friend was riding when a huge dog was just going to tear him down so he paniced and just screamed as loud as he could at the dog and the dog got all freaked out and left him alone.

There's a paradox in answering this question, so please don't take this response to be ad hominem: The people who are most in need of some advice (i.e., people without personal experience with dogs) are often the ones least equipped to follow that advice successfully.

Dogs are social creatures, descended from pack animals (wolves) that chased, caught, and killed prey and also defended their territory. Riding by on a bike elicits a powerful set of responses. Unconfined, untrained dogs have a hard time controlling their ancient urges in these circumstances. And trying to outrun them only works in a limited set of circumstances -- if you could routinely outrun them, you wouldn't need any advice, right?

The good news is that the social aspects of their behavior can be used to your advantage. You need to be able to read the dog and the context to know what to do. Sometimes you can talk in a quiet, confident manner to the dog and it will understand that you're no threat. Sometimes projecting a dominant impression toward the dog will do the trick. For example, shouting a very strong, very loud NO! as the dog gets within striking range will frequently deter a would-be biter. But in some circumstances, e.g., small children in the dog's yard, the dog will still perceive you as a threat and won't be talked down.

There will be occasions when you encounter a dog that either knows you can't carry off being dominant or it just isn't impressed with your display. That's when you need to use their self-preservation instincts. This is when the irritating spray, or the tire pump, or the rock cache comes into play. Dogs generally don't want to attack something that will cause them pain and maybe injure them. (This is why wolves, lions, and other predators have specific methods of attacking -- they want the odds on their side and they want to avoid injury.)

The one dog that you really need to treat seriously is the one that comes zooming straight for you at a very high speed, with its head down and making no sound the whole way. That's the dog that you're going to have to disable, or at least inflict a surprising amount of pain, or you're going to be bit. If you have no means to discourage the attack, get off your bike, keeping it between you and the dog at all times, and leave the area as quickly and safely as you can.

I've owned and worked with dogs for thirty years. We currently have four that we consider the integral part of the household. And I have no compunction about rocking or spraying or striking or kicking a loose dog, if I think that I am at risk of being injured.

You can find some good advice at Ken Kifer's Coping with Dogs (http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/traffic/dogs.htm).

You can order Halt! pepper spray from Nashbar and/or Performance.

There are lots of ways to deal with dogs and it's a frequent discussion topic on bike forums. Do a search and you'll find plenty of threads.

Excellent advice, eidsvolling.

I have three dogs that I consider children so I have much experience. I have yet to have a bad encounter on the trail though I am cautious of all dogs I meet. Yesterday I met 8 of them. If unsure, I always dismount and put my bike between me and the dog. A quick flip of the raised front wheel can be an effective tool though I've never had to use it.

The thing I hate worse than an ill-mannered dog is dogsh%t. Just disgusting. I've carried bags in my pack and handed them to offending owners when they tried to leave a pile next to the trail - that's just completely irresponsible, IMHO.

I was on this one section last fall in NB were I was attacked by a dog every 1/4 mile, roughly every third farm. After a while it's like a discussion about dandelion control. Of course they should be lovingly hand removed, composted, and the dark soil spread on the garden etc... But somewhere around the 20 th attack that day you just want a gun.

Of course after the first shooting you would be spending the rest of the day explaining why you were skulking around the neighbourhood shooting people's pets, no good answer really.

Another thing I notice is that a lot of these dogs do not even twitch when a car goes by. Apparently that has been trained out of them one way or another. The good old days of chasing cars and occasionally being run over appear gone. Bikes, what fun!

I've just starting carrying a product called "Direct Stop Animal Deterrent Spray" that I got at Mounds Pet Food Warehouse. It's billed as a safe and humane way to deter aggressive animals. It also states that it may not stop all animals. It's a citronella based product. This will be the first product of this type I will have tried. I usually either ride away from a chasing dog or stop and talk to the dog.

Hello,

How effective is Halt? I carry it since being bitten. I stopped the bike, and stood astride. The barking dog then calmly walked up & bit me on the leg! I am not interested in kindly citronella! I want to know if Halt is the most effective spray I can carry, or should I go to a bear spray? I'm not kidding!

Tom

Halt is what mailmen carry so it must be effective. My mailman was telling me that dogs generally hate mail carriers. They postulate that it is because mailcarriers have so many scents on them from handling packages from so many different people. Dogs find this upsetting.

I carry UDAP when I carry a spray but I don't carry any when I ride - only while hiking and not really for dogs, more for bears and cats (lions).

i shout and kick, but have resorted to lashing out with my bike pump and also getting off the bike and chasing the dog back home ...

when shouting, i tend to shout loud enough so an owner knows that i am not impressed and will deal to their dog unless they remove it, and those that actually give a sh*t will often call their dog off ...

oh, helps to know the local dog ranger too ... :)

I've had a run-in, in March, and it really shocked me. Dog came out of a farmhouse yard, ran up, bit me and ran back into his house. We were on our way to see a local bike builder at the time and he told me when we returned to get our bikes a couple weeks ago that the dog has since developed a habit of chasing bikes and has bit a couple other people but the owners don't care. :(

Ever since then I've been skittish about dogs but I don't know if there's a solution really. Pepper spray has to hit the eyes to be effective, kicking or grabbing your pump to hit the dog while driving is dangerous to you, you can't out-cycle them. The best solution I can see is to stop and use your bike as a barrier.

I've had a run-in, in March, and it really shocked me. Dog came out of a farmhouse yard, ran up, bit me and ran back into his house. We were on our way to see a local bike builder at the time and he told me when we returned to get our bikes a couple weeks ago that the dog has since developed a habit of chasing bikes and has bit a couple other people but the owners don't care. :(

Ever since then I've been skittish about dogs but I don't know if there's a solution really. Pepper spray has to hit the eyes to be effective, kicking or grabbing your pump to hit the dog while driving is dangerous to you, you can't out-cycle them. The best solution I can see is to stop and use your bike as a barrier.
The dog actually bit you and you didn't do anything?
Dog bites me, I call animal control, have it destroyed, and file against the owners, criminal if I can, civil if I can't. They need an example made out of them.
Esp, if they don't do anything about the problem.

The dog actually bit you and you didn't do anything?
Dog bites me, I call animal control, have it destroyed, and file against the owners, criminal if I can, civil if I can't. They need an example made out of them.
Esp, if they don't do anything about the problem.

There wasn't much I personally could do. I was only in the area for a few hours. The owners were nowhere to be seen and I wasn't going to go running into the yard of a dog that had just bitten me anyway, for a second run-in. No thanks. I did tell the person we were on our way to see, who has since spoken to the owners several times about it as he and some of his mates have been chased and nipped as well. I'm not sure what the latest is.

A 50/50 mix of ammonia and water in a squeeze or old water bottle will immediately drop them to the ground and start them dragging there hair and hide off to get rid of it. If they happen to be in the road a car will soon drive over them. The next time they see you they will whimper and hide (if they survive being run over).

My friend and I were riding down a country road, and 2 dobermans came running out of nowhere after us. Both dogs ignored me, and went after my friend. Maybe because my friend was terrified, and I wasnt. One had its teeth around her ankle, then a lady driving down the road saw what was happening and sped toward my friend and the dogs, and had the horn going non-stop to scare them away. It worked, thank goodness. Ive never been afraid of dogs coming after me. I just yell NO! really loud, and hold out my hand showing to stop, and that always works so far. When they stop I keep saying "good boy!", and that really seems to confuse them. Im a female and small, so dogs probebly dont feel very threatend by me though.

Dogs are the real problem for cyclists because they create danger situations on the road. But dogs aren’t guilty. I think the owners and society are responsible for that problem. I have had not many encounters with dogs, but they were.
Two years ago I got to my suburb summer house by bike from Moscow pretty late at 10 p.m. It’s almost dark this time in the end of august. I had ridden approximately 100 km. There is a checkpoint at the settlement entrance. I had seen that the dog was already unleashed. Living here, in my country, I am accustomed to be prepared to everything. So, first of all, I took a pepper spray in my hand . After that I asked the guard (that was just a local woman, not a professional) to control the dog while I am passing by to my house. The woman was very negligent or she didn’t understand what the man wearing a helmet, glasses with a bike, for the dog is, in the territory, that is guarded by this dog, especially in the dusk. She even didn’t try to hold the dog, but just stood beside one and said “It’s all right”. I had nothing to do and started to walk. I was attacked by the dog immediately. But I was prepared and managed to repulse the assault. The pepper smoke was everywhere around, the dog coughed and circled near, having lost the interest to me.

I don’t mind against dogs but I don’t want to be a victim.

I have found out how to use the pepper spray properly against dogs. The main factor of success is to spray at the short range, up to 7 inches. Otherwise a dog is able to avoid the jet. Once, I had stopped because of a traffic jam and was attacked by two dogs at that moment. That was the worse situation ...a bad day. I had made a mistake - the spray range was too long. The dogs had stopped to get to close quarters, but they didn’t let me start riding again. Thanks God I had clad pants so the dog had nipped their edge only.

I think that all kinds of traumatic self-defense weapon (http://www.niiph.ru/index.php?dir=osa) or pistols are not humane or reasonable means against dogs. There is an example of an effective self-defense spray weapon (http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/27/127657.html) on the pictures below. If to save the pictures in one folder and then to look at them, quickly clicking the “next” button at the window, a “movie” illusion is being created.

A useful article on the topic is here (http://www.bamacyclist.com/articles/dogsnthings.html).

Alexey

Good posts all!!! I can't tell you how many dogs have chased me in my travels. I usually just end up Yelling at them for the whole world to hear...and if that doesn't work i dismount and deal with the dog on foot. I find their much less viscious if you look more like a human-master, than a bikey chew toy. a lot of the time there's nothing like a good burst of adrenaline to out-pace them though.

about the pepper sprays and such...good idea. n4zou, have you used the ammonia concoction??? i imagine just the smell would deflect the dog...though i'm not sure how humane that is. and i realise that in this discussion "humane" is relative.

Here is what I do.

1. Yell "No" to the dog as they start the attack. I think this helps the dog figure out you are a person.
2. If the yell doesn't help I try to squirt the dog in the mouth with my water bottle while it is barking at me. If you are lucky you can make it choke on the water!!
3. If I the squirt trick doesn't work or if I think the dog is too aggressive I get off my bike and put it between me and the dog.

If all this doesn't work, I always plan to hurt the dog as much as possible. I know that is a little harsh, but the dog should not be chasing me anyway.

Kevin

n4zou, have you used the ammonia concoction??? i imagine just the smell would deflect the dog...though i'm not sure how humane that is. and i realise that in this discussion "humane" is relative.
Even if you don't hit the dog with the ammonia and water the smell alone will drive them off. It overwhelms and temporally destroys their sense of smell. They use their sense of smell to a greater extent than there vision. For a dog it's the equivalent of using mustard gas on a human. It's extremely effective. Sometimes just the smell of the ammonia in the bottle trailing behind you as you ride will stop the chase. In a way its humane as the dog you spray will never-ever chase/bite a bicyclist again.

The first, best strategy is voice. Most dogs understand "bad dog!" and "no!" and that usually does it. I don't use spray, but I will wave a pump at them. I used to ride with a guy, and he began packing Halt. At a farmhouse on our ride, located right at the top of a long grade, a large dog gave chase. He dismounted and emptied the can in the dog's face. Fido was cured of chasing. Another riding companion who is mortally afraid of dogs did the same to one on his commute route. The dog eyed him from the porch for months before trying another chase. He simply held his hand out as if he was about to spray and the dog peeled off and ran for cover.

There is a product called the "dog dazer" that purports to use ultrasonic blasts to fend off dogs. I have no idea of its effectiveness.

In this part of Central California, farm dogs are often encouraged to be aggressive. I once had a youngster audibly sic his dog on me. Had I been able to stop, that young man would have learned a lesson in corporal punishment that he'd not soon forget.

I love dogs, and share our home with one, but dogs allowed to run loose chasing cyclists typically come to a bad end, and it's the fault of negligent owners. Aggressively discouraging the dogs from chasing is likely to prolong their lives significantly. Years ago, a friend and I were riding to play tennis. He had an old wooden racket with the frame clamped around its head. When a German Shepherd gave chase he vigorously thwacked said dog. Suffice it to say that the dog no longer chased cyclists. Good for the dog, good for the rider.

Happy trails.

I take my daughter to nursery school most days in a trailer. We mostly go down a nice cycle path. Problem is, it's a dog walker's path, also.
My problem - My daughter is behind me at dog height, separated from them by a thin wall of nylon and a metal tubing frame easy enough for a dog to get it's head in.
Funnily, touch wood, I've not had a problem with dogs and my daughter (plenty with just me, but I've shouted, and it's worked in the past). I'd have no problem with killing or maiming a dog if it came anywhere near my daughter, trouble is, how to do it. Ammonia and water (no legal pepper spray in uk), splashing around - too much chance of it getting on my daughter through the front mesh of the trailer. Stones, a metal bar, maybe.
I still quite like the idea of an airhorn...Or how about if it's coming towards you, just riding over the damn thing...then the owner as well

Where we ride there is no leash law outside the city limits. That means no animal control officer to call, no requirements for owners to pen or otherwise constrain their dogs. Old dogs don't seem to bother chasing anything. The young pups seem to be the worst.

Dogs are pack animals and if they are running in a pack, can be quite dangerous. The older ones teach the younger members and sometimes those lessons include chasing cyclists. When there get to be too many loose dogs in one of our rural neighborhood, there is a spate of poisonings that reduces the population. No one seems to know who does the dirty work but no one who rides a bike is terribly concerned for longer than a half minute. Dogs out of control are not pets but threats.

I've had one wreck on my bike & it was because of a dog trying to bite me & my wife. The next time it happens will be the last one for that dog.

I was told that the spokes on a bicycle make an iritating noise that dogs can hear but we can't. Get off your bike and keep it between you and the dog. It should leave and you should walk your bike away.

i've been told that you can just squirt a dog with your water bottle, but i sure don't feel very safe holding my water bottle while i was chased. my mace also always ends up in the bottom of my handlebar bag and is not accessible. my solution was to carry a 2-foot long stick, poking out of my front pannier. as soon as a dog started chasing me, the stick was in my hand. i'd speed up, yell "no" as loud as i could, and hold my stick. i never got bitten, usually saying "no" made the dogs slow down so i could get away. but either way, i sure felt a lot safer holding a solid object than a spray bottle.

I don't ride roads so my views are skewed towards mountain biking. I have never (knock on wood) had a problem and I see dogs on the trail every day.

I ALWAYS slow down and slow my movements while preparing for a quick dismount when I see a dog. I always greet the dog and offer it kind words of encouragement. My theory is to create a positive experience so that the dog doesn't risk his life by attacking the next cyclist coming down the trail - one who might be less patient. That's one of my goals anyway since I know that I won't kill it. I scan the situation carefully. I am especially wary of pit bulls and chow chows (breeds I call "obligate biters"). Watch for dogs with women (generally trained to be more protective). Watch for dogs that are far from their handlers cruising the trail perimeters - hunting. Motion causes instinctive reactions from dogs. Unsupervised, these reactions can get ugly - fast. I cannot recall an instance where I tried to outrun a dog. Instinctively, dogs love to chase and I believe this can make matters worse.

I greet the dog's handler in a warm friendly manner and thank them, for instance, for their consideration in moving off trail as I ride by - slowly - reducing the number and speed of my pedal strokes. I always try to find something friendly to say. Seems to me that dogs look to their owners for guidance in encounter situations. That's my theory anyway. If you can elicit a positive response from the dog's handler (a warm hello, a laugh, a greeting), your battle is already half won. If you act like you are fearful, mean-spirited, or adversarial to the handler, your battle is already half lost. If you threaten the handler, you're history. My ultimate goal is to create harmony between hikers and bikers. I don't need more people legislating against mountain bikes.

If a dog appears fearful of me, I stop and talk to it trying to convince it that I'm not a threat. Often this buys enough time for the handler to appear. I've found that friendliness to a dog elicits friendliness from the handler. Most handlers have encountered unreasonable people in the past or they are letting their dog run off-lead and are feeling guilty about it so they are always a bit apprehensive when they meet a biker - waiting for a tongue lashing. Swallow your ego because in a moment, you can create a very positive situation for both the dog and the handler - one that might spare the dog his life later and create a mountain bike supporter.

In a nutshell, that's how I deal with dogs and I've yet to have an ugly encounter. I don't carry spray or guns. My pump is on my back stored in my Camelback. I've never been bitten and don't fear it happening.

Happy riding!

My wife barks at the dogs, that confuses them enough to stop. Worked so far.....

If a dog appears swallow your ego because in a moment, you can create a very positive situation for both the dog and the handler - one that might spare the dog his life later and create a mountain bike supporter.


This is a wise approach to all interactions in life, with dog or human. Putting others in a win/lose situation is a waste of energy. I have been chased an threatened by dogs and never bitten, partly by dealing kindly with the handler first and dealing calmly with the dog if there is no handler.

Hi, I have lots of experience with HALT. As a mailman I have sprayed dogs a number of times, I would guess about 100 actual squirting incidents during my career! On those times when I used it correctly, HALT has never let me down, it stopped the attack upon my person immediately.

However some few times over the years user error on my part has led to embarrassment. Once I failed to find the cannister in time and just as I finally managed to extend my hand the dog immediately bit down onto the pressurized can. The entire contents immediately sprayed out through the the newly made teeth holes, giving the dog a mouthful.Unfortunately one of the many emerging streams struck me squarely in the eye. Although I could see if my eyes were opened, the pain decided for me to keep them tightly closed, and so the dog owner led me inside to wash out my eyes in the sink, and in a couple minutes all was well again, the pain gone.

Another time I had the can backwards and sprayed my hand, (a feature of HALT is that its is colored yellow/orange and stains).

Why so many times used (ca. 100)? On each mail route, at its own sorting desk case, the carrier daily places into the address slots one or two 'dog warning' cards, that is to say one or two out of the 600 or so total delivery address on each route. But the carrier 3 desks down from mine daily sorts in over one hundred 'dog warning' cards! Years ago, I used to carry his route, I sprayed a dog about once a week in the two years I had that route!

In my new route (praise seniority route bidding), after ten years I haven't had a single attack, HALT is no longer is a needed tool.

But HALT works extremely well. The dog will be over his pain in 5 minutes, no harm done.

By the way the Post Office used to have every letter carrier nationwide carry in his mail satchel a spring loaded automatic unfolding umbrella which also worked well to provide an instant barrier. But it weighed about a couple pounds as opposed to a few ounces for HALT. so the 'brelly program was terminated a few years ago.

Also, Nashbar used to sell (and probably still does) a little plastic ring holder that clips a cannister of HALT to the bars. I never ride without it attached.

Hints, do some trial sprays into the wind to learn how it will drift back on you. Also give a quick squirt before each ride to insure the can hasn't lost its pressure.and needs replacement every couple years.

So much for my experience! :D

Yall are forgeting that dogs are not suppose to be running loose.
It is against the law for owners to let their dogs have access
to the side walk and road. You can call the animal control and
have loose dog captured and euthanised. But I say just smack the
dog good and hard, and let that be a warning to the owner to
keep the dog leashed or fenced. To let their pets run loose like
that is a total disrespect for pedestrians and cyclists. I've been
chased by a dog before, and I can almost see the smile on the
owner's face when I was fleeing down the street. Too bad I
didn't have a stick handy.

I had a few run-ins with chasing dogs. The first two were just little dogs but they came from one of the houses set back from the freeway which they nearly ended up on. I out-paced them. For anyone doing the Pacific Coast tour, there were two more dogs, each side of Bay Center KOA, within yards; one chased after I'd got to the end of a 50-miler :( ; the second had a go the next day when I set off! This got me thinking what would be the best thing to deter them. The worst one was when I was riding over the Seven Devils road and 2 large dogs appeared from a driveway in the middle of nowhere (at a distance it looked more than just a dog). They looked like trouble. A couple of passing motorists would not help. I managed to get a large branch out of the roadside. I was there nearly 20 minutes and eventually was expecting to joust my way past when they moved out of sight. I then just went hell for leather! I decided to get to the next outdoors store and check out the pepper sprays (which were recommended to me by them also). Nearly went for the trigger a couple of times more but was lucky. In this country, if this sort of things happened here, the owners would be in trouble and possibly dog-less.

A buddy and I were riding last October when two Saint Bernards tore out after us, I was forturnate that I was slightly ahead and had an angle of escape when I jammed it, but my poor riding partner was knocked off his bike by the charging dog, broke a rib, punctured a lung, spent a few days in the hospital, and ended up with a settlement. Another female riding companion was bitten last year and the punture holes took forever to heal, Now I just spray em after seeing this and don't feel any remorse whatsoever. I proabably should go back to a frame pump, ha but might consider that ammonia and water.

since my tour is over i can safely say i hate dogs more than ever. feel bad for me if you want but i wish death upon any animal that acts violant towards me. any dog that chases me ever again will get a face full of pepper spray and a kick in the teeth.

I'm sorry but I think you're making a fuss out of nothing. I've been chased by dogs several times, both while cycling and walking. What I usually do is slow down, dead slow, rather than try to outrun them. I slow down and look at them staight in the eyes. Sometimes there isn't even a need to shout anything. When they see you slowing down they slow down as well and stop to stare at you. It has always worked till now. The last time was last saturday when I was chased by 3 dogs in a narrow country road in Sicily and it worked once again.
Give it a try, at least once and you'll see. I know it's not the most natural thing to do when you're frightened. I was once walking at night and entered a dead end street which lead to one house and I was surrounded by a pack of them barking as hell, however I still managed to walk out without coming in contact with any of them.

I have been chased by heaps of dogs (including across the eastern USA) and have never had any issues by stopping and standing still and walking slowly away from them after they lose interest. More often than not a few gentle words and the dog will even wag its tail.
I have lost count of the number of cyclists I have some across with broken bone and bikes, and other assorted injuries due to trying to outrun dogs whilsts trying to kick, hit and spray them whilst pedalling furiously ....

www.jlusa.com

I have had my fair share of dog incindents, and these guys have solutions for any scenerio I can imagine.

What do you do first after you get biten by a viscious dog? Go to hospital first?
Or find the owner of the dog first?

There has been two fatalities due to rabies around here lately. I think we should
treat this subject seriously. We can die from rabid dogs. To dismiss the topic
nonchalently could be a fatal mistake. Just staring them down might work 99%
of the time, but it just take that 1% to kill you.

i dont understand the staring at the dog thing. staring at the dog is challenging the dog. if it has confidence that it can devour your face then you're ****ed. this is why if you ever take any wilderness classes the instructer tells you if you come into an encounter with wolves to not look at them directly in the eye.

A friend of mine grew up wrestling huge dogs, and he can look all but the worst dogs in the face and they will back off wimpering. Unless your like him, I agree theres no need for eye contact. Either be sensible enough to arm yourself, or run like hell. Either way, eye contact is irrelivant.

I can say that I met several dogs on my southern tour and none of those encounters ended badly. When traveling along a sparsely populated area I would always speed up when approaching a farm house. Those dogs that came onto the road and gave chase always gave up if I was at speed and leaving their area. I am going to carry a can of Halt on my next tour, because outrunning them is not always going to work.

Had a couple of really nasty dogs on a regular route of mine between home and my summer place, tried yelling, kicking and out running them, they loved the game, and wanted more, snarling and biting at my heels, was goofing around with one of those cheap key ring panic alarms one day at home, when I pulled the pin it made a very shrill warbling sound, that sent my Beagle running for cover, ah,ha the light went on.....mounted it with velcro to my bar bag, with the pullchain in easy reach, next weekend those same to dogs came hauling butt after me, pulled the pin when they got close to the bike, both slammed on the brakes and backed way off, don't know if it works with all dogs but its staying on the bar bag for further encounters....

Having just crossed Canada I've found this to be quite a problem from Alberta to Ontario, after that we really didn't have any dog trouble at all.

My preferred method is voice and speed. As far as speed is concerned, most dogs really don't chase you far above 20kmh, usually to the end of the property/territory line. Other than that I point at the dog and shout "back off" (sounds like bad dog apparently) in a low firm voice while pointing at the dog. So far it's been pretty effective.

One one occasion the dog persisted and got close so I started to weave. This confuses the dog as it keeps changing the side that it's trying to attack from. On another the dog had a fair distance to cover so I pulled the coiled cable from under the lid of my front panniers and whipped it on the nose when it got close.

i dont understand the staring at the dog thing. staring at the dog is challenging the dog. if it has confidence that it can devour your face then you're ****ed. this is why if you ever take any wilderness classes the instructer tells you if you come into an encounter with wolves to not look at them directly in the eye.
+1. Yep staring is a challenge, and that dog might just decide to take you up on it. I'm a dog owner, and I'll try putting the bike between me and a dog, but if I gotta pepperspray or whack the dog I will. I come before some loose untrained animal in my book. Any harm that comes to an unrestrained dog is the owners fault. I'm taking care of myself, and possibly the next cyclist to come by. I will also report any incdent to Animal Control as well.