Commuting - A dog barked at me - unexpectedly...

I haven't posted here in years. So, I'm still riled up, to put it politely.

Here's the play by play.

I was riding home from work, and I was looking to my left. The next thing I know a rather big dog riding in a car, along side it's owner, barks - not ahead of my ear, not behind my ear, but right in my ear. and it scared me, because my attention was diverted.

Ok, now normally if that's where the story ended, I'd think nothing of it.

As the car advances, the driver takes her index finger and "pets" her dog with her index finger and then giggles as she continues to drive. That's what I thought was inappropriate.

Now it could be she had one of those Bluetooth adapter thingies for her phone, and that could have been in her ear and someone just told her a joke. How would you explain the index finger motion?

What say ye?

I don't have an opinion as to what her intentions were, because I don't have all the facts, and never will. I'll just say it was an unpleasant experience.

Stuck on Bents

Proper etiquette in NYC states you catch up and punch the dog.
Or turn the other cheek, which ever one helps you sleep easy at night.

I'm not sure whether she had any idea the dog barked in your ear-- if she was looking forward when it happened maybe she didn't know you were next to her car. And if she was laughing because her silly dog barked at a bike, and not because her silly dog barked directly into a cyclist's ear, it makes a difference.

Let me see if I understand this.

The dog was passenger with a b**ch driving?

bark back.

The same thing happened to me, except I kept passing the car over and over when it was stuck in traffic, so it got annoying really fast. I asked the driver to roll up her window while we were both at a light but she ignored me. I contemplated squirting her dog in the chops with my water bottle, but instead I just took the lane in front of her at a leisurely pace until I got to my street. I think she was pissed.

Yes, bark back. But more of a rar rar rar RARRARARARARARARRARRRR so it works the dog into a frenzy hopefully biting said index finger during the fracas.

Throw a cat into the drivers lap. :D

Throw a cat into the drivers lap. :D

I was gonna say that but where's he gonna get the cat from?

EDIT: also, maybe she was petting the dog to calm it down? I know even in NYC, there are some good drivers out here, not everyone's intentionally out to get us. (although it wouldn't hurt to assume the worst).

Throw a cat into the drivers lap. :D
Go all the way and make it a bobcat. If you have trouble finding a bobcat, a raccoon or opossum will do. :D

I own a big dog, a great dane, and the big stupidity of this dog provides hours of merriment. My guess is your driver feels the same way. If my stupid dog let's out a woof! at a cyclist, it's funny. Even if I'm the cyclist. :) You are after all dang close to the pup's personal space, and that's how they roll. He's just checking your intentions (or maybe he's wondering what you'd taste like with farver beans and a nice bottle of Chianti) :eek: .

One thing I look forward to on my commute along a country road is when these two beagles come out and run the property line along side me, howling like mad. Since this Spring though, there has only been one healthy enough for the trip, and he only puts in a token effort. It's kinda sad, one of my beagle buddies got sidelined by age. :(

Maybe only dog people understand.

p.s.: it's a free country, but my post doesn't necessarily mean you have to share every scary dog moment you've had, people.:p

p.s.: it's a free country, but my post doesn't necessarily mean you have to share every scary dog moment you've had, people.:p

We don't have to, but we will. :p

also, maybe she was petting the dog to calm it down?

This may be. However, if this is true, the dog's companion is using poor judgement and showing her lack of training skills. Dogs respond very predictably when given various reinforcements. Petting is often a positive reinforcement for dogs (as is food, and high pitch soft noises). By petting the dog, even if to calm it down, she was reinforcing the dog's behavior, so it probably thought it was acting in correct judgement.

This may be. However, if this is true, the dog's companion is using poor judgement and showing her lack of training skills. Dogs respond very predictably when given various reinforcements. Petting is often a positive reinforcement for dogs (as is food, and high pitch soft noises). By petting the dog, even if to calm it down, she was reinforcing the dog's behavior, so it probably thought it was acting in correct judgement.

Well I'm not saying she's the brightest penny in the jar, just that maybe her intentions weren't with malice.

I was gonna say that but where's he gonna get the cat from?

I have one I will deliver. :D



Go all the way and make it a bobcat. If you have trouble finding a bobcat, a raccoon or opossum will do.

:lol:

Come to think of it, even a squirrel or two will do the job. :D

I think the proper response would have been if possible to follow, catch up, sneak alongside and blow an air horn in the window. Then giggle.

Dog woofs at me? I talk back to him. But then again, I'm a dog person and understand where the idiot is coming from. It'd be different if the dog was aggressive, but it didn't sound like (I could hear the woof from here :D)

One should always try to seperate dogs from their owners. There are bad dogs, and these need to be avoided as they have a distressingly usefull collection of sharp bits, but the vast majority of dogs are just being ... dogs. It's the morons who own some of them who need dealing with, but when you're peddling along on your treddly, are you in any position to deal with a dipwit encased in two ton of steel?

Richard

Dog woofs at me? I talk back to him. But then again, I'm a dog person and understand where the idiot is coming from. It'd be different if the dog was aggressive, but it didn't sound like (I could hear the woof from here :D)

One should always try to seperate dogs from their owners. There are bad dogs, and these need to be avoided as they have a distressingly usefull collection of sharp bits, but the vast majority of dogs are just being ... dogs. It's the morons who own some of them who need dealing with, but when you're peddling along on your treddly, are you in any position to deal with a dipwit encased in two ton of steel?

Richard
What I learned from video games:

"Sign this petition, or I will follow you home and kill your dog!"
http://www.beyondunreal.com/images/postal2/petition.jpg

Keep working on your awareness of your surroundings. Nothing (and I mean NOTHING including a parade of naked women down the middle of the street or the second coming of Christ) should surprise you on the road. Loud noises certainly shouldn't.

There is a poster on these forums who asks people to honk at him when they see him riding around because he wants to get used to honks. Sounds good to me.

As for the woman... who knows what she meant... How are our attempts to guess it going to change anything? You don't even have her licence plate, I betcha.

I don't think the OP was so much irritated at the dog for barking in his ear, but for the owner for thinking it was funny.

My dog is getting over her weird fear of bicycles. I never understood it, since she grew up from 2 months old walking around my apartment where my bike sits prominently next to the front door.
It doesn't bother her when it's just sitting there, but it freaks her out when I move it. I've started to think that it's not so much the bike, but what moving it usually means: He's leaving, and I don't know when he's coming back.

I was gonna say that but where's he gonna get the cat from?



ALWAYS carry an emergency backup cat. Anything less is irresponsible.

What I learned from video games:

"Sign this petition, or I will follow you home and kill your dog!"
http://www.beyondunreal.com/images/postal2/petition.jpg

Ah ha, I really need to fire that game up again - top fun.

Never had it happen to my while riding, but I was wandering down the pavement one day in Northampton with a head-high wall to my left, wasn't really paying attention to what I dimly assumed was a statue of an alsation perched atop someone's gatepost. Passed the thing, which sprang deafeningly into bark-mode, and I leapt sideways in panic so fast I put my elbow though the passenger door window of the dog-owners's car that was parked there. Luckily I was wearing an armoured leather motorcycle jacket... :D The dog/car owner was not impressed at my UT2k4 style boost-dodge.

I own a giant swiss "farm dog" breed, and they bark at anything they think is in the wrong place. Move the couch? They'll bark at it. Over the years, you just gotta laugh, because you're not going to do anything to change it. I don't think I would have smiled and petted* my dog, but I very easily could be laughing and thinking, "you idiot dog, you..."

Keep working on your awareness of your surroundings. Nothing (and I mean NOTHING including a parade of naked women down the middle of the street or the second coming of Christ) should surprise you on the road.

Good rule of thumb.

Last summer I literally did a double take one day as I cycled through Times Square on my way to Penn Station, out of the corner of my eye saw the Naked Cowgirl.
( http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenzodom/203219426/ )

Luckily I was going so fast that by the time my brain registered what I'd seen, I was half a block away. Whew. Could have been ugly!

I've had that happen a couple times, scared the bejeezus outta me as I'm busy concentrating on the curb, traffic, where the cars are to me and BARK!!! WTH! Window wide open and dog leaning out - owner - not saying a word - or attention at all - hehe - until I let her know how "pleased" I was and to take care of your @#$#% dog.

:)

You guys gotta understand that dogs alarm bark. In their point of view, a person just appeared right next to the car! Now, is this a good reason to not drive with your window open? Yes! But sometimes you have to leave it cracked because the AC isn't strong enough in the back. You're gonna* get alarm barked at. Sorry it scares you, but you have more to worry about if you hear an warning growl or a flurry of anger and the owner is dumb and has the window wide open.

Being on the roadways is tough for everyone involved, but you have to be prepared for "normal use" by everyone else.

Dogs in cars barking at me don't really bother me much. Might startle me once in a while, but that's about it. I usually imagine the stupid little critter kind of giggling at me and then smiling with a big stupid grin as they go along down the road. Kind of silly, but it works for me.

What gets me is when its a person that barks at me. I've had this happen several times, and well, I just am not sure how to respond. Are they telling me they are as smart as a dog? They'd rather be a dog? This is how they communicate? I just don't get it.

What gets me is when its a person that barks at me. I've had this happen several times, and well, I just am not sure how to respond. Are they telling me they are as smart as a dog? They'd rather be a dog? This is how they communicate? I just don't get it.
Some folks can't compete with the world on a level playing field, so they have to get their moment of dominance by driving up to a cyclist, then speeding away. Have any of these shouters turned out to be someone you envy, like someone in a real nice car or something? My experience is they are the losers of society.

What gets me is when its a person that barks at me. I've had this happen several times, and well, I just am not sure how to respond. Are they telling me they are as smart as a dog? They'd rather be a dog? This is how they communicate? I just don't get it.
It means they want to sniff your butt.:D

Small sidetrack.
I was passing (slowly) a car with an old couple, they had a small yapper dog sitting walking a small circle on the ledge behind the back seat. As I was passing them I was able to watch the dog squat and take a dump in full view through the back window. I was laughing so hard by the time I passed them, then I saw them redfaced and shouting at the dog, turning their head back and forth trying to get the dog to stop taking a dump.
Steven