Yan 

You shouldn't use a paintball pistol on a dog.

If you're interested, this one is considered the best on the market right now. It's $260 and it's huge for a pistol.
https://www.pbreview.com/products/reviews/4128/

sknhgy 

No. But I recently collided with one. I got a broken collarbone, surgery, a plate, and nine stainless steel screws.
This is an interesting thread for me.

LetDiceFly

Pepper spray is a good back-up option for a number of situations. I think I am more likely to have to use it against a person than a dog. Generally dogs are much better mannered.

Shimagnolo

Agreed. I *always* carry a canister of LE-type pepper spray on my fanny-pack belt at my right hip. The holster looks very similar to a cellphone holster, so no one even pays any attention to it.

Blue Roads

For those who want to carry pepper spray, get some of this.

If you want to attach it your frame -- which may not be wise as it'll be in plain sight and subject to grab -- get a bicycle mount such as this.

varuscelli

Yeah, you certainly wouldn't want the dog to leap up and snatch it off the bike before you had a chance to unsheathe it...

That kind of thing can be sooooo annoying.

badmother

+1

In the old days when bikes was not often seen standard equipment on a bike was a dogwhip.

In the boer war (south africa) the British brought bikes instead of horses becouse of tze-tze flies. Boers responded with letting dogs chase the biking soldiers. British responded with dogwhips..

Tie the dogs to a bike and ride fast as hell.

gadgetadam 

Every time I ride near my father-in-laws house I get chased by dogs. He lives out in East Texas where people let their dogs roam the country roads. One day I was riding and came up upon a house that had a large sign in the front that said “dogs for sale”. I saw that and thought I hope I don't get chased. Well sure enough about 8 dogs started to run at me. I high tailed it and out ran them. I'm not a sprinter. I'm 5 foot 4 190 pounds and I've only been biking for a year. I got past them and continued to ride. I came to a more traveled road with no shoulder. I whiped out my GPS to see that I can either travel on this busy road for about 2 miles without a shoulder and run the risk of getting hit or go back around where I came from. According to the GPS those were my only 2 choices. Being in east Texas and not many bicyclists out there I thought it would be safer to go back the way I came because someone on a bike is a rare sight out there. When I got near the house I got on the other side of the road and signaled the driver in back of me to back off giving me room to do whatever. I started riding fast and when the dogs saw me they charged. This time there were about 15 of them! I looked at them and yelled in my deepest loudest voice NO! They didn't listen. I got past them but I've been chased many times on back county roads. My fear is getting chased uphill where I won’t be able to outrun them. I should of contacted the local police and filed a complaint but I didn’t. I will next time.

I’m a firm believer in protecting yourself. I come first before someone else’s dog that is running toward me to cause me harm. I carry pepper gel now. It goes farther and has less of a chance of misting than the spray because it’s heavier than liquid. I do know that dogs don’t have tear glands and if I ever had to use it I would feel bad but like I said I come first and if I have to spray a dog, or a pack of dogs to prevent a bite or an attack on me then it’s justified.

I love animals and it’s not the animals fault but if I had to choose between a strangers dog and myself I think I know who I would choose.

-GadgetAdam

(Edit)-I will always try to yell NO at the dog first before moving on to the next step of protecting myself but that only works if the dogs responds to no. I have friends that have house dogs that were never trained what no means.

djnzlab1

HI,
they make a liquid for the Postman to carry its not a spray its like a squirt gun aim at the DOg and if it hits his face he will scream and run and hide.
Its worked for me in the past with a large shepard, he would wimper when he saw a bike.
Doug

Oroluk Lagoon

Most of the time, you don't need the ammonia, just whatever liquid happens to be in the bottle. I get chased fairly often during the months I live and ride in Mexico where there are no leash laws. Usually, all I have to do is slow down and reach for the bottle and they pull up, but if they persist, as soon as I squirt at them they slap on the binders and give up. They don't like having some unknown substance squirted at them--as if they're thinking, "Dude, is that ACID??". Yelling and making an aggressive turnaround also works as others have suggested. I have to admit though that I had a close one up here north of the border about a week ago. I rode down a dead-end rural road and had a Rottweiler come at me in a full-tilt charge. Fortunately "she" pulled up at the last moment and then her owner called her back. The owner said she just wasn't used to seeing anyone come down their/her road. So, just remember, if all you have is water or Gatorade in a bottle, it may well do the job in many cases. As a last resort use your bike as a barrier and a weapon.

sunburst

Yes, I tried it also, while walking in a neighborhood. I really stood my ground and used my best/loudest/most commanding voice. Didn't work worth a f**k!!! Maybe the dog was death. Felt like such a fool. Fortunately the dog had no plans to bite me. Or maybe it did work, but he couldn't slow down fast enough - I don't know.

sknhgy 

I've found out that squirting them with a water bottle doesn't always work either.

rmwkokomo

There are a variety of pocket size ultrasonic dog chasers available. They will startle a dog without apparent injury (many people get hostile if you pepper spray their dog).

IntoThickAir

I've repelled most dogs by waiting until they gallop up within range, then simply squirting them with my water bottle. They don't like it, and usually stop. If they keep coming I stop, get off, and look for a rock to heave at them. Since I live in Arizona, there are plenty of rocks. Most of the canine habitual abusers understand the next action of a person who's just stooped down to pick up something, and they split. On the rare occasion that they don't, I throw the rock. And, rarest of all, I chase them.

IntoThickAir

I forgot to add: when I chase them, they usually flee. But not always. In the Pyrenees Mountains, for example, the guard dogs of the sheep flocks hold their ground. Then you must wait for the sheep herd to call them off. There's no choice but to sit and wait.

nickthaquick1

varuscelli

Nice photo, Nick. But...you should consider not posting images quite so large (1500 pixels is way wider than needed). It fouls up the viewing of the rest of the thread for those of us using smaller monitors.

daredevil

Great story except that it makes most the rest of us look rather ordinary.

NeezyDeezy

FWIW, Cyccommute is clearly the voice of reason in this thread lol

varuscelli

Can't you just yodel them out of the way?

Doohickie

I had an encounter with a bit bull mix yesterday. I saw it before it saw me, and I slowed down to a stop, hoping it wouldn't notice me and go the other way. Then it saw me and came in my direction. I dismounted, and called out, "Hey, baby! How's my baby?" and did more of a cooing voice than a threatening one. The dog stop in its tracks about ten yards from me, and actually wimpered back. Then it started barking again. I just kind of stayed immobile while it walked by. When I felt it was moving on, I walked my bike up the road a little. When it no longer took any notice of me, I got back on and rode away.

I decided to use a cooing tone because when I was on a group ride the day before, a dog came out and one of the female riders basically did the same thing and the dog just kind of stopped and watched us go by.

I guess if you're using dog psychology, there are two options: Convince the dog that yes, you are in fact a threat, and portray yourself as a threat that the dog doesn't want to mess with. Or try to convince the dog you're not a threat. I guess I would do the latter up until the dog got pretty darn close.

Of course, it helped that I noticed the dog first.

sknhgy 

Trouble comes when a dog is upon you before you know what is happening. It's the ones that come out of hiding then attack you that cause problems. When I had my accident, the dog jumped out of some tall weeds right in front of me.
The bottom line is dog owners should keep their pets restrained.
It would be comforting, though, to have a claymore mine on the back of the bike.

BarracksSi

Always have a backup plan for when yelling or cooing doesn't work. Then have a backup for when the backup doesn't work.

You'll have to get this guy out of retirement again, though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmJTYfhBiP4

texraid

How about a Velo Dog? These originated in France in late 1800s as a defense against dogs for cyclists on their velocipedes. Small, compact and fits in your jersey pocket.....

DanKMTB

In my experience, yelling at the dog while running (riding) won't work. You have to stop, stand your ground and mean it. I assume this is because 1) the "chase" is over if you're not on the run and 2) The dogs can usually tell if you're scared, and they'll prey on the fear.

I also always put the bike between myself and the dog. In all my years of riding, there has only been one instance where the dog kept coming, and me swinging the bike at it worked. I have been known to ride with a firearm, but couldn't see myself using it on a domesticated pet. Coyote, fox, rabid fisher, maybe? 2 legged threat? If necessary. Dog? Doubt I have it in me.