jrobe

I have had it with aggressive dogs. I just got one of these Pepper Spray cannisters in the mail today and I am going to use it on my repeat offenders. I have a right to defend myself on public roads.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabre-Cyclist-...1108628&sr=8-1

Shimagnolo

Just what I was thinking!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfv2diohUXE

tntyz

Stop and pet the dog. It's good for your blood pressure.

I've also found that a calming "Easy, pup" is generally better that screaming "NO. Go home!". Dogs have a great sense for determining who is in control of a situation. You've got to get you voice to sound confident and in command. That's not easy when you shouting at the top of your lungs.

Kai Winters

You were attacked and your shoe/foot was bitten by a dog...did you call the police and report the dog attacked and bit your foot?
Or did you wait to get home and online to rant about what you should do?
The dog's "owner", "master", "bonehead who feeds? him/her" is sitting on the porch doing nothing as his dog attacks and bites your foot...I doubt said person is going to respond positively or respond at all to a conversation about his dog attacking someone.
You need to call the police to report the attack, what the "owner" did/did not do and get a copy of the report. It will happen again, and again...etc...

Fortunately I only have one dog that likes to chase me on my normal routes...this dog just likes to run and chase...his barking sounds more like "whee this if fun" rather than "I want to eat your ass"...but he/she does cross in front of me now and then so I have to be careful for both our sakes but if push comes to shove doggie goes down.

I was attacked by a dog, once a few years ago, similar to what you describe, sans the owner around. I had to stop and get off my bike and use it as a shield because the dog got in front of me, trying to bite my leg, causing me to stop. Then the bastard tried real hard to bike me. It found out how f'ing hard cycling shoes are when I caught him a good one in the rib cage...stupid mutt ran, whining all the way...I called the police...always carry a celly when riding...reported the incident and waited for the cop...gave him a description of the dog and where it went...if I had to I would have killed the dog without regret...It could have been a more defenseless person or a kid instead of me...

clarkgriswold

in rural texas as someone else said, people treat their dogs like children, with the exception of letting em run free, and using pepper spray only antagonizes the owner even though they are clearly in the wrong.

I rode with another guy Sunday on a new route for me but he's ridden it enough to know where the dogs are. We encountered about 10 dogs last ride, and that's about half as many as usual for him.

he has a goofy siren that works surprisngly well, and carries a few rocks. He just kind of tosses them at the dog. It it doesn't hit them, the skipping of the rock across the road catches their attention. I know most roadies wouldn't dare carry extra weight but thought it worked out pretty well.

I used the concept that I didn't have to beat the dog, just had to not be the slowest cyclist

I did learn that if you hit the brakes right as they start to come up to the front wheel (and let them shoot past), then veer a little and accelerate that seemed to work well.

yrrej

I have recently started having problems with a Chihuahua! It lives at a house *just* beyond the end of a fairly steep hill.

The rascal sees/hears me coming and runs out into *my* lane and starts barking. So I am closing on the rascal in the
upper twenties and have to decide to go left or right while it is dancing in my lane.

Freaky scary....

I assume hitting the beast will put me on the asphalt in an instant.

Jerry

dmann

I have never had a "good" encounter with an aggressive dog whilst riding the bike. To all those that advocate a stirring round of Kumbaya.....sing away as Fido chews on your leg maybe you can buy a clue?

banerjek

There are a number of methods that work the vast majority of the time with dogs. The specific thing you do (yelling, water bottle, whatever) is not important. What is important is to keep calm, not let the dog dominate you, or get amped up yourself.

If you are afraid of being bitten or prepare for battle, you are provoking the dog. Yes, you have the right to defend yourself. Yes, the dog shouldn't be running loose. But you still should want to do things the easy way, and if we're smarter than dogs we'll know more about handling the encounters than they will.

Your best bet is on keeping a cool head, reading the situation, and doing what is needed. I realize this is sometimes easier said than done, especially when dealing with multiple poorly socialized dogs in the middle of nowhere. But there is a reason that some of the people who encounter dogs the most have very few problems.

LAriverRat

I learned the salesman's kick a long time ago(was a door to door salesman). They usually go for the ankle or shoe from behind, i just time it when they going for the bite and quickly bring my heel up under its muzzle, it shuts its mouth, lifts its head up and stops it in its tracks. If once is not enough i just repeat until the stupid dog quits. You will be surprised how much force you can put into it. Never had a dog bite me. However had a cat attack me, it just clawed its way up my chest before i knew what was happening, it got to my face before it took a long flight to a wall. Have not yet be chased while on my bike but i will practice to see if i can do this while on the bike.

dmann

Agreed! We are not out there for Fido's benefit, the sooner Fido learns to avoid us the better. If that means turning in aggressively and squeezing off a stream of HALT to send muttley a message so be it. We can usually handle the encounter, I do worry about kids and seniors falling victim (as a kid I was mauled) not a great memory!

dman-ebike

Theres a very small dog down the street that likes to chase me. For fun, I harrass the dog and see how fast he can run. Its 20mph for the tiny dog. Amazing.

xray1978

I almost never go this route, thanks for the heads up! I like riding around Clinton/Lone star lakes. I never have problems with Frat kids, maybe it is the shaven head and crazy look in my eye? Lawrence is liberal, by Kansas standards. LOL

recon455

Jed19

This is key. Dogs are pack animals that instinctively probe for and can sense fear. Keep calm and either let the dog know that you won't be intimidated or calmly and authoritatively bark commands like Go! etc can, and does help a lot in getting the dog to back off. If you have to, get off the bike, maintain eye contact and calmly walk away. You'll be surprised at how the dog will back off. It may still continue to bark, but it won't try to attack.

stevetone

NOT this. This is rewarding the dog for bad behavior.

This is better.

Y'all that treat this as some kind of "race" (fact: dogs do not race, they pursue) or feel that it is an insignificant threat are delusional.

Loose dogs have the ability to kill you, either by causing a fatal accident or by their set of "carpet knives" that they have in their mouths. Any dog that is chasing "prey" (i.e., you) has the ability to end your life. And, being an animal, they have no moral value system to prevent them from acting this way.

Everyone has the right to take any steps necessary to defend themselves from an animal attack, including he use of deadly force. Pepper spray is the minimum acceptable defense.

(Oh, and for you PETA people. Yes I am a dog (and cat) owner, and yes I would defend myself, even to the point of using deadly force, if attacked by my dog or any other dog (or the cat, lol).)

merlinextraligh

Dude you got to be able to bunnyhop a Chihuahua. Even if you don't clear it, you'll be fine as long as at least the front wheel clears.

Univega

This goes back years, but one dog would always chase me and like you the owner was right there. I got really sick of it. One day I took my big Rambo style knife. The dog came running, with the owner there. I got off my bike and pulled out the knife. The dog owner must have seen it back he started calling the dog back. I thought we were going to exchange words, but he just took the dog inside.

I have to find that pepper spray post. Not all sprays are effective as you may think.

Univega

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...t=pepper+spray

This is the post. Read comments by Kimbercop

FreddyV

The most efficient solution when a dog's not got hold of you yet: Outsprint him. I've learned a dobermann doesn't run 60km/h.

When it's got hold of you, let him hold on and get to a stop ASAP. Then one blow between the eyes is all you need to permanently solve this problem. Yes, you'll have pain. Yes, you will get sued. Yes, you will win.

Don't take the last one too seriously.

(Seriously: Animal control. They can help.)

kutipper

+1. We do live in Kansas, Less cars once out of town.

kutipper

It seems to happen quite often in this town.

Peter.J

Pettting the dog is NOT rewarding for bad behavior. This is letting the dog know that you are not a threat. I've had great results with giving the dogs treats. Has anyone else tried to give the dogs treats? I don't mean carrying dog food on rides but if you've got some fuel for your ride like a banana, break of a piece and feed the dog.

mwchandler21

Since I got bit on the ankle a month ago I have bought and used Halt(pepper spray) on about 4 or 5 dogs. Before getting bit I would have squirted 3 of them with water, but I am a bit less forgiving to any dog within 5 feet of me or my wheels now. It has thus far worked on every dog I actually hit, they stop chasing you and head toward their water bowl.
One problem with the spray though is if you are moving you need to be careful not to spray yourself. It is also more difficult than I expected to hit something with the spray while moving. I'd say it took about 4 or 5 attempts before I got this one aggressive dog on my normal route. Once you get one with the pepper spray it pretty much cures them of chasing you for a while at least.

skijor

+1, although I typically only carry mine after an incident.
140dB at ~10ft definitely gets their attention...like the loudest bark they've ever heard. Huh?

10 Wheels