Many of the "dog encounter" threads I've been reading include arguments that most dogs are only "having fun" or "chasing you off their turf" and that most won't bite you. Many riders just outdistance or outlast a chasing dog.

A chasing dog is a hazard. Even if it doesn't bite you, it has the potential to take you down through direct contact or distraction. Even a small dog can take you out.

Dogs are predatory by nature. Even a friendly dog, even a dog you know, may have a burst of predatory, territorial, or fearful instinct and hurt you.

Running from a predatory or territorial animal encourages the aggressive behavior. Chasing is an aggressive behavior. Instinct in a predator says, "if it's running away, it's probably something I should chase." Even if you can outrun the dog, you may be increasing the chances that the next guy gets hurt.

Chasing bikes or runners is a bad habit. Getting rebuked (yelling "bad dog" or "get home") or whooped (kicked, pepper-sprayed, etc.) by a "prey animal" (cyclist) can go a long way in conditioning a dog not to chase bikes. In my experience, it's easier to spend a little extra time training the dogs on my regular routes that chasing me is not a good idea than to try to evade them every day.

You'll have more luck training the dogs along the way than the owners. Owners often see passers-by as the problem, not their dogs. Besides, the dogs are often more intelligent.

If you can make friends with a dog, great. If the dog is truly hostile, deal with it (pepper spray, animal control, baton to the head, etc.), chances are no one else is going to for you. Owner badmouths you? Invite them to call the police.

No, I am not a dog-hater. I love dogs. I've had several, been friends with many more. But I've never met one that I was willing to wear a body cast for, get rabies shots for, or die for.

Last thought: The moose that doesn't run from the wolves is rarely eaten by the wolves.

End of rant.

I was being chased once by a farm dog going up a hill. It was agressive so I pepper sprayed it. It backed off but was blinded and got hit by a car that was in back of me. The car, of course, didn't stop. It absolutely killed me that the dog got hit. I felt horrible for having pepper sprayed it, even though I was completely in the right.

I learned how to fend them off without pepper spraying them. First, if they are in the road, go straight at them, then vear off at the last minute.

Get a water bottle that throws a fine stream of water. Let the dog begins to run after you, and when it gets close, spray it in the eyes with the water bottle. The dog will stop immediately, you get away, and the dog recovers after about 5 seconds. I've never had one come at me again after being hit with water. I can get them at about 15 feet away and usually never even have to break my stride.

I've found that swinging your pump towards a dog, without striking, is very effective at getting it to back off. Yelling "NO!" is usually also effective.

I've been chased by so many dogs, I'm hardly concerned anymore. Most dogs seem to be in it for fun, but once in a while, a dog seems a bit too serious. That's when the pump comes out. Never had to hit a dog and have yet to be bitten or taken down.

Why, do people, make such a gigantic deal about things like this? If a dog chases me he gets a a kick to the jaw.

I too have found that a loud, firm, sudden "NO" is often enough to stop a dog.

I'm with you nakota. Sprinting away from a chasing dog, even within safe distance, is not the solution for the reasons you cite + it's a great way to crash or hit/get hit. Though I have heard this recommended so many times :rolleyes:

Dismounting and placing bike between rider and dog is the best way. Hold bike by the saddle and handlebar, if dog proves to be dangerous, use bike as a shield, pointing the chainring at its head.

Most of the time, the dog will turn back without further action. Yelling: "go back" or the kind is the way to go if the dog is defiant. I found that sometime just talking to the dog calmly lead to good results.

And yes, they tend to leave you alone the next time around! Good dogs! ;)

then how we can do sprints with Eddy?

Yeah I was chased a few times by the same dog on one of my usual routes. I don't think pepper spray is actually legal where I live, so that wasn't the best option. I tried shouting a firm command but the dog never seemed discouraged. I had previously read posts about using the water bottle, striking the dog with some object. I find it quite difficult to steer a bicycle, change gears, reach for the water bottle or object and aim at the dog all at once.

In the end shouting at the dog got boring, so I just ended up changing my route. My new route includes more hills and is a better workout, so the dog thing may have been a blessing in disguise. It was time to change my route anyway.

Just employ the tactic we use with grizzlies out here, ride with someone slower than yourself.

When I was a teenager I was chased by an aggressive dog. When it got close I braked hard and the dog overshot me. I then gave it a hard kick between the rear legs. That was nearly 50 years ago and I havent had any trouble with dogs chasing me since then - the word must have been passed around dog to dog.

Attitude has a huge difference in how dogs treat you. Dealing with dogs is a lot like working on a roof. If you're in control, things will normally work out. If you're scared, it's really easy to get hurt.

Accidents will happen, but you need to call the authorities if owners are irresponsible. Some dogs are dangerous outright and others represent a threat to those who can't defend themselves. Besides, there's always an outside chance that the owners will start acting more responsibly or that the dog will find a home with someone willing to take care of it if the cops get involved.

What happened to the dog? Did you stop, and see if it was alive?

The dog was alive, so I went to the nearest house and asked them to call the police. Bad memory.

Those who fear dogs often stare at them, watching to see if it will give chase. This is the wrong thing to do. Dogs interpret staring as a challenge and so will be more likely to behave agressively. Peripheral vision is plenty good for detecting motion, no need to stare.

But if they do give chase, I'm with the op: don't encourage chasing behaviour.

Dogs will normally be scared off by a fog horn. If you have nasty dogs on route, I would try that out first. It's the safest for all involved, and probably works very well.

I say this, b/c horns are the recommended training techniques for getting dogs to stop chasing cars. They generally work very well.

I was a mail carrier, prior to retirement a couple of years ago, for almost 35 years, so I've seen my share of dog encounters over the years.

My case has always been that there is a lease law here, and anytime a dog is loose they are fair game to whatever needs to be done to keep a person safe. I don't want to hurt the animal, but I've always done whatever is neccesary. I've used this spray for many years, both on and off the bike.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

My one day record for being chased by dogs is 12 encounters (Geauga County, OH).
One of which ended tragically when the dog ran in front of me.
I say tragically because I tore my favorite jersey when I 'T-boned' the beast.
I have been a huge fan of bear spray since that day.

Enjoy

Bad dogs are more often than not the result of irresponsible people. <soapbox>Irresponsible sh*theads with compensation issues seem to be drawn like magnets to the most difficult to manage dogs.</soapbox>

I'm not against self defense and have some nice marks on my arms, legs, and hands to remind me of what those long canine teeth can do once they've sunk in. However, punishing an animal for being what it is does not solve any problems because the kind of knucklehead that lets dogs run loose along a road will just continue what s/he is doing. If the dog suffers, they don't give a damn, and if it gets killed, they just get another so the process can repeat.

If people won't do what they're supposed to, a little encouragement (possibly involving legal or financial incentives) is necessary. Properly managed, no breed is inherently dangerous and if you do something that helps people correct their behavior, word might get around to other irresponsible owners who would rather not deal with cops or lawyers.

Totally agree. Pepper spray the owner, who really deserves it!

Only problem I see is that you eventually run out of slower friends. :eek:

Uh, dogs often run in packs, what if every dog in the pack wants its own chew toy?

Having nearly run into bears on bikes and a fair amount of dogs as well, I now carry a pepper spray that's the size of a can of Red Bull. It's permanetly mounted to my touring bike above the front derailleur. I keep smaller cans taped to the seatstays of my city bikes.

I used to keep a big stick in the back of my truck for when I visited my boyfriend. There was a loose, unstable German Shepard there (rural area) and the only way to get from my truck to his door was to carry that stick (more like a log) for protection. The dog still bit me.

On a 24 mile day hike I was bit by a dog--part German Shepard--with 7 miles left to go. German shepards scare me. Too inbred or something.

The chihuahuas really hate me when I ride by on my trike. I really get their ire up. But they don't frighten me like the big dogs. I only like little dogs now.

I'm all for protection that doesn't hurt the animal. Mostly I try to avoid dogs as much as possible. I'm a sitting duck for a dog on this trike.

I'm all teary eyed over animals, but come on! - He chases, you spray, he gets hit by a car, and he survives! I'd call that the perfect outcome, if I could get every one of them to be hit by a car, I can't imagine a better outcome.

I got seriously chased by one dog in my life, and managed to outsprint it... Then I toured through New Brunswick. I got chased by every dog in the province. I got chased by dogs in packs, from afar, from in close. Big dogs, every one of them. They showed up at the top of steep climbs, on bridges, all kinds of places where I couldn't have stopped often enough, or run hard enough to get passed them.

In this case it isn't bad people. It's nice people who go to work in the morning and rather than leaving their dogs cooped up in the house they let them run wild. The dogs have probably never seen a bike. Im not sure how I could have carried enough pepper spray for all of them. You can't kill them because when they weren't trying to kill me they were probably beloved family pets. Just ruined my trip in that particular province. Search out the busy roads next time.

I just ignore them.I figured out a long time ago that it is close to impossible for a dog to bite a moving leg on a moving bike with moving wheels fore and aft.When you start all the cute evasion moves-pepper spraying-etc-you become distracted and run into something.Just downshift to increase the leg RPMs,and be on your way.I have to admit The heading straight at the dog is a pretty good idea-it works.Thanks.Charlie
PS-The bodycast doesn't come from being bitten by a dog-it barely hurts(we used to breed beagles,and I used to break up the fights-lotta bikes-nips).The bodycast is from becoming distracted by a minor nuisance.Very few dogs can really hurt an adult male much-pit bull etc.Save the pepper spray for the human predators.Adult male bike riders are never killed by dog bites-they get killed by cars,and thugs-not dogs.