For those of you who encounter dogs off leash on your rides, what do you do? I was biking out in the county where I live (very rural area) and at the bottom of a long descent a big dog jumped in front of me while I was going 30+ mph. I had to slam on the brakes and skid out to avoid hitting it and then it chased me until I was no longer on the road that goes past its territory. There's no leash law out here so they can't be ticketed until it actually causes a problem. Consequently, it means whatever happens with your dog off your property is your problem and if your dog gets hurt, tough luck. I don't think biking with my .45 would be a great idea (especially at 1085g ) but maybe carrying mace? Still... when it takes a split second for a dog to jump out of nowhere idk what you really can do.

yell "GET!! GET!! GET!!!!!!!" as loud as i can. dogs usually cower and run away.
be the alpha male, and they will respect you.

I hear pepper spray is better than mace on dogs.

TIL there's a difference between pepper spray and mace. From my 10 seconds of googling it looks like you're right about pepper spray being more effective

Yeah, my dad was a mailman for many years. I often got the talk about mace vs. pepper spray.

first, i like dogs more than most people.

someone on a bike is like candy for a dog with a strong prey drive. it's just fun to chase.

yelling or a squirt from a water bottle -typically- works.

OC / pepper spray at 10% or better, with a shot to the snout, should work on the rest.

all that said, do what you have to to get home safe. period.

Be careful using the pepper spray and be aware of direction of the wind. I learned the hard way. On a real windy day it may be useless. Most dogs will not bite you but they will take you down. Dogs also cause chaos in a paceline. I had to have rotator cuff surgery and was off the bike four months due to a doggie created crash. I slow way down if I see a dog and sometimes I stop. Stopping really takes the fun out of it for the dogs! I will sometimes out sprint Fast Eddie but only if I am confident I will win. This is the exception however. Most of the time I go very slow and or stop.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to ride around with a super soaker strapped to my back

the only problem i have with dogs here is when people use those invisible leash contraptions and i have to hit the oh **** button when im 5 feet away and realize theres a cord going across the entire path

theres usually a dog related thread in the commuting forum though i dont think any of it concludes anything about how to keep it from happening, more of a like a today i: but with dogs

Carry the .45

This is stupid, I'm assuming you're joking.

Carry some kind of OC spray if it makes you feel safe. You'll probably never have to/get to use it, though. I've been chased before, but only ran into a problem when I was on a trail I was unfamiliar with. Flatted out after hitting a massive dip in the gravel while sprinting out of the saddle away from a massive german sheperd, thus smashing los huevos on my TT. Ran into a dead end 1/4 mile later and ended up running through a field full of thorns, thus cutting myself all the **** over. Also tripped and fell facefirst into an anthill, thus completely covering myself in ants. Like, I'm a cup of soft serve under a sprinkle-dispensing machine covered. The dog caught up to me after I gave up running, picked up a stick and decided I'd beat it to death.

Turns out he just wanted to play. I informed the owner if his dog wasn't leashed by the time I retrieved my bike, I'd be beating him to death, though.

TL ; DR, Be the alpha like johnny said. Dogs don't wanna get hurt. If you try and sprint in an unfamiliar area you can royally screw your day up like I did.

Totally kidding.

Get something bigger. .44 magnum?

I carry everywhere. No reason my bike should be any different.

Heavy iz good. Heavy iz reliable. If it does not work, you can always hit him with it.

One of my favorite movies.

Ya like dags?

Ya men degs?

Aye.

Wow, what a trip!

Yeah I think the alpha dog advice is pretty good because when it comes down to it, if a dog actually gets you off the bike and attacks you, it doesn't take the hulk to hurt it back. That said, a full size diesel pickup roaring down the street puts no fear in the heart of my miniature dachshund and he will attack it relentlessly. Commanding respect can be easier said than done.

When I used to live in a rural area where dogs were unchained, and I was riding a new route, I carried a knife. Pretty much safety blanket effect, but it would've probably saved me from something in some weird scenario maybe. Water works well, and apparently so does getting off the bike and turning it perpendicular to the dog, with you behind it facing and yelling.

I'm not dumb enough to stop for a chasing dog though.

This leaves me conflicted because I really like dogs a lot, but also really hate people who don't take responsibility for their animals. A typical dog encounter for me is an off-leash dog wandering into a designated bike lane - in that scenario often you can alert the dog of your presence with yelling. A bell works well here too if you start early enough but often you just have to startle the dog so that it reacts by getting out of the way. Side benefit is usually freaking out the dog owner who might actually look up from their cell phone.

Someone else mentioned those retractable leashes and I can see those being a real problem. I haven't had to deal with that yet and don't look forward to how poorly I do when it happens. Hopefully not fisticuffs.

I guess I have been lucky and have only had to swerve to avoid a clumsy dog who couldn't read road signs a few times. At least I've been able to direct any frustration toward the owner and not the pet. I haven't actually been chased by a dog while on a bike since I was a paperboy and even then, it was a pomeranian. I made it's owner pay me double that week for the papers and he told me to kick it into the bushes next time. Apparently it was the wife's dog and lucky for me, there was no next time.

Nice to hear you made it out! Possibly worst cause scenario = you crash & wreck & mauled & posting this from hospital bed.


Anyhow, this got me thinking considering I've never had this problem or thought about it.
Considering, I've seen mail carriers with small white and red bottles of pepper spray attached to the strap of their bags, mace would be a good thing to have in a jersey back pocket.
For a more humane way, a mini propelled air horn should theoretically shoo such a dog away.

If this was the Road Forum, they'd suggest you do a flying leap off your bike and onto the dog, wrestling it to the ground and then shooting it in the head as you twist and break its neck simultaneously.

In the real world, shouting basic bad doggy commands at it should work, or a spray with the water bottle, or a kick if it comes to that. If the dog is really aggressive, you may need to hop off the bike and put it between you and the dog. The trick is being the alpha and taking control of the situation.

I've yet to have an issue with a dog, guess I've been lucky. The mostly just get loud barkers which I yell "hush" at. There's also one route I take on occasion where I pass a fenced in yard and the owners have about 10 yorkies. It's hilarious to watch 10 little dogs the size of a football all come charging across the yard barking at me.

This has worked well for me too, but I suspect it works better in an urban setting than a more rural one. EpicSchwinn was speaking about large, rural dogs who are off leash and aggressive. For dogs who have been trained to guard an area, being alpha is not going to cut it most times. The dog has a job to do and you are an intruder. If it can chase you off (ie. you outrun it) then the dog feels it has done it's job well and you managed to avoid injury. If you are forced to stop and haven't brought specific countermeasures like pepper spray and the like, just keep the bike in the middle until you can get away or the situation changes. The larger problem is the owners who feel it is acceptable to have an animal that is openly hostile toward strangers, but again, that seems to be a rural problem moreso than an urban one.

I usually just slow down to a near stop and they don't want to chase any more. I'll yell at them if I have to. Never been bitten. Most dogs I've encountered only seem aggressive because they are chasing. Once you eliminate the chase aspect they calm down and lose interest. I'm sure there are truly nasty dogs out there for which this doesn't work but I have not had to deal with them.

I was really hoping this was the thread where we post pictures of our awesome dogs.