cooker

Not having a PhD in animal behaviour like you, many of us have neither the expertise nor desire, to make a judgement from a moving bike on which pit bull just wants to play, and will be friendly if we stop and and make nice.

You can try it if you like.

Good luck.

meanwhile

I'd add -

- If the OP can't safely approach the house, he can *then* opt to 4

- Re feeling guilty if the animal gets into trouble, the animal is *less* likely to get into trouble if restrained. An unrestrained dog could go under a car, cause an accident, or bite a child (especially if another couple of dogs come along and a pack forms). Taking moderate action now is the option most likely to benefit the dog.

- Having talked to the owner or authorities, the OP might want to carry a defensive spray for a few weeks, so that he can use it in the circumstances Banzai's excellent post defines.

meanwhile

I don't blame anyone who decides not to take chances with an apparently attacking animal, but I still think this is a very useful post. I know you provided references to papers, but can you give any links to useful sites on this?

Machka 

From my experience, there are three types of dog encounters:

1) The dog is playing ... and my advice about pretending to throw something, or getting off the bicycle works well.

2) The dog is herding. Border Collies, very popular dogs in this area, are born herders and so they will herd anything in sight, including a cyclist riding by. Talking to the dog often works, to let the dog know that you're human, not an odd-looking cow or sheep. And getting off the bicycle also works.

3) Dogs in packs of two or more. These are scary because they are not just playing or herding, they are trying to take you down. If you watch their behaviour ... one will be up in front trying to head you off. It will get in front of your wheel and try to get you to "stumble". It will be the one that is barking The other one will be on the other side, but hanging back a bit and it will be quiet. Basically, as soon as you "stumble" the silent one will be on you. I haven't tried getting off the bicycle with these ones, instead I sprint.


You've got to know your breeds and their behaviours.

mojomuskrat

I posted some links earlier, and here are a couple more. There are lots of sites out there for dog owners who want to break their dogs of chasing bikes, but that hardly helps us any. I was unable to find many sites devoted to dogs chasing bicycles, and most of them are based on some degree of speculation, when some kind of objective tests/knowledge/evidence would be more convincing.

If you want a somewhat objective assessment of how frequent dog bites to cyclists are and ways to avoid them, just use this forum. Think of the amount of traffic this site receives and how many posters make threads every time they break a spoke, have a flat, sneeze while riding, whatever. Searching all forums for the words "bite" or "bitten" results in a grand total of 5 posts I could easily find where people report actually being bitten by dogs, and in all cases the rider did not stop the bike or interact with the dog in any way before the bite. The bike was moving when the person was bitten for all 5 reports nor did they yell, squirt water, talk to the dog, etc. In half the cases, the owner was out walking the dog on a MUP, one of which was leashed!

Most of the search results from "dog" search of these forums involved people who were chased on their rides, but they either outran them or stopped and the dog stopped chasing. It seems to me like you're very unlikely to be bitten to begin with, considering a dog bite would be very likely to get posted here, but you're more likely to get bitten if you don't stop.

Here are the 5 posts I could find. Feel free to post others if you find them, but even at double this no. of threads, it appears to be very rare occurrence. I'd also be interested to see a post in which a bite is reported after the cyclist stops (unless aggressive moves had already been made toward the dog at that point).
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...highlight=bite
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=bitten
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=bitten
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=bitten
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=bitten

Here are a few useful links:
https://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/cycling/14981.asp
https://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/traffic/dogs.htm
https://www.accessfayetteville.org/go...fety/index.cfm

phinney

I've been bitten at least three times by dogs while riding my bike. My wife was bitten badly just last year and crashed hard a couple of years before that when a large dog came out of nowhere, took out her front wheel, and sent her over the bars. Seems like there have also been a couple of fatal dog attacks in the region over the last several years. If I remember right one of the fatal attacks was on a rail trail - two rotts got a female jogger. If you decide to get off your bike and confront the dog you better have a backup plan if it decides not to play nice.

I now ride quite often either towing my four year old in a trailer or with my six year old on a Piccolo. I have absolutely zero tolerance for dogs that chase. Even friendly dogs that are just chasers are a threat to cause a traffic accident. Any dog that chases me gets reported and the owner gets a talking to. If any dog gets too close I'm perpared to and will kill it on the spot.

devildogmech

Sounds reasonable to me.... Not being a smartass. I have three kids myself. I'd drop fido in a heartbeat if I thought one of my kids was going to get bit.

thechemist

Thanks again guys. I certainly didnt mean to demoralize the pitbull breed as I actually like them. Thanks for the references as well and various links. It takes a lot of will power to stop the bike and talk to the dog(given i even have time) but I may as well try. Treats sound good too. Lots of thoughts to mull over. I still have not done anything as of yet but may try a few things out and certianly try to keep harm away from the dog

huhenio

What brand of pepper spray?

capejohn

Dog's need to be told (taught) what to do. Yell "GO HOME!!" followed by a blast from your water bottle. One or two of these you won't need the bottle. Yelling "GO HOME" will associate the dog with the spray.

Note: Don't do this with Labs. They love the water bottle game.

I also agree that pit bulls are not normally bad dogs. They are getting the reputation that Shepards, Dobermans then Rotwiellers had.

cooker

Do you mean this reputation?

Banzai

If I could. I'm a bit confused about how I would manage to kill a dog like, say, mine...without a firearm.

Keep in mind that treats may ensure that the dog is always there to meet you. Even though you have won a new "friend", that friend may still be hazardous to your forward motion.

Edit: The new "multi-quote" feature is very nice.

banerjek

I'm following your logic until they get too close -- they don't even need to act hostile to get the death sentence? Just out of curiosity, what do you do about threatening motorists? They cause far more serious injuries and fatalities than dogs.

Whenever I see threads like this, I wonder why some people ride. I think cycling is a great activity, but you really need to be able to manage risks and work with the conditions you will encounter.

Cycling like walking on a roof -- those who are calm and confident do fine while the ones that are scared are almost guaranteed to have trouble. When people start cycling and ask me for advice, I always recommend they learn to deal with traffic and other conditions before riding in certain places.

It really is worth understanding the best ways to deal with certain risks. For example, newbie cyclists often ride the wrong way down streets because they think it is safer. Interestingly enough, I have never met an experienced cyclist who believes this. All the same, I get the occasional lecture from a novice or nonrider who is positive they are right and who thinks they can make me safer.

Anyone who knows anything about dogs will tell you that you drastically increase your chances of having problems when you prepare aggressive measures of the sort some here advocate for as soon as you see a dog.

thechemist

Guess I will add while researching pepper spray that it is important to get the right kind. Dogs do not have tear ducs like humans and need a special spray. I dont plan on this route anymore but thought i would throw it out there since the subject seems frequent.

Machka 

And of course, you realize that if there's a wind, you could end up with the spray back in your own eyes.

tekknoschtev

insult + injury

zeytoun

Punish the owner, not the dog. If a dog comes running after you on your bike, ride your bike past the owner, and pepper-spray him/her in the face.

phinney

Too close means different things in different situations. If I'm alone then I would most likely give the dog the benefit of the doubt and one bite. Once it bites me there's no longer any doubt and it's life is over. If the kids are with me I'll do whatever I have to to make damn sure it doesn't get the first bite on them. If in my judgement the dog is overly aggressive, an imminent threat to the kids, and there is no easier way out you better believe I'd kill it (or any other similar threat) on the spot.

In the last few years I've had two major dog incidents both involving my wife. Both times she sustained injuries that required medical attention. Fortunately she wasn't hurt worse - she easily could have been. Both incidences resulted in dead dogs that didn't get a chance to hurt anyone else. She certainly was not out looking for trouble.

Several times I've confronted dog owners that didn't properly control their dogs. Each time it resulted in the problem being resolved (sometimes this meant a dead dog).

I've cycled all my life and raised, owned, and sold dogs much of my life (a family business going back generations). Please don't suggest I'm a newbie at cycling or dogs.

Aggressive dogs exist on many of the roads around here. I expect some of them are posted at meth labs to keep people away. I'd be a naive and irresponsible parent not to be prepared to deal with them.

As far as a threatening motorist. If anyone threatens my life or my families life I would do what I had to do to eliminate the threat. What would you do?