ok_commuter

Less than a mile from my house, just after the first major street I cross and just before the next one (Guadalupe), a Rottweiler explodes out of his front yard and gives chase. Loud barking. Gears changing. Chain straining.

A dog can't outsprint me.

Two 25 mph blocks later, once the dog is well behind me, it hits me.

I sprinted straight through the intersection at Guadalupe - a 2-way stop for my direction and 35 mph for the cross traffic - without looking or even realizing it. It was early in the morning, but that's still very bad. That's a busy street.

What do I do next time?

Luddite

Bludgeon the ugly thing. I hate Rottenweilers and I'm a dog lover!

Yo, call the SPCA/Police...the owners need to be cited/taken out and shot.

travelmama

Squirt the dog in the face with water from your water bottle. That will teach him not to mess with a cyclist.

woodway

+1. Call the local animal control officer and let them know what's going on. Around here, these complaints are taken seriously and I have seen a dog owner get a big fat ticket for not controlling his animal. Do it NOW, don't wait for someone else to deal with the problem. The next cyclist past could be a five year old kid.

JanMM

Carry some Halt!

bugly64

I bunny-hopped a dobberman when I was a teen running from the cops. He crouched when he saw I wanted to play chicken with him.

Paco97

Call animal control. My wife and I had something similar happened and we ignored it. Then one day my wife was riding alone and the dog got very aggressive towards her. It just so happened the Dog lived halfway up a hill and she was going uphill slow and it chased her and bumped her into a ditch. Fortunately it didn't bite her and she was able to get out of the ditch without falling over. Turns out the dog was a known problem dog and the owner was forced to relocate the dog at a new residence or surrender the dog. My wife still will not ride that same stretch again alone.

MMACH 5

I usually stop and yell "NO!" in the deepest, most intimidating voice I can find. When there's not something to chase, they nearly always stop (especially the vocal ones).

I've only actually had to get off my bike once for a dog that was still coming. I kept the bike between him and me while charging straight at him. He turned and barked over his shoulder as he went back to his yard.

unterhausen

I actually kicked a dog the other day. Kinda surprised myself. Dog had the angle, I unclipped, he was in range so I let loose. After the fact I wonder if that was really necessary.

Definitely report the dog to animal control. In some states they need more than one report before they can do anything.

Bm7b5

I've done the exact same thing with the same result, but I'm sure there are dogs that wouldn't scare so easily.

Artkansas 

That's the thing. Saying "No" isn't about scaring the dog. It's about dominance. Dogs are suckers for the dominance/submission thing. They just need some help knowing which role they are playing. And "No" is a word that virtually every dog in the English-speaking world understands. (Except for the ones that are trained in German, then you have to say "Nein". )

Fleeing on your bicycle is definitely a submission thing.

lil brown bat

I concur with others: if the dog has had the least amount of training, it knows what "No!" means. It also knows that the street isn't its property and, if reminded with a "No!", it knows that it is being a Bad Dog and will knock it off.

Now, if you're very unlucky and the dog has been raised to be antisocial, it's a whole 'nother kettle of fish, but there are generally signs if that's the case.

Edit: and oh yeah, Animal Control. The "No!" thing might work for you, but someone else might not know to use it and could end up in bad trouble as a result. It's a kindness all around to get the dog's behavior curbed before it ends in tears.

uke

This guy's got the right idea.

MMACH 5

If I was a superstitious person, I'd think this thread jinxed me.

This morning, I broke a spoke so I had to stop and zip-tie-rig it for the rest of my commute. This put me about 15 minutes late going through an industrial area. Well, there is a business with what I assume are their "guard dogs" since they are in the fenced area, at night. Anyway, the few times that I have ridden by after 8:30am, the dogs are loose, in front of the shop and they are vicious sounding beasts who insist on chasing me.

The other times this has happened the yahoos that work there were standing around in the parking lot and called the dogs back. Today, the dogs were unsupervised so I had to get off the bike and charge at them. It worked and I went on with my commute, but I'm wondering if this is kind of like talking about flats (the first rule of discussing flat tires is you don't discuss flat tires).

bikegeek57

definitely call the animal control folks on this one. that's really dangerous as they have been trained to be aggressive and now they are loose? nice.

pathdoc

My AirZound airhorn slows most dogs down. It startles them and they usually give up the chase.

unterhausen

"No!" has worked for me in the past. If there is more than one dog, you may be in trouble.
I was riding up a long hill (one of the climbs on a ride known as the 7 climbs of death) and a muscular dog came running full speed from someone's backyard with teeth bared. I thought I was in big trouble, but as it got close, I shouted "No!," and he stopped. I made the mistake of pointing, which is a good way to get nipped, and he looked like he was considering it before he turned around and went back to his yard.

DanBraden

OOooh, dog stories! I like a good chase provided the dog is smallish and/or I'm not being chased from a dead stop. I am actually pretty wary of dogs in general, so that's why it's a real rush when I get surprised by a 4 legged ambush. When I ride down Shepherd St. there is a little dog who's tied up on the front porch of a house I pass. Every time I ride by, no matter the time of day, the little bugger gives chase until he's snapped back to reality by his lead. I've actually grown quite fond of the mongrel and mockingly referr to it as the "Terror o' Shepherd Street!" I guess it's one of those situations that you have to be there to really appreciate it.

MMACH 5

Yes, this is why I referred to them as yahoos.

I just submitted a report to the city. I'll let you know if I hear back from them.

Sixty Fiver

The dog wasn't nearly motivated enough as I am pretty sure a fit Rottweiler can hit 30 in a sprint... be thankful it wasn't a Doberman as they are nearly greyhound fast.

With that being said... call animal control as even if the big monster only wanted to play he/she is gonna end up as road kill.

JimF22003

Shouting at the dog works more often than not. The key I think is to wait as long as possible, till the dog is within six feet or so of you, before yelling. If you yell too soon they have a chance to startle, and then recover.

I've had dogs actually skid on their paws coming to a stop after I've yelled at them. Hope they skinned their paws up good

Cycho

I would hate to think that one of those signs is when the antisocial dog is clamped down around your calf muscle. That's a dead giveaway. Any other clues to antisocial dog behavior you can share?

jdmitch

Yet another "Call animal control" suggestion. One shouldn't cop out trying to be a nice guy and not make trouble. All you are really doing is making sure some other (maybe slower) schmuck gets hurt because you don't want the owner called to task.

Da Tinker

The state of Texas & the city of Austin both have leash laws. Seek enforcement.

xtrajack

There is a little sheltie that comes running out at me every morning on my way home. He doesn't actually leave his yard,so I always say "good morning puppy" to him. On the mornings that he isn't outside I almost miss him.