|3iker

Grrr..... I am more pissed at the owner(s) than the dog to be honest. It happened on a MUP. I was riding on my usual speed trying to get home. From a distance I saw a couple and a off leash dog. At the back of my mind, I anticipate trouble. The dog was looks to be straying away from its mistresses. As I approach, the mistresses called the dog, but the dog ignored them.
About 15ft away, the dog saw me and came towards me. I was slowing down with my hands were on the brakes. True enough the dog came right in front of my bike. Like ???
I stopped right in front of the stupid pooch. One of the older **** yelled "You almost hit him!" I just shook my head in total disgust. The dog ran right in front of me beotches! That damn dog of theirs wanted to commit suicide by bike by crossing the path towards my side!
I gave them a glare and shook my head more. Decided to attribute this to poor dog control as usual and pedaled on.
Apologies for some strong words. But nothing irks me more than idiotic bone headed dog owners falsely accusing others for their lack of canine control. I hate them more than cagers!

whitecat

And proper response is to yell back "You almost had the dog on the leash there for a moment! Almost!"

That would probably bring the message across if they are able to comprehend. But hey, I came to expect such things when riding, so always have brakes ready and expect the most innapropriate action from everything in your way - if there is a pedestrian looking right toward you and plainly being abe to see you coming, you can be sure he will step right in front of you just as you're about to pass him

AzTallRider

It's definitely not the dogs; it's the owners. They see you coming and start calling their dog or yanking on the leash, usually getting the dog right in front of you as a result. Or worse is a dog on a leash in a tunnel, with the leash stretched across so there is NO place to go. With an iPod, naturally, so the owner can't hear you! At least when I've had to stop to avoid dogs, the owners have apologized instead of trying to blame me.

cyclokitty 

I've had similar experiences on the Beltline Trail near me. It's ridiculous some days -- I slow down, I give a warning, and the dog owners ignore me and their dogs while I play dodge 'em with their pooches. Last summer I struck a big dog as I rode into the park and I felt awful but he ran in front of me seemingly out of no where. I fell off my bike and the owner apologized to me because the area we were in is on-leash and her dog definitely was running free. As I got back on my bike the same dog dove in front of me again. Irritating as hell.

CliftonGK1

Does your municipality have a leash law?
If you really want to drive the point home for idiots like those two, take a tumble when their unleashed dog runs in front of you and drag the owners into court over your injuries and damage to your ride.

10 Wheels

Get an Air Horn and use it.

$5 to $8 bucks in the boating section of sporting stores.

AzTallRider

Airhorns are great :-) and illegal in some states :-(

10 Wheels

What states?

AzTallRider

We have a "no siren or whistle" law here in Arizona. I've understood it applies to airhorns, though I've never confirmed it for sure.

10 Wheels

Wonder what they have against whistles?

pharasz

There is no getting angry at the dog - they are just a dog. It is the owner that is at fault.

A couple of years ago I was out for a pleasure ride on the local MUP when along comes a guy with not one, but TWO dogs off leash. Naturally I break and prepare to stop knowing the dog is surely going to wander into my path. And if I hit him, the ignorant owner will surely blame me. The guy smiles and waves at me and I just glare at him and say "There is a LEASH LAW - you should have those dogs on a leash!" No cursing, just a good parental lecturing tone as I state the facts. At that point I've passed him (only going about 5 MPH now) and his pleasant smile suddenly turns to an ugly grimace and he starts cursing and yelling at me. Something on the order of "Who the h-ll do you think you are and if you don't like it get the f-ck off the trail". Unbelievable.

A few months ago our local newspaper columnist wrote an article about people like this. He calls them TCFAL - Too Cool For A Leash. Last night on my ride home there was a TCFAL on the MUP. At least the couple walking with the dog grabbed it when they saw me, and apologized as I rode slowly by.

JPprivate

Well, not sure how it is in other states but a MUP here requires bicyclists to yield to pedestrians (including their dogs). Actually, my experience is that unleashed dogs a less aggressive and often better trained. Right now in the winter I find that a lot of dog owners walk their dogs not on the sidewalk but on the street (residential street) and if you go by them they start barking like there's no tomorrow. Very annoying.

GriddleCakes

Our MUP's become unofficial off-leash parks in the winter, I guess because the drastic reduction in use during the "off-season" makes it more feasible. And I imagine it's a bit of a hassle to ski while holding a leash, too. When passing peds, dog or no, I find it's best just to slow down and be ready to stop as I roll by. Honestly, I think that I've more children wander into my path than dogs. But just try and suggest to the parents that they need to leash their kid; you better be ready to run or fight.

The only dog owners that bug me are the ones walking their dogs with really long leashes strung all the way across the trail, owners that don't pick up after their dog, and owners with aggressive dogs in public areas. Might be because I really like dogs, better than most people actually, because off leash dogs just don't bother me.

GriddleCakes

And for some reason it's a violation of municipal law in Anchorage to mount/operate a whistle or siren on/from a bicycle. Maybe because the bike cops use whistles? Oh, but bells are mandatory. Speaking of which, my bell tends to scare dogs, freeze 'em in their tracks or spook 'em out of the way. Might a legal and feasible alternative to the airhorn if you live where horns are outlawed.

capolover

love this thread

AzTallRider

Leashes -increase- the potential for aggression in dogs. They transmit owner angst, and they confine the dog, making 'flight' impossible, thereby increasing the chances of 'fight' if it gets scared. I far prefer to come up on an unleashed dog.. except the itty bitty punt-kick dogs. Small dogs tend to be 'babied' and I think they never learn that it behooves them to get the heck out of the way of something large and fast bearing down on them. "I'm a princess! It will stop for me!" The dogs I've come closest to hitting have been toy breeds, headed towards their owner even when that meant getting directly in my path.

I've owned a chihuahua, and she was spoiled and babied too, but I didn't let her wander on bike paths! My current dog (a medium sized working breed) is used to me riding and pretty much ignores bikes; on or off leash. Good thing, since he is reeeallly fast. I let him run free in a canyon that borders the same MUP I ride to work on. I keep a watch out, and make sure no rider would ever have cause to even -think- he would end up on the path. If he ever did.. guess whose fault THAT would be? As I tell my wife whenever he does something.. hmmm... how to say it... 'unpopular'?

"Handler error." :-)

|3iker

Wow... I just re-read my own post and noticed the crazy amount of grammar mistakes. I must've been so pissed that just thinking about the incident was enough to muddle my grammar.
Anyhow today I came across a similar situation. However this time the dog owner really is THE OWNER. He saw me coming. Dog was wandering way ahead. Owner yelled "Sit! Sit!". The dog just sat while I rode past.

zonatandem

Another reason NOT to ride MUPs!
We ride the road only, whether on our tandem or on my single.
For the first time in years an unleashed dog (big boxer) chased me while on my single for several blocks this week; he never barked.
He finally got close to the front of my bike; took a gulp of water and spit it on him. That stopped him
On the tandem, my stoker carries a very loud/shrill whistle on a lanyard around her neck. Yes, it is ILLEGAL in the state of AZ to have a whistle or siren on a bike.
A technicality: whistle is NOT on the bike but around stoker's neck.
While it is illegal to have whistle or siren on on a bike in AZ, it is legal to carry a loaded pistol on the hip (not concealed).
At least this is still part of the Old Wild West!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

JoeyBike

You folks never heard of a Dazer?



https://www.dazer.com/dog-deterrent.jsp

Just point, shoot, and say "DIE KLINGON DOGS!" You will hear the dog's toenails grinding on the cement as he/she puts on the brakes.

Remember where you heard it!

prxmid

Have you used the DAZER, and does it work?

iforgotmename

I was riding in the park and a guy had two disobedient off leash agressive dogs. I had to jump off my bike and show my dominance as a human to stop their chase. The dogs were a good 60 yards away from the owner. The idiot owner just called them and went the other way.

Nole302

Thank you for posting this thread. This morning i was chased by a pitbull. The dog seemed playful, but i didnt want to wait for it to catch up to me and start nipping at my heels so i quickly pulled out my water bottle and sprayed him right in the face and it stopped him right in his tracks!

Mos6502

You should have picked up the dog and hurled it into the owners, then enjoyed the following explosion.