corwincastle

How many of yall have had to deal with dogs chasing you? I went for my first ride of the year last night and had a dog chase me for 1/2 mile or so with last half of it being up a hill and to boot it was in the last couple of miles of my ride where my legs were not happy with me riding like that to outrun him. What has yalls experience with this situation been?

chasm54

Let him get close, then spray some water in his face. If it's a regular problem, put a small squeezy bottle in your jersey pocket with water and detergent in it. Zap them, they won't come back. Lemon juice in the water is equally effective.

JerrySTL

The worse was a dog that slammed into me from the side while I was the second person in a pace line. Major carnage. The dog didn't bark and I was paying too much attention to the wheel in front of me.

Strangest was at mile 185 of a double century in 95F heat. I was so tired that when the dog clamped on to my shoe, I didn't think much about it and just thumped him on top of the head with a water bottle.

Funniest was yelling SIT! and seeing the dog sit! I've had this happen 3 times over the years. After warning anyone else I'm riding with about the dog, yelling SIT! is the first thing I try. I've heard that "Get off the couch" may work also.

Use to have a dog on one of my routes who just liked to run along and lick the salt off our legs. We'd stop and let him drink out of our water bottles and give him a treat. Then he'd walk back home.

If 'sit' doesn't work, sprinting is fun. After that spraying them down with a water bottle often works. I use to carry Halt spray, but just when you need it, you find that the propellant is gone.

corwincastle

LOL Ill have to remember those. I was able to throw it into a higher gear and sprint away but frankly Id of rather held my leisurely pace I was rolling at I wasnt too worried about speed right now especially on my old steel pig of a road bike Im just trying to rack on the miles right now. Also he didnt bark either but Im VERY alert on my bike and always listen for cars or anything that may come my way and he crossed a ditch and when his paws hit the pavement I heard the scratchy sound they make. I dont know if it was a mean pup but didnt want to take the time to find out not when I am out on a low traffic road and a few miles from town. Plus my phone was dead(forgot to charge it the night before so I had no real means of rescue if I ever needed it). Ill tell you what though Im real out of shape right now(winters gotta love em) and when I seen that pup my heart I think doubled in pace cause I wasnt sure if I could ride fast enough guess you find your legs when you need em no matter what shape you are in. Thanks for the replies!!

dynodonn 

Our city and county charges pet owners big bucks if their dog is loose on the roads and streets, and it's been a couple of years since I've been chased. The last dog that chased me, I was able to spot it a considerable distance, and I just quickly stopped and yelled "NO". My chances of meeting up with a feral dog is practically nil, so stopping and yelling "NO" has always worked.

I have the last dog chase on video, and it is absolutely hilarious to watch the video,frame by frame, of the facial expressions on a slightly overweight dog, along with it's big floppy ears going up and down.

SpeshulEd 

Please don't spray dogs with detergent, if water doesn't work, use lemon juice or white vinegar or something non toxic. How'd you like to have soap in your eye all day and no hands to wash it out.

And if you're going to carry a special water bottle to deter dogs, why not just carry a dog treat or two, would probably be a lot lighter and more effective in the long run.

corwincastle

The lemon juice would be a good idea as I could carry it as my 2nd water bottle and mix it with a a bit of water to taste and drink some toward the end of rides for a little burst of flavor to boot. Also I do agree with speshul for the most part however if the dog doesnt stop chasing it would be a more aggresive and albeit last resort but personally Id rather do the lemon juice cause I could drink it still if I needed it. Also as far as the dog treats go I personally wouldnt do that either. Only cause I believe at that point you are instilling the thought that its ok to chase bikes that you will be rewarded where something say like the lemon juice dog will see as discomfort and may think I dont want to feel that again. Sort of like a shock collar with the electric fences they get zapped once or twice and learn where the fence is they learn they dont want to deal with it so after a while most dogs wont even need the collar to know better. Or the bitter that you put on say shoes for dogs that like to chew shews up they learn thats nasty and stop doing it.

achoo

Please don't REWARD dogs for chasing bicyclists.

PDX Reborn

This looks interesting

https://www.sounddefense.com/

ronocnikral

don't give dogs a treat for chasing you.

I carry a whistle, preferably I would ride through at 5 am and wake up the owners.

My dog hierarchy is as follows: 1) yell, 2) whistle (if I have time), 3) squirt with water bottle, 4) my foot in their face as a last resort only (if they are nipping at me).

Here's a story about a guy out on a rando ride in Texas. His cost was about $3k in rabies shots. https://groups.google.com/forum/?fro...rs/_0UjZF_PtcA

tdister

Being slow and often weighed down, I often find myself just stopping and a solid, loud and authoritative "Hey!" coming from my mouth. It tends to snap them out of whatever mode they were in.

If the dog came from a seemingly occupied house I've found myself yelling my displeasure and recommendations urging them to remedy it, often in a less than classy manner.

SpeshulEd 

Fair enough, than I'd suggest something along the lines of Sentry Stop That...or water.
https://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=12194138

If I ever saw anyone hosing a dog down with laundry detergent, I would chase them down and attack them myself.

Seriously, it's a dog, tell it "no" or "off" and the problem is solved.

chasm54

If you think that telling a dog to stop is the solution, you have clearly never been attacked by some of the dogs that have chased me.

As for it being cruel to use detergent, I couldn't give a ****. If people want their dogs to have a nice life they should keep them under control, and I am doing a public service by ensuring that they think twice before attacking someone else. But I'm happy to use the lemon juice solution, it works too.

SpeshulEd 

Sorry, I work in the pet industry, so dog and pets in general are close to my heart.

Personally, I've never met a dog that I couldn't control with a few stern commands and hand movements. I know there are awful owners out there and their dogs reflect that, but still no dog or animal deserves soap in their eyes. Not to mention, if the owner is bad enough to let their dog run wild, they're probably bad enough to not notice their red irritated soap filled eyes.

The point I'm trying to make in all of this, there are safer non harmful ways to deter dogs. Haven't you seen American Flyers? The dogs are just trying to help you with your sprint training.

rubic

A few years ago I had a dog that would regularly chase me. Most of the time, a stern NO from me along with a pointed finger would stop the dog. If that didn't work, a quick spray from my water bottle would send the dog back to his yard. One time, I didn't have time to do anything and the dog was just about right up on me so I unclipped my right shoe and kicked at him. That saved me.

Unfortunately, this kicking experience stayed with me and bothered me. One night I dreamt of the dog about to chew on me and I kicked it. Then I heard a plantive wail from my wife and, OH NO, I had actually kicked her in the leg. She certainly put me in the dog house for awhile.

wolfchild

I love dogs but I wouldn't hesitate to use pepper spray or a bottle of vineger or ammonia in self defence against an aggressive dog.

wolfchild

Really ?? Are you saying that you would attack another human being who was acting in self defence against an agressive dog ??..Are you also the type of person who would jump into an icy freezing lake to save a dog or a cat ??

SpeshulEd 

You mean stop someone from injuring a dog that wasn't trained properly and doesn't know better by spraying a chemical in their face...yes, yes I would do that. As I stated, there are far better/more rational ways at getting a dog to stop chasing you. It's a dog, it picks up on your fear. Be stern and tell it to stop, it will.

I live in Arizona, I doubt I'll be jumping into any icy cold water anytime soon, but yeah, I would. If the animal was in danger and there was something I could do, I would. In fact, I feel most people would.

So yeah, I would try to stop someone from harming a dog and I would also try to save an animal's life. Sorry for being a horrible person.

irwin7638

I've never had a dog chase me that far! I have lived in several different cities and in rural Michigan and Illinois as well. I've been chased by lots of dogs and they've always stopped when I got past their territory (usually the boundary of their yard). I just keep going straight and talk to them until they quit, the only one who caught me was a dachshund, who caught me at 20mph! His owner had been teaching him to hunt rabbit and fox, at least until he got prosecuted and fined.

Marc

CandSAdventures

I got chased twice on the same organized ride last year. The first one was a sneak attack at a sharp corner. The big dog trotting across the yard was the diversion, the little one that sprang out of the weeds scared the dickens out of me......yelled once and worked on my interval training....seemed to work.

The next one was a BIG dog of some kind that kept pace with me for about 1/2 mile. He just ran along beside my front tire. Some of the guys behind me said they sprayed him and he quit. He really just seemed like he was having fun.

I ride alot on MUPs and my biggest problem is skunks. Nothing makes them move. LOL!

TOTAL CONTROL

No, he means stop someone from DEFENDING themself....as do I. Look, I get it. Your an animal lover. You & my sister inlaw would get along famously. When she saw the 6" serated Bare Gryllis survival knife I bought to protect myself, she gave me a dirty look. She said "if you ever kill a dog on the bike path I don't ever want to hear about it, I know you gotta do what you gotta do, but still I don't want to hear about it".

What out of place priorities! Mind you, this woman has never been attacked by a dog which is why she talks like you do. You speak as if the animal can be put on pause like a dvd so that you can kindly knock on the owners door & give a gentel scolding to for poor dog control.

I take no pleasure in the thought of killing anything. I mean the blood alone would be a b***h to clean up. But make no mistake about it. Pit, Roc, Shepard, Dobbermin pinchers......ALL BEWARE. For I will not hesitate to spill their bowels out on to the pavement! & to quote Charles Xavier at the end of XMEN....."I feel a great swell of pity for anyone foolish enough", to try & physical stop me from defending myself.

Owners get their dogs injured or worse, killed. If you feel the need to attack anyone......attack THEM!

TOTAL CONTROL

Old phone so the resolution isn't so hot, but these bite marks on my left calf are over 20 years old. The K-9 insisors went so deep you could see the white part of my flesh.

This would be my 4th sevear dog attack since the age of 7 years old. As I live & breath, I will NEVER be that helpless child ever again!!! At the mearcy of an animal......to thrash me about like some rag doll.

"What ever doesn't kill you...... makes you, stranger" -The Joker: The Dark Knight.

SpeshulEd 

I like how you only target the stereotypical "bad" dogs.

Whatever, this is silly, if killing a dog makes you feel safer or better about yourself, enjoy. I'm not PETA. Do what you have to do but I do think there are better ways to deter an animal than physically harming it.

TOTAL CONTROL

Yeah.....right. hey why not just use my Green Lantern ring to create a bubble around myself. & as for the dogs I sited.....thoes are a few of the breeds powerful enough to warrent use of a knife. Now see......I don't reach for it at the drop of a hat. I've been chaced by small/medium size mutts. & i f I can get away with a swift kick to the grill, so be it.

Funny, you claim these so called "other ways" of defence against 200lbs rocs ect ect.....ybut I'm still waiting to hear it. Sorry but that water bottle would be ripped from my hand along with a few of my fingers.

I speak from physical experiance.....not wishful thinking.

TOTAL CONTROL

A great example of how animal lovers love of animals can cause a laps in judgement, is an incident again involving my sister inlaw. I was cooking with either pork or beef. Now I'm well aware of food born ilness & the harm it can cause. Well I went to wash my pan I was cooking with. She ran over & snatched away the baby bottle caddie that sits near the sink. She knew there was no raw food, only cooked grease. But cause she eats no red meat & does not allow the toddle to have it either....she was worried a speck of "beef flavor" might make its way onto a nipple & open the kids eyes to the joy of red meat.

So a few weeks later she (while walking the 3 dogs) stept in crap. I watched in total shock as she washed her sneaker off in the very same kitchen sink....baby bottle caddie & all! Crap water dropletts splattering all over. But in her warpped mind, all things animal = good. All thing human = bad.

If I can get away from a dog with out serious injury to either of us, cool. Hell, I even keep my cool as the local yippy dogs chace me.......some times I even stop & let them chew on my pant leg until the wrecless owner catches up talking stupid baby talk to it, calling it naughty pfffft, dumb asses.....everyone!