I was on a short ride saturday after doing a gear change on my single speed, just to check my work, when I passed a couple walking on the sidewalk. The couple had a dog on a leash. As I passed by the dog went absolutly bat S*** crazy. Barking, snarling, growling, pulling, jumping, and twirling around, all at the same time. Yes, it was quite the site seeing this 4 pound dog going nuts trying to get at me. I laughed for about a half mile.
Then there was the time I was riding almost in the gutter, and a guy was walking his two little dogs, on the sidewalk, on leashes. The bike I was on is bassically silent when I coast, and both dogs, and the guy where looking the opposite way, and didn't see me comming. One of the little creaters was sniffing at the curb as I rolled passed, I didn't see, hear or, smell me comming. I passed with in 18 inches of the mutt, and startled is so bad I jumped about three feet in the air! Of course it couldn't let that stand, and started to bark, and try to get at me, as I rolled away.
Funny but not so funny was when I saw a great dane slowly unfold itself before it chased me....
So since sometime we get the upper hand, what's your funny or unusual dog story?

I've had a few chase me, but they're usually the small dogs who need to prove something I guess.


A tad off topic;

Around 1345 yesterday, I encountered about a dozen deer crossing from the lawn on the left to the one across the street. I slowed way down to ensure none were going to panic as I approached.

Once on our annual WI trip I was lagging behind the two leaders (in a hilly section) and was really struggling on some of the hills. They had apparently awakened a dog who was waiting when I came along. By far the BIGGEST dog I've ever seen. I was climbing a hill as I passed his house and he came out to chase me. His footfalls sounded like a horse coming up behind me. I couldn't speed up and was barely moving on the steep hill. That dog's shoulders were at the same level as my 55cm bike top tube. He growled and hung close while I struggled up the hill. I tried to talk to him in a confident but soothing voice ("You're OK, big guy" "Be cool") all while sucking wind. He could have torn me apart right there, but he didn't.

I actually don't get chased that often, but I had a dog do that recently on my commute to work. The owner apparently didn't know he was outside.

So the sucker takes off after me, right before a "T" intersection (3-way stop), and my instinct was to take off to get away from him. The problem is, that meant I didn't stop at that stop sign ... I looked, but rolled through.

The dog gave up the chase pretty quick, and as soon as he did, the notion of that dog chasing me into a dangerous situation pissed me off.

Now, I love dogs and have a pretty good rapport with most of them from the get-go. And I think one of the reasons is that dogs instinctively know when you like them or not and when you are afraid of them or not. And the more I thought about it, the more that dog pissed me off.

So idiot that I am, I wheeled the bike around and started pedaling AT the dog (who had stopped and was now just watching me), growling and yelling all the while. I was effing pissed.

You should have seen the look on the dog's face.

"Rrruh-rhroh."

He spun around and retreated back toward his house, with me in pursuit. By the time, the owner had appeared, and he scooted behind him and hid. I had a civil chat with the owner about how the dog chased me across a stop sign and created a dangerous situation. It wasn't a nasty one. I ride by there every day, and this is the first and ONLY time the dog was on the loose, so I knew it was just a mistake.

What was I going to do if I caught up with him? I still have no idea. Bark at him, I guess.

One trail I use, is signed that dogs should be on a leash, which dog owners seem to think means that they should remove the leash and let their dog run all over the place. Nearly wiped out with one, and the dog owner yells at me to be more careful. I muttered something about keeping dogs under control.

I don't think that dogs running around loose are nearly as common as they used to be.

My best dog story is probably 35 years old. I was riding with my neighbor in southern Michigan when a medium size dog came running full speed down a hill at us. My riding partner yelled "SIT!" in a commanding voice. Well, that dog certainly knew that command. He planted all 4 paws but his momentum caused him to do a couple of somersaults before coming to rest in a perfect "sit" position.

I was riding down a popular route when I hear the pitterpat of paws coming up behind. I look be hind and there is this 50-60 lb Lab/pit Bull mix on a leash pulling his owner, who was coasting on a hybrid. I was doing 12-13, and they passed me doing over 15. That dog was getting into it.

On the flip side I see guy's take their dog out on the bike and be pulling the dog to keep up.

One of my favorites was the German shepherd that was hanging out the window as the SUV he was in passed me on a quiet suburban street. He saw me and started barking, and as we passed, he jumped out the window.

It was a long way down. And the he went from 25 mph (OK, I'm being polite here) to 0 mph when he landed trying to run the other direction. He hit, folded, and went down. I refrained from laughing hysterically, chuckles might have been heard, though.

Way back, I used to see this guy on a bike being pulled by 4 greyhounds in a park. Those dogs were certainly having fun. Not so sure about him tho.

I always bark and growl back at the dogs that chase me. I've been lucky enough not to lose a shoe yet though.

If you can't get away and have to make a stand be sure to keep the bike between you and the dog.

Back in junior high we lived out in the country and the neighbors down the road had a couple of St Bernards. Now, St Bernards are usually quite friendly. Every time I rode pass they came running out and wanted to play, even if I didn't. The problem is one of them thought he was a lap dog and would fit on the bike between me and the handlebars. It was interesting when he managed to get up there one time. Needless to say we both went down. There I was, laying in the middle of the rode, the dog with his paws on my chest and he was slobbering me to death.

Last year my wife and I picked up our new tandem in Seattle and rode it home. About 450 miles into our 500 mile three-day trip (we didn't take the most direct route), we encountered a Chihuahua that was determined to catch us and do who-knows-what to an ankle. We casually sped up, but the little guy kept gaining on us. We finally had to flat out sprint to put enough distance on him that he gave up. At that point we looked up to see that the bridge was out. Fortunately, there was a way around without going back past the little guy.

I have 3.

1. A smaller pit bull, about 5-6 months old, came out of his yard, away from his owner, after me. He got alongside my rear wheel, and then I just fast-swerved and caught his feet. He yelped, stopped quick, and I never saw him or the owner again.

2. During the winter, a Latino family lets their chihuahua out to do his business in the morning; I only see this dog on Sundays. Once, he came scrambling across the yard at me, snapping and snarling, trying his damnedest to catch me. You know how hard it is to stand up and pedal to lose a dog when you're doubled over laughing?

3. A mixed-breed pup, well cared-for, about 6 months old or so, came out of his yard after me. . .and ran WITH me all the way to work! Never got within 6 feet of me, never barked, wagged his tail the whole way.

I was on a charity ride in east Texas and had two "unpaid participants" in about 10 miles. The first was a little wiener dog that was hiding in the tall weeds next to a corner. He jumped out barking and and I just about lost it. He had the ambush plan down pat. The second dog was just out for a good time. He was a larger pit type dog, in good shape and about as tall as my front tire. I know this because he spent about 3/4 of a mile playing like he was going to bit the tire. He just loped along and every 4 or 5 pedal strokes, he would make a little lunge like he was going to grab for it. I could not go fast enough to leave him so I finally scuffed him off by getting too close to a plow being moved by a farmer down the road.

My favorite non-bike story was a friend had a bull mastiff that liked to ride in the back seat of her convertible. One day she pulled up w/ the dog and said it was the best day, Samson slimmed a motorcycle cop.

I had one that would chase me every morning as I left for work. I would see how long I could string him along. Never got old....

Back in my racing days a standard Th night route took us up a long gradual rural mountain climb and a big German Shepherd would start barking when we were many houses away then charge out and chase us up the hill. This went on for many months, then one day.....no Shepherd. We found out he had been hit by a car.

Well, a number of weeks later we hear the familiar barking as we approach, sure enough it was the Shepherd, charging at us and chasing us on three legs! We almost felt like we needed to slow up to make it more of a contest for the poor guy.

I do have a car-dog story that might make you think twice about kicking at a dog while rolling along on your bike. My idiot friend was driving his Mazda down his neighborhood country road and an Austrailian Cowdog (the kind with Dingo in them) made his usual foray into the road to chase him. Well my friend got the bright idea to open the driver side door and kick at the dog but the dog was a little too quick and grabbed his leg almost pulling him out of his moving car.

He was about halfway out of the car doing the splits and hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life as the car veered into the bar ditch and nearly ran into a barbed wire fence before the dog had to let go. I think that dog must've had a little laugh after that every time he saw my friend drive by.

We were riding out in the countryside early one Sunday morning and this collie launches itself off the front porch and comes tearing down the drive. We expected the worst and were each jockeying road position to put a riding buddy between us and the dog when the dog reached the end of the drive and...picked up the Sunday newspaper in its mouth. The dog held the paper protectively while we rode by and once we were safely clear, sat the paper back down and trotted back to the porch!

I've stopped to have a polite conversation with several dog owners who (illegally, in my town) let their toy dogs off leash. They always express incredulity, explaining there is no way their dog could 'bite' me. I point out what should be obvious: a tiny dog can impact a front wheel of a bicycle and send the rider to the hospital.

Not to mention, vets do not charge by the pound, a toy dog versus a bicycle wheel, can send the rider to hospital, that is true, it can also mean thousands of dollars in vet bills too though.... Even getting an animal put down can cost hundreds of dollars.

Happened to my brother. He was out for a ride and a dog started chasing him. He noticed the dog was hanging about 30 feet back and not gaining, so just to see what would happen my brother slowed down a little bit. The dog slowed down. My brother slowed down some more and the dog slowed down some more. It finally got to the point where my brother actually stopped. The dog stopped about 30 feet back, sat down, and looked at my brother with the expression of, "I want to chase something. It won't work if you're not moving."

My riding route where I spend a couple of months out of the year runs past a farm with three dogs that sometimes chase me. I worry about it as I approach. This year I stopped and put my bike between me and the dogs. The owner was outside and I yelled to him "are the dogs ok?" He said yes and starting walking towards us. I decided not to make a federal case out of the problem because after all it is a rural area with no real rules on dogs. I asked to meet his dogs, petted them, asked their names and asked for suggestions from him on how we can have them stop chasing me. He said to tell the big dog, "Meat Head" to go home and they all should go home. Or, at least it was worth a try.

On my return trip past the house the dogs were still out and came running. I yelled "Meat Head go home," and he promptly turned around and all the dogs ran home. I might bring them treats next year. Exuberant but essentially harmless. I no longer dread riding past that farm.

Dog collisions are by far the biggest cause of crashes on the local cycle club rides. A very small dog caused a horrific crash on a downhill a few years ago.

Last fall, we rode past a farmhouse, and the owner warned us that her dog had gotten loose and was in the field ahead. Up around the bend in the road, oh great, here it comes, about a 40 pound mixed breed dog. We do the usual, yelling "go home", squirting water bottles, etc. Nothing affects him.

The dog follows us, and after a while, I see he stays behind or alongside on the grass, never running in front or near the riders. On a steep hill climb, the dog passes and goes ahead to follow the riders farther up the road. Then it falls behind when we ride downhill, rejoining on the next small hill. When a car passes, the dog gets off the road. When we stopped, he approached to get petted, and we see his collar has his name "Grizzly" and a phone number in big letters. Must not be the first time...

So after 5 miles (!) we worry that he's going to follow us right across a busy divided highway crossing ahead. So we borrowed a rope from a homeowner, tied him to a telephone pole, and called his owner to come get him. He was happy to just sit there in the grass as we rode away.

That was kind of fun, but it's really unique.

A couple decades back, when my wife was pregnant, we lived next door to a nice couple who had an Australian Shepherd named Tuffy. Tuffy couldn't resist chasing us down the short street whenever we left for town (we lived just a mile from the city limits). He didn't want to catch us, he just wanted to keep us in line. One morning I was a bit ahead of my wife and Tuffy came racing out to terrorize my rear wheel. Unfortunately, Tuffy didn't see my wife and she didn't see him in time and she ran into him and went down in a heap. The woman next door, Karen, came out and was greatly concerned for my pregnant wife, but my wife was not injured in the least.

We all had to conspire to keep the incident a secret from her husband because we all knew that if Scott found out Tuffy had crashed into a pregnant woman that would be the last of Tuffy. Fortunately, Scott never found out and Tuffy lived happily ever after. In fact, Karen convinced Scott to take Tuffy out to his cattle pastures pretty much daily. I think he had a lot more fun herding cows than he ever had herding me.