dr_lha

I'm not imposing anything on anyone. I'm just posting my anonymous opinion on an internet forum. Sorry if that bothered you in some way, it was not intended.

SurfNTurf

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Gyrine

My buddy and I were riding a country road when two Doberman' s came from nowhere and had the angle on us. We agreed to stop and confront them as the best option. The dogs were pretty excited and refused to go. I squirted my water bottle containing PowerAde at them and they left me alone; however my buddy just had water to squirt at them and they kept after him. BTW - the flavor was fruit punch.

Nightshade

This is why I carry a weapon if I know dogs are on my route. Dogs are still primal animals so greater force is the only thing they can understand.

CliffordK

I was on a roadside path through town along a moderately busy street today... when a little ankle nipper came charging after me (and my half loaded trailer).

It would be like a housecat thinking it could take down a bull elk by itself... it just isn't happening.

I wasn't very concerned for my safety, afterall, I'm not sure it could have reached the pedals, but the dog certainly could have put itself into harm's way, and the road was busy enough that divided attention wasn't a good thing.

Fortunately it gave up chase after a few yells, and a block or so of running.

CliffordK

Mom's dog just loves playing with the garden hose.

Squirting him with water might get his attention, but he might just think it is a game.

Perhaps if you were Indian, you could add some Cayenne Pepper to your water.

CliffordK

And you thought those racks were made for bicycles.

cyccommute 

Shows how little you understand about dogs. Dogs may be primal but they have also been breed over 10,000 years to be docile, especially if compared to their canine ancestors. A dog that challenges their pack leader , i.e. us humans, doesn't last long in the gene pool and that aggression gets weeded out. Dogs know, at an instinctual level, that they are lower in their "pack" than the smallest human and will act accordingly. If you know this, you can use it against any dog.

People say that dogs can "smell" fear but they really can't. What they recognize is lack of authority from some one outside of their pack. If you act like you are superior to the dog, it will recognize this and back down. A commanding voice goes a whole lot further than a weapon and you don't have to deal with the owner or, more importantly, the authorities, if you do use a weapon on an animal.

I've ridden thousands of miles in 47 of the 50 states, through areas where I've never been before and had dozens of dog encounters. At no point have I had the need for any kind of weapon. I've never even been close to being bitten either. If the dog starts to chase me, I slow down and yell "GO HOME!" or "NO!" or just yell. That stops 99% of the dogs in their tracks. If the dog is still advancing, I get off the bike and put it between me and the dog and continue to yell. Often, the dog will come to me and get a head scratch.

I will take back that I don't use a weapon on them. I do. It's my brain. It's a far better weapon than any blade or projectile. And I don't have to deal with owners nor the local constabulary.

imi

I have been hunted, yes hunted, by a pack of some twenty wild dogs in spain at night. Playing "leader of the pack" then scratching them on the head was not an option, believe me.

obed7

just think of yourself as helping relieve the over population problem we have with dogs...making up for PETA and no kill shelters (who only add to the problem)... there are simply too many dogs for the number of responsible dog owners available.

Wanderer

Halt! Works every time.

imi

I was discussing "post-apocalypse" scenarios with a friend, and said that dogs might be a big problem. He replied that no, they'll be the human survivors main protein source...

SlimAgainSoon

To paraphrase George Carlin ... Dogs are decent people.

I've never felt the need to go at one with a knife — Who rides with a knife? You could put your eye out! — or anything else, other than some talk.

The water-bottle-spray trick sounds like it could be effective. I'll have to keep that in mind.

CliffordK

My guess is that cats and dogs weren't domesticated because they were warm and fluffy.

Cats eat many of the pests around the house and also may help prevent rodent borne disease.
Dogs provide protection from the wild, and have more sensitive senses for many things.

There may be real value in maintaining the "house pets" in a post apocalyptic scenario.

PhotonDon

If I see a dog from a distance, I can usually size them up. Most just want to run with you, happy dog, some run along the property line protecting their property (well trained dog), but some are just up to no good. When I see their ears go back and it seems as though that they are working the angles to get to you, then it is obvious that they have uncaring owners, and all bets are off. A fog of pepper spray(not full in the face) will discourage them, and we believe this is positive reinforcement to not chase cyclists. I also believe in full size frame pumps.

Flange head

I am reading this thread one week too late. I sit on the couch with a fractured left elbow and sprained left wrist, broken right wrist and pinky and two dislocated fingers. typing with my thumb. A pit bull chased me as the owners looked on and yelled at it. It didn't appear aggressive, so I slowed with pepper spray at the ready, just in case. It just ran along side and showed no aggression, then it decided it wanted to pass in front of me. It all happened so quick. Looking into the sky, unable to move, I was glad it was not a viscous dog. Looking back I wish I had sprayed it and possibly ended the encounter there, and taught the dog a lesson for future riders. I can envision no situation where I would get off my bike with a pit bull. Also, I learned to have someone call the police and get a report. Suddenly the pit bull is a stray.

SurfNTurf

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vatdim

This.

People here tend to underestimate and oversimplify the dog problem. Dogs do not all react in the same way. It depends on their breed, how they were brought up, what kind of "duty" they are performing, etc. Of course, there are dogs that will just merrily bark and escort you without posing any sort of threat. But there are also those that have been trained to get you.

A few years ago I was riding at a steady pace through a part of my neighborhood that had a lot of construction sites for new buildings. Since it was a Sunday, there were no construction workers at all present and possibly just 1 or 2 security guards having their afternoon nap. Cycling along the trail (since no asphalt had been laid down yet), somehow I must have startled a sleeping guard dog. All I heard was a low-pitched roar. I glanced quickly to the side just in time to spot the dog sprinting full speed toward my front wheel. It was about 5 meters away from my bike, so before that it must have been lying down just off the trail, in the shade of some bushes. For a split second I was wondering if I should slow down and try to calm down the dog. An instant after that, however, I saw 3 more dogs sprinting towards me from behind and the barking made me realize there could be even more of them. Without any more hesitation I jumped on my pedals. I sprinted at full speed for about 1 minute that felt like an eternity. A total of 5 or 6 dogs had no problem keeping up with me and had me almost surrounded at all times. One even managed to get in front and I ran over its paws, which eliminated it from the chase. I was shouting like hell the whole time, trying to act tough and to wave off the dogs. They didn't care. Only after I finally reached the end of the trail and got onto an asphalt bit which gave me an acceleration boost, did the pack quit chasing me. I had clocked about 300 meters.

After talking to some locals about this, I found out that construction companies often prefer to "employ" a dozen dogs for guard duty. They train them to hunt after homeless people or gipsies who could be stealing construction materials, and since many of those people are using old bicycles for transportation, the dogs have an engrained hate for any cyclist. Also, since these dogs are trained for guard duty, they don't really care if you just tell them to go home, no matter how much authority you can put into it. Heading straight for the bite is the way they have been brought up so dismounting won't do much good, especially when facing a large pack of them. Apart from outrunning them, which may not always be possible, I am still looking for some good fool-proof methods of losing them without actually carrying a firearm (illegal where I live, for most cases).

CliffordK

Did you yell at it?

I don't mind if they chase (or race) me from the other side of the fence. However, I yell loudly if they are on the road, or even look at me funny out an open driveway.

Flange head

No. I didn't yell at it. I hadn't learned all the dangers of dogs yet. I thought I only had to worry about being bitten. I am wiser today than I was last week.

ColaJacket

It's one thing to have guard dogs inside a fenced enclosure, with warning and no trespassing signs. It's another thing to have them where they can chase anybody going by.

Glad you weren't hurt, but I would have contacted the police and told them that there were unleashed aggressive dogs at the address.

GH

Flange head

At the scene the "yellers" said it was a neighborhood dog. I called the police after I left the scene. They said it was a civil matter, and would not go take statements. Called several neighbors who stated who's dog it was. Phoned "Yellers" who denied ownership. I have since hired a lawyer. Dog owners are renters without insurance, but apparently the homeowner is the next step of liability.

ColaJacket

Wait a second. THe police said that an aggressive unleashed dog was a civil matter? I'd ask to speak to the cop's supervisor and ask about local leash laws. Or better yet, call animal control.

GH

vatdim

You are absolutely right, that is what I intended to do since I was really scared (actually, I haven't cycled to that part of my neighborhood to this day, the memories are quite terrifying). However, it turned out that the police could not be engaged directly in such a matter. Due to the large number of stray dogs in the streets, the responsibility for dealing with such incidents had been delegated to some sort of municipal agency that was supposed to enter the information from the complaints in some database and after "evaluation and securing the necessary resources", it would send some professionals to "assess the situation". Shortly after my incident, it became public knowledge that this municipal agency consisted of about 15 employees, of whom only two (yes, really) were trained to actually hunt down possible stray dogs or aggressive dogs that had been unleashed, for which they had been equipped with one sole specialized van. Of course, in a city inhabited by 1.5 million people where tens of thousands of stray dogs roam the streets and turn aggressive every once in a while, once you file a complaint, you will have to wait a really long time until the hunters actually get to your address. Time in which the dogs will probably have been moved to another location.

The only time when authorities really deal swiftly with such matters is, unfortunately, after an elderly or disabled person, or young child, gets literally eaten in a suburban street. Even then, any discussion regarding some sort of rule tightening with respect to the ownership of dogs never bears any fruit, since the general public is quite convinced that dogs are just fine the way they are.

Freedom2015

Oh, this might be the wrong thread, but me and the kids converted their old "kids bike trailer" so our three pugs pulled them like a chariot. The kids never had so much fun.