Maelochs

If a toddler had toddled into the yard and the dogs killed it, that would be fine because they were "perfectly happy staying behind their fence" ... ??

Basically, if you want to have a dangerous dog, you have to make sure it is never accidentally a danger. If an animal---or child---could get through the fence and into the danger area, it was not the fault of the dogs, but your fault, as the owner, for not making sure the yard was 100 percent secure.

If another animal can get in, it is the same as if your dogs could get out. Having a hole in the fence is no different than leaving a gate open.

But ... neither of your dogs were on bicycles so none of this is relevant to the thread.

raceboy

I have no dog in this fight--literally. My dog always wanted to hightail it in the opposite direction when he encountered a bicycle, skateboard or any other wheeled object in his path. Unless it was moving car, in which case hw would boldly walk in front of it. Amazing he died of old age at almost 15!

Bmach

Also not related to this thread but if a toddler got into the yard it is not the dogs fault but whomever was watching the kid. The bottom line is put the blame where it belongs.

chopsteeks

My English Bulldog, she is in dog heaven now, loved to bite and pop bicycle tires. As a present each year, on her birthday, we bought new tubes and put inside a tire just for her to pop....

coominya

No, they are not, but you DID land men on the moon, contrary to what a handful of uneducated bloggers claim.

kellyon

I was bitten by a dog 6 months ago. I've had the fear of rabies so I went to emergency clinic 24 hours https://frontlineer.com/ as soon as I could. Of course, it depends upon the circumstances and severity of the injury. But anyway, if you are bitten by an unknown dog it's important to visit a doctor immediately to begin rabies vaccinations right away.

jefnvk

Yep, property does not absolve you from making sure the animal is safe. There was a case here about a year and a half ago where a dog bit an officer responding to a call. Despite the fact the officer was in the fenced in back yard, the dog was removed from the owner's custody and ordered destroyed. The order was stayed pending a rather expensive training program (the defense found some kennel willing to testify they alone could rehab the dog), never did hear if the course was successful and the dog rehomed or it was put down though.

Might not be, but you can dang well be sure if your dog kills a kid, even on your property, the dog is being put down and you are in a lot of trouble.

Repack Rider

The first time I rode a "ten speed" bike, I was 25 y.o. I crashed and got bitten by a dog on my first ride. I was thinking this is not a good ratio for both of those events per ride. I crashed a lot more times, but that was the only dog bite, and it was 46 years ago.

Tombaatar

I have been bitten. Was on a trail. Woman walking her big dog. Tried to let he know I wanted to pass but she was plugged in and didn't hear me. I passed as wide as I could. Dog lunged and me and bit my leg. Nothing too serious but I was not very happy about it.

Up North

I carry a SOG airweight Knife on all rides. Dept of Agriculture says they need brain or spinal sample to determine rabies. I aim to give them what they need, if dog bites me he'll get one bite maybe but not two.

jlax2485

I was riding on a back road with my cousin one morning, and a small dog was sitting in the driveway, unrestrained, by the owner. When the dog saw us, he sprang up and ran out into the road to chase us, and ran right into the path of an oncoming truck. I saw the whole thing happen, and the dog literally exploded into chunks. It was incredibly sickening to watch, and the owner was beside himself when he turned around and saw what had happened. No matter how calm or mature a dog may seem to it's owner, there is no guarantee. Another time I had a large dog run out of the front yard of it's house and chase me for about a quarter mile, going up an incline. The owners yelled at the dog to come back but it didn't even hesitate...luckily I was able to escape. Needless to say I am very wary of dogs that I may travel by.

Chuck Naill

If you have an animal with the temperament you described, it would be irresponsible not to have them enclosed with chain link. That's the real bottom line.

fietsbob

You Bite back?

jack pot 

>>> bicycles are a natural prey for most dogs ... unless rigorously trained most dogs will chase ... if it isn't too much you should avoid a dog's area ... no need to shoot or cut ... a loud noise will generally deter ... most will quit in less than 150 yrds ... it is terrible that good animals are perceived as threats because of their "owners" ... killing a sentient creature is for the most part uncalled for #HATEMVICK

Chuck Naill

Here there is a lease law. I use Google maps to locate the house with the dog, specify the breed, and report the incident. After my second report on two Rottweiler's, the police said they were not able to doing anything unless I met with the office. I explained I work. I never got a response. Therefore, I'll just take care as best I can with mace. The owner saw me both times so they know what their pets are doing.

Bmach

Chuck you guys have to lease your dogs. Around here we buy them.��

Jbarcs

Had one hell of a scary ride on Friday. On one of my usual 35 mile routes./.. gorgeous 70 degrees with mild headwind on the outbound leg I was riding well, especially so for not being in the saddle for eight days. Out in rural Yadkin County NC I pass a house on Fish Brandon Road about 200 feet set back from the road. In the dozens of times I have ridden this route I have had to dismount only twice before as the three dogs that live here can get aggressive and they have a great visual preview of a rider approaching their territory so they get a great headstart on the chase. On Friday something was different… there were way more than the usual suspects and I unclipped early and figured I would do what I have done before; just calmly walk the bike 100 to 200 yards until past the house and yard in question. I made it only about fifty feet. Nine dogs… all without collar and all of the mixed breed pit bull variety we like to call Carolina dirt dogs. Four of the pack became the advance aggressors… and two were in full attack mode. One kept at me from the side closest to the house… teeth bared and lunging every fifteen to twenty seconds while the bigger and more muscular, testicled male circled constantly counterclockwise around to get behind me… lunging only two or three times during each circle around. The most aggressive one… white and smallish head… had the appearance of being totally crazed... as in “mad dog”… so I kept the bike between him and me at all times making the larger, circling musclebound brown dirt dog even more terrifying as he seemed determined to get first blood. The “be calm” approach was not working. I grabbed the saddle in my right hand and the stem in my left hand and every time a lunge came from either direction I spun like a helicopter letting frame and wheels smack the dogs when they were too close. This of course had the adverse effect of luring the rest of the pack into the street. At one point all nine were within twenty feet of me. The standoff lasted eleven minutes. It took me just under six minutes to walk seventy-five feet backwards… some of the time in a soybean field across the road from the yard of these animals… all the way a spinning-around whirling dervish. No blood… no actual contact other than bike/wheels/tires striking aggressive dog. My heart rate data when viewed later online showed I hit 167 bpm for this episode (resting rate is 58 and average for rolling terrain at 17 mph is 143). I have not been able to sleep since. Never been so afraid in my life. Never feared for my life like this before. There is no question in my mind that if any one of the dogs had made contact and brought me to ground I would have been killed. No question whatsoever.

I have reported the incident to a less than interested sheriff's department that pretty much said "you do what you gotta do." After reading most every post on most every forum I have concluded that one must report every close encounter no matter what the outcome. It helps build a history that may someday help another cyclist. It helps leave a trail for the next complaint to follow.

Also from reading everything I can find on this topic I have concluded that anyone who rides without a pepper spray is foolish. There are many other defense options but none that provides the same level of safety as an OC spray like Fox Labs or Halt II. Yes you can carry a gun or a combat knife but these two options will probably get an owner to shoot back in the rural south. At least the pepper spray gives us a non lethal method that has the added benefit of perhaps training the animal in some way such that the next cyclist feels a little safer.

Vortac180

Now that is a truly scary experience. Thank you so much for sharing. It must have been terrifying. Thank God you survived. I might have to go back to carrying my old pepper spray... I think I'll have to buy new, I discarded it after years of never using it.

Maelochs

Jbarcs --- would one can have been enough?

A gun would have worked if it had a large enough clip ... forget the owner shooting back, if the dogs kill you the owner's actions are moot. A knife--yeah. While you stabbed one nine latched on, down you go, dinner.

A super-sized can of bear spray ....

That would bother me for a long time too ... I wouldn't worry about it happening most anywhere else, but along that stretch of road ... not sure i would ever ride there again.

Glad you made it out.

2manybikes

Holy carp! I had a similar incident the other day. But, just one dog. Nine dogs, wow!! Glad you're OK.

02Giant 

[QUOTE=Jbarcs;19416001 In the dozens of times I have ridden this route I have had to dismount only twice before as the three dogs that live here can get aggressive and they have a great visual preview of a rider approaching their territory so they get a great headstart on the chase.

Also from reading everything I can find on this topic I have concluded that anyone who rides without a pepper spray is foolish. There are many other defense options but none that provides the same level of safety as an OC spray like Fox Labs or Halt II. Yes you can carry a gun or a combat knife but these two options will probably get an owner to shoot back in the rural south. At least the pepper spray gives us a non lethal method that has the added benefit of perhaps training the animal in some way such that the next cyclist feels a little safer.[/QUOTE]

After the first encounter where I felt the need to dismount to protect myself, I would have been carrying pepper spray on each subsequent ride by.

Juan Foote

Years ago when I was younger we owned property in a very rural (at that time) area down near Lake Sinclair in Eatonton, GA. At the time there was no trash pickup, so either you burned it or hauled it out yourself. In answer to the last issue there were big dumpsters parked off in the middle of nowhere every here and there for residents to come dump trash. Given the un-steady nature of the pickup of this trash as well as the sheer amount of it that would end up in and around the dumpster, it led to LARGE packs of feral dogs running around in the country where no one else was around.
It was commonly known in the area that these dogs would as soon kill and eat you as the trash they were used to. It was not uncommon to hear of maulings and people getting trapped inside trash cans, etc. Your description of "Carolina dirt dog" is very apt....it was also SOP to carry a gun on trash runs once you had your first encounter.

Jbarcs

Thanks for your comments. When I ordered the Fox Labs "Five Point Three" I bought three cans plus an inert ingredients "test" can for practice just so I would know what the range was and how quickly I could aim accurately. All quite helpful. In my opinion and based on what I have observed, if I had "hit" both of the leaders the rest would have retreated. My riding is split between gravel grinding, road riding, and touring. For touring, based on my readings here, I expect I will carry three canisters.

Jbarcs

In hindsight I probably should have. I've been around dogs all of my 67 years and have always thought I had a good understanding of them and their behavior. This incident was so different than anything I have seen before. And I noted it immediately. Their movement and collective strategy made me feel like I was seeing something totally new. In the past when I have unclipped and walked the bike the three dogs that are almost always there would calm down and after no more than a minute they would go back to the yard and ignore me. So I had assumed... incorrectly... that my methodology was spot on and repeatable. This is pretty much why I posted my story; there just is no way of knowing the dynamic of a situation. Which would explain what "dynamic" is so appropriate here.

When I was ten years old my little sister... age seven... was mauled by two ranch dogs in Wyoming at a cookout. The right side of her face was shredded... most of it looked like hamburger. Four weeks in the hospital and round after round of reconstructive/plastic surgery. To this day she has zero fear of dogs and wouldn't think of any kind of defense if she rode. Like me should would assume that we understood the animal's nature. A dangerous assumption I'll never make again.

Jbarcs

Thanks.