Hi,
was at a surplus store today, and saw a spray gun that said
it had both pepper spray and tear gas. While problems that would require it are rare in New England; I have been meaning to
get a can of Halt pepper spray.
Would tear gas harm a dog? Anyone have experience with something like this? I want to carry something, and I was wondering if this was a sensible choice.

I don't have experience with that particular type. However, I did pick up a little can of pepper spray at the local running store. It is designed for animals, but I suppose it would work on humans also. I'm not looking to hurt anyone, but if a dog gets a hold of my leg or a passing motorist decides to stop and teach me a lesson about riding on the road, I would like to have a little surprise for them.

To me it just sounds like one extra thing to carry that you really don't need. I've found a squirt of the water bottle to be just as effective on a dog pretty much all of the time. Although I haven't been chased for a while. As far as a passing motorist goes, I doubt a spray of tear gas has sufficient momentum to halt an errant car. The idea of using tear gas on a motorist is dependent upon them getting out of the car in the first place. I honestly can't remember the last time a motorist having a go at me actually did that.

One has to remember that to spray any above mentioned products in someones area can be considsered assult in many states. Of course if an assailant assaults you first, and you are fortunate to have a, or many witnesses to your defense then the better off you are. If a motorist stops to get out and come at you then pedal away. It is that simple.
However for dogs there is a good chance that you can outrun them. This of course does not apply to all breeds. However there is such a thing as route planning. The reason for me saying this is I had a dog that pepper spray only made him alot more angry then he already was.

Once I was attacked by the shepherd dog. I was not on the bike. The dog was attacking to hurt.

I sprayed it with the CS spray and it run away terrified.

Spray works. The only drawback - it gets on your hands too. Once I ruined my ride like this; had to go home to wash hands. This time I did not really had to use it. Some water from the bottle could do the job.

The only dog I imagine I would outrun on my heavy loaded bike after a day of pedaling (perhaps up the hill), would be a pocket size japanese pikinez.
When traveling on the bike, it doesn't seem possible for me to plan where I will meet dogs or not.

Maybe we should carry a half of the cheesburger from Mc Donalds, for that angry dog?

Three comments: it is not as easy to hit a dog with the spray as you might think, they are aware you are trying to do something. So it is frequently only a little more obnoxious than a water bottle because they veer away. It is easy to lose control trying to spray a dog especially if there is more than one and they are a bit aggressive and you are paying more attention to the dog than the road. Finally if you are riding a little ways behind a rider who sprays around you might ride through the cloud of spray, not a pleasant experience, not as bad as the dog might have but burning face and eyes can be experienced by following riders. I've had this happen to me.
Steve

a good dog deterrant is a swift kick in the choch.
the tried and true Daniel-san crane kick will do wonders to a charging pooch

Take the dog attack like a trooper, apparently nothing will stop a dog short of a gun.

Get two cans of spray and practice your shot so you don't "miss" the dog when you really need to hit him. Squirt yourself too, don't let your first experience with pepper/nerve spray be when you need to have situational awareness. Yea, it will sting for a while but it will give you an idea of it's effects before you squirt yourself in the eye when trying to outrun a dog.

It is better to have spray and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Same applies to firearms for those who ride armed (the most effective means of averting a dog/bad guy attack).

Or, just ask your mailman what he uses, I bet he has a realistic plan.

Hope this helps,

ehenz

I'll concur with the observation that it's hard to use pepper spray properly while you're riding. Too hard, I think, to bother with most of the time. Dogs are pretty smart. They won't just stand there and let you spray them.

Still, it's also true that pepper spray is a lot more effective than a water bottle. That's for sure. If you do spray an aggressive dog he'll get the message loud and clear, trust me. 9 times out of 10 he'll not even come within a hundred yards of you again.

But a very determined dog, like a very determined person, won't be stopped by the spray.

Pepper spray can blow back in your own face if you're not careful. You want to avoid that. The good stuff will also irritate your skin if it gets on the inside of your cycling jersey. You have to wash a few times to get it out.

Another possibility: carry rocks and maybe a small slingshot with you. When Fido tears off of the farm at you, and you get off of the bike, he'll stand there growling and barking, just out of reach. Peg him with a rock or two, and you've got yourself a much more cautious canine.

I personally would not even mind if someone riding a bicycle sprayed my dog because they felt threatened by it. I think the dog would survive and it would probably teach him from then on to avoid bicycles like the plauge. So, from a dog owners point of view: if my dog was causing a threat (different from simply being annoying) please, do what you must. I would much rather have him sprayed than hit with something or shot.

Paula, if someone sprayed any one of my dogs while they were with me and on a leash(they always are) I would have their @#$.

Someone mentioned washing off pepperspray with a water bottle, my experience is limited to cutting habanero peppers and getting caught in a store isle when my (old)bosses son accidently emptied a cartridge while playing with it, but IT DOES NOT RINSE OFF. Nothing will get it off completely, Dawn, Orangepeelz, Gojo, hot water, cold water. Forget and rub your eye two hours later and blind pain. Using a sink sprayer in the face helps but it still takes a while to clear up.
On the other hand, you would need a low pain threshold for it to stop someone completely. Mostly really annoying and makes your vision really blurry, lots of tears, extreme runny nose.