What About Dogs?
 

I decided to get the bike out for a short ride around the neighborhood. I got about a mile away and noticed my computer wasn't working. There is a small church so I decided to circle around the parking lot trying to figure out why the computer isn't working. After a few minutes, I suddenly hear a dog barking and heading my way. I believe it was half wolf and half bear. This thing was pissed. I decided it was time to get out of there. The dog wasn't stopping. The problem was I wasn't going quite fast enough. Eventually the dog did quit following me but I will admit, I was a little nervous. So what do you guys do for dogs? Any tricks of the trade?

Lots of things ;
Yell "Get off the couch', 'No!', 'Go home'.
Swerve toward the dog, you then become the agressor.
Get off the bike, keep bike between you and the dog.
My wife carries a (shrill) whistle on a lanyard around her neck on our tandem rides . . . seems to work most of the time.
Some folks use pepper spray, amonia in squirt gun, fire blanks (but all these are a bit risky).

Practice riding faster, then you'll be able to out run them most of the time :) Towards the end of a long ride, not so much. I carry pepper spray, just in case, haven't had to use it yet. Before I started carrying spray, I was forced to get off my bike (busy highway, no shoulder) and a pair of demon possessed dogs came out of nowhere, complete with red eyes. I just walked on the other side of my bike. Makes a great barrier/weapon. Some dogs can be scared just by the bike + you yelling, others, just keep walking and keep them on the other side of your bike until you can ride away.

Carrying dog treats = bad idea (Friend of mine did, oops) They'll chase you even more, especially if you frequent the route!

I was once an honest to goodness paperboy who delivered 150 newspapers a day on his bicycle. My remedy for dogs? A good swift kick. The best part is that dogs aren't stupid, when they see you again they don't think about revenge they just remember what happened the last time they chased you.

Thats what works for me most of the time, a good kick in the throat works most of the time. for average dogs. rotts, pitts, shepards, and cujo need a 44 slug in the brain.

This is what I do.

Actually, if you are a good person, dogs will not bother you. So I help the poor, volunteer in the community, and give to needy children.

So dogs like me and are always cheerful and nice to me. Never have any problems at all no matter where in the country I am.

If the dog is cute, you have to pet it and rub its belly.

If the dog is fugly and aggressive, you have to become the aggressor and attack it, regardless of its intentions. It's a bloody fight to the death.

If they are too close for comfort, I just shoot them between the eyes with my water bottle. That stops most of them and makes the really determined ones slow down and shake their head long enough to at least get a few lengths ahead. That is a good enough reason to always carry more water than you need.

Obviously, good people don't ride bikes.

The best thing you can do if a dog is challenging you that way is to let it know who is the dominant one.

Now obviously here, the dog saw you going in circles and came to check you out because it didn't understand what was going on. Were you playing? circling a prey? wounded? You said it was barking, but what was the rest of its body language? Actually, dogs are often most dangerous when they are silent, the calm before the storm, the dog is sizing up the situation.

The best thing is a good solid calm loud, "No!". It's a word that virtually any dog understands. I've found that getting a mouthful of water from my water bottle and spraying the dog with it, if it's at close range is also an effective technique. The dog isn't expecting that.

Another good thing to do is to pick up a "Dog Whisperer" DVD at the library and watch it. Caeser knows his stuff.

Loud air horn and bear spray :)

If you do get attacked keep the bike between you and the dog and try to hit it with the bike. A bike has some protruding metal parts, chances are it will be painful enough for the dog to quit and retreat.

Stay calm, hold your ground, yell loud, throw a rock, etc. Don't run, that will make the dog chase you and they can outrun you easily even on a bike as it takes you time to accelerate to above 20mph needed to outrun mot dogs.

ok, I was being somewhat silly there, but the truth of it is that I have no dog problems because I live in the country and understand animals. Urban folks tend to feel more "entitled". they might not understand that dogs like to bark at shiney, spinning metal things. They might feel they should be entitled to ride by and not hear any barking. Who knows what's in the mind of city slickers, to be honest, but it sure isn't thinking about things from the dog's perspective.

no, they rather feel that somewhere some dog owner should be "responsible" somehow, even though at the moment of the encounter any supposed responsibility is irrelevent

Also, remmeber that city folk freak out a little too fast when confronted about anything.

so they pepper spray the dogs and wonder why they get atacked

In the end, the best advice is to be a good hearted person and understand that it is you that is out of place and you that needs to manage the situation

a very unpopular thing to suggest to city folk, I grant you

I feel a little clueless seeing all the dog threads around here, because I've NEVER had or witnessed an issue with one.

So I just have to ask: what happens if you guys just walked the same route? The forums make it sound as if you'd need a squad of armed ******* to make it out alive.

This city slicker could care less about dog psychology; I just want to be able to ride my bike without being bitten. I have no idea if the dog that comes after me is a family pet or a junkyard guard dog. My running assumption is the most conservative one. I err on the side of caution.

A know several who've been bitten, and multiple times. So far I've managed to avoid that.

ladies and gentlemen, I give People's Exhibit A ....this is exactly what I am talking about

you don't care about what the dog is thinking, and all you care about is that YOU don't have your irrational fears realized

...yet the first step to keeping yourself safe is to understand the situation you find yourself in

do you see the problem in your thinking yet, or do I need to badger you a little more?

Badger all you want. Ahole dog owners need to control their fricking dogs, whether in the city or in the country. This is about the dog, not about city slickers vs. bumpkins. I don't give a damn about what a dog's motivation is, or what it thinks of me. I want it off the road.

so you get hounded by dogs you say?

...I can't imagine why

In many places it is not illegal to have a loose dog. And in some places loose dogs are needed to protect property and livestock from varmints and vermin. It's a good idea for cyclists to educate themselves about dog behavior because dog owners are not responsible for the irrational panic that some cyclists experience. They are only responsible for actual damage caused by their animals.

Just as drivers need to understand and accommodate cyclists, cyclists need to understand and sometimes accommodate dogs.

BTW, like most generalizations about people, the whole country boy vs city slicker concept makes no sense to me. I'm not a country boy and seem to have no problems understanding dogs. My wife, on the other hand fears the dogs that are harmless and is sometimes oblivious to dangerous dogs. I have many other examples that would debunk the country v city silliness and I'm sure others have them too.

roger, I'm sort of doing schtick there, but the truth is that the only riders in my area that seem to have dog problems are the bike club riders from town when they go on their group rides out on our roads

I agree with you though, that since dogs are a part of our reality we need to know how to deal with them.

But I also understand that in cities, "dogs" are more likely pit bulls and rotts, whereas I encounter country hound dogs that are more friendly breeds

So for my brothers and sisters who have to suffer asphalt and pit bulls and traffic and bike lanes I do pity you all and its a shame you don't get to ride out through these open fields of ours more often

...especially now that those shock collar invisible fences are so popular!

There are a few differences, Geezer; the first one is the local law, ALMOST EVERYWHERE, that says dogs must be contained (fence, leash, chain). Doesn't exist in the country, it's a lot more casual out there (lot fewer people per square mile). The laws are in place specifically because: when you get more people closer together, the better the chances are of some of them being abominably STUPID.

With loose-running dogs in the city, there are considerations like this:

1. Stray? Or owned?
2. Trained at all? Trained for aggression? (A LOT of people work out personal inadequacy issues by having large, fight-trained dogs.)

Lack of understanding on the rider's part isn't the issue, nor are there 'irrational fears'. Lack of responsibility on the part of dog owners in the city contribute to problems about 5x what misunderstanding riders do.

My city's PD has a standing policy, that aggressive dogs of certain breeds may readily be handled by deadly force. Happened when someone's Rott came into my yard a couple years ago, threatening the whole extended family. The cop splattered the dog's skull, and arranged for the removal of the remains.

Oh -- BTW -- dogs don't think, they are incapable of reasoning....

It's less about dogs just CHASING, than it is about being approached with AGGRESSION. Happens a lot more in the city/suburbs....

I go through this with my dad, too. He gets hounded by dogs. I tell him to give to the poor, just to wind him up.

The fact is that if a rider can't learn how to contend with dogs, they are going to eventually stop riding.

so it isn't a law enforcement or dog ownership issue at the heart of it. It is simply a matter of knowing how to handle the situation, when society breaks down and you have a snarling pit bull coming your way

In the end, its good to have a sprint