Anyone got any solutions to keeping wild farm dogs away. I am sick and tired of angry territorial dogs running out in the road to try and kill me or at least tear my cycling shoes off. I don't want to get violent, but I am about to! I usually just yell and it seems to work, but today a large beast actually grabbed my tire. I was climbing and couldn't get any speed to get the hell out of there. UGH! this is making my rides so unpleasant...any safe non-violent ideas?

1) carry a frame pump! A good whack to the nose will stop a dog in his tracks.

2) a splash of water from your water bottle. Some suggest using ammonia, but I'd hate to drink from the wrong bottle.

3)Pepper spray - highly effective and teaches the dog to stay away!

4) Pedal Faster!

A quick squirt of the water bottle usually does it for me. If not, stopping will get rid of most of them (nothing to chase etc etc), but be sure to position your bike between you and the dog if you take the latter option.

I've thought about the "whack" from a frame pump, also wondered, if the dog did attack could I stuff the pump down its throat? Tough to bite with a pump between the teeth. But I read of an instance where a police officer had to fire five rounds into a rottwiler (sp?) to stop a charge, The report said the dog would shudder with each impact, but kept on coming till hit five times. I don't think I stand a chance with my pump.

Goatbiker

I suggest a friendly pat on the head

and then whack it really hard on the head when it's expecting it the least.

A couple of us love to "train with the Rotweilers". We have a long flat stretch where these two dogs live and love to collect cycling parts. They can see us from a ways off and we can see them from down the road. Shift to a sprint gearing, stand and spin. It is scary sport, but my sprinting is so much better now.

Perhaps write out a letter explaining that unless the dog is kept restricted to the rightful owners property as not to let it stray, that it will become an Ex- dog , it will go to meet it's maker,it will be no more,it will pass on, it will become extinct, it will cease to be, it will expire,it will be a late dog,it will be a stiff , bereft of life,it will be pushing up daisies, it will run down the curtain and join the choir invisible ! and drop it into the owners mailbox ???..just a thought !!

i had that happen the other day, i was cycling and this dog came bolting at me, but i had enough speed so he couldn't catch me, unfortunately the road was a dead end so i had to turn around... and there the dog was waiting in the street for me to come back. I just sat there for like 10 mins till the dog got tired of waiting and went back, of course when i went by again, he came a bolting down for round two. There was also this cute big fluffy dog that looked kinda dopey, but he just looked at me with a "hey you gona pet me" look on his face.

Dogs... I use the usuall tactics as most of you do. ususlly a good firm STAY!! or NO!! gets their attention some times it takes more. THe water bottle squirt works sometimes recently i noticed something though. the faster I pedal the more the dog gets excited about catching me and tearing off my foot. once i stop pedaling for a few seconds it seems to break the hypnotic trance and they let up. I did this more than once and seems to work.

With that said there has been a few times that they just keep comming then i am reaching for the fram pump to give a good solid thump in the head.

I met a crazy dude on a bike in Montana 2 years ago he was telliing me of his tactic. I was not quite believeing him till i saw it in action he was fast and strong and like i said a bit crazy.. so when a dog came out he would grin and say OK lets go! he would speed up just a bit faster than the dog and keep the dog just out of reach as the dog got either tired out or to the end of its territiory Mike would turn arround and start chasing the dog making all sorts of noise it was quite a sight sometimes the dog would get wiged out and hitail it home and other times the dog would turn arround and they would start to snarl at each other should have had a vidio camra. if i haddent seen him do this twice i would have doubeted it myself.

Hmmmm, well, threatening to kill someone's dog is a good way to get in legal trouble, and putting something in someone's mailbox is another good way. (Federal Offense, and the Post Office takes it seriously. I really advise against this....

A few things come to mind:

If the same dogs are consistently coming out to "greet" you on your rides, call the Sheriff's department and report it. They WILL have a talk with the owners and there could be fines involved. Money will have a way of convincing the owners to pen or chain the dog.

Once the dog is off it's property then it is fair game as to what happens to it. It is considered to be attacking you on public property and you have a right to defend yourself. With all the dog attacks in the news these days (remember the woman in the apartment in San Francisco being killed by attack dogs and the owners being held on murder charges?) you have a perfect right to call in the authorities.

Water bottle in the face and yelling "go home" or "stay" works most of the time. I once scared a dog so badly by yelling at it, that is cowered in the road, tail between it's legs and pee'd itself. Then I felt bad, but it learned a lesson.

Last August I was caused to fall after being side attacked by a small doberman-type of dog. Spent 3 weeks off the bike with severe abrasions. Bike was OK, but scraped up a bit.

My wife likes to remind me that bad dogs are the result of bad owners and ultimately they need to be punished.

Last weekend, while cycling on a narrow, quiet road in my neighborhood, I saw two people on one side and two dogs in the bushes on the other side. Fortunately, I slowed as I approached them, accurately predicting that the dogs would run across my path toward their owners. We had a quick, reasonably cordial, verbal exchange as I accelerated back to cruising speed: "Sorry."
"PLEASE control your dogs!"

They have been warned. If there is a repeat incident, I will not hesitate to notify Animal Control, as I did several years ago when a Staffordshire terrier crossed a street to bite my leg as I jogged past it.

There are no leash laws here in SW Missouri (at least not in Taney, Stone, and Barry Counties where I ride the most) so calling the sheriff won't help. They have better things to do. So the cyclist must deal with dogs on his own.

I use different tactics for different dogs.

1)If the dog is wagging it's tail and NOT barking I will stop and talk to it for a minute or so and give it a doggy treat. Most dogs love affection.

2) If the dog is just barking and chasing (guarding it's territory) I slow down and talk to it; "Hi dog, don't run in front of my wheel. You don't listen well, do you?" If it doesn't try bite me I will stop and give it a doggy treat. Eventually the dog will remember me and I can use strategy #1.

3) If the dog is aggressive I assert myself as an alpha-male and force the dog to surender it's territory to me. I do this by yelling, barking and growling; dismounting and charging the dog on foot, and if necessary, using my bike as a weapon. Getting smacked in the face by a 30 pound bicycle will change any dog's attitude. When the dog lays down and shows me his neck I know I have won. Then I give him a doggy treat and go on my way. It won't be long before doggy and I are best friends.

These strategies usually work on untrained dogs. Attack dogs are a different story... but so far I've never met one.

Thanks for all the tips.

I hate that the damn dogs make me rethink my route. I sometimes just don't want to deal with them. I feel like I encounter a mad dog every few miles....It drives me nuts. A few of them have become good rivals and I do give them a good race, but there a are few that have mastered the sneak attack and that freaks me out....I always bring pepper spray just in case. I am just surprised people allow their dogs to do it...once this dog was trying to grab me and the owner just sat and watched. I can't imagine allowing my dog to do that to people...it's ridiculous!

The H20squirt works for the small/medium FDA(Friendly Domesticed Animals). If not then the yell works.

The Larger FDA, or the non tags are a different subject around my neck of the woods. Pedal,pedal,pedal is what I have used. But the last encounter, I used an old bmx move. I did a kick out shoving the back tire in the mutz general direction and, whoh it worked and I could still pull on off. Thank god for mtn bikes.