catonec 

punish the owner who lets his dog run free in a populated area. squirt him in the face with ammonia or smack him with your pump.

seriously, ive been chased numerous times. A DEEP LOUD NO! stops them in their tracks. all domesticated dogs know what NO means.

bike56

I am a dog person,been around dogs my whole life.I had never been attacked by dogs until 2 years ago,and I don't mean a dog snipping at your heels and just trying to bite you.It was two dogs and they were trying to kill me.They were small dogs,and it was unbelievable how vicious they can be.I can tell most of you have never experienced this,and I hope you don't,and I probably never will also,but I can say I would have shot them if I had a gun,and then pistol whipped the owner.The way I survived was facing them head on and trying to kill them back with my hands and feet,which gave me time to dive over a fence.To this day I don't understand how these dogs could have been so vicious.I was walking,not riding so there is a good chance I could have out run them.I would rather have a pocket knife,one little stick and the fight is over

erig007

They were so vicious because the wild is vicious. We have just forgotten that.
We humans when we get sick or are injured we just go to see the doctor.
Into the wild when you are sick or injured you are eaten by others.
Survival of the fittest.
Dogs reacts like all animals react... with their instinct.

Aeolis

IMO pepper spray is probably the safest and most effective defense tool when dealing with attacking dogs. Knives and guns are a bit bunch when pepper spray will do just as well temporarily.

big chainring 

Dog chasing after me? I use the Italian persuader. Also known as a Silca pump.

stevebiker

Bear spray

https://www.udap.com

If it'll stop a charging grizz, it'll stop any mutt. No matter how "bad" he thinks he is.

Rekless1

If it makes you feel any better I was vicously attacked by a dog as a child. Went for my face and head , literally ripped off one whole side of my face. Many recontructive surgeries , nerve damage and the whole lot. When I was found , they thought I had been shot point blank in the head with a shot gun.

Oddly, I have absolutely no fear of dogs to this day. They bark/chase/whatever when I am on the bike and I either ignore or yell right back. If it came to more than that I would have no issue what so ever with stopping the bike and ripping it's G damn head right off.

But as I said, I've lived all around New York , LA , parts of the midwest and now in the very dangerous land of the Mouse. I've actually had dogs 'sicked' on me believe it or not. Never elevated to a problem I couldn't handle and have zero reason to expect or plan for any worse.

I am sorry to anyone who has been injured on the bike, never a good thing and I won't issue judgement to add insult to injury. You have to have some common awareness and sence. Danger lurkes around every corner in life. But to talk about packing mace and handguns because of a potential dog attack...... Geez. Do what makes you feel comfortable I guess but I'm allowed to have an opinion on it....like it or not.

Anyways......

Rekless1

Crazy huh ?

david58

I haven't carried on my bike, and have been weighing it ever since the first day I started riding again last year. I was chased by two Pit Bulls who were after me, and one who was just out for a fun run. I am leaning toward carrying pepper spray, instead of a gun, just because of having to deal with the gun when I am off the bike. Most folks around here keep their dogs fenced or leashed, so there just aren't that many out in the country running around - mostly because dogs chasing livestock get shot.

The only time I have been bitten by a dog was on a bike, right in the arse by a big German Shepherd (a HUGE GSD) when I had my paper route. I'm frankly more concerned about a dog on a walk on one of those retractable leashes tangling me up, and hitting a dog with whatever gun I would be carrying on the bike would be problematic.

Nightshade

The term "weapon" as used in this thread does not mean gun or any kind of a firearm.

Weapon , in this thread, can be anything that can be used to protect your person from an aggressive animal.

erig007

like throwing my mother-in-law

prathmann

I disagree that a vicious attack on an adult person by two small dogs is an example of normal wild animal behavior. As you say, in the wild an injured animal is unable to hunt or defend itself so it gets eaten by others. That leads to instincts for remaining safe - and avoiding attacks unless the animal is almost certain it can do so without risk of significant injury. So wild animals the size and strength of small dogs don't initiate attacks against people except in rare circumstances (due to illness such as rabies, if they feel cornered and attacked, etc.). Normal wild behavior by such animals when confronted by people is to avoid contact and escape. A vicious attack by small dogs would more likely be the result of past encouragement by their owner.

erig007

I had in mine the fact that dogs can't be left beside babies or what i heard from trainers is that we must never totally trust dogs especially in the situation above. But thinking through they mostly reacts to bad stimuli like a baby crying and probably don't initiate attacks like lions.

The only thing is how a frightened dog run after someone riding a bike?
And i don't see someone training his/her dogs to run after a bicycle i think running after bikes is more based on instinct and if the dog carry on with the attack probably related to a training based on attack but could be based on instinct as well for some because the difference with wild animals is that some dogs have been genetically selected for centuries to be able to attack

commodorefork

I honestly think that it's incredibly foolish to ride (or even walk) anywhere without carrying AT LEAST a 2oz canister of pepper spray. Needless to say, they're not only useful against dogs. If someone takes a fancy to your nice bike, you may wish you had some means of defending your property. The likelihood of that happening probably depends on where you live, of course. I live in an urban neighborhood of St. Louis. The experiences I've had dealing with the "locals" have convinced me of the sanity of being prepared for the worst.

JanMM

Wouldn't your mother-in-law be too.........................large....[rim shot]...............to carry on your bike?

JanMM

I usually carry Halt! when riding in rural areas or anywhere I might encounter dogs. Have only used it - one small spray near each dog - twice and it was helpful. Long ago, when I was first riding, I used diluted ammonia against rural dogs. It was effective but I now know that it can be harmful - have no idea if Halt! or other pepper products were available in the seventies.

Never carry Halt! on my suburban/urban commutes. Never any dog problems.

erig007

Fortunately for me, I have a healthy mother-in-law easy to carry easy to throw

cyccommute 

Please look at context before replying. I was addressing Bent Bill's post. In his post he was specifically speaking about firearms. A "1911" is a Colt 45.

I do carry a weapon against dogs. It's called a brain. It comes with a fully functioning set of vocal cords and arms and legs. That's all I've ever needed. I'd be far more afraid of someone's weapon...pepper spray, ammonia, a fire arm...than of any dog.

Bent Bill

Interesting website especially the preface

https://legallyarmed.com/ccw_statistics.htm

superj

I ride with my youngest son pretty regularly, enough that I have had to deal with dogs chasing us. I have also been in normal dog attacks on the job when I used to do insurance inspections for homeowners. I dealt with very aggressive dogs for four or five years so I know what they don't like as it was part of every job, it seemed like.

Any dog hates a solid shoe to the mouth. When I am on foot, I try and punt them over the fence. If they stay away or are quick enough to not get the boot, I grab their lower jaw and hold it solidly. My thumb goes dead under their tongue from the front and my palm and fingers wrap around the outside. If they think I am playing, I roll them on their side or back and squeeze. They stop, and if they don't, we sit there lime that till the cops show up because I always have a phone on me.


Anyways, when my 9 year old is with me and we see or hear dogs, he gets on the opposite of the street from the dogs and I ride up off the seat. When a dog comes running out, I whip the back wheel around and knock his butt back with the bolt/nut that holds the back wheel on. You guys know how, put your weight forward and swing it around. I grew up doing freestyle in socal in the late 80s and early 90s so we all knew how to do all the tricks like that. If we get two dogs on us, I tell my son to take off and I weave back and forth covering his exit and trying to side kick the dogs as they get near. If they are stupid enough to try and grab me, I hook them with my heal and put their mouth in the spokes. I haven't had any dogs keep trying after that because we have been moving the whole time so they probably feel they protected their house or yard well enough because they turn back.

I think a gun would not be wise On a bike because of the possibility of missing and injuring someone else. We don't have dumb gin laws here in Texas so you can have a gun anytime you want, basically, but what's that saying..... With great power comes great responsibility. A gun is great power and can end a person's life that you were not even aware was nearby because you missed. I would rather deal with some slobbery hands from holding the dog or some bent/broken spokes then possibly shooting an innocent person. Maybe that pepper spray or some kind of spray would be cool but can you get it out and ride while a dog is coming up? I have not really had enough time to do anything but cover my son when dogs came out of nowhere aggressively.

Dogs are normal riding for us, we live in the hood in our town. Every jackass let's his dog run unleashed. Cops don't care when you call either, they blow you off because no one got hurt.

Nachoman

Pics or it didn't happen.

cyccommute 

Equally interesting website.

stevebiker

Looks like you've drunk the liberal kool-aid. Pepper spray is harmless, even to the dog who wants a pound of your flesh.

"Any dog" includes those who will not take "NO" or "SIT" or "GO HOME" as an answer, and who will bite.

I guess I can understand the concern about firearms, which admittedly are overkill, pun intended. But pepper spray is harmless and merely disengages the attack. Although if a dog truly is trying to bite you, it doesn't deserve any mercy and should be put down.

cyccommute 

Pepper spray may be harmless but I don't want to be downwind when someone deploys it. It's not a liberal/conservative thing but a common sense thing. No matter how well you aim it, it will disperse once sprayed and could easily cause others in the area discomfort...including yourself.

Out of hundreds of encounters over decades in many different parts of the country, I've never found a dog that didn't respond to "NO!" or "GO HOME!" or some variant. I would never tell them to sit.

david58

Have grown up with dogs, have owned dogs all my life. My one major bite was by a dog whose owner had told me the day before just to say "no." Got any idea how well that worked out?

I've also had a couple of dogs that the word "no" simply only worked randomly (when they wanted it to). Either you're real good or real lucky. Do you vacation in Reno?

And the dog doesn't have to bite you. How about a little barker getting tangled up between you, your bike, and the pavement in some combination?