SO lets say you are out riding with the wife, you see trouble ahead so you slow form 20 to 10 mph. A little girl swerving back and forth lacking skill on a little pretty pink bike. My wife a bit ahead also rolling slow. No problem, little girly is learning.

Father a bit behind the girl and WTF! A loose dog! So my wife rolling ahead of me, about 40 yards and the dog on the opposite side of the trail. Dog sees her and charges from across the trail opposite shoulder, not a big dog but the wife screams as he snaps at her leg. Doesn't get her but the wife screams in fear. Light the fuse #1. Scare my wife so I feel my face turn red

As I approach I plan to tell the idiot to put his dam dog on a leash before someone gets hurt. Wife could have crashed breaking collarbone, or dog maybe takes out a passing rider, who knows! It's all dangerous.

So as I approach, before I can say anything, dog charges me head on! I unclip to protect myself if the dog goes for my leg. Dog charges headon nearly taking out my front wheel. I mean head on about two inches form my front tire. My leg is unclipped so a swift flick of the foot and the dog yelps as I make contact right between the eyes.

The dude rolls by and starts yelling at me bigtime, you stupid mother fin piece of **mother fin some of a blah blah blah idiot piece of poo mothe f'er, why would you kick my dog!".

Now I know it's not the dog that is stupid but the owner! But I was protecting myself. If I had meant to hurt the dog, I would have scored a 3 pointer from 40 yards out.

So this guy is going off and my fuse is lit too! So he's yelling and screaming, throws down his bike and starts heading towards me. I tell the guy his dog charged my wife and now me, so put his f'in dog on a leash! He continues towards me so I tell the guy, I got the whole friggin thing on video, maybe he thought I was bluffin, I'm not as I was making a ride video today.

So he continues towards me, big guy but not big enough! So I lay my bike down and head his direction, by this time I'm shouting myself, C'mon you sutpid mother f'er, make something of it! Now I'm really lit as usual when someone threatens the safety of my wife, I don't take it too kindly.

So I start his direction and he immediately backs down. Hey, I tried the reasonable explanation. So he starts back to his bike screaming for help from 911. He pulls out a phone and starts yelling some big dude in yellow kicked my dog! I told him to be sure to tell them his dog was not on a leash and charged my wife then tried to attack me.

He tried to deny it but I told the guy, I got the whole friggin thing on video, wife charging my wife and him after yelling at his dog, "Get over here!" after the dog charged the first time. What a dumbsheot! I've got the video.

So what do you think? If a dog charges you, do you just hope he doesn't take a chunk out of your leg or give him a quick swift kick in the snout to protect oneself?

I'm thinking that if he really did call 911 and the cops show up (which might be an hour later) they'de more than lilkely fine his arse for not having the dog on a leash. I was hoping the cops would chase me down so that I could show them the video of the dog attacking my wife.

I f a dog charges me, it becomes my dog, and he won't be a happy dog.

Wow.
IMO, if the dog attacks you (or your wife) you have every right to protect yourself.
Can you post the video?

BTW, I've seen some of the videos that you post. What camera do you use?

I usually go with water to the face first before a kick, but it depends on the situation.

I also don't like unclipping, because that makes me less maneuverable.

i love animals. you did the right thing. he was a dick head. where is the video.

You should have called 911, only way he would have learned.

If you are on public property, you are protecting yourself. Now whether that means you'll be safe from idiot owners is altogether another issue.

Profanity tends to make a tense situation worse. Take the high road.

It's a FLip Video recorder. I felt like I was protecting myself. Now that I think of it, I should have stuck around and waited for the police. I wasn't sure what came out in the video. Shows the dog and owner on bike. Dog on oppostie side then charging my wife, she screams then dude yells at his dog. Didn't get my footage though,just muffled shouting. I didn't want to post anything on Youtube incase I need it in the future. Never know if the guy is there the next day.

Keeping the video incase the dude tries to track me down for a lawsuit or with some stupid way to get $50,000 for assaulting his dog. Ya never know!

It was all a matter of seconds. But I would think that if the guy yells at his dog,"get back here" that should have been a sign to grab his dog before I rolled by a few seconds later.

You have to protect yourself. One only wishes that the pain created by your kick would have been truly felt by the owner. The owner was irresponsible and as he exhibited, stupid.

It almost was!..Hey, If I'm sitting on the side of the road returning his shouts with "put your dam dog on a leash" and he starts towards me..........

I've been bit and don't want to be bit again, so I take all necessary measures.

Most dogs just want to play -- they try to run with you and get in front of your front tire. Still dangerous. Others want to bite -- they charge straight at you and, usually, try to bite your lower leg or ankle. The chargers get a snout full of bear repellant from me. (Yes, bear repellant. It has a much longer effective range and much higher concentration than Halt. Halt only stops playful dogs. Bear repellant will stop the mean ones -- although I've had a pitbull come back for a second blast.)

If the dog is loose and it charges, I get clear and call 911 for animal control.

im curious why you mentioned the word "video" 4 times but didnt post any video....

I explained above!

But if you are interested, this is the ride video I made today!

Both my wife and I agree the owner of the dog was at fault. If the dog would have bit you or your wife he would be responsible & liable as the dog's owner.

I know that they make gizzley bear pepper spray with pouch that you can put on your back pack. The bear pepper spray can shot 30 feet plus with 3.3 million scoville heat units (SHU). If it can stop a grizzley it should be able to stop a dog. Do they make a small pepper spray that you could snap a plastic holder on the handlebars? That would be handy right next to the stem, almost like a light but with a quick release.

Glad you & your wife are okay & didn't crash and hurt yourself or the bikes.

Kimber pepper blaster is the best if you ask me, small, no blowback, good range, 2 shots, and CC reviewed and approved.

The law is very clear that dogs have to be leashed while on common pathways. There is no way the guy can win in court if he sues you. Also, the cops probably never showed up (if he indeed called them) b/cos they most likely asked him the simple question - Did you have your dog on a leash?

And of course, he answered no.

I figured that! When he was supposedly on the phone with 911, I told him to make sure and tell them his dog was not on a leash and it charged the both of us! That was right before he shouted at the top of his lungs, "I hope you get hit by a truck!"

Many years ago, when I was less mature, I owned an animal-agressive dog. My dog had scared people, and I didn't take adequate precautions, because dogs didn't scare me. I didn't take the situation seriously until the police came knocking on my door one day. I was mature enough to not be angry with whoever lodged the complaint, and realized I was being irresponsible.

Think about calling the police yourself after removing your family from danger. After a few complaints are lodged against irresponsible pet owners, the police will take the matter seriously, and will see that the pet owner does as well. And, in the event you know where the owner lives or frequents, you can even make the complaint hours later, after you have calmed down and can interract with the police in the most favorable demeanor.

That's a good idea. If I run into the guy again with any confrontation and/or a loose dog, I just may call myself.

I had a dog bite my leg just two days ago. I let him taste some of my 17% concentrated pepper spray, which I always carry. I hate to do this, as the dog came right out of his owner's house, but hey I gotta protect myself. It's not so much the bite, but that sonbich was pushing me into the lane on a busy street.

i'm a higher order of life form than the dog. my safety comes before its--though i do like how you just gave it a good warning shot.

This is something that scares me more then falling off a 20ft. cliff or getting hit by a car... (a little sarcastic but i think the point is made ) A dog trying to chase you down can end real bad.. i think a part of it comes from being bit twice just walking down my own street one really minor and the other was not so bad but SUPER glad it hit my shin and not the back side or that one would have been bad.

Glad to hear the both of you are alright though

Swift kick, and I'm a major dog lover. Self defense is fair and natural. My plan should a dog ever charge me (hasn't happened yet, although a few have challenged me to side-by-side races) has always been to dismount and put the bike between me and the dog. I would prefer not to kick, because that give it a good chance at my rippling pro cyclist calf muscle If Fido wants to take a bite, it will be of my chainring.

You gotta report the mutt to animal control. I was attacked by somebody's loose dog 8 months ago. He took one chomp on my leg while I was riding on a residential street. My doc bills were over $1K with 11 doc visits to get shots and get the deep punctures cleaned and treated. My leg still has fang scars and a big dent where the muscle was crushed. For several weeks I couldn't wear long pants over the wound dressing - had to buy some new work clothes.

Think what would have happened if the dog charged a small child who would not have the ability to defend themself.

I am a dog fan... but i would much rather see a dog kicked in the face then something like that no bueno