Hello,

A couple things.

I have a dog that walks off leash, but I always have a leash and if people or bikes are approaching and he gets that interested look he sits and goes on the leash until they pass. He's a Golden Retreiver and I know he won't do anything, but I want the others to know he won't have the opportunity even if he would.

You do realize though that all this griping goes on a hiking forums regarding MTBers. I have almost been taken out numeous times as I am running trails by you guys flying around blind corners with no indication that your coming. That's equally wrong, dangerous and scares that crap out of us too. Let's see 60# of dog or 190# of man and machine at 20 mph?

As for mace, be careful especially shooting it from a bike. Ever spit in the wind? Wanna mace yourself? When all your pores are wide open and you're sweatin' like there's no tomorrow, that stuff will effect you more than the dog, because mace doesn't do anything to fur. You have to get it on their nose and eyes which will be no easy task from a bike.

Brian

OCTB -- good name for it! My Golden Retriever has the same thing. She can hear you crack open a new can of tennis balls at 100 yards. I was throwing the ball for her in the back pasture one day, and there were three -- three! -- rabbits in the open where the ball stopped. She considered each of the rabbits in turn (this took about 1/2 second) and then RAN PAST THEM to get the ball!

Chased by dogs -- I used to ride on a route where there was a pretty aggressive dog on a rural road (this was in Kansas). It was the best way out on a 30 mile loop, but I knew I had to deal with the dog. I always worked out in my head what the proper thing to do would be -- uncleat and kick him, squirt him with a water bottle, shout at him, etc. -- but it always came down man vs beast in a full out sprint like it was the end of a TDF stage. It started the same way, every time: he'd hear me approach -- no, he SENSED my approach -- and would wait in the shadow under the tree. Stock still. We faced each other down as the gap closed. About 50 yards out he'd shift his hips and look back over his shoulder at me, getting ready like a sprinter settling into his blocks. I'd push my sunglasses back up on my nose and drop two gears, building the revs for the "jump". I was at a tactical disadvantage here: the road was rising at that point, with a bend to the left, which would force me to turn into him about halfway through. He knew this -- and I swear I saw that dog curling his lip, not in a snarl -- but a sneer.

And then it was Game On: I'd drop the hammer and hit it, down in the drops and cycling like there was no tomorrow. Rover would cruise up about a meter off of my left leg and settle in. No barking, no snapping, just the click of claws on pavement and the jangling of rabies tags to let me know he was there. The canine was ran like the Bionic Dog, and I would pedal with a cadence of oh, 300 or so and a HR of 280. The dog would get bored after about 75 yards and stand in the road, staring after me as I disappeared over the rise, as if to say "come back again and we'll see what happens when I don't give you a head start. You want a piece of me? I'll get a piece of you first!"

It seemed like that at the time...

There's good dog owners, just like there's good mt bikers. We had encountered 4 walkers on the singletrack trail we had been riding on previous to the dog encounter, all of whom were alerted to our presence by our lead dinging his bell, followed by us slowing to a crawl as we passed them...

Hello,

I agree 100%.

What's funny is that as I was letting my dog run the trails this morning I thought about this post. I then thought about all the times drivers bitch about the cyclists riding two abreast, running lights/ stop signs, weaving through traffic, on and on and on.

Cyclists/runners vs. dog owners. Hikers/ horseback riders vs. MTBers. Drivers vs. cyclists. It's all the same. The reality is that the only thing you can really do is control your behavior and ideal of courtesy towards others.

Brian

I'm still healing from a dog bite I was treated to a few weeks ago while running. It seems like every other week the local paper has a front page article about how its the culture around here (NE Georgia) to let one's dogs run free. I now ride/run with the dog mace and find it works wonders. It causes the dog immediately to turn tail and walk off asking 'what the heck is wrong with my nose?!' Much more difficult to use on the bike, so be careful.

We ride and live in a rural area. Every farm we pass has a big dog not on a leash. That's just a fact of life so we've learned to accept it.

Same here. I call it my "Tour de Farms". Initially, the dogs scared the poop outta me, but they are friendly (in my area) ... and they are all big. Eventually they stop chasing the bike, I think they bored by running so slow. =)

Honestly , I'm more worried they're going to run in front of the wheel than I am that they're gonna bite me.

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Had what looked like shepard mix charge at me the other day as I was running on the sidewalk. She stopped short, gave me a sniff (I stopped running), and left me alone. The owners came out as this was happening and apologized [rare]. Then they all got in the truck and went somewhere.

My 3yo son has taken up bike riding. He rides and I walk to the video store (3 miles), occassionally we have seen loose dogs. I love dogs; we have 3 of them (lab, cattle dog from a no-kill shelter, and a rat terrier I got from a brother-in-law's divorce). If a dog charges me alone, I'll give the dog the benefit of the doubt [and usually some scratching behind the ears], and wait to see if he's gonna sniff or snap. If a dog charges at my son, I will not hesitate the take the dog down and not let the dog back up. I won't give the dog the benefit of the doubt when it comes to my son/wife/daughter. I would hate for that to happen, but it's not worth the risk. It si something I am always on the lookout for.

I understand that dogs get loose sometimes, and in the country it is commonplace to let your dogs run free (I have heard people list this as being the main reason they moved to the country. Really), but there also seem to be quite a few dog-owners that blatantly ignore the leash and/or "under control" laws. The irony is that those dog owners are not likely at this site, reading this post, nor give a rats-booty what I think about it.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Loose dog looking for someone to chase, hehehehehehhe

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I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard