Anyone else been attacked by multiple dogs? Know a good defense?
Two Bull Terriers and a mutt. I feel fortunate that a neighbor ran over yelling and throwing rocks and the dogs dispersed. It wasn't going well for me at the time.
I ride by this house a lot as it's the only decent route south out of town. Usually there are no dogs loose. Occasionally the mutt would run out but I always managed to elude him. Once earlier this spring I'd encountered these same three dogs. I'd never seen the Terriers before and they were not fully grown. They saw me coming and I couldn't outrun them, so I stopped and and got off my bike, keeping it between me and the dogs. They barked and snarled but seemed to lose motivation when I wasn't moving (typical of pretty much every dog encounter I've had). When they'd calmed down I walked across the street to the house they'd come from and talked to the owner, letting him know his dogs were loose. He apologized profusely and said they are supposed to be locked up but sometimes they get out, etc. No big deal.
Last Sunday (a week ago) it was sort of a repeat, or so I thought at first. I got off my bike, but this time they immediately surrounded me. I wasn't too concerned yet, but I moved farther off the road (away from the house). Then the mutt lunged and snapped at me, and I dropped the bike and clubbed him over the head with my fist. A second later one of the terriers bit me on the left calf. Now I'm really pissed, staggering around in the ditch trying to keep them at bay. Not doing a very good job either. I couldn't keep track of them all at once, and while I was paying attention to the last one that bit me, another would sneak in from behind. I got in a good kick to the head on one of the terriers, but this didn't seem to phase him at all. I suddenly realized that I was pretty much defenseless, and if something didn't happen soon to change the situation it was going to get a lot worse for me. Luckily this was in town on a fairly busy road, not in the boonies. A guy pulled up on his motorcycle and honked his horn, but the dogs ignored him. When the neighbor came to my rescue the dogs took off.
He also invited me to his house to clean and patch my wounds and wait for the cops (actually Animal Control) to show up. I was bitten twice on the left calf, once on the right, and on the right forearm. The forearm swelled up over double its normal size, but the left calf is what really bothered me (still). The worst bite was a well defined fang puncture on the meaty part of the calf. According to AC they'd had no prior calls on this guy (though the neighbors claim he knows of at least two other people who've been bitten), so it's just a warning and check for rabies shots, etc.
Anyway... I've been thinking about the best defense against this sort of thing, and not getting any great ideas. I'm ok with using lethal force, but I don't have a gun and don't really want to be packing on a ride anyway. I ordered some Sabre Pepper Gel, which should be here today. I figure that's better than nothing. If I can get the winter glove off my hand and aim it properly it would probably work.
The "adventure" reminded me of this video:
Two Bull Terriers and a mutt. I feel fortunate that a neighbor ran over yelling and throwing rocks and the dogs dispersed. It wasn't going well for me at the time.
I ride by this house a lot as it's the only decent route south out of town. Usually there are no dogs loose. Occasionally the mutt would run out but I always managed to elude him. Once earlier this spring I'd encountered these same three dogs. I'd never seen the Terriers before and they were not fully grown. They saw me coming and I couldn't outrun them, so I stopped and and got off my bike, keeping it between me and the dogs. They barked and snarled but seemed to lose motivation when I wasn't moving (typical of pretty much every dog encounter I've had). When they'd calmed down I walked across the street to the house they'd come from and talked to the owner, letting him know his dogs were loose. He apologized profusely and said they are supposed to be locked up but sometimes they get out, etc. No big deal.
Last Sunday (a week ago) it was sort of a repeat, or so I thought at first. I got off my bike, but this time they immediately surrounded me. I wasn't too concerned yet, but I moved farther off the road (away from the house). Then the mutt lunged and snapped at me, and I dropped the bike and clubbed him over the head with my fist. A second later one of the terriers bit me on the left calf. Now I'm really pissed, staggering around in the ditch trying to keep them at bay. Not doing a very good job either. I couldn't keep track of them all at once, and while I was paying attention to the last one that bit me, another would sneak in from behind. I got in a good kick to the head on one of the terriers, but this didn't seem to phase him at all. I suddenly realized that I was pretty much defenseless, and if something didn't happen soon to change the situation it was going to get a lot worse for me. Luckily this was in town on a fairly busy road, not in the boonies. A guy pulled up on his motorcycle and honked his horn, but the dogs ignored him. When the neighbor came to my rescue the dogs took off.
He also invited me to his house to clean and patch my wounds and wait for the cops (actually Animal Control) to show up. I was bitten twice on the left calf, once on the right, and on the right forearm. The forearm swelled up over double its normal size, but the left calf is what really bothered me (still). The worst bite was a well defined fang puncture on the meaty part of the calf. According to AC they'd had no prior calls on this guy (though the neighbors claim he knows of at least two other people who've been bitten), so it's just a warning and check for rabies shots, etc.
Anyway... I've been thinking about the best defense against this sort of thing, and not getting any great ideas. I'm ok with using lethal force, but I don't have a gun and don't really want to be packing on a ride anyway. I ordered some Sabre Pepper Gel, which should be here today. I figure that's better than nothing. If I can get the winter glove off my hand and aim it properly it would probably work.
The "adventure" reminded me of this video:
