i think every forum i've read that pertains to outdoor activities has one rant like this. you're not alone; lots have this problem. solutions range from ignoring it-->non-harmful dog deterrents-->harm to the animal-->notifying the owner of your concerns-->notifying the authorities-->harming the owner. take your pick with what you feel most ethically/morally comfortable doing.

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Your favorite mafia sucks.

If you are riding on public trails then I absolutely agree that dogs should be on leashes in public, mine are when we are in public.

However, if you are on private property without strict written (verbal ok, but then it is he said she said) permission you have no right to complain, you are there illegally and the land owner and dogs are pretty much allowed to do anything within the scope of the law.

Loose dogs are a big issue for us too. We live in a neighborhood that people would allow there dogs to roam down the street and they would come to our house and tease our dogs and create scary situations while I was walking my dog on a leash. Someone, not me, called the sherrif and I am sure they handed out a ticket or two and it has stopped. When you are hiking or mtb biking it is tougher though because really no way to complain. You can get a citrus spray that will not hurt the dog but is a deterent like pepper spray so you could carry a can of that. I have no problem with people who have dogs that walk with the owner off the leash but when they run off on their own it becomes a problem. As a dog owner I am aware that not everyone is a dog lover or comfortable with my 100 mutt geting upclose and personal :)

There's a road that I run on regularly, and on this road is a house where they have 2 dogs that the people let outside without leashes - no people with them, just the dogs. It's a big property and not a lot of traffic is on the road. When the dogs are outside and I run by, they chase me. Usually, they just run up barking and once they catch up to me (and I stop running) they turn around and go home. Once, however one of them nipped my husband. He bought pepper spray that he carries with him when he runs on that road. They do scare the hell out of you, though.

One morning before work I was running on this road, went past the house and the dogs were out. The house is at the top of a hill and it's hard enough to get there without the added stress of these stupid dogs chasing me once I get to the top. The dogs ran up to me barking and I stopped. I turned and looked back at the house, and I could see someone in an upper floor window with the curtains pulled back. Of course they couldn't hear me, but I yelled "come get your dogs!!" I waited a minute or two and no one came out, so I kept running. One dog followed me, running in the street. I kept telling it to "stay," "go home," "sit," whatever, but it kept following me. I was damned if I was going to turn around and take this dog home that shouldn't have been out in the first place (and be late for work), so I kept going. I kept thinking someone would pull up in a car to get the dog, but no. It followed me for about a mile, until I got to a road with a lot of traffic. I didn't know what I was going to do if it followed me down that road, but thank god it didn't - it went into a nearby yard. I haven't seen the dog since, and that was probably in the fall. Hopefully the dog made it back home and the people don't just let it outside anymore. It's not the dog's fault, it's the stupid people.

I ride to work on some country roads. There are several dogs at different points in my ride that chase me.

Good owner experience: This great dane comes running at me and as he follows me, his head is above my handle bars. Just then owner notices he is chasing me - calls the dog and the dog turns around.

Bad experience: Not too bad as I did not go down. 2 rotweillers in the middle of road. They were crouched like I had backed them into a corner and 1 lept at me as I approached. I now carry doggy mace.

The best advice I have seen is get a faster bike. There will always be something...

Andy

Truer words never spoken. I live in "the sticks" and always walk my dog off-leash in the woods/mountains/whatever, but he is under voice-control (and he's a lab so people don't get too afraid of that anyhow). Important point though, I always, always have his leash with me and when I see (or hear) someone else coming, I leash him or make him sit next to me until the other group passes. I recognize that he is a dog (but still my best friend outside of my wife!) and that some people will not think my 75# of love is so fun. That is MY responsibility, not my dog's. He's just being a dog. If he does run up to someone (and it used to happen when he was a puppy), I do what I can to assuage their fear (if there is any) as soon as I can and I take responsibility for his actions. But again, that is my fault and I should know better.

It is all the stupid people out there that can't see for one inch beyond their own "freedoms" that give other people problems (and a bad rap in the case of dogs off-leash). I, and everyone else, have to realize that my freedom ends the place that yours begins and I should be careful to respect that.

Incidentally, I would never leave my dog outside without my direct supervision, so there would never be the incident where he runs at you as you pass my house ;-)

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.

Fortunately all the dogs in our area seem friendly. We've not yet had a real problem.

I own two labs, and I have to say that this drives me crazy!!!! If you dog is in public, where other people are (who might not like dogs) its the owners responsibility to have that dog under control AT ALL TIMES. This normally means having them on a lease. And not one of those 30ft retractable things. If the lease is longer then 8ft, its worthless. Now, if you are in a dog park, or private property, by all means, let it run free. Otherwise, for the saftey of others, and the dog, they should be on lease close by

I have only met 2 dogs in my live time that we under control when not on lease. This dog walked right next to its master, ignoring everything (even another dog sniffing at it) and paid complete attention to only its master. Met another dog on a trail once, he was running towards me, heard a "STOP....wait" from further ahead. The dog stopped, sat down...ignored me as I rode by, and waited for the owner about 15ft after it running by me. Now that is control.

Unfortunatly, the dog gets the blame most of the time, when it should be the owner. I think most dog owners need to be more educated about dog ownership.

-bcreager

It is most definitely on public property, and not an off leash area - (we do encounter similar problems when we bike thru the local off leash park, but obviously that's a different situation).

Anyway, in future, i'll just drop some bacon into the jersey pockets of whoever i'm riding with, should take the heat off.

here boy!

Yep, that should work. However, if you come upon my Labs (not likely as they are never off leash) you would be better to put a tennis ball in his/her jersey pocket. I swear my dogs have OCTBD (obsessive compulsive tennis ball disorder). :-)

I got chased by 6 different dogs last thursday morning, some of these dogs are quite fast, 30mph + to get away from a few big ones,

I try to avoid these spots but it seems like everyone in the country lets there dogs roam free, can't say I blame them, yet it gets dangerous for me and the dogs.

I was cruising along with my mind in its own little world and the next thing I know Fang and his brother brutus are on my heels drooling to get a part of my calf, a school bus is ahead of me and a Mom in her suv is looking in her rear view mirror in the opposite lane traveling towards me. Moment of choice, stem cells choose flight, I kick it up fang has no problem covering my move brutus is coming around the back left of me for his own calf but goes to wide, now mom in the suv decides that her kids are safely on the bus so she looks forward to see brutus in her lane, swerves into my lane to avoid brutus, notices my bright yellow jersey and slams the brakes.

Well I am looking for an answer from the stem cells since they made the first decision, fang just about has part of my right calf and I am now doing well over twenty five sucking diesel fumes from the bus and praying that the mom took out brutus.

Well brutus made it out alive I am looking to pass the bus with all the kids looking at me in the back window I am at 30+mph and just starting to leave fang but he will not give up and a 90 degree turn is comming up. Stem cells you got me this far lets see what you have in store now.

Fang then decides to cut me off at far end of the curve by going through a yard I clear the turn go on the outside of the bus hoping that fang would be taken out by the bus yet he comes to his senses and gives up the chase. I settle down check out my heartrate, which is way above my prescribed limit, look at my top speed 32mph, and think to myself I love dogs but this is to much, within another 5 minutes I was chased by another dog in which my stem cells said hell with the dog that last deal was toooo dangerous so I slow to about 5mph armed with a water bottle, dog almost gets run over by an on-comming car.

By the way the roads used in this little story were choosen to avoid dogs on another route. I love dogs but I will be riding with mace or pepper spray for now own, man I hope it works because I am running out of roads.

As has already been said, it is a problem with the owners, not the dogs...the critters are just responding to the "hey, something is moving really fast, I must chase it and play with it...", or "damn hell you say, this is my territory and I'm a gonna defend it...unless you want to stop and play cuz I'm really bored..." or something along those lines. Some dogs you can "out run", some you cannot.

If it's a real issue, mace and other "anti-dog" accessories can work, as does slowing down or coming to a complete stop and walking your bike past the area. Other than that, it's a crap shoot at best. If you're lucky enough to be able to engage in conversation with the dog's owner, that might work...and of course in very rural America, might not. It always amazes me that people will let their dogs run free in a non-enclosed area next to a road where vehicular traffic will travel at speeds upwards of 30mph and beyond...and then be surprised that the family pup got run over one day.

And then blame it on either the "dumb dog" or the "speeding driver"...

wouldn't recommend it for everyone...but slamming to a stop.... yelling...forcefully...not making direct eye contact with the dog(s)..waving arms..jumping up and down..using the bike as a shield..seriously/not kiddin here..making sure the dogs know you will rip them a new orifice and slam something through it if they come any closer all the while waving a 6 inch blade has worked wonders for me in the past....also scared the bejezus out of the owners who came running to save their dogs and thats the last time i saw the dogs on something other than a chain thank you very nicely. i love animals by the way and most have no problem approaching me in friendly circumstances but some are owned by jerks and they seem to take on their owner's personality traits. those are the ones which need a little nudge in the right direction occasionally.

if all else fails...remember the location...call your local badge, best done immediately from a cell phone and explain the urgency of the situation and they'll help out and explain the danger in no uncertain terms to the owners...or have the animals taken if the situation is clearly endangering people using a public right of way.

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Train hard...race well.
www.jimmishler.com
"Jim, I happen to agree with you" DougStern

Wuick story then back to work...

Friend of mine out riding...gets chased by 3 labs...yes labs...one latches on to his right calf and takes him down...shows up at my door step bleed profusely(sp)....trip to emergency room...time in court with the owner who threatened to kill him in front of a police officer (you might be a redneck if)...now said friend rides with a CO2 pistol and does not hesitate to light up any dog that comes in the street after him.

I personnally squirt them with a water botte then pedal like hell.

Do you really have dog mace? I have been meaning to get something like that. This is becoming a real problem for me when running.

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"He broke into the long easy lope, and went on, hour after hour, never at loss for the tangled way, heading straight home through strange country with a certitude of direction that put man and his magnetic needle to shame."

-Call of the Wild

Got the dog mace at my LBS. I will check the brand tonight.

Andy

Might I propose something worse than a dog off leash? How about a dog on one of those 6 foot long retractable leashes? You know the kind, little foofoo dog, stupid foofoo owner, owner is on one side of the trail and the dog is off in the bush on the other side, a dark, barely visible strand of leash stretching across the trail linking dog to owner, and threatening to unlink me from my head! Just because a dog is leashed does not mean the trail is safe, and the leash does not reduce the owners responsibility to be aware of the trail and those around them.

Okay, there is my rant. Oh, and don't get me started on human kind's lack of understanding of what "multi-use trail" actually means!

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Ian MacLean
http://www.imfit.ca
Success comes when fear of failure goes

The problem that I have with dogs off-leash is not that they mess directly with me but with my 15 pound Dachshund. Big dogs come trotting up while we're running and get in his face. He doesn't like strangers, dogs or otherwise, and usually goes ape-shit trying to kill dogs that are triple his weight. By virtue of this fact, I get caught in between two dogs trying to mix it up. I live in Boulder and, for some reason, people seem to assume that their dogs have adopted their kind, loving, accepting nature by some process akin to osmosis. Dogs are not human and, in their world, approaching strangers in a bold fashion is akin to asking someone for a fight, not a show of their outgoing, caring nature. When I talk to most owners about this, they can't seem to understand that not all dogs are friendly, socialized, sit-at-the-restaurant with you Labs or Goldens. Some dogs, i.e. my pint-sized companion, want nothing to do with anybody but me, my wife and my other dog, Peanut.

I've only been chased by a dog one time, and that was enough.

My father lives in Salida CA. I was running down this road that bisected an almond orchard. As I get to about the foot of a drive way of the only house within sight I hear dog claws on pavement. Look to my left and a pitbull was coming at me in full stride already. No barking just a little growl and in full sprint. I turned and started sprinting as fast I could but after 5 miles in 90 degrees I'm sure I wasn't breaking any records. We raced for about 1/4 or 1/3 of a mile and dog finally gave up but for a few seconds I figured I was going to be lunch for this thing.

The only other bitch I have is the people who have the retractable leashes that walk their dogs with no clue of what's going on around them. I don't know how many times I've nearly killed myself or a dog when running at dusk and not seeing the leash across the sidewalk or path. I'd hate to hurt some ones dog but in some cases I'd like to strangle some of the owners.

Dogs behave like, well, dogs. Dogs have been domesticated from carnivorous pack animals. They still have strong instincts to chase and attack prey. As pack animals they may be fine with other perceived members of the "pack", ie the owner, and would not behave this way to the owner. Dimwitted owner can't understand that his nice little doggy, who is always nice to him, will chase, threaten, or even attack the nice man on the bicycle.

People need to remember that their dogs are dogs and will behave as such. They are not people and should not expect them to behave as people would.

Yes, have been chased more times than I can count. I usually just outsprint them, but this is dangerous and I'm not getting any younger or faster. Spryaing water from the water bottle seems to confuse the dogs long enough for me to break-away.

I really want to know if pepperspray works as a permanent deterrent.

I pretty much get chased by the same couple of dogs on my Saturday ride route. Sometimes the dog is out and sometimes he's not. If he's out, he give chase. If I start carrying pepper spray in my bento box and use it on the dog, does anyone think the dog will stop chasing bikes altogether? Or, is it just another temporary way for me to escape for the day?

I'd really love to find a more permanent deterrent. Anyone have any success?

Dont run from a dog, thats the worst thing to do, stop and face the dog and run towards the dog thats chasing you, 9 out 10 times they stop in their tracks as this is not normal behavior that they are used to and it confuses them, but be prepared to kick the dog as you approach each other. Its not the dogs fault, dogs are doing what dogs just do, its the owners fault for letting them run around in an uncontolled environment. Find the owner and let them have it.

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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

I hit a loose dog on my bike once and ended up in the hospital. I still have a crooked finger and a lump on my shoulder and several scars. It cost me $3000. I still wasn't mad at the dog but I sure would like to meet the dog's owner.

Aloha,

Larry

here's my story, from two weeks ago. riding a country road in the hills. not too many cars, but the odd farm vehicle roaring by at over 100k an hour. whatever. a black dog comes flying down the driveway of a property we pass. i saw it out of the corner of my eye, yelled to my training buddy, and pretended i was on the champs in july.

two seconds later i hear a thump and brake squeal. the black dog got crushed by a car as it entered the roadway.

i stop just as the owner of the dog and car driver emerge to survey the scene. thinking that i didn't need the hassle, i just clipped back in and rode off. didn't feel great about it, i mean if i wasn't there at that exact moment well there would be one more dog and one less crumpled car but hey...it's a public road so it can't be helped.