I has a fairly close call with a dog almost catching me on my bike today, and i really think it wanted to take a piece out of me… aside from riding really really fast… (man, the dog actually hit 40 km/h) does anybody have any good ideas for dog repellents, something that will just make it go away?? I normally carry a big frame pump which is advertised as a dog repellent, but if that dog is close enough for me to be able to take a swing at it, i dunno if a second swing is really going to be able to happen before it bites me…
I have never ridden this road (fairly rural), and i this house was just before my turn around… so i go by the house… go further down the road… complete another 2 or 3 k, turn around… and the dog is waiting for me… a good 200-300 m down from where it lives, sorta sketched me out.
I am also wondering about the legalities of this dog appearing to threaten me, and me walloping it with something… lawyers out there? where exactly do i stand on this?
Pepper spray. I got a little can of 20% stuff off of ebay. I carry it when I run, it might be a little harder to use on a bike though. I’m also not above swinging a frame pump at a dog that gets too close. I used the pepper spray once on a big german shepard and it dropped him in his tracks. I love dogs, but I also don’t want to get bitten.
As to your other question, my father’s an attorney and I asked him the same thing. He basically told me that on a public road you can’t get in to much trouble for defending yourself. He also said that you have to weigh the consequences: on one hand if a big-ass dog takes you down off a bike going 20+mph you’re going to get hurt, not to mention what the dog will do to you; on the other maybe you get hassled about messing with someone’s dog. He basically said you’re not going to get in trouble for defending yourself from an attacking animal. For what its worth.
I live in a rural area and can tell you that farm dogs are a fact of life. And that the locals don’t appreciate one bit any apartment dweller city folk telling them what they can and can’t do. Diplomacy is your best course of action when dealing with these situations.
Avoid confrontation with the dog at all cost. Most likely the dog was just enjoying the chase and likely wouldn’t have bit you. Don’t give him any reason to change his mind by prevoking him. The owner could also then become even more ornery than the dog. I know of a case where the cyclist got punched out by a dog owner during a confrontation.
I’m not a lawyer but I believe that all these repellents that people carry in some states are illegal in Ontario so if you carry them, you’re the one who could be charged. I also believe that a dog is allowed a first bite and you really can’t do that much unless the dog already has a previous biting accident recorded. But as I said, I’m not a lawyer.
Did the dog actually come off it’s property. Nothing that you can do if it doesn’t leave the property. If it did you might want to have a talk with the owner. Most likely the owner doesn’t want the dog chasing cyclists and risking the chance of the dog being hit by traffic any more than he would want his dog biting a cyclist. Dog owners will most likely be quite reasonable if you are.
First off, I’d find another route. Easiest solution.
Secondly, I’d find another route. 2nd easiest solution.
Thirdly, I would try and find out the name of the dog’s owner, get their phone number and inform them of the date/time of your next ride … explain to them what happened and ask them if they have their dog in the house/garage/silo/whatever while you’re near their property, b/c you love dogs and you don’t want any type of confrontation that could bring harm to you or the dog.
If those two things don’t work … You’re not going to shoot a dog in the eyes with pepper spray while you’re both going 40 km/h … well, not unless you’re Rambo. In that case, use your big knife. Shooting the dog in the eyes while he’s ripping your calf apart doesn’t sound too fun to me.
If it was something I was really worried about I’d either only ride in town or carry a weapon … a weapon that does instant lethal damage … as a last resort .
Creative solution … Codename: Cat’s Out of the Bag. Carry a cat in a bag, dog comes running, throw the cat & bag at the dog. Instant diversion. It’s the whole thing with you and your buddy in the woods and a bear comes up … you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your buddy.
Lotsa Balls Solution: Use the dog as motivation to get faster. Get so fast that he doesn’t even try to chase you.
Three years ago I hit a dog on my bike and broke my collarbone. The dog wasn’t trying to bother me, but was just too stupid to avoid suddenly getting in front of me. Given that incident and what I have seen happening to others, I’m way more afraid of falling than of being bitten. Here are some things that I do: If I can’t clearly get away from the dog, I will sometimes just stop. It totally defuses the run, although it doesn’t make you popular on a group ride. Where that’s not an option, a squirt from a bottle will discourage some; others might get a kick in the teeth When I approach repeat offenders, I stop for a handful of rocks and apply liberally when needed There was one pair of dogs that used to chase me regularly while their owner sat on his porch. One day I stopped my bike, waited for an oncoming car to approach, and then tried to call the dogs to me at the most strategic time. They weren’t fooled, but neither was the owner. When I went that way again a couple of weeks later, those clowns were in a pen!
I am absolutely not going to give a dog first bite before I react. As flyebaby said, if the dogs have the jump or angle on me and its clear I can’t outsprint them, I simply stop with my bike between me and the dog. I do carry a small aerosol can of dog be gone (basically pepper spray) but I have never had to use it. Usually slowing or stopping, and directly yelling at the dog “NO” makes them back off and head home. If that fails I have my water bottle or spray in reserve. Where I ride, most owners could care less if their dogs are chasing cyclists. I have seen some actually chuckle and pat their dog on the head. Good luck, its dog eat dog out there.
I do a lot of riding on rural roads, and dogs can be encountered on average 2-3 times in a 40-60 mile ride. What I do when I see a dog running towards me is shout in my loudest, deepest voice, “No! Bad dog! Go home!” This works about 50-60% of the time. The dog simply stops in its’ tracks. If that doesn’t work, don’t stop, but slow down and cut towards the dog. This will cause them to overshoot (old fighter pilot manuever), then you can accelerate away.
There is one house that has a Rottweiler chained to a post in the front yard. When he sees us coming, he takes off at full speed. When he hits the end of his chain, he does a perfect half-twisting, half-gainer and lands on his back. It’s very hilarious, but one of these days, that chain is gonna break and he is going to get his revenge!
Bring a couple of dog treats with you on the ride and hit him on the head with it when he gets close. He’ll be suprised and then usually, stop to eat it.
Reminds me of the movie, Top Secret starring a young Val Kilmer. This guy gets off the train with a neatly wrapd brown paper bag (i.e., smuggled drugs). The poilce dogs (German shepards) are barking/growling big time, and the German/Nazi police arrest the man and take him off to be executed for drug trading. A few seconds later, after the man has been tken away, the dogs tear open the paper bag to reveal it’s full of dog biscuits. Great Movie.
The quote about Norm’s Milk-Bone underwear is classic. We’ve all felt like that.
How about using this time for some sprint training. It worked for the guys in “American Flyers” although one of them lost a shoe. Can’t remember the dog’s name in the movie but it was pretty funny.
I haven’t met a dog that could outsprint me on a bike, (knock on wood) maybe I’ve only met slow dogs, I would think that a German Shepard would be pretty fast, they seem to get tired after a minute of chasing. I look forward to finding dogs to sprint against but I am allways looking out for them when on country roads.
I have no love for dogs so the whole cute fido good, cyclist bad, thing just pisses me off. If I ran at another human threating possible injury or death I’d be locked up. So I have to forfeit my freedom to ride on a road because some dog owner can’t take care of their little killer. I think I should be able to defend myself as if my life depended upon it, the dog would do the same. Many are out for the chase and stay in the ditch and that’s fine, the ones that come across the road and “attack” should be stopped.
Anyone know if any of the those high pitched “whistles” or sound devices work to stop a dog? I live in a high dog area and the owners don’t even care about the dogs. Some are well under fed and have no warm shelter for the cold nights. Funny, alot of these dogs act just like their owners. Too bad for the dogs.
i work at an animal hospital and i would say that the dog whistles dont always work.if the dog is just chasing you for the hell of it then it might work, but if its really going for a chunk of your leg i dont think it will work. if you decide to use a frame pump on him dont swing it like a bat. use a stabbing motion and aim for the very tip of the nose or aim for the eyes. it will disorient him long enough for you to get away.i personally know what a dog can do to you if he wants to harm you. so i took a small drill dit and stuck it through the rubber top portion of my pump ( on my pump it only serves for cosmetics.) and glued it in place. the bit isnt sharp enough to were if i brush it with my leg that its going to cut me, but if you use the stabbing motion it will drop him real quick.i havent had to use it yet and i hope i never do, but when the time comes i know i’ll be prepared for it. ( by the way the bit isnt long enough to cause a fatal injury to the dog, but just long enough to let him know you mean business. its about a half to seven eiths of an inch.)