Dog Repellents - Yeah or Nay?

[JMM77]

Just wondering if anyone out there has any experience (positive or negative) with either chemical or audible dog repellents? I was out for a nice evening ride the other day when a dog decided to play chase. Unfortunately, I wound up with a broken rib from being forced off the side of the road! I don't have any fear of dogs but I certainly don't want something like this to happen again. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Urlea]

Sorry to hear about the broken rib! Yikes. Hope you recover well/quickly.

I am going to get flack for suggesting this one, but it does work.

Fill a water bottle w/ vinegar & ammonia water. Could probably go with just the vinegar, stay slightly more humane. Anywho, squirt the animal when it nears.

[berkeley]

There's a product called "Direct Stop" that is useful for deterring charging dogs. It's a citronella spray.

[Skierchickie]

Just a stream of water in the face has always worked for me - no chemicals required. No extra bottles & canisters, either.

[surgtech1956]

Somewhere I read(don't remember where) that the best thing to do when a dog is chasing is to vary your speed because it will throw the dog's speed off and they will give up, they can't adapt to a slow-fast, etc... Don't know how true this is.

[sundial]

I slow down to give the impression that the dog is not going to chase me off. If the dog continues to be persistent, I squirt it in the face with my water bottle and that usually does the trick.

[tulip]

When I see a chaser, I yell in my loudest, deepest, most serious voice, NO! or SIT! That has worked in a surprising number of cases. I also get my water bottle ready to squirt it if I have to. Just make sure the top is open. I've squeezed and nothing's come out!

[Geonz]

Around here, animal control will at least make its presence known. (They've told us they dealt with owners, but that we'd have to gothrough the Freedom of Information Act to find out how; the dog that bit me was on a route I rarely have occasion to ride so I don't know if it's still out and about.)
I watched one of our guys stop a dog completely wiht a good squirt from the water bottle. I'm a camelbak girl for my own needs but I'm going to work on that skill.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

When dogs chase me in a threatening manner (sloppy bouncing labs with big dopey smiles and wagging tails don't count) I proceed in this order:

1) I STOP my bike immediately. I get off and quickly swing my bike so it's a barrier between me and the dog. Stopping takes away the excitement of the chase and puzzles the dog. (there is usually no way I'm going to outrace a dog anyway, unless I'm already going 30 mph) Usually they will then stop too and stand there barking at me.

2) next step: I BELLOW at the dog and SHAME it- "NO! BAD DOG!! GO HOME!!!" has worked every single time for me. A deep commanding voice....LOUD. (hopefully the owner in their house will hear it too) The dog screeches to a halt and/or usually stops barking and feels shamed and and confused and eventually slinks off if I keep at it. They don't like my yelling at them.

3) If the stopping and bellowing doesn't work and the dog looks like it's going to actually bite me and attack, I have no qualms at all about grabbing my pepper spray (at the ready on the outside of my saddlebag) and spraying the dog right in the face. Twice I have actually practiced grabbing my spray quickly and and shooting it at a target. Hopefully I would have time to grab my spray before being seriously bitten, but I have my doubts. Dogs are fast.
(I know a biker whose calf was ripped open very badly by a rottweiller, and he only got the dog to let go of his shredded leg by grabbing his frame pump and beating the dog over the head and face with all his might. He had to have several operations and he sued the dog owner. The dog came up behind him and did not bark, so he had very little warning but managed to stay standing over his bike)

So far I have never had to get to step 3....steps 1 and 2 have worked about a dozen times for me like a charm, even with somewhat scary dogs like boxers.

[7rider]

My audible dog repellant that has served me well on several occasions is a loud "G'wan home!" and a well-timed sprint when the dog slows up his charge in surprise.

[indigoiis]

My audible dog repellant that has served me well on several occasions is a loud "G'wan home!" and a well-timed sprint when the dog slows up his charge in surprise.

I also use "Gwan n git" or "Hay Puppy dawg" and I do usually slow or speed up.

[Biciclista]

more than once i have gotten off my bike and with the bike between me and the dog told it sternly to go home. (bad dog! NO!)

[msincredible]

Somewhere I read(don't remember where) that the best thing to do when a dog is chasing is to vary your speed because it will throw the dog's speed off and they will give up, they can't adapt to a slow-fast, etc... Don't know how true this is.

It's true (you slow down, then suddenly accelerate) but works best on a motorcycle, you can't always out-accelerate a dog on a bicycle.

[Crankin]

Last summer, when I had my dog incident, I did the stop, put the bike between the dog and I thing, and yelled. I *think* I squirted it with my water bottle, but about then, the dog lost interest. When the same dog chased my husband about a month ago, he was going the opposite direction, in the same spot, and was going about 30 or more down a little hill. Nothing would have worked, but his outstanding bike handling skills, which did save him.
I am not sure if I could get the pepper spray or even my water bottle out quickly enough to use if I was actually still on the bike. But I have no qualms about using anything to protect myself. I honestly admit I don't like dogs under any circumstances, but in this case (and most) it's the stupidity of the owners that cause the problem. In my old town, there was a leash law and most people had invisible fences. Here, even the owners think they "own" the road, walking 2-4 abreast and not getting over into single file when a bike or runner is approaching, with warning. More than once I have let loose a string of expletives when these women look at me like I am the one who is crazy when they don't move or call their dog.

[tulip]

I bet an air horn would work.

I like the strategy of stopping and getting off the bike. Most injuries from dog-bike interaction are due to the collision of the dog and bike, not from bites. Just ask arielmoon (I hope you're feeling better!). But my instinct is to get out of the way fast. It's counter intuitive to stop and face the danger--on the bike as in life in general.

[Chicken Little]

The bike is a barrier if you are off of it- kinda like the lion tamer and the chair at the circus. But I can just see myself trying to slow, clip out, balance on the cleats, get the bike between me and the dog, not realize which way the nozzle is pointing, spray myself in the eyes, stagger off into a ditch, fall, and get knocked out. Then I get bit, for sure.

Now I'm worried. I am riding on the trainer in the garage tonight.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

HALT pepper spray has a nozzle that prevents accidentally aiming it at yourself.

[Chicken Little]

Doesn't matter, I'm double jointed.

[kenyonchris]

If the wind is up, even the pepper spray "gel" can a) miss its target, or b) contaminate you (if not get you in your face, get on your gloves or whatever, that eventually works its way to your eyes....
And, for some reason, some dogs don't react to it. I am in a lot of backyards or homes on alarms, open doors, whatever and often encounter angry dogs. Our OC is a whole lot stronger than average dog spray (it is designed to turn an angry, violent person into a slobbering mess. We were sprayed in training and it is the worst pain I have ever experienced) and is our preferred dog repellant, but on some dogs it just doesn't work. Bad day when that happens.

[JMM77]

Thanks everyone for your advice! I guess in retrospect I should have stopped and yelled at the dog instead or trying to outrun her. She didn't attack me (thank goodness) so maybe a loud "No" and some arm waving would have scared her away.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

If the wind is up, even the pepper spray "gel" can a) miss its target, or b) contaminate you (if not get you in your face, get on your gloves or whatever, that eventually works its way to your eyes....
And, for some reason, some dogs don't react to it. I am in a lot of backyards or homes on alarms, open doors, whatever and often encounter angry dogs. Our OC is a whole lot stronger than average dog spray (it is designed to turn an angry, violent person into a slobbering mess. We were sprayed in training and it is the worst pain I have ever experienced) and is our preferred dog repellant, but on some dogs it just doesn't work. Bad day when that happens.

And so your recommendation for dealing with a dog that's coming at you and looks like it's going to attack/bite is..... ?

[grey]

There's a fellow who rides with our group who is known to turn around and chase the dogs back home, YELLING at them the whole way. He's heavyset, and usually pretty serious, so picture this older guy turning around and yelling "GIT ON YOU DOGS! AAAAAAAAARRRR!" and chasing the bewildered critters back down the road. I almost fell off my bike the first time I saw him do it, I was laughing so hard.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

There's a fellow who rides with our group who is known to turn around and chase the dogs back home, YELLING at them the whole way. He's heavyset, and usually pretty serious, so picture this older guy turning around and yelling "GIT ON YOU DOGS! AAAAAAAAARRRR!" and chasing the bewildered critters back down the road. I almost fell off my bike the first time I saw him do it, I was laughing so hard.

I did that a couple of times... a border shepherd type thought he could start chasing me down a suburban street barking aggressively, this was a family neighborhood with children and strollers who use that road. I screeched to a halt, got off my bike and started bellowing and shouting at him and chased him back to his lawn while his owner watched silently from her lawn. I made a HUGE scene yelling at the dog and chasing him back to his property, passing cars had stopped to watched and one driver asked me if I was ok, all concerned like. I didn't talk to the owner but she watched me hollering for the dog to STOP CHASING PEOPLE on the road, to STAY HOME, BAD DOG, the whole 9 yds at the top of my lungs. I made so much of a scene that I haven't seen her dog loose again, and I bike down that road very often.

Another time a beagle came down the road after me barking up a storm on a back farm road with no one around. I stopped and came storming after him, walking my bike with me and bellowing and he got really scared and ran off. A month later he tried it again but when I stopped my bike and started yelling he put his tail between his legs and ran back home- he remembered me and I didn't even need to start coming after him. :D

Not sure any of this would work for Rottweillers or pit bulls, etc. Usually does work for other types though. :cool: Really turns the tables on them!

[channlluv]

I haven't been chased, per se, but at the lake where I ride, toward the end of the lap, the path narrows, so I often have to dodge walkers, strollers, and so on. A few weeks ago, I was moving up to pass a couple of women walking a dog on a long leash. The woman on the right was holding the leash, but the dog, which had been walking along quite nicely, caught sight of the ducks and was about to bolt after one. The dog darted in front of the woman on the left (who was walking right down the middle of the path, forcing me to pass on the far left, into the oncoming lane - no biggie as no one was coming toward us) and the dog bolts out to her left, right into my path, just as I'm coming up to pass them. I just reacted, swerved and yelled a sharp, "Hey!" because that's how I stop my dog when she bolts when we're on walks, and the dog corrected its path, and moved back in front of the women, and as I pass, a few feet in front of them, the older woman in the middle of the road says, all snarky, "We say 'On your left,' not, 'hey'."

I almost turned around to tell her I didn't think her dog would understand "On your left," but I let it go.

I'm constantly dodging dogs on the path, many of whom are big dogs on looooong leashes. I've been charged by a couple, but stuck my foot out to kick while yelling, "Hey!" and their owners reel them in quickly.

I've yelled "Leash!" when I'm coming up on someone who's letting their dog run out all the way across the path - it's a two-lane road most of the way, and marked 15mph for bikes and cars.

What recourse does a cyclist have when they're attacked by a dog running loose in a neighborhood?

Roxy

[MomOnBike]

Generally speaking, it's a bad idea to run from carnivors (dogs, lions, tigers, bears, oh my). That just turns you into a prey animal, AKA Dinner. Dogs really can't help it, that's just the way they are made.

They are pack animals, though, so what I do is the Alpha B**ch thing. I make myself as big as possible and give a good low menacing growl: "Don't you even think about it" or a commanding bark: "NO! Get back!" has worked so far.

That being said, I have Halt and if I ever need it, I will not hesitate.

[channlluv]

I think pepper spray would be a good idea around here, the more I think of it. I'm in mountain lion country, and even though I've never seen one of them, I have seen tracks.

Hmmm....not wanting to resemble prey in any way.

Roxy

[tctrek]

This thread scares me to death. I have an overwhelming dog phobia that I've had since I was a kid. Whenever we encounter loose dogs, I stand up an run on my bike - all out sprint. My intelligent brain tells me it's stupid, but my phobia tells me to get the heck out of there. DH usually tries to get behind me and yells at the dog. We've never dismounted our bikes when being chased.

I do carry pepper spray, but have never thought about using it, just escaping :eek:

[OnTerryOh]

tctrek,

Possibly this might be helpful (http://www.emofree.com/Fear/asthma-dog-phobia.htm).

It's worked for me for other problems. :)

[kenyonchris]

And so your recommendation for dealing with a dog that's coming at you and looks like it's going to attack/bite is..... ?

Well, I was only commenting on the possibility of contaminating yourself with pepper spray that may/may not work anyway.

If I am on my personal bike, I carry a little handful of pebbles. I have never had to use them because I do the aggressive yell/growl and have never had a dog come close enough to threaten me. However, I don't stop. Everyone has had good suggestions about that, certainly as effective as mine.

On the patrol bike (much slower) or on patrol (where I am much more likely to get bitten because I encounter dogs on their own turf, they are protecting their home, doing their job, it is unfortunate that my job makes us at odds) I have much more at my disposal....my spray (which I would try first...I am pretty good with it, as I use it fairly regularly on people) and my baton would be my first line of defense, but if my life were in danger, I have my gun. I can't imagine having to shoot a dog, but I would if it were him or me.

No one out on a road bike (including me) has such a line of defense, which is why the suggestions given here are great ones. But, in terms of spray, I would suggest that one checks the wind before deploying it, and be aware that some dogs may not react to it.

[kenyonchris]

What recourse does a cyclist have when they're attacked by a dog running loose in a neighborhood?

Roxy

It depends on the city ordinances in the city where you live. Most cities have leash laws (at least) and dog laws regarding bites (at best). File a report with the police or Animal Control should you receive a bite. If the dog has bitten someone before, it may be curtains (as it should be) for him.
I was bitten by a dog at a party when I was about 25. It was an unprovoked bite by an older doberman cross. It bruised me very badly above the knee (where it grabbed me). The owners were present and witnessed it, and the wife confessed that the dog had bitten someone before. They were apologetic, and I said I was fine, yada, yada, yada, and, not wanting to make problems for them or the dog, let it go.
Less than a year later, the dog bit the face of the owners' little girl, who was about three. I felt partially responsible for not filing a report. The dog was unreliable, and had a history of unprovoked biting, and wound up disfiguring a beautiful little girl.
So if you are bitten, make sure to contact the city. If it is the dog's first bite, it generally goes on his 'record". A second or third bite tend to hold the owner responsible for taking some action.

[arielmoon]

In my particular dog incident there was no time for anything. The dog came at me at an almost 90 degree angle and I didnt see him until he was only a few feet from me. :( Between my speed and his miss-judged angle it was quite a collision when he slammed into my front tire. Up until that very moment, I had never considered being hit by a dog.

Anyway, as I prepare to start riding again I will probably be thinking about ways to deter any dogs that I come across. Maybe if we had been able to scare the dog more when he half heartedly chased us three weeks before he wouldnt have been quite so game when he saw us again.

[Tuckervill]

A friend in our cycling club had the exact same accident about 3 weeks ago, Ariel. He was in ICU for a while, had lots of broken ribs, etc. They were going downhill at about 35 mph when the dog came out of nowhere at the bottom of the hill. Nothing could be done to avoid the dog. If it had not been him, it would have been another rider that was with him.

I'm just so angry that people don't care about their dogs or other people enough keep their dogs penned up. This accident was in the county, so no leash law...but I'll bet there is something about nuisances. We have an attorney in our club, so maybe something good will come out of it.

Karen

[sundial]

I bet an air horn would work.


Hubby uses one that he picked up from an O'Reilly's auto store. And yes, it does deter most dogs. A dog's hearing is much more acute than a human's so it is a painful blast of sound.