Dogs while riding

[TrekDianna]

I left my house last night and headed out to a nearby gravel road with a great hill to climb on the way back to my house....I got to the bottom of the hill and was chased by a dog who really wanted to rip me apart. I'm angry since this looked to be a quick and easy and safe from cars way to get some climbing in. What do you all do about dogs?

[beccaB]

I would probably have someone go with me who's not afraid of dogs, like my husband. I would first go up to the person's house and tell them what happened. We actually did this once. I talked to the person, because in this case, the dog did actually bite my husband. I told the man I wasn't going to call animal control, but that he should keep a better watch over his dog. If the dog had knocked my husband off his bike or into a passing car there would have been criminal implications. Our ordinance considers a dog dangerous that chases a person. A dog must be confined to within 3 feet of the owners property. A neighboring town will label a dog dangerous if it gives chase under any circumstances, then the people have to follow certain rules.

[Grits]

There are lots of threads on this topic as it tends to be a recurring problem for cyclists. BeccaB's advice is good.

Here is the link to a conversation about air horns.:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=47376&highlight=airhorn

[TrekDianna]

Great! Thanks. I googled today too and came across some funny ones too.

[hirakukibou]

We have had some trouble with dogs on our tour. I was given some advice that if you have the address that most counties have a dog warden to whom you can report the incident. I didn't know this until recently.