Be careful out there, ladies!

[Tater]

Earlier this afternoon I did my favorite fifteen mile route, had a blast, averaged over fifteen mph for the first time this year and was feeling pretty good about my ride as I turned off the frontage road onto the road on which I live. Suddenly out of nowhere, two dogs were upon me. One on each side, snapping and biting. The right one put a hole in my shorts, but luckily didn't break skin. In trying to avoid the teeth, I twitched the handlebars left and went down hard. This all happend so fast, I didn't have time to reach back in my jersey pocket and grab the pepper spray I carry for this specific reason. When I got home, I had my almost-step-daughter take pics of the damage. My right hand is bruised, my left elbow is chewed up, my left knee has a rightous case of road rash and is swollen pretty badly, hurts to walk. I called the sheriff, a deputy came out and took my statement, then went to talk to the owners. I am now waiting for Mr. Tater to get home so he can take me to the emergency room.

At least my bike is okay; a bit of dirt on the side of the left hand drop, a small scratch on the brake/shifter.

Be careful out there, ladies!

[songlady]

I am so sorry to hear about the dogs and the spill! Hope you feel better soon. Let us know what happens at the ER!

[tprevost]

How scary Tater! I am so glad you are (basically) okay; its smart of you to go to the ER to get checked out though. I also carry pepper spray but you can also hit them with stream of water from your water bottle or if you can get your pump (if you use one) off of your bike you could also whack them with that. I know this all happened too fast for those things but I often 'prethink' what ifs - usually prompted by it happening to someone else.

I hope all checks out okay tonight, please let us know you are truly okay. AND, make sure the owner of the dogs pays for any costs... ugh!

Tracy

[maillotpois]

Oh my gosh - that is terrible!!! How irresponsible of those dogs' owners to let them loose like that. I sure hope the police follow up with them. Keep us posted. I hope you are okay.

[Veronica]

Eww! Ick! I hope you're okay.

V.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Hey Tater;
I have brothers in Homedale, Nampa, and Eagle. I would love to ride up there, dogs or no...

[Lise]

That sounds terrifying. Looks like you took all the right actions. Let us know how you're doing. I'd be curious to hear how the dogs' owner responds, too.

[annie]

You might want to get your bike checked, even tho' it seems okay...... sometimes an experienced mechanic can spot trouble that isn't easily noticed.

Hope all turns out in your favor! And that you don't feel TOO sore and bruised in the morning. :(

annie

[Blueberry]

Ouch! That should never happen - the dogs should *never* have been allowed to roam loose and cause your accident. Glad your injuries weren't worse.

I agree with what others have said - make sure you follow up with the police, etc. The owners *should* be held responsible for the actions of their dogs, including the damage to your bike. It's worth checking into!

Sending healing vibes your way,

Carrie Anne

[wabisabi]

Definitely, keep track of expenses (including someone looking at your bike and your shorts) and send them a bill; they can claim on their homeowner's insurance, if they have it, and it will teach them a lesson to boot.

[doc]

Yikes.
Let us all know how things go in the ED and bike shop. Hopefully just bumps and bruises. Let us know how things go with the police and neighbors too. Do you know these dogs and their owners?

PS Does Mr. Tater know that's his new name :)

[Jo-n-NY]

I am so sorry to hear of this horrible ordeal. Dogs are one of my worst nightmares when cycling.

I hope you are ok and glad there was not too much damage to your bike. I agree with the others about keeping track of these expenses.

Pleast keep us posted on any updates about those dogs. I do not dislike dogs, I have one myself, but something needs to be done about what happened. Suppose a little kid was running up and down the sidewalk and the dogs attacked. Sorry I just get real angry when I hear about things like this.

~ JoAnn

[Blueberry]

I had my own "dog encounter" on foot - I was walking my dog (on a leash, of course) through an area near my home. I came around a corner and saw a child (maybe 5?) walking 2 large dogs (think 75 lbs each). The kid was significantly outweighed by dog, plus they had flexi leads which are harder to hold. I moved to the road from the sidewalk to give him an easier time. The dogs saw mine, pulled and off they came towards me. Luckily they were friendly, but they could just as easily not have been. Took quite a few minutes for me to get the dogs all untangled and get the leashes back to the kid. Plus a couple more minutes to calm my dog down (he was a bit overwhelmed when 2 large dogs came running towards him).

So...what do you do? Talking to the kid isn't going to do any good, since he's not the one that made the bad judgment. And the parents WEREN'T AROUND!!! And it's not my immediate neighborhood, so I don't know who they are. Didn't want to upset the kid worse by asking. Scary though - The dogs could just as easily have run into a cyclist or ???

[DrBee]

OMG! I know you must be unnerved by this adventure. I hope you're ok. I was pretty terrified after I was chased. I can only imagine having them take a bite out of your shorts. I hope you heal quickly and get back out there to ride as soon as you can. It took me a long time and I'm still really twitchy around dogs I don't know (I own 2 huge dogs myself).

Definitely try to get the owners to pay for the bills (hospital, bike and all). Good luck and we'll be thinking about you!

[Bad JuJu]

Oh, that's so scary--you could've easily been hurt much worse. I've been in a situation where I actually got off the bike and put it between the dog and me, and backed away like that until I obviously was out of what the dog thought was his territory. Never was able to identify the owner.

I'm a dog owner, too, but I try to be a responsible dog owner, which these folks clearly are not. Hope your wounds heal soon. And yes, I would go get my bike checked out if I were you.

[DebW]

Tater, so sorry for your injuries. Heal quickly. I had a dog encounter once on a group ride. The dog went after the back wheel of the rider in front of me, and therefore right in front of my front wheel. My only injury was to my expensive wool long underwear under my shorts. We actually knocked on doors and found the dog's owner and asked for compensation for the ripped long underwear, but didn't get it.

[Tater]

Thank-you, ladies, for your suggestions and thoughts! They are appreciated!

Well, I feel much better today. The x-rays were negative, just bumps, bruises and scrapes. Nothing that a little antibiotic ointment, Motrin and an ice pack can't take care of. We get a copy of the police report at the end of the week and will be using that to seek compensation. I agree with Annie and others about getting my bike checked out at the LBS and will be doing so. That, along with the visit to the ER, and the price of a pair of shorts I will be asking for.

What was rather funny, was last night after we got back from the ER and I was sitting with an ice pack on my knee. I looked over at Mr. Tater and said, 'I wonder if I can be back on my bike this weekend.' :o He rolled his eyes at me. We are having some beautiful weather and since I don't start work until tomorrow, I am just itching to go out for a ride. But I know I need to let things heal, so that is what I am doing. Medicating with a batch of homemade banana nut muffins and hoping they will make me heal faster!

I too, am a dog owner, but he has manners and knows his place in the world. I just wish these other two did as well, I would hate to see what happen to me, happen to one of the smaller kids running around here.

Thanks again, ladies! Ride safe.

[luv'nAustin]

Great attitude! Glad to hear that all will be well and that you are looking forward to your next ride.

[snapdragen]

I too, am a dog owner, but he has manners and knows his place in the world.

So does mine, she's the queen of the world, we are her servants.....:rolleyes:

Heal quickly!

[DrBee]

Glad to hear you're not too badly damaged. Chocolate chip cookies always seem to help the healing for me :) Good luck with the owners - I hope you at least some compensation.

[Aint Doody]

On one of our favorite group rides there's a house with 3 huge and I mean HUGE dogs that run out in the road and are vicious. I've gotten off my bike and tried to use Halt on them, but they appear to know the distance for this stuff. (I'm not clever enough to do the Halt bit while I'm in motion and in the flight mode.) After we've all been chased, I found out who lived in the house and called them to let them know that it's illegal for an aggressive animal to chase bicyclists, walkers, whatever. Her response was that we should call her on the phone before we head out their way. People around here just don't get it--it's illegal. She did say they plan to get a fence--shoot, those big ole dogs will probably clear any fence.

Sooooo--I'm going to call her just about every day! And I told her if her dogs chase me again, I will call the sheriff.

[Duck on Wheels]

Good on you!!!! Call her more than once a day if you can. Make it clear that somebody can be coming by on foot or on a bike any minute every day ... and that if those dogs come out at'em she--will--be--sued! Maybe eventually she'll get the point. We've got nothing against the dogs, but there's no gain for them either from running out and chasing every passing person, bike, car ...

[Tuckervill]

Why don't you just call the Sheriff/animal control right away anyway?

With large dogs capable of real damage, I don't give the owner a second chance. If I see your dog out (even when I'm not riding) I call animal control to pick up the dog. In our town, if they catch your dog three times, you've surrendered it. In all the cases I have called on, this has been a good thing. The people weren't caring for their dogs.

I have a neighbor who lets his two big dogs out every day morning and night to roam the neighborhood, even though he has a fenced yard. I often see other neighbors walking their dogs or jogging stop in front of my house and turn around because those dogs are on alert at the end of the street. It's not fair to those neighbors who obey the law that they can't walk down the street without being accosted by dogs.

I admit I am the neighborhood crank when it comes to loose dogs, under certain circumstances. One is my concern for dogs who are chained and untended most of their lives. If they manage to escape I call animal control. I figure it's better for the dog to be taken away from owners who barely interact with them. Plus, chaining and ignoring a dog is the quickest way to make him mean, and they shouldn't be left to encounter other dogs, just in case.

The other is loose dogs. I'm one of the few home in my neighborhood during the day, and I would feel absolutely compelled to take an irresponsible human's dog to the vet if it were hit by a car, for the animal's sake. I don't want to have to do that, and I want my neighbors to do what's right for their dog and the neighborhood.

By the way, I LOVE dogs. I own two and would have more if my husband could handle it. They live in the house on the furniture and have a doggie door. I found out my Jack Russell was shimmying under the back gate and taking walk-abouts recently and if she had been caught, I would have taken my medicine. Instead, I fixed the gate so I wouldn't have to take it. I don't see why I shouldn't expect my neighbors to obey the law, too.

Karen

[CorsairMac]

On one of our favorite group rides there's a house with 3 huge and I mean HUGE dogs that run out in the road and are vicious. I've gotten off my bike and tried to use Halt on them, but they appear to know the distance for this stuff. (I'm not clever enough to do the Halt bit while I'm in motion and in the flight mode.) After we've all been chased, I found out who lived in the house and called them to let them know that it's illegal for an aggressive animal to chase bicyclists, walkers, whatever. Her response was that we should call her on the phone before we head out their way. People around here just don't get it--it's illegal. She did say they plan to get a fence--shoot, those big ole dogs will probably clear any fence.

Sooooo--I'm going to call her just about every day! And I told her if her dogs chase me again, I will call the sheriff.

or call animal control right before your next ride?...tell them where the dogs are to meet you there so they can see for themselves what is happening. There is nothing that irritates me more than a irresponsible pet owner. I hate to see animals carted off but of those dogs ever really hurt anyone - they could be put to sleep and that's even more cruel.

[Aint Doody]

Well, I've been calling and the dogs have not been out. So maybe she'll get tired of my calls and go ahead with the fence.

However, on our last Sat. ride we were passing a house that had a fence and 2 dachunds in the yard just barking away--no big deal. Just as I was passing, a medium-sized black dog launched himself over the fence! The man behind me went down trying to stop. It was scary. He was okay and the dog hopped right back over his fence. The owner was there. My friend who went down was furious and told her about the legalities of owning a dog who was an aggressive chaser (understandably sprinkling in quite a few explitives!) Anyway, we did call the sheriff on that one. Wow--if a child had been just riding his little bicycle along her road--horrifying.

It sounds like our area is full of wild, menacing dogs! Not so--just dumb, uncaring dog owners.

[Lise]

Sorry to hear about the dog coming over the fence. How scary. Doxies can be obnoxiously loud, but they are seldom aggressive, except in defending their home. But they usually bark, back up, bite if they have to, and back up more.

On a funny note, I have two cats, one (Isaac) who lives to go out and eat grass. He only goes out with me watching him like a hawk, in our little, bitty, fenced in front yard. So one day we're out there, and I see a German Shephard coming down the sidewalk, on a leash, etc. Isaac sees the dog. He starts backing up. Because he's scared? NO! So he will have a runway! As the dog reaches our part of the sidewalk, Isaac takes off, flying over the fence, right at the dog, who backs up in a panic at this 9# tabby cat gone berserk! I get out the gate, grab the cat, say, "I'm Sorry! I'm Sorry!" to the dog owner, who replies, "OH my GAWD! Control your CAT!" :eek: :p Really, pretty funny. Isaac's never done that again, but I do watch him closely. Now he pretty much ignores dogs, and they really ignore him. It's like the fence is a magic barrier.

Good luck with the dogs, and more to the point, their owners. L.

[Aint Doody]

Go, Isaac! I'd have loved to have seen that..........

[Lise]

Picture, if you will, a lean, striped, orange tabby cat flying over a chain link fence, into the face of a panicked, full sized GS dog, who was backing up as fast as he could! Turn up the volume on the hissing, barking, and shrieking (of humans), and you've got it. Hilarious in retrospect.

Tomorrow I'll upload some pix of my baby cats (they're like 14 and 15 years old now...) so you can see Isaac the Attack Cat! :eek: :D