Being chased by dogs

[Sky]

What do you do about dogs who chase you on the bike? Like the other day this tiny little dog came running out of his yard, the owner screaming all the time for him to come back, and he was running along side me yipping at my feet. I didn't know whether to try to speed up (although it was uphill and I didn't know if I could pedal any faster) and lose him or stop so he'd go back home. I didn't know if he'd bite. And when I checked my speedometer the little stinker was running 16 mph on those tiny legs! I'm not too scared when that happens in the neighborhoods, but when I'm on the country roads and big old farm dog comes out barking - that's scary!

[annie]

Sky,

Welcome to the forum!

Your question is one that has been discussed by any bike rider who's ever ventured out on country roads. If you go to the bottom of the page, you'll see where you can type in a word and do a search for that topic. If you type in "dog" you'll find many, many posts on the subject and different ideas of what to do. It's something we all have to deal with........

[Sky]

Okay. Thanks Annie.

[emily_in_nc]

Hi Sky,

I share your fears about being chased by dogs while riding. Although I love dogs and am owned by a wonderful Boston Terrier myself, I was scared of them as a child and think a bit of that fear must still live deep in my psyche as I think I am more worried about being chased by dogs than most of my cycling buddies.

So....I carry Halt when I ride. It's a red pepper spray (available at nashbar.com and possibly your LBS). It won't permanently harm a dog but, if s/he gets close enough where you can aim it at their face, it will almost always send them away to wipe their face in the grass, quickly! That said, I rarely have to use it. Normally, just pointing it at a chasing dog is enough to make them very wary; I guess it's their instinct to be wary of anything pointed at them that might be a weapon. If I am going downhill or on the flats I usually just turn on the speed, and almost always they'll give up fairly quickly once they reach the end of their "territory", but going uphill, I have had to use the Halt a few times now and then.

It's amazing how fast I can sprint when a dog comes running after me. My husband says "Why don't you do that when you're trying to catch up with a paceline?" Hmmm....somehow the adrenaline just isn't the same!

I also YELL. I can have a big, loud voice when I need it, and I have found that shouting "NO" or "GO HOME!" very firmly at them sometimes does the trick. I've never actually had a dog bite me or knock me off my bike using these tactics, and I ride a lot in a rural area where a lot of folks have never heard of the words "leash law" (even though there is one).

Some people shake a bike pump or squirt their water bottle at them, but I'm usually not coordinated enough to manage that. I keep the Halt clipped onto my shorts around the waist so can grab it quite quickly if needed.

There are probably times when it makes sense to get off your bike and walk slowly out of their territory; perhaps if one is cutting you off in front or multiple dogs are charging you at once, but I usually prefer to keep going if at all possible, since I don't always know if they will be friendly even when I'm off my bike.

Good luck, and I hope these tips help a bit!

Emily

[penster]

Oh yeah, don't we have fun! The lilttle dogs get caught up in the spokes, and the bigger ones just lean into us and knock us over! One of my most memorable dog stories is about a police dog! A group of us were doing a ride on a tried/true road, and I was pulling up the rear. I noted in the distance on my left, a state trooper's car, with the K-9 designation on it, but thought little of it. Just as the cyclist in front of me zipped by the trooper's car, I saw a streak of grey coming out into the road. The trooper was screaming for his dog to stop (Bullet, by the way) and the dog was aiming right for me. I did the only thing I could think of and that was to stop immediately, and put the bike between ole Bullet and me! Bullet then pressed his cold wet nose to my leg, all the while the trooper was advancing and trying to give commands. You know, every class has someone who has to graduate last, but I wonder why they all live on the roads I ride on LOL! The only thing the trooper said in the way of an apology was that the dog "really doesn't like bikers"...mmmm. After tellling a few a few folks about this, everyone agreed that I probably did the safest thing with a trained attack dog, as I know I couldn't have outrun him, and thinking about a 100 pound dog doing the big leap to knock me down still gives me the shivers. BTW dog and trooper are no longer in the neighborhood....:-)

[Hillhugger]

Last year I had an incident with dogs as well when riding in the country. Two huge dogs came chasing down the lawn - the lawn was raised above the street level and from the street you were not able to see whether the dogs would be able to reach the street. Not funny! So I crossed onto the other side of the street and biked there for a little while. When I finally got around the corner uphill, the two dogs were just standing there looking where I was.

I also find that a lot of dog owners in our area have now those invisible barriers around their property which really helps. It looks kind of funny though when a dogs comes running with full speed and then stops sliding along on the wet lawn on his butt...

And then there is this nice quiet sub-division where we train hill runs. The first time I ran by, that beautiful white dog was standing there right beside the street, looking at me and coming with me a couple of meters. The next time I came by, he just sat there and watched (I wonder what he was thinking) and by the third time he was actually asleep.