I have a blue heeler, too! Her name is Lucky Lucy aka Lulu. When I go running it takes her a few minutes to get it out of her system to not 'heel' me before we can get into a groove. We have 8 fenced acres I run with her in but I don't take her cycling.

The mechanic at my LBS said to squirt dogs with water bottles. So far I've 1)practiced my sprinting 2) put the dog between me and hubby 3) yelled in a firm tone, "NO GO HOME"

Then there was the time about ten years ago when hubby and I were in a 50 mile bike race and a huge labrador came running out at us and I panicked and rode blindly into a car, who fortunately saw it coming and had stopped so the damage was minimal.

The "NO GO HOME" seems to work best for us.

Someone once mentioned pepper spray but I'd hate to have to use that. I don't mean them any harm. I guess if I were facing a Cyclist Eating Monster Dawg I'd reconsider but the two dogs that bug us on the road are really old ancient mutts that mean no harm and just trot out to the edge of the road and bark like mad at us when we cycle by.

Speaking of cycling....gotta go ride!