Hi, and dogs???

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Geez!!! That's a HORRIBLE situation!!
Honestly, I would NEVER put up with this. Order yourself some dog pepper spray from Ebay (the kind with the flip-top so you can't squirt it at your own self). Test it once quickly (outdoors!) to make sure it works. Then it's good for about 8 more 1 second shots.
Next time the dogs come at you, get off your bike, say "NO!" to them loudly, and calmly squirt them in their faces. They'll likely run off yelping and never ever bother you again. It won't hurt them permanently, but they will not forget it. You may have to do it for each dog. If they are especially dumb you may need to do it twice per dog. If their owners don't like it....too bad.
I'm an animal lover but this is really too much. Loose dogs terrorizing people on public roads?!? You have the RIGHT to travel the public road safely- they DON'T have the right to take that away from you.

[Artisan]

I'm shocked that they still are allowing their dog to run freely. Given how irresponsible they are being it might be in your best interest and the other cyclist in the area for you to take them to court. They are not only putting you in danger but their dog as well.

[xeney]

Yeah, for real. I was thinking this morning of how this would have played out where I grew up, out in the country surrounded by sheep ranchers who did not tolerate off-leash dogs. The next cyclist riding by would have had a handgun and those dogs would be history.

I'm not advocating that! This is just a completely foreign concept to me, people letting dogs run around loose with no repercussions. In the cities you have leash laws, in the rural area where I'm from it just would not have been tolerated. (That is part of why I don't live there anymore.)

[CyclChyk]

I'm thinking Xeney might be onto something here. Apparently these people are just plain NUMB!

I'm thinking police reports might be the best way to go here.

You know its sad, becuase I lovelovelove dogs so much and I would never dream of hurting one, but if one of those dogs end up dead in the road because it was loose and got hit by a car, it would serve them right. What is it going to take to get through to these people???

Yup. File police reports. Because if these people aren't responsible enough to take proper care of their dogs, someone else will when the law ends up taking them away.

[Geonz]

THe other option is what one of our riders does... tosses chunks of PowerBars out for the critters. THey love him.

It so doesn't address the real problem here, though. I would go for the pepper spray *and* police reports.