Dog Repellents - Yeah or Nay?

[surgtech1956]

Somewhere I read(don't remember where) that the best thing to do when a dog is chasing is to vary your speed because it will throw the dog's speed off and they will give up, they can't adapt to a slow-fast, etc... Don't know how true this is.

[sundial]

I slow down to give the impression that the dog is not going to chase me off. If the dog continues to be persistent, I squirt it in the face with my water bottle and that usually does the trick.

[tulip]

When I see a chaser, I yell in my loudest, deepest, most serious voice, NO! or SIT! That has worked in a surprising number of cases. I also get my water bottle ready to squirt it if I have to. Just make sure the top is open. I've squeezed and nothing's come out!

[Geonz]

Around here, animal control will at least make its presence known. (They've told us they dealt with owners, but that we'd have to gothrough the Freedom of Information Act to find out how; the dog that bit me was on a route I rarely have occasion to ride so I don't know if it's still out and about.)
I watched one of our guys stop a dog completely wiht a good squirt from the water bottle. I'm a camelbak girl for my own needs but I'm going to work on that skill.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

When dogs chase me in a threatening manner (sloppy bouncing labs with big dopey smiles and wagging tails don't count) I proceed in this order:

1) I STOP my bike immediately. I get off and quickly swing my bike so it's a barrier between me and the dog. Stopping takes away the excitement of the chase and puzzles the dog. (there is usually no way I'm going to outrace a dog anyway, unless I'm already going 30 mph) Usually they will then stop too and stand there barking at me.

2) next step: I BELLOW at the dog and SHAME it- "NO! BAD DOG!! GO HOME!!!" has worked every single time for me. A deep commanding voice....LOUD. (hopefully the owner in their house will hear it too) The dog screeches to a halt and/or usually stops barking and feels shamed and and confused and eventually slinks off if I keep at it. They don't like my yelling at them.

3) If the stopping and bellowing doesn't work and the dog looks like it's going to actually bite me and attack, I have no qualms at all about grabbing my pepper spray (at the ready on the outside of my saddlebag) and spraying the dog right in the face. Twice I have actually practiced grabbing my spray quickly and and shooting it at a target. Hopefully I would have time to grab my spray before being seriously bitten, but I have my doubts. Dogs are fast.
(I know a biker whose calf was ripped open very badly by a rottweiller, and he only got the dog to let go of his shredded leg by grabbing his frame pump and beating the dog over the head and face with all his might. He had to have several operations and he sued the dog owner. The dog came up behind him and did not bark, so he had very little warning but managed to stay standing over his bike)

So far I have never had to get to step 3....steps 1 and 2 have worked about a dozen times for me like a charm, even with somewhat scary dogs like boxers.

[7rider]

My audible dog repellant that has served me well on several occasions is a loud "G'wan home!" and a well-timed sprint when the dog slows up his charge in surprise.

[indigoiis]

My audible dog repellant that has served me well on several occasions is a loud "G'wan home!" and a well-timed sprint when the dog slows up his charge in surprise.

I also use "Gwan n git" or "Hay Puppy dawg" and I do usually slow or speed up.

[msincredible]

Somewhere I read(don't remember where) that the best thing to do when a dog is chasing is to vary your speed because it will throw the dog's speed off and they will give up, they can't adapt to a slow-fast, etc... Don't know how true this is.

It's true (you slow down, then suddenly accelerate) but works best on a motorcycle, you can't always out-accelerate a dog on a bicycle.

[Crankin]

Last summer, when I had my dog incident, I did the stop, put the bike between the dog and I thing, and yelled. I *think* I squirted it with my water bottle, but about then, the dog lost interest. When the same dog chased my husband about a month ago, he was going the opposite direction, in the same spot, and was going about 30 or more down a little hill. Nothing would have worked, but his outstanding bike handling skills, which did save him.
I am not sure if I could get the pepper spray or even my water bottle out quickly enough to use if I was actually still on the bike. But I have no qualms about using anything to protect myself. I honestly admit I don't like dogs under any circumstances, but in this case (and most) it's the stupidity of the owners that cause the problem. In my old town, there was a leash law and most people had invisible fences. Here, even the owners think they "own" the road, walking 2-4 abreast and not getting over into single file when a bike or runner is approaching, with warning. More than once I have let loose a string of expletives when these women look at me like I am the one who is crazy when they don't move or call their dog.

[tulip]

I bet an air horn would work.

I like the strategy of stopping and getting off the bike. Most injuries from dog-bike interaction are due to the collision of the dog and bike, not from bites. Just ask arielmoon (I hope you're feeling better!). But my instinct is to get out of the way fast. It's counter intuitive to stop and face the danger--on the bike as in life in general.

[Chicken Little]

The bike is a barrier if you are off of it- kinda like the lion tamer and the chair at the circus. But I can just see myself trying to slow, clip out, balance on the cleats, get the bike between me and the dog, not realize which way the nozzle is pointing, spray myself in the eyes, stagger off into a ditch, fall, and get knocked out. Then I get bit, for sure.

Now I'm worried. I am riding on the trainer in the garage tonight.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

HALT pepper spray has a nozzle that prevents accidentally aiming it at yourself.

[Chicken Little]

Doesn't matter, I'm double jointed.

[kenyonchris]

If the wind is up, even the pepper spray "gel" can a) miss its target, or b) contaminate you (if not get you in your face, get on your gloves or whatever, that eventually works its way to your eyes....
And, for some reason, some dogs don't react to it. I am in a lot of backyards or homes on alarms, open doors, whatever and often encounter angry dogs. Our OC is a whole lot stronger than average dog spray (it is designed to turn an angry, violent person into a slobbering mess. We were sprayed in training and it is the worst pain I have ever experienced) and is our preferred dog repellant, but on some dogs it just doesn't work. Bad day when that happens.

[arielmoon]

In my particular dog incident there was no time for anything. The dog came at me at an almost 90 degree angle and I didnt see him until he was only a few feet from me. Between my speed and his miss-judged angle it was quite a collision when he slammed into my front tire. Up until that very moment, I had never considered being hit by a dog.

Anyway, as I prepare to start riding again I will probably be thinking about ways to deter any dogs that I come across. Maybe if we had been able to scare the dog more when he half heartedly chased us three weeks before he wouldnt have been quite so game when he saw us again.