Dog Repellents - Yeah or Nay?

[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.

[JMM77]

Thanks everyone for your advice! I guess in retrospect I should have stopped and yelled at the dog instead or trying to outrun her. She didn't attack me (thank goodness) so maybe a loud "No" and some arm waving would have scared her away.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

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.

And so your recommendation for dealing with a dog that's coming at you and looks like it's going to attack/bite is..... ?

[grey]

There's a fellow who rides with our group who is known to turn around and chase the dogs back home, YELLING at them the whole way. He's heavyset, and usually pretty serious, so picture this older guy turning around and yelling "GIT ON YOU DOGS! AAAAAAAAARRRR!" and chasing the bewildered critters back down the road. I almost fell off my bike the first time I saw him do it, I was laughing so hard.

[kenyonchris]

And so your recommendation for dealing with a dog that's coming at you and looks like it's going to attack/bite is..... ?

Well, I was only commenting on the possibility of contaminating yourself with pepper spray that may/may not work anyway.

If I am on my personal bike, I carry a little handful of pebbles. I have never had to use them because I do the aggressive yell/growl and have never had a dog come close enough to threaten me. However, I don't stop. Everyone has had good suggestions about that, certainly as effective as mine.

On the patrol bike (much slower) or on patrol (where I am much more likely to get bitten because I encounter dogs on their own turf, they are protecting their home, doing their job, it is unfortunate that my job makes us at odds) I have much more at my disposal....my spray (which I would try first...I am pretty good with it, as I use it fairly regularly on people) and my baton would be my first line of defense, but if my life were in danger, I have my gun. I can't imagine having to shoot a dog, but I would if it were him or me.

No one out on a road bike (including me) has such a line of defense, which is why the suggestions given here are great ones. But, in terms of spray, I would suggest that one checks the wind before deploying it, and be aware that some dogs may not react to it.

[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.

[Tuckervill]

A friend in our cycling club had the exact same accident about 3 weeks ago, Ariel. He was in ICU for a while, had lots of broken ribs, etc. They were going downhill at about 35 mph when the dog came out of nowhere at the bottom of the hill. Nothing could be done to avoid the dog. If it had not been him, it would have been another rider that was with him.

I'm just so angry that people don't care about their dogs or other people enough keep their dogs penned up. This accident was in the county, so no leash law...but I'll bet there is something about nuisances. We have an attorney in our club, so maybe something good will come out of it.

Karen

[sundial]

I bet an air horn would work.

Hubby uses one that he picked up from an O'Reilly's auto store. And yes, it does deter most dogs. A dog's hearing is much more acute than a human's so it is a painful blast of sound.