Hit a dog when cycling today -- advice?

[alpinerabbit]

uh. I hit a tourist once. Stop worrying about it, it's the dog owners' fault.

[Selkie]

Liza, great advice. You really have to stay alert. On a daily basis, I have rabbits dart out in front of me---on the MUT and on the road.

Is there a leash law in your jurisdiction? But to be honest, even leashed dogs are unpredictable (my dogs are always on the leash when not in the house or fenced backyard).

[beancounterbeth]

I almost hit a labrador on the trail last weekend. It made me so mad. I hate it when people take their dog out without a leash. It's just plain irresponsible. Plus I LOVE dogs and I would hate to hurt a dog in any way.

It also makes me mad when I take my dog on a walk in our own neighborhood and I have to worry about a fight because the other people don't have their dog on a leash. Several times I have had large dogs run at me and my dog barking and it totally freaks me out. My dog is all of 7 pounds and is no match for any dog that wants to attack it. Even if the other dog is friendly it is very unpleasant to have a large dog run at me and my dog and have to wonder in that split second what that dogs intentions are.

[maillotpois]

I started a whole thread once ranting about people who don't keep their dogs on leashes... http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ighlight=leash

Definitely not your fault. Shake it off.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

You learned something. The dog owner learned something. This is good.
The dog probably didn't learn anything, but oh well.

And dogs should NOT be off-leash on a public multi-use trail.

[Zen]

Dogs should not be off leash on a MUT. No argument.
But it could just as well have been a child.
A heavily populated MUT isn't the best place to be riding the upper end of the speed limit.
I always expect pedestrians, children and dogs to do the unexpected.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Dogs should not be off leash on a MUT. No argument.
But it could just as well have been a child.
A heavily populated MUT isn't the best place to be riding the upper end of the speed limit.
I always expect pedestrians, children and dogs to do the unexpected.

I agree. And personally, I feel way safer riding on a busy street in traffic than I have on the few scary times I've ridden on popular multi-use trails.