Country Roads & DOGS

Gooserider

"Badger_South" <Badger@South.net> wrote in message
news:1lq5e0hph8401hq4m0d8kulrnucm7bo68n@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 11:04:40 -0500, "TAT 57"
> <tatullis@ccrtc.com> wrote: .
>
> There's a wealth of anecdotal info in the ng, just google
> for it. If you want to be really harsh, just time your
> ride to coincide with the passage of a large asphault
> roller truck - think Wiley E. Coyote. ;-p

It's funny you should mention that, Badger. Something
similar happened to
me. A dog came after me just as a teenaged girl was passing
me. I heard squealing brakes and a sickening thud---but
the chase was ended. The dog ran off, and the girl and I
confronted the owner. His response? "That stupid dog got
hit last year chasing a bike---you'd think he would
learn." D'oh!

Fred Hall

"TAT 57" <tatullis@ccrtc.com> wrote in message
news:10e5p4m7v2gq263@corp.supernews.com...
> After a 5 year absence from road cycling I am back on the
> bike. I ride
some
> great rural roads mainly in farm country. It seems every
> house I pass has
a
> large dog and they all love to chase the bike. What's the
> best way to
deal
> with the dog???
>

Check the leash laws in your area...I live in the country
too, but believe it or not there is a leash law...dogs are
not allowed to roam free, or at least off their property. If
it happens at a certain house all the time...turn them in.

I grew up with big dogs around ever since I was about 4
years old - I'm 47 now and haven't had one in 15 years, but
growing up around them takes some of the fear away...it
would take a pretty good-sized dog with his fangs bared to
give me pause. I think they can sense when you are or are
not afraid of them. If you show no fear - they usually leave
you alone...some say to stare the dog down and don't flinch
first and that'll work with some dogs, but some will get
madder and with those it's better to not even look at them
and act like they aren't even there...all easy to say I
guess, but you only have a second or so to size up the
situation when riding along.

As earlier suggested, ammonia in a spray bottle - not a "mister-
type" sprayer, but one that puts out a stream is good...hit
him in the nose with that and they'll back off..the PETA
folks'll probably cringe at that, but the dog shouldn't be
in the road chasing you in the first place.

Badger_south

On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 01:09:01 GMT, "Gooserider"
<gooserider@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

>
>"Badger_South" <Badger@South.net> wrote in message
>news:1lq5e0hph8401hq4m0d8kulrnucm7bo68n@4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 11:04:40 -0500, "TAT 57"
>> <tatullis@ccrtc.com> wrote: .
>>
>> There's a wealth of anecdotal info in the ng, just google
>> for it. If you want to be really harsh, just time your
>> ride to coincide with the passage of a large asphault
>> roller truck - think Wiley E. Coyote. ;-p
>
>
>It's funny you should mention that, Badger. Something
>similar happened to
>me. A dog came after me just as a teenaged girl was passing
> me. I heard squealing brakes and a sickening thud---but
> the chase was ended. The dog ran off, and the girl and
> I confronted the owner. His response? "That stupid dog
> got hit last year chasing a bike---you'd think he would
> learn." D'oh!

Almost had a similar scenario today. I was sprinting away
from a Black Lab, and came around a corner on the bike trail
and almost ran broadside into the Parks&Rec truck that was
parked on the trail broadside. He was planning on backing
into a small clearing in the woods and turning around. Very
close call. Quite embarassing to have to tell about hitting
a car on the MUP. D'oh, indeed.

(in 250 days riding that trail I've never come across one of
their trucks, thus the utter surprise)

-B

John

"TAT 57" <tatullis@ccrtc.com> wrote in message news:<10e5p4m7v2gq263@corp.supernews.com>...
> After a 5 year absence from road cycling I am back on the
> bike. I ride some great rural roads mainly in farm
> country. It seems every house I pass has a large dog and
> they all love to chase the bike. What's the best way to
> deal with the dog???

1. Strong verbal response. Loud "NO" or "GO HOME".
I've never found this to work, but all the books
say to do it.

2. Speed. Of course this may trigger a prey reaction in the
dog and make the situation worse.

3. Spray water. This has on occasion worked for me except
against labradors which seemed to like it.

4. Kick or hit the dog. Keep in mind that doing so will
likely throw you off balance, further expose your limbs,
and upset the owner.

5. Talk with the owner. Maybe this should be #4.

6. Chemical deterrents like Halt spray. Somewhat difficult
to aim and may cause breathing problems and skin
irritation for the user.

7. Law enforcement. At this point you should have already
been bit or be in imminent fear of physical harm.

I've found the vast majority of country dogs just want to
bark and chase you until you're out of "their" territory. Of
course the presence of chasing dogs, especially with
vehicular traffic, can cause an accident on its own; and
telling the "barking" dogs from the "biting" dogs is an iffy
proposition.

Luigi De Guzman

On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 01:05:30 GMT, "Gooserider"
<gooserider@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

>
>"TAT 57" <tatullis@ccrtc.com> wrote in message
>news:10e5p4m7v2gq263@corp.supernews.com...
>> After a 5 year absence from road cycling I am back on the
>> bike. I ride
>some
>> great rural roads mainly in farm country. It seems every
>> house I pass has
>a
>> large dog and they all love to chase the bike. What's the
>> best way to
>deal
>> with the dog???
>
>Sprint. Sprint hard. Either that, or:
>
>1) Buy a pepper spray deterrent. Halt is good.
>2) Buy a loud horn. Tends to work.
>3) Fill a water bottle with ammonia. A spray to the face
> is good.

I've always wondered about people who advocate this
technique. How many people have taken a big swig of cool,
refreshing ammonia because of this?

-Luigi

>
>Or, you could just call animal control.

Frank Krygowski

TAT 57 wrote:

> After a 5 year absence from road cycling I am back on the
> bike. I ride some great rural roads mainly in farm
> country. It seems every house I pass has a large dog and
> they all love to chase the bike. What's the best way to
> deal with the dog???

I learned _all_ about dogs by riding for years on rural
Georgia, where dogs outnumbered cyclists 100 to 1, and had
more rights besides.

1. Watch for dogs. It's best if you're prepared
before they are.

2. Stare them down. Look mean. Think mean. Visualize doggie
mayhem. Many of them will immediately look the other way
and pretend they didn't notice you.

3. If chased, you can try an explosive, authoritative and
aggressive "NO!" Some dogs will repond to this.

4. Don't lose your cool! Don't ride off the road, or into a
car. Don't let the dog get in front of your wheel. If
you crash, you have little defense against the dog.

5. Halt spray often works, but has shortcomings:
a) Its range is too short, no more than six feet or so.
b) It's difficult or useless in a headwind.
c) It must hit the dog exactly in the eyes or nose. This can
be tough if you're excited and/or out of practice.
d) It can hit another rider, and trust me, it burns like
hell. (Well, actually, I hope I never have to check the
accuracy of that statement!)

Still, now that I'm in less dog-infested, more civilized
territory, Halt is all I carry.

6. Very seriously, the defense that worked best in Georgia
was rocks stored in my handlebar bag. The best are
roughly 1.5" diameter, and fairly regular in shape. I
found their range was far better (15 feet) so the dog
was kept away from our wheels. I found throwing while
riding was no problem at all. I found many dogs would
back off as soon as my arm came up. If hit well, almost
all would stop the chase - and some would stop even
after a miss.

7. You could call the law, or talk to the owners. (In rural
Georgia, both are futile.) I preferred to train the dogs
myself. I was interested in protecting my wife and son,
so I'd just do solo rides where I'd go by the "bad"
dogs. After getting either hit by rocks, or sprayed by
halt, or (last resort) kicked in the nose, they'd
eventually learn to leave us alone. If a dog chases me
these days on a route we're likely to ride in the
future, I rarely move on until I've scared the dog into
submission.

I have friends who are very pro-dog, who strongly disagree
with my tactics. But they've never had to take their
bleeding son to the doctor after a dog bite, nor battle the
owner to have medical bills paid. And I refuse to give up my
right to safe passage on the road because some human is too
negligent to control his pet.

--
--------------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove
rodent and vegetable dot com, replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Kyler Laird

>> >You'd have to be pretty slow or have a very fast dog for
>> >him to keep up on road rides.
>>
>> How slow? 8 mph? 6 mph? I'm often going slower than that,
>> struggling to get up a big hill, or dead from the last
>> big hill as I struggle up a minor hill.

>I once paced a dachshund running flat out at 7 mph, but I
>don't think he could have kept it up very long.

I regularly pace geriatric dogs going 17-22 MPH for over a
mile at a time.
http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0026/mvi_2019.avi And
that's when they're not even chasing anything. Throw a deer
or a rabbit in the mix and it gets more exciting.

I only took one quick (~7 mile) road ride with one of my
dogs when she was younger. She had no problems keeping up
with me, even with lots of diversions. (I'm slow.)

--kyler

Dave Mayer

"TAT 57" <tatullis@ccrtc.com> wrote in message
news:10e5p4m7v2gq263@corp.supernews.com...
> What's the best way to deal with the dog???
>
Lawyers. A woman walking next to me today had a hard time
controlling her big dog. The mutt obviously wanted to take a
chunk out of me. I said to her: "Let it bite me.. I need the
proceeds of a million dollar lawsuit." Got her attention.

If the dog bites, activate a scorched-earth legal strategy
against the owner. Use the meanest most expensive law firm
in the area and attack with dozens of claims, motions and
discoveries. Repeat over and over until the dog owner has no
assets left.

Brett Jaffee

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@mousepotato.com> wrote in
news:40e38bc0@news.ysu.edu:

> 3. If chased, you can try an explosive, authoritative and
> aggressive "NO!" Some dogs will repond to this.

That works. A few months ago was riding on the singletrack
near my house when out of nowhere comes "bark, bark, bark."
I turn to see a small dog chasing my back wheel. I sped up
for a bit to try and outrun it. Well, either I'm slow or the
little dog was fast, because that didn't work. So, I quickly
turned my head to face him and shouted "GO AWAY" in as mean
a voice as possible. The barking suddenly stopped and the
dog froze in it's tracks. When I turned and looked back a
again a few seconds later, he had disappeared.

Zoot Katz

Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:09:31 -0700, <rcousine-
7F4F1C.12093130062004@morgoth.sfu.ca>, Ryan Cousineau
<rcousine@sfu.ca> wrote: \szip
>
>Mastiffs are big.
>
>In practice, the only time I got caught on a country road
>with two largish dogs, I stopped and the dogs came up to
>check me out. End of incident.

I came around a curve and saw a black bear cub sitting on
the center line just up the road, maybe 600 meters. Not
wanting to ride between the cub and its mother, I approached
slowly looking for her or another cub. When I got as close
as I dared, I whistled. The bear turned its head and that's
when I could see it was a dog.

It was bigger than any newfie I've ever seen and looked like
a giant black lab on steroids.Then I recognised that it was
Black Jack out sunning himself and guarding his owner's
pickup truck while they were off somewhere in the bush, uhh
- fishing. He didn't even bother moving when I rode by.
Everybody in town knew that dog. He was a sweetie.
--
zk

Gooserider

"Luigi de Guzman" <luigi12081@cox.net> wrote in message
news:hlr6e0h0sph1dasmc8cqenr0rob0ijekt9@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 01:05:30 GMT, "Gooserider" <gooserider@mouse-
> potato.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >"TAT 57" <tatullis@ccrtc.com> wrote in message
> >news:10e5p4m7v2gq263@corp.supernews.com...
> >> After a 5 year absence from road cycling I am back on
> >> the bike. I ride
> >some
> >> great rural roads mainly in farm country. It seems
> >> every house I pass
has
> >a
> >> large dog and they all love to chase the bike. What's
> >> the best way to
> >deal
> >> with the dog???
> >
> >Sprint. Sprint hard. Either that, or:
> >
> >1) Buy a pepper spray deterrent. Halt is good.
> >2) Buy a loud horn. Tends to work.
> >3) Fill a water bottle with ammonia. A spray to the face
> > is good.
>
> I've always wondered about people who advocate this
> technique. How many people have taken a big swig of cool,
> refreshing ammonia because of this?
>
I'll bet they only do it once. I'm a Fred and use a Camelbak
on the road, so I could probably get away with it. I usually
just outsprint them, though.

Rick Onanian

On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 01:09:01 GMT, "Gooserider"
<gooserider@mouse-potato.com> wrote:
>off, and the girl and I confronted the owner. His response?
>"That stupid dog got hit last year chasing a bike---you'd
>think he would learn." D'oh!

You'd think the owner would learn. :/
--
Rick Onanian

Rick Onanian

On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 01:45:41 GMT, "Fred Hall" <fhall1@twcny.rr.com>
wrote:
>I think they can sense when you are or are not afraid of
>them. If you show no fear - they usually leave you
>alone...some say to stare the dog down and don't flinch
>first and that'll work with some dogs, but some will get
>madder and with those it's better to not even look at them
>and act like they aren't even there...

I rarely encounter dogs while riding, but outside of riding,
I generally ignore or attempt to befriend any dog I see.
Ignoring them doesn't seem to work. Being friendly often
confuses them -- some immediately decide to be my friend,
while others back off and continue barking. Someday I'll
probably get bitten doing that. Occasionally I'll attempt to
intimidate a dog by yelling louder than his bark, which
often works.
--
Rick Onanian

H. M. Leary

In article <kgr5e09o4u1qfq4kj8df3dig3053jkn5jd@4ax.com>,
Badger_South <Badger@South.net> wrote:

snip
>
> Are Mastiffs notorious chasers, and/or fighters? What
> about a Rodesian Redback? I saw one of those on the trail
> the other day. Nice looking dog, very docile and friendly,
> it seems.
>
> -Badger Studying up on dog breeds...
>
snip

Rhodesian Ridgebacks were bread to hunt lions.

They may appear friendly, but I would not trust more than
one at a time.

HAND

--
"Freedom Is a Light for Which Many Have Died in Darkness"

- Tomb of the unknown - American Revolution