Advice on approaching dogs while cycling anyone?

[whiffysmiffy]

I agree it is usually the owners who need the kick, not the dogs.

I only really come into contact with dogs in a local park that I cycle through on my commute and it is usually full of dogs. In the year and a half I've been commuting I have only ever seen one dog in the park on a lead - despite the dogs should be kept on leads signs - and the one that was on a lead was on a 40ft lead with his owner the other side of the path from him leaving a lovely trip wire. I think we were all lucky it was technically a rat on the lead as I didn't see the lead (I didn't expect there to be one!).

Suggesting to dog owners their dogs should be on leads is utterly pointless though so I've given up and just swear at them loudly instead - again completely pointless but it allows me to practise my vocabulary of insults.....

I am definitely a dog person, I guess I just don't like people much!

 

[doctor-bond]

Fearbiter

Anyway...i don't have issues with dogs, i find that if you stand your ground by slowing down and general body language they realise that they are dogs...that you are a human and that they are going to lose any sort of conflict they might feel the urge to get into.

I think Ducks on the money. Had a dna-disguised pit on me week an half ago.. whilst i had a bike and 1ft terrier in tow. The dark blue can drinking male owner and his brass where too busy argueing to notice thier dog lineing us up.

Had a dog d'Bordyxcane corso lump propelling the little butterfly chinese femme owner along the pavement (via her flat bottomed shoes/not an intended act) in a water-ski-ing style (me or me dog or both being it's intended targets) .....seemingly unable to halt what was about to happen. I give her the dog back 15mins later broken to the walking to heel caper, with and without lead. Suprisingly (or maybe not) though she seemed convinced she'd witnessed a miracle, she was;nt shy in letting me know how well qualified she was in the medical world (without me asking), strange but true.

The best for last, i'm training a young (possible fearbiter) terrier in a remote outpost...an ownerless/leadless Husky appears 70yds behind him (terrier) and proceeds to b-line at full flight straight at him. I called the terrier-in but he winded the trepidation in my call and stalled, smash! its got him by the ear, the husky lifted him backwards from behind then body slammed into the deck #(proper unannounced sling-shot) and thankfully stalled on the rag....though from the screams i imagined best case ear loss whilst screaming into them. The terrier somehow got out of it and next news had the husky by its ear. The owner appeared at the end of what must have been a 2 mins knock-up (i also had the terriers leadless mother on-site to deal with/she'd deafed me outand was circleing to honour her son) and got his phone out to call policmen Bill and asked me with a straight face had i any insurance, honest to god. He(the terrier) ate me venison for his tea that night and from the look he threw me when he finished i knew instantly that he knew why he got the prize (when the husky owner had the snapping husky on a lead and busied himself with phone calls i trusted the terrier to sit steady....was;nt fair to hold him after being attacked....the fear had to be removed.

KT - Genius: that's just about the best thing I've read all year. Seriously. Write a novel, you'll make Irvine Welsh look like a proper unannounced sling-shot.

 

[lumos2000]

Dogs ARE aggressive by nature.

no there not they learn it from us

 

[highlandsflyer]

Dogs ARE aggressive by nature.

no there not they learn it from us

They 'learn' to be aggressive inappropriately from us. Aggression is a natural part of their make up, as it is with most animals given their inability to reason to much extent with each other.

The whole pack hierarchy relies on aggression and competition.

 

[russ77]

I'm sure it was "Richard's Bicycle Book" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ballantine) that had tips on how cyclists could to defend themselves if confronted with an aggressive dog. Using your pump is the one I remember. My dad still claims to have fended off a dog by forcing his fist down its throat. My dad's a liar though.

 

[FSR-Si]

I hate dogs!!! they are dirty smelly useless turd laying machines often accompanied by stupid people that dont clean up after them, leaving there smelly dangerous toxic sh*t everywhere for other people to tread/ride through. then we have the total f*ckwit owners that clean the mess up in a nice little poo bag then lob it in a tree, how thick are these people :evil: makes my frickin blood boil it does :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[cyfa2809]

Yeah i always say that
You picked up a hot steaming dog poo just to launch it somewhere where its likely to stay for months if not years and in the end just get ridden/walked/driven over for all the poo to just come out anyway

 

[daugs]

a well behaved dog (and owner) will be under control and not posing any threat to cyclists who will not be worried about being bitten or having an accident.

A dog that is in kicking range is clearly not under control and then up to the individual what he does to protect himself, if an owner doesn't want his dog kicked then keep the thing under control !

 

[konatime]

I hate dogs!!! they are dirty smelly useless turd laying machines often accompanied by stupid people that dont clean up after them, leaving there smelly dangerous toxic sh*t everywhere for other people to tread/ride through. then we have the total f*ckwit owners that clean the mess up in a nice little poo bag then lob it in a tree, how thick are these people :evil: makes my frickin blood boil it does :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

In a shitting game nothing on earth trumps the Canadian goose and the person who pushed the dogpoo bags forward says zilch...(even though they're pebble-dashing nearly every waterside in the country) they don't warn, protect, guide, hunt, find cancer/tumour, retrieve or stay loyal virtually no matter how they are treated...and there'snobody to fine..'BumBum'.

 

[lumos2000]

Dogs ARE aggressive by nature.

no there not they learn it from us

They 'learn' to be aggressive inappropriately from us. Aggression is a natural part of their make up, as it is with most animals given their inability to reason to much extent with each other.

The whole pack hierarchy relies on aggression and competition.

that maybe true for wild dogs or wolfs but not domestic dogs, aggression was breed out of them a long time ago. unfortunatly some people are beeding aggression back into some breeds.
incidently i used to carry pepper spray when riding in brazil, lots of big scary dogs there and packs of strays but i never had to use it. its probley illegal to carry it here and unnesseary