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Q&A: How should I deal with aggressive dogs?
by Tim GrahlEd. – The following question was submitted by a reader. If you have some insight, please leave it in the comments. If you have a question you would like to appear here, email us at diggers@commutebybike.com
Diane from Canada:
I had two large dogs charge me from 50 yards away yesterday while off leash and no owner in sight. I got off my bike immediately and put it as a barrier between me and the dogs but I was worried that one could circle around me. Ten yards away one of the dogs veered off and got distracted by something else so it took off. The second one kept coming but then three seconds later it followed the first one and away they went running down the street in another direction.
One friend says I should have been submissive and not looked them in the eye; the other said I should have roared at them and been as aggressive back. Both own dogs so I don’t know who to believe. I am a short, 54 year old woman.
How should I deal with aggressive dogs?
A dog came running up on me the other day and immediately I thought of the posts I read here. I sped up a bit but then remembered to squirt the bugger with some water. It worked! He didn’t like the strange stuff on his face so he turned around and started smelling flowers along side the road leaving me alone on my way home. I was extremely proud of my off-the-cuff-resourcefullness. Thanks you guys/gals.
This is an older post, but I wanted to add a reply. Every off leash dog in an area with a leash law should be reported to animal control every time they are spotted. A few fines works wonders for owners who otherwise cannot seem to get their dogs under control.
My employer is recovering from surgery right now to fix bleeding in his brain. A dog charged his bike out of nowhere, hit the tire and caused a wreck. The impact cracked his helmet. We are so thankful he was wearing a helmet in the first place. He was riding in an area with a leash law. The dog wasn’t agressive but it still caused a serious injury to a seasoned rider.
I have had my run-in with a dog as well. But I don’t let it interfere with my biking.
The life of a cyclist is an interesting one – and sometimes dangerous. But the rewards of cycling are worth the challenges.
Gliding along, with the refreshing breeze giving you a boost, a feeling of freedom and a chance to enjoy a lovely countryside. I sometimes compare the joys of biking with flying –except at ground level.
There are those challenges, as I mentioned, and sometimes they can be painful. Like the time a woman opened her driver’s-side door just as I was preparing to pass her parked car. Now that was painful – for both of us. She admitted that she should have been more careful and checked her side-view mirror before opening her door. No permanent harm done to either of us.
Sometimes I feel as though all drivers have a thing about bikers. As if we just don’t belong on the streets. There are drivers who seem irritated that they have to be on guard for us and give us the right-of-way where warranted. It’s really odd when you think about it, because after all many of those drivers are also bikers. And I am also a driver.
At many intersections you feel as though you have to read the driver’s mind. It becomes a game – albeit a potentially deadly one. You are coming up on a car that has his right turn signal on and you are going straight through. Many cyclists like to make a statement about their rights and boldly dash straight ahead, daring the driver to turn into them.
I am never that daring. Or you can call me a chicken if you like. I simply don’t trust the odds, even if they are 1,000 to 1 in my favor. I will assume the driver doesn’t see me, or he expects me to stop, because I will always hesitate until I see him wave me through. That phrase “he was dead right, but he was still dead” comes to mind.
One of the most dangerous challenges is the pothole. And in the Spring there are countless numbers of them. You simply have to be on guard for them at all times. If you ever hit a deep one, as I did once, you learn your lesson. They can really shatter your teeth. And you can find yourself going head-over-handlebars. Eternal vigilance is the watchword.
Then there are the dogs. I like dogs. Most of them are friendly. And most of them are also restrained, either on a leash or behind a fence. But there are the occasional stray dogs that get excited about a cyclist whizzing by and just have to give chase. I always wondered what would happen if they actually caught up to you – until one did. And I found out. He bit me.
Talk about pain. And the blood is scary. But the worst thing was that the dog disappeared before I or anyone else could restrain him and get him checked for rabies. That meant, of course, that I would have to take those painful rabies shots just in case the dog was diseased.
From that day on I realized that I couldn’t take that chance again. I had to be prepared for the next dog that wants to give chase. So I had to find something that would give the dog a reason to decide he made a mistake to chase me, but at the same time not do anything that really hurt the dog or left any lasting harmful effects.
My biker friend Tom gave me the answer after I mentioned the problem to him. He said he went to http://www.yoursecurityandsafety.com/dogrepellent.htm and bought the perfect solution. It’s a mace dog repellent that, with one spray, will halt any dog in its tracks. And it’s humane. There is no lasting after-effects.
The great thing is that it’s less than $15, well worth it for solving my dog problem. It provides a velcro-like attachment so that I can secure the unit to my bike.
Wouldn’t you know that I haven’t had the need to try out my mace dog repellent. I haven’t been singled out by another loose dog since I bought it.
Just as well. I really would rather not have to mace a dog. But it’s a great feeling to know that I have a deterrent with me. I no longer even have to think about it. I just enjoy that feeling of freedom and observing the world going by. There’s nothing like cycling.