wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 4043
Loc: Man of Kent
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A cycling tale. Where I live there are plenty of pleasant lanes to cycle along but there also lots of people around, and a lot of cars. So most people keep their dogs off the roads.
I've been chased by dogs of various descriptions on rural french roads, and I've seen lots of Helms cartoons on the subject, but I've never been chased by a dog round here, until Saturday.
I was cycling through Westmarsh, a hamlet between nowhere much and nowhere much else (although on NCN1), when a Jack Russell belted out of a front garden and started chasing me, barking. I speeded up to about 20mph which stopped the barking, but the dog just concentrated on his running instead.
After 100yds he was still about a foot behind me, I was going a bit faster, but also worried that I would have to slow down for the approaching corner, and wondering how far these creatures can run at that speed.
So I shouted something at him, and he suddenly dived into the bank at the side of the road and stopped.
Bloody animal.
As I said its the first time one's chased me round here, what's the best thing to do, when they do?
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Invicta
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MagnersCattlegridCon
Reged: 25/04/2008
Posts: 648
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apparently the best thing to do is stop, but i think thats a load of bullsh!t. My suggestion would be:
1. speed up
2. shout at it
3. if it is still close and snarling have pump/bottle ready in hand
4. if it catches you use either pump, bottle, or foot.
Happened to me a couple of years ago. never descended a forest track at such speed before or since! managed to outrun the mutt but always prepared for a sprint now anytime i pass a domesticated wolf, on a lead or not.
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Only a true cyclist knows the taste of tarmac.
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goblin
Reged: 31/03/2007
Posts: 1389
Loc: down yur me anzum
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Quote:
apparently the best thing to do is stop,
9 times out of ten, it is the bicycle itself that the doge is chasing, not the person on it. The same reason a lot of dogs chase cars. So stopping is usually the best way to avoid an accident, especially if it is already close to your wheels. Problem is, if you stop and the dog happens to be the one that isn't chasing the bike, but you .... then you're in trouble 
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bigoldsideofham
Reged: 23/12/2007
Posts: 2288
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Squirt its mush with your bidon
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WelshFatBoy
Reged: 10/11/2008
Posts: 10
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Hi wuverly,
I have no direct experience whilst riding a bike but plenty whilst running or walking.
If the dog is small, yappy little blighter like the one you describe, I've always found a swift, hard kick (like one uses in a rugby union conversion attempt) to be a most effective deterrent.
So, I would say stop, get off the bike and take aim at the offending mutt's gonads whilst visualising the nearest hedge or fence as the posts. Don't bother with the Johnny Wilkinson style posing beforehand though - you'll just look a plonker doing it in all that lycra with a hat on.
Fortunately I have not been required to deal with a german shepherd, pitbull or dobermann. I do not have a strategy for one of those that doesn't involve firearms. I think any sort of gun would rather defeat the weight saving objective that many of you cyclists seem obsessed with. 
Good luck,
WFB
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MacDaddy
Reged: 07/07/2008
Posts: 135
Loc: Gloucestershire(ish)
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Stuff a couple of kittens in your jersey pockets and deploy them as chaff. That ought to keep Mutley busy for a while.
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I like cake!
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rover1971
Reged: 09/06/2008
Posts: 349
Loc: Aberdeen, Scotland
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This reminds me of an incident once during a Time Trial I was competing in. I was going quite well about 1/3 of the way when I saw this dog racing down a farm track ahead of me, the dog came flying out after me and I accelerated to get away but it totally threw me out of my rythym and I ended up in the bottom half of the field! What was worst is that afterwards I asked the other guys if they had problems with this dog and nobody else had even seen it!
(I went back that night and killed it)
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Former Deeside Thistle loon!
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tvrbird
Reged: 21/06/2008
Posts: 1135
Loc: slumped over the keyboard
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What's wrong with you people? Just tell it 'No'. Dogs are essentially stupid and insecure and they need to know where they stand - which is at the bottom of any hierarchy. I realise that as cyclists we are victimised by everyone else on the road, but this doesn't have to include dumb animals too.
On the other hand there is an old guy who exercises his staffy on one of the cyclepaths I use. He rides a bike and the dog runs alongside. When I go past we say hello, and the dog sometimes loses its focus and latches onto me. The first time it took me a mile and a half to realise and I had to stop and ride back with it. The guy told me that he pretty much had to carry it the rest of the way home. 
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What doesn't kill us makes us stronger - Friedrich Nietzsche (German Hill Climb Champion and sub-19 man)
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mamba80
Reged: 09/08/2007
Posts: 403
Loc: Cornwall
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ah! this is one of my "pet" hates!
try going for a run instead, no option but to stop and try your best crocodile dundee impresion.
the problem with dog owners is that they love their pets and think everyone else should as well, this includes the shxt they like to leave lying around.
Bring back Dog licences, at around a £1000.00 ago.
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bfergie
Reged: 19/04/2008
Posts: 3653
Loc: Sticks ,Scotlandshire
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Quote:
Dogs are essentially stupid and insecure and they need to know where they stand - which is at the bottom of any hierarchy
You forget Tiv that in the grand hierarchy of life you do indeed stand above the dog but as you well know us males stand 2 places below the dog! Or so I get told!! 
No it's best just cycle(using an old bike) away with the mutt running behind, get out of sight of the dog owner, stop, kick the dog, jump on the bike frame, wheels and lie on the pavement clutching your arm, when owner arrives say the dog attacked you, caused a crash and you want it put down...
When the owner pleads to save the hound, say you need a new bike to replace the broken one plus a bit more for your shock and minor injuries!!
So you gat a nice bike, some cash AND got to kick the dog too...perfect...where there's a hound there's a pound!!! No pun intended 
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I now accept PAYPAL!!!!
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Gone
Reged: 26/09/2008
Posts: 52
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Quote:
us males stand 2 places below the dog! Or so I get told!!
Only 2 places? God, you've been spoiled...
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bfergie
Reged: 19/04/2008
Posts: 3653
Loc: Sticks ,Scotlandshire
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You're being mean today!!!!
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I now accept PAYPAL!!!!
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aphextwin
Reged: 13/06/2006
Posts: 1071
Loc: pH 0.1
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I f ing hate dogs.
Around here you can't go anywhere without coming across the hideous creatures or their waste products.
I've been chased countless times - I've always put it down to my skinny white legs looking just like a fresh bone. Had my ankles bitten a couple of times too.
Collies are the worst by far, they just don't give up.
The best thing to do is stop, that really does work 95% of the time. The remaining 5% you will get mauled to death with the echo of 'Ohhh, eee won't 'urt you, eee's only playing' ringing in your partially chewed ears.
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The drukqs don't work
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randal
Reged: 05/09/2008
Posts: 53
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where abouts in kent is westmarsh, cos i might go past there for some fun when im bored
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Go Garmin!!
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themadchemist
Reged: 22/04/2007
Posts: 388
Loc: South Cheshire
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I've had the small barking dog chasing me before.. i just sprinted off and it got bored,or run over (busy country road)i didn't look back to see where it went.
The worst experience involving a dog was on the same training route.I have to brake for a sharp left hand corner as the road narrows (narrow country lane).. and just around the corner was this HUGE Rhodesian Ridgeback.. baring its teeth and growling.I stopped pretty quickly.Yelling at it made it move back,but everytime i tried to ride it would come towards me growling and barking.With enough yelling i managed to get past and continued on my way.Was going to report it to the police/council dog warden, but by the time i'd got home i couldn't be bothered and i doubt they'd do anything anyway.
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wuverley
Reged: 16/05/2008
Posts: 4043
Loc: Man of Kent
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Westmarsh is between nowhere much and nowhere much else, Ash, say and Preston. About 6 miles west of Sandwich. Its on the NCN1, I now know, and is a lovely spot in the summer, even a tea room (it used to be a pub, shame). Just watch out for the Jack Russell a few yards from the Tea rooms.
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Invicta
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colnagodram
Reged: 06/04/2008
Posts: 769
Loc: Langholm, Dumfriesshire. 10 mi...
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Pedaling along at a decent speed (for me )through a wooded area ,1/2decent road,a Jack Russel came yappin'and yappin' towards me .At first I say go away,shoo, then f**k off,then F**K OFF YA LITTLE BA***RD!! with it still snapping at me ankles we turn a bend in the road to be met by pooches so called owners,who were sitting having a picnic .The look I got when I squirted my water bottle at the mutt,as if I was in the wrong  ,got the little ba***rd right in the eye tho'  
Sorry about the swearing
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peanut
Reged: 15/06/2006
Posts: 178
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why anyone would want to keep an animal whose sole purpose in life is to eat, fart,crap everywhere and bark from dawn to dusk is beyond me.
Never seen a dawg who was properly under the owners control anyway.
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Dazzricles
Reged: 24/08/2008
Posts: 621
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Oh dear..not much in the way of dog lovers here is there?
Ive an English Bull X rescued from the RSPCA called Dave and a Westie called Mini...and they give me so much joy words couldnt do it justice. Mankinds association with dogs go`s back to the dawn of mankind and has largely been a reciprical thing. Yes, sure, they can be a pain but truth is, just as with kids "bad" dogs = poor ownership/ parenting.
Dont blame the kids/ dogs!
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tvrbird
Reged: 21/06/2008
Posts: 1135
Loc: slumped over the keyboard
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An English Bully is my absolute ideal dog! I was just about to go and see a litter when things changed in my job and it looked like I wouldn't be able to work from home so much. And as you obviously know D, they are not dogs who are happy left alone for long periods...I am a dog lover, but just don't see them as surrogate children. As I said earlier, a dog who has confidence in you as pack leader is a happy, relaxed and manageable dog. Works with men too, in my experience.
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What doesn't kill us makes us stronger - Friedrich Nietzsche (German Hill Climb Champion and sub-19 man)
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