Author Topic: US dogs  (Read 10490 times)

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Offline froze

Re: US dogs
« Reply #15 on: January 07, 2024, 12:02:43 am »
I ran into 3 dogs in 45 plus years of riding that gave me a thrill, most will stop chasing when they get to the end of their property, and others will stop if you tell them in a sharp command voice to "go home".  Most dogs you can outrun on a bike.

The first dog that chased me I was climbing a grade, came up to a house with the guy working in his yard, suddenly this medium-sized dog came out after me and was trying to bite my leg as I was pedaling, back in those days we had full-size frame pumps, so I grabbed and smashed that dogs nose with it, it went screaming back to the owner and the owner screamed at me for hitting my dog, so I yelled back if that dog ever attacks me again I'll kill it! 

The second dog was very unusual, he ended up chasing me through a city for about 12 or 13 blocks, I was on a street with traffic lights, so I had to stop to wait for traffic to clear, as I was stopped the dog is gaining on me, some cars saw the situation and stopped to let me run the light others had no clue.  At about the 12th or 13th block, I heard a screech of tires, and turned around to see that dog smack a brick wall, it was hit by a city bus, and the dog died.

The 3rd time this farm dog came charging at me, I was on my touring bike and loaded, so I wasn't going to be able to outrun the dog, I now carry pepper spray clipped to the outside of my handlebar bag, so I grabbed it and gave a shot at the dog's face, he went screaming away.

I've had a few other chases but those dogs were more into it for fun, not to chew on me, you can sort of tell, but even a dog thinking it's having fun could accidentally hurt you if they accidentally run into you.

Where I live and ride I'm more concerned about deer than I am about dogs.

Offline Stefan_E

Re: US dogs
« Reply #16 on: May 07, 2024, 10:04:25 pm »
I rode Fl-90 today going west, between Madison and Monticello. That‘s US Bike Route 90 and Southern Tier as well. Some kind of pit bull came aggressively running after me from the other side of the road. The second I saw it, it got hit by a car. It went so fast the driver couldn’t even hit the brakes. It made a loud sound, also on the bumper. The dog flew maybe ten yards through the air and landed in the middle of the lane, being probably instantly dead. The car stopped and the one behind it also.
My first instinct reaction was to continue, because I didn’t want to meet an angry and probably stupid owner.
Some 500 feet later, out of sight of the accident I called 911, a little confused and unsure what to do next. The lady was very understanding and sent a deputy, who arrived only five minutes later. He just asked what happened, thanked me for calling it in and continued to the site of the accident.

Looking back I have some sympathy for the dog, because he apparently had an inattentive and silly owner. Also I am sorry for the car driver. Still, I am also happy about the result, because
1. The dog didn’t bite me
2. It won’t bite another cyclist or any person
3. The owner hopefully will learn his lesson.

In hindsight I would also recommend the same approach I did instinctively. Leave the site (as long as no one else got injured) and call the sheriff. Having the officer at the site of the accident also helped me to get over the idea that some angry dog owner followed me in his pickup truck pointing a gun at me yelling about his dead dog.

What do you think? Would you have done anything differently?

Offline Westinghouse

Re: US dogs
« Reply #17 on: May 08, 2024, 02:48:23 am »
When we cycled highway 90 in the winter of 1984 in north Florida going west, free-ranging dogs were all over the place. We had several loud snarling barking run-ins with them. Frequently they lay dead in the road, smashed by motor vehicles. Several years later I cycled that same highway in winter. Not one single dog did I see anywhere along the length of that highway 90 in north Florida. Generally  speaking, there is nothing to worry about in the US. In other parts of the world there are dogs that would rip a man to shreds and devour him. I encountered two of them.  All I can say is thank God for that chain link fence. I would say dogs have chased and slowed me to a halt 100 times.

Offline froze

Re: US dogs
« Reply #18 on: May 08, 2024, 12:08:26 pm »
When we cycled highway 90 in the winter of 1984 in north Florida going west, free-ranging dogs were all over the place. We had several loud snarling barking run-ins with them. Frequently they lay dead in the road, smashed by motor vehicles. Several years later I cycled that same highway in winter. Not one single dog did I see anywhere along the length of that highway 90 in north Florida. Generally  speaking, there is nothing to worry about in the US. In other parts of the world there are dogs that would rip a man to shreds and devour him. I encountered two of them.  All I can say is thank God for that chain link fence. I would say dogs have chased and slowed me to a halt 100 times.

While what you said is true, it's only true most of the time, not all the time.  So for that once-in-a-blue-moon dog that lives in America and wants to eat you for breakfast and will chase you however far it takes to get a leg steak, you need to take precautions.  The weight of a small plastic pepper spray canister is nearly nothing, so you're total touring weight will not even notice the canister.  And when loaded for touring you are not going to be able to outrun a small terrier, not alone a larger dog who will be on top of you so fast you'll wonder what happened.  And pepper spray can help you in case you should encounter an unwanted superpredator, also rare, but anything is always possible at any time.