dog attack...ugh...

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

So going to work today, and uphill at that, I was charged by two dogs. One pitbull the second a shepard. They came from the right side, shepard pulled in behind me, pitbull beside and snapped away at me. I stood on the pedals and hauled but they were able to keep up easily. I cut left across two lanes of traffic but they kept coming. I took a hard left onto the sidewalk but couldn't get straitened out fast enough and hit a large decorative rock, Landed ok with my hands up, the dogs took off guess I wasn't interesting anymore. My rear derailer is destroyed, and I fear my tires are VERY out of round now. I fortunately have a walmart bike and the replacement derailer is 15.99. I just hope that nothing else suffered any damage that will be expensive. I went to a sporting goods store and bought mace with CS tear gas, this WILL NOT happen again. If I had been a kid or a bit less lucky this could have gone much worse. Good news, not a scratch on me and the helmet didn't even get bumped. Bike gloves saved my hands so I'm completely unharmed. The denali is a rock though that was a HARD crash it took, and it still got me to work (although in only one gear) before it gave up the ghost.

I have found that better than mace, is dog biscuits. I ride a lot on back-country roads where dogs are really the biggest thing you have to worry about. Also yell a lot. In most cases you can scare the dogs off just by yelling. If not, just throw a few dog treats behind you and a lot of times it will get the dogs attention.
The only thing I dont like about mace is that if you are riding in a group, someone behind you is likely to get some overspray. I know there is a foam-type mace that a lot of people use for dogs when riding, that comes out almost like silly string. I imagine that wouldnt bother other riders behind you, but dont know for sure

Kick the f****** dog(s) in the face. That's my solution. Swerving at them with the pedal pointed at their face also might work. Ok, these days since I'm usually riding over 25 mph the dogs don't even try.

-bikeguy

I have mace now. I've seen my pitbull run face first into a tree and not blink so I don't think a kick would do much. I was going about 17-20mph I would say and they didn't seem to have much trouble keeping up. Now I have pepper spray with CS tear gas, that should solve the problem. I'm not playing anymore. There is a leash law, use it folks.

Or you can follow the dogs home and use the mace on the owners that let the dogs run free.

couple thoughts --

lotta dogs don't like being squirted w/ water.

also, the last dog that chased me, a half-grown pit, got his front feet run over by a couple knobbies -- he got close, i swerved into him, caught his feet, he yelped a bit, and quit. owner in a front yard yelled something, but i was too far away to hear. never saw him or the dog again, even though i rode that way for three more years....

couple thoughts --

lotta dogs don't like being squirted w/ water.

also, the last dog that chased me, a half-grown pit, got his front feet run over by a couple knobbies -- he got close, i swerved into him, caught his feet, he yelped a bit, and quit. owner in a front yard yelled something, but i was too far away to hear. never saw him or the dog again, even though i rode that way for three more years....
A .357 Magnum works pretty well for this sort of thing. I'm not one of those that has sympathy for a creature that is attempting to take my leg off. With dogs you never know whether they have rabies or not (as they can be infected, yet not giving off any signs), and due to that, if the dog is in the yard behaving, he is safe, a dog pops into the road and start raising hell at me, he gets shot.

In a perfect world, dog owners would learn what a chain and a fence is for, people would not rob strangers, and other people wouldn't carjack you. Since I'm forced to live in this world, I have a carry permit. :)

I am considering a foam pepper spray myself just in case. In the past few weeks I have had several doggie close calls. One is the same damn dog and he has convienced me to keep my knife close at hand just in case (aalso for the shady mobile home park I ride past). I figure at this point if the dog attacks I can at least take out an eye or two and get a little even.

Pretty sure Im going to get mace

I am considering a foam pepper spray myself just in case. In the past few weeks I have had several doggie close calls. One is the same damn dog and he has convienced me to keep my knife close at hand just in case (aalso for the shady mobile home park I ride past). I figure at this point if the dog attacks I can at least take out an eye or two and get a little even.

Pretty sure Im going to get maceI think if the knife's big enough, you probably need a ccw! If it's really that dangerous you could of course just get one for a firearm.

I think knives are a poor idea for defense because they are not likely to stop. One pictures some poor dog or other assailant with multiple stab wounds tearing your leg off despite being in the process of bleeding to death. Get pepper, get a CCW, or get a stick or something but not a knife unless it's a Roman short sword.

I still think strategy #1 should be to call the authorities for those close calls.

Called authorities in my case they did nothing, couldn't find the dogs or owners. Knives take alot of training to be usefull, and guns are not good in this situation, hard to hit a moving target dog sized from a bike, bouncing bullets of roads and shooting a few rounds into peoples car/house is frowned on. Go with mace imho.

A .357 Magnum
thats alot of gun there.
.

actualy a 357 mag is a great choice for most situations. You have a decent amount of power with full house .357 mag loads, but you can go down to a simple .38 special load as well. With +p to ++p++ in between it's a gun for just about any purpose you can imagine.

Yup! I had a pit bull chase me with the intention of killing me. I ride a power-assisted lwb recumbent and also carry a .40cal Glock. When I saw the dog in my rearview mirror trying to overtake me, I hit the throttle and outpaced him enough to have time to dismount the ebike and take aim. The dog was dead with one shot. I dragged his useless carcass to the front porch of his owner's house and rang the doorbell. Nobody was home. I pinned a note on the dog that said "out of order" and left him there.

Robbie



A .357 Magnum works pretty well for this sort of thing. I'm not one of those that has sympathy for a creature that is attempting to take my leg off. With dogs you never know whether they have rabies or not (as they can be infected, yet not giving off any signs), and due to that, if the dog is in the yard behaving, he is safe, a dog pops into the road and start raising hell at me, he gets shot.

In a perfect world, dog owners would learn what a chain and a fence is for, people would not rob strangers, and other people wouldn't carjack you. Since I'm forced to live in this world, I have a carry permit. :)

I think if the knife's big enough, you probably need a ccw! If it's really that dangerous you could of course just get one for a firearm.

I think knives are a poor idea for defense because they are not likely to stop. One pictures some poor dog or other assailant with multiple stab wounds tearing your leg off despite being in the process of bleeding to death. Get pepper, get a CCW, or get a stick or something but not a knife unless it's a Roman short sword.

I still think strategy #1 should be to call the authorities for those close calls.OOPS! I mean a CWP. Get a CWP for fear of getting busted for CCW!

Yup! I had a pit bull chase me with the intention of killing me. I ride a power-assisted lwb recumbent and also carry a .40cal Glock. When I saw the dog in my rearview mirror trying to overtake me, I hit the throttle and outpaced him enough to have time to dismount the ebike and take aim. The dog was dead with one shot. I dragged his useless carcass to the front porch of his owner's house and rang the doorbell. Nobody was home. I pinned a note on the dog that said "out of order" and left him there.

Robbie
hilarious !

.

Umm.... anyone else think that the "Dog Killer" went a lil too far. I mean HE had the chance to outride the beast if he had enough time to pull out some heat and aim well enough to blast its' head off. I mean c'mon that was like an excuse to murder an animal. And the note WTF!

Umm.... anyone else think that the "Dog Killer" went a lil too far. I mean HE had the chance to outride the beast if he had enough time to pull out some heat and aim well enough to blast its' head off. I mean c'mon that was like an excuse to murder an animal. And the note WTF!I guess it depends on a lot of things, but an attack by a pit bull is a life threatening event for sure. Plus, going all out for a few seconds is not necessarily the same as being able to outrun the dog.

Umm.... anyone else think that the "Dog Killer" went a lil too far. I mean HE had the chance to outride the beast if he had enough time to pull out some heat and aim well enough to blast its' head off. I mean c'mon that was like an excuse to murder an animal. And the note WTF!
Sometimes when I think about it, I wonder if I went far enough? For instance, when I was dragging the damned dog carcass towards their front porch, I considering throwing it through their front picture window. I was PISSED!! It was at THAT very moment that the idea about the "out of order" note hit me. I remembered seeing James Bond do that in 'The Spy Who Loved Me". I started laughing at the thought and simply had to go that route instead. Laughter really does diffuse a situation. :D

"Excuse to murder an animal" You're kidding, right? I passed 20 or more dogs in their yards that day and didn't find an 'excuse' to shoot any of them. Why? The fact that they didn't attack me sits high on the list....

IMHO, we've become a nation of pussies that believe our personal protection is someone else's responsibility. I often wonder if it's a result of the daily brow-beating that we get from liberal types like yourself? I'll tell you what.... should I ever see a pit bull about to kill you, I'll keep my gun holstered and head the other way.

Robbie "Dog Killer" Hatfield

I think you should have fulfilled your civic duty by filing a police report. The dog owners are just going to get another dog and will continue to be careless (or perhaps to amuse themselves on purpose by letting it get out). In fact, you've given them a score to settle.

So go to the cops and make sure these people get a history of having let a pit bull out.

And don't commit criminal damage to property or you'll lose your concealed permit.

I called the police, and a police report was filed. No criminal charges were filed towards me. I was informed that the dog had just previously attacked a man and child and that the man was hurt protecting the child, so it wasn't hard to see my case was self defense. I know all the local cops, and I was told that everyone could have done without the "out of order" note between their laughter. LOL

The owners were fined for letting a dangerous dog roam illegally. They've since moved away.

Sorry for leaving these details out.....

Robbie


I think you should have fulfilled your civic duty by filing a police report. The dog owners are just going to get another dog and will continue to be careless (or perhaps to amuse themselves on purpose by letting it get out). In fact, you've given them a score to settle.

So go to the cops and make sure these people get a history of having let a pit bull out.

And don't commit criminal damage to property or you'll lose your concealed permit.