Dog owners!

[JEB1]

Hi - My first post here, but I have been lurking for quite a while. - So
apologies if I commit some horrible usenet solecism. Got my first dog bite
in three years today, pedalling along the National Cycle Network between
Lincoln and Harby. I know these things happen from time to time and I'm sure
have been done to death here before, but I thought you might be amused by
the ensuing conversation.

Owner: Sorry. He's not vicious, (This with the creature's teeth still
clamped on to my calf!) Anyway he doesn't like bicycles".
Me: You do know this is a cycle track? So you might expect the odd bicycle
to pass by from time to time."
Owner: "Yes but I let him off the lead because there's a bend there and he
can't see bicycles coming round it...."

Fortunately no serious damage done to me. I have a bruise but no puncture
wounds. Kudos to Aldi's long winter cycling trousers, which also seemed
pretty undamaged when I got home.

 

[Alan Holmes]

"JEB1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi - My first post here, but I have been lurking for quite a while. - So
> apologies if I commit some horrible usenet solecism. Got my first dog
> bite
> in three years today, pedalling along the National Cycle Network between
> Lincoln and Harby. I know these things happen from time to time and I'm
> sure
> have been done to death here before, but I thought you might be amused by
> the ensuing conversation.
>
> Owner: Sorry. He's not vicious, (This with the creature's teeth still
> clamped on to my calf!) Anyway he doesn't like bicycles".
> Me: You do know this is a cycle track? So you might expect the odd bicycle
> to pass by from time to time."
> Owner: "Yes but I let him off the lead because there's a bend there and he
> can't see bicycles coming round it...."
>
> Fortunately no serious damage done to me. I have a bruise but no puncture
> wounds. Kudos to Aldi's long winter cycling trousers, which also seemed
> pretty undamaged when I got home.

When I cycled with a group, if there was a dog which was chasing us, we
would all get hold of our pumps and each of us would give the dog a thump as
we passed, whether the damned dog got the idea that it was not wanted I will
never know, but it was very satifying!

Alan

>
>
>

 

[MartinM]

JEB1 wrote:


Kudos to Aldi's long winter cycling trousers, which also seemed
> pretty undamaged when I got home.

Indeed, I fell off wearing some a few weeks ago (stealth kerb in Hyde
Park) and they were untouched, even though I had two open grazes under
them.

 

[naked_draughtsman]

JEB1 wrote:
> Owner: Sorry. He's not vicious, (This with the creature's teeth still
> clamped on to my calf!) Anyway he doesn't like bicycles".
> Me: You do know this is a cycle track? So you might expect the odd bicycle
> to pass by from time to time."
> Owner: "Yes but I let him off the lead because there's a bend there and he
> can't see bicycles coming round it...."

Fortunately I've never been bitten. Constantly having to stop because
dog walkers have dogs off leads and running all over the place,
especially on cycle paths/lanes.

I think I tend to remember the bad experiences more, because there are
dog walkers who let their dogs run around on said cycle routes (which I
think is wrong) but when they see a bike the owner catches the dog and
holds it at the side.

peter

 

[Tosspot]

JEB1 wrote:
> Hi - My first post here, but I have been lurking for quite a while. - So
> apologies if I commit some horrible usenet solecism. Got my first dog bite
> in three years today, pedalling along the National Cycle Network between
> Lincoln and Harby.

<snip>

<rant>
I don't do dogs. The last episode I had with a Rotweiller involved me
explaining to its owner I'd kick it up and down the streeet if it so
much as looked at me. He looked shocked. In my defense, I gave the
last dog (admittedly a corgi[1]) a good kicking.
</rant>

Most of the time I love dogs, but when one has a go at me on a bike, I
just see red, plus the fact I out mass them 5:1

<sigh> the dog brigade will be out in force now.

[1] They are dumb, you kick 'em and they come back for more, you kick
'em again, they come back. You can carry this on all day 'till your
kicking mush.

 

[Russell Fulker]

Alan Holmes wrote:
>
> When I cycled with a group, if there was a dog which was chasing us, we
> would all get hold of our pumps and each of us would give the dog a thump as
> we passed, whether the damned dog got the idea that it was not wanted I will
> never know, but it was very satifying!

Wouldn't it have been more satisfying & appropriate for you to each
clout the dog's owner as you passed? It's hardly the mutt's fault it
hadn't been trained

 

[Alan Holmes]

"Russell Fulker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Alan Holmes wrote:
>>
>> When I cycled with a group, if there was a dog which was chasing us, we
>> would all get hold of our pumps and each of us would give the dog a thump
>> as we passed, whether the damned dog got the idea that it was not wanted
>> I will never know, but it was very satifying!
>
> Wouldn't it have been more satisfying & appropriate for you to each clout
> the dog's owner as you passed? It's hardly the mutt's fault it hadn't
> been trained

On reflection that would have been much more satisfying, but I suspect the
owners were not close enough!

But it's an idea worth remembering!-)

Alan

 

[Pinky]

"JEB1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi - My first post here, but I have been lurking for quite a while. - So
> apologies if I commit some horrible usenet solecism. Got my first dog
> bite
> in three years today, pedalling along the National Cycle Network between
> Lincoln and Harby. I know these things happen from time to time and I'm
> sure
> have been done to death here before, but I thought you might be amused by
> the ensuing conversation.
>
> Owner: Sorry. He's not vicious, (This with the creature's teeth still
> clamped on to my calf!) Anyway he doesn't like bicycles".
> Me: You do know this is a cycle track? So you might expect the odd bicycle
> to pass by from time to time."
> Owner: "Yes but I let him off the lead because there's a bend there and he
> can't see bicycles coming round it...."
>
> Fortunately no serious damage done to me. I have a bruise but no puncture
> wounds. Kudos to Aldi's long winter cycling trousers, which also seemed
> pretty undamaged when I got home.
>
>

On quite a few occasions I have been menaced by barking, teeth bared dogs
and I have made clear to their owners that I would exact severe retribution
on an animal if it approached me in such a manner . Many many times the
response is " oh my dog wouldn't hurt a fly" and they are amazed that I
should consider such a reaction as to kick their defenceless ( and vicious)
pet.

I must say that there is an increasing awareness that dog must be kept under
control and probably over 50% are controlled reasonable well on leash.

BUT, ---- you can't tell which are the ones which are potential attackers.
Many walkers will take hold of their free roaming dogs when a cyclists
approaches but an awful lot of them don't and even when they do it is often
a last minute job.

I make a point of releasing the appropriate foot from my pedal as I
approach any free or long leashed dog, together with an toot of my horn. And
I make my intent very clear. I have on a number of occasions administered a
kick to some slavering "harmless" pet.

Funnily enough there just doesn't seem to be the same problem with dogs in
the countries I have visited in Europe despite reading of other cyclists
encounters in the wilds. In France it is normal when passing through a
village for a dog to follow you barking and running for the length of its
available garden but they are seen roaming around loose as in UK. Elsewhere
in, Germany , Austria it only became a minor problem in large cities where
dogs were walked on cycling approaches but it was never as bad as in England
where every one and his mothers aunt seems to own a smelly, paranoid, path
fouling, "pet".

I just personally hate the fact the people let their dogs approach me, as a
pedestrian, and expect me to allow it to sniff and lick and even jump up at
me. They are surprised when I tell them that I will not tolerate such
behaviour and tell them to control their animals.

I once came up to my locked bike to find a dog , on a leash, peeing up
against my bike, so I kicked it off. The owner seemed to be unaware of any
problem and expressed his displeasure. I apologised to him and said that I
had made a mistake and should, in fact, have kicked him and not the dog!

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire,
England, United Kingdom.

 

[Tony B]

Alan Holmes wrote:

> When I cycled with a group, if there was a dog which was chasing us, we
> would all get hold of our pumps and each of us would give the dog a thump as
> we passed, whether the damned dog got the idea that it was not wanted I will
> never know, but it was very satifying!
>
> Alan

That must have made you all feel like tough guys.

I find that shouting "Get to bed!" works well with dogs. All dogs know
what that means ;-)

bfn,

Tony B

 

[Tony B]

Tosspot wrote:

> [1] They are dumb, you kick 'em and they come back for more, you kick
> 'em again, they come back. You can carry this on all day 'till your
> kicking mush.

Just like children eh.

Tony B

 

[Tosspot]

Tony B wrote:
> Tosspot wrote:
>
>> [1] They are dumb, you kick 'em and they come back for more, you kick
>> 'em again, they come back. You can carry this on all day 'till your
>> kicking mush.
>
> Just like children eh.

That's naughty. At least kids dont run after you biting your ankles.
What is it with perfectly normal dogs when they see a bike? Recumbents
seem to confuse them, but two wheels must look a Fed-Ex delivery of
Big-Macs to anything bigger than a rat on a leash.

 

[Tony Raven]

naked_draughtsman wrote:
>
> Fortunately I've never been bitten. Constantly having to stop because
> dog walkers have dogs off leads and running all over the place,
> especially on cycle paths/lanes.
>

Well if you will use psychlepaths. Riding on the road I very rarely
have any problems with dogs and their owners


--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

 

[Alan Braggins]

In article <[email protected]>, Tosspot wrote:
>much as looked at me. He looked shocked. In my defense, I gave the
>last dog (admittedly a corgi[1]) a good kicking.
[...]
>[1] They are dumb, you kick 'em and they come back for more, you kick
>'em again, they come back.

Weren't they originally bred as cattle herding dogs (back when cattle
walked miles to market because lorries hadn't been invented)?
Moving cows along by nipping at their ankles involves ignoring the
occasional kick.
That's no excuse for the owners not keeping it under control if it
instinctively tries to bite people the same way though.

 

[Al C-F]

naked_draughtsman wrote:

>
> I think I tend to remember the bad experiences more, because there are
> dog walkers who let their dogs run around on said cycle routes (which I
> think is wrong) but when they see a bike the owner catches the dog and
> holds it at the side.

The last time I met an unrestrained dog on the cyclepath/footpath, I
rode on ignoring the presence of the dog in the same way that its owner
ignored my presence.

Had it not been for its almost cat-like agility as the gap between my
front wheel and the ground narrowed around it, I would have chopped it
in half.

The owner then noticed me enough to speak. But this wasn't to apologise
for ignoring HC rule 42.

 

[Peter B]

"JEB1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi - My first post here, but I have been lurking for quite a while. - So
> apologies if I commit some horrible usenet solecism. Got my first dog
bite
> in three years today, pedalling along the National Cycle Network between
> Lincoln and Harby. I know these things happen from time to time and I'm
sure
> have been done to death here before, but I thought you might be amused by
> the ensuing conversation.
>

Q: What do dogs/dog owners & cyclists have in common?
A: Only the bad ones are noticed.


--
Pete
http://uk.geocities.com/[email protected]/Stuff

 

[[email protected]]

>Well if you will use psychlepaths. Riding on the road I very rarely have any problems with dogs and their owners

On my first visit to Ireland (1981) - all on roads - I was chased by
dogs but never caught (I was fitter then). Then one day I saw a dog
across the road that seemed to be getting ready to chase me (I could
read the signs by then) - however a car passing between us made it give
up that idea. I stopped and looked at it - it looked at me - and then I
got on and rode away slowly and it ignored me. I think it's the speed
that turns them on.

On subsequent visits the problem has all but gone away. The only time
I've been bitten was by a Jack Russell when pushing bike up a steep
hill, which would never have caught me riding. (Saved by trousers).

 

[Alan Holmes]

"Tony B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Alan Holmes wrote:
>
>> When I cycled with a group, if there was a dog which was chasing us, we
>> would all get hold of our pumps and each of us would give the dog a thump
>> as we passed, whether the damned dog got the idea that it was not wanted
>> I will never know, but it was very satifying!
>>
>> Alan
>
> That must have made you all feel like tough guys.

Not at all a question of being 'tough' but of an attempt to protect the
ladies in the group.

Do you care about anyone else?

Alan

>
> I find that shouting "Get to bed!" works well with dogs. All dogs know
> what that means ;-)
>
> bfn,
>
> Tony B

 

[dave]

Alan Holmes wrote:
> "Tony B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Alan Holmes wrote:
>>
>>
>>>When I cycled with a group, if there was a dog which was chasing us, we
>>>would all get hold of our pumps and each of us would give the dog a thump
>>>as we passed, whether the damned dog got the idea that it was not wanted
>>>I will never know, but it was very satifying!
>>>
>>>Alan
>>
>>That must have made you all feel like tough guys.
>
>
> Not at all a question of being 'tough' but of an attempt to protect the
> ladies in the group.
>
> Do you care about anyone else?
>
> Alan
>
>
>>I find that shouting "Get to bed!" works well with dogs. All dogs know
>>what that means ;-)
>>
>>bfn,
>>
>>Tony B
>
>
>
Dogs are fine. Good protein. Healthy. Probably parisite free. And
nothing that tries to eat you should object to being dinner.

Funny how mentioning that if the dog bites you its lunch.. upsets the
owners.

Dave

 

[elyob]

"Alan Holmes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "JEB1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Hi - My first post here, but I have been lurking for quite a while. - So
>> apologies if I commit some horrible usenet solecism. Got my first dog
>> bite
>> in three years today, pedalling along the National Cycle Network between
>> Lincoln and Harby. I know these things happen from time to time and I'm
>> sure
>> have been done to death here before, but I thought you might be amused by
>> the ensuing conversation.
>>
>> Owner: Sorry. He's not vicious, (This with the creature's teeth still
>> clamped on to my calf!) Anyway he doesn't like bicycles".
>> Me: You do know this is a cycle track? So you might expect the odd
>> bicycle
>> to pass by from time to time."
>> Owner: "Yes but I let him off the lead because there's a bend there and
>> he
>> can't see bicycles coming round it...."
>>
>> Fortunately no serious damage done to me. I have a bruise but no puncture
>> wounds. Kudos to Aldi's long winter cycling trousers, which also seemed
>> pretty undamaged when I got home.
>
> When I cycled with a group, if there was a dog which was chasing us, we
> would all get hold of our pumps and each of us would give the dog a thump
> as we passed, whether the damned dog got the idea that it was not wanted I
> will never know, but it was very satifying!
>

I always carry a sack and a brick, in case I'm attacked by a cat.

 

[Tony B]

dave wrote:

> Dogs are fine. Good protein. Healthy. Probably parisite free. And
> nothing that tries to eat you should object to being dinner.

Remeber, a dog is not just for Christmas Day - save some for the
sandwiches on Boxing Day.

Tony B