Kevan Smith wrote:
>
> The Real Bev <[email protected]> wrote:
> >Kevan Smith wrote:
> >> "di" <[email protected]> from Cox Communications wrote:
> >> >>Kevan wrote:
> >> >> You're going from chasing to biting. If a dog is biting you, sure, defend
> >> >> yourself. Spraying a chemical that could blind or poison on a dog that is
> >> >> merely chasing is cruelty to animals. Most chasing dogs just do it for play,
> >> >> not to commit harm. And, as I said, a simple spray of water stops them. I
> >> >> have seen it work many times.
> >> >
> >> >Wait until he gets his teeth into your flesh to determine if it's merely a
> >> >chase or bite?
> >>
> >> No, spray it with water to make it stop chasing. Learn to freakin' read.
> >
> >Somebody said he'd tried water, to no effect. What about mixing a
> >LITTLE ammonia with the water? Or do you have a better suggestion?
>
> Ammonia eats away flesh. It's a caustic solution. That's why it blinds. Even a
> little bit is harmful.
What do you think is in Windex? Do you wear gloves when you clean your
windows? Do you know anybody who does? I once (yeah, stupid, I know)
sprayed myself in the eye with dryer fabric-softening spray. It took
several days for the blur to disappear. Would Windex have been more
damaging?
> If you insist on a spray, jalapeno juice (not pickled) inflames nerve endings
> to cause pain, but it is otherwise harmless. It's cheaper than pepper spray,
> too.
Interesting. So all you need are some jalapenos and a blender? And the
skill to avoid dripping the stuff on yourself? I've dealt with
jalapenos. You need gloves.
> Do you have a size limit? I mean, if a Chihuahua were chasing you bent on
> attack, would you spray it with ammonia as readily as you might a pit bull?
No. As a matter of fact I WAS chased by a chihuahua. I had time to get
off and do my bear imitation. Game little guy. I had to do it three
times before he went back home. The German Shepard turned tail the
first time, but my bicycle wasn't around.
> Or
> how about a friendliness limit -- say, a beautiful Golden Retriever, among the
> gentlest of dogs, were chasing you and barking, would you spray it with a
> caustic solution?
You look at their faces. You look at their posture. You look at their
tails. Some dogs are clearly playing, others want blood. With some you
can't tell.
In general, dogs are wonderful. In many cases they're much nicer than
humans. I don't carry pepper spray or a squirt gun or ammonia and I'd
have to get off my bike and open up my trunk bag to get my pump, which
is too puny to be usefully threatening to anything past weaning age. I
guess I could grab my water bottle and throw it at the dog, but that
doesn't seem like it would be really effective. This whole discussion
is theoretical.
> If you are looking for a really humane solution to the dog chasing problem, I
> can think of three really good ones: 1) outrace the dog,
I can't outrace my 5'5" 250-lb beer-bellied medicare-age friend, why
should I be able to outrace a dog of sufficient size to be at least
potentially frightening? I've been riding for 10 years and am not
likely to discover new depths of hitherto-unfound talent.
> or 2) learn to make dog friends,
Sometimes works. Dogs are generally very nice people unless they've
been owned by shitheads who treat them badly.
or 3) don't ride in that area.
You mean "don't ride in any area that might contain a possibly-scary
dog"? My husband, riding alone at night, was chased up a hill in the
Cajon Pass area by a pack of feral dogs. He was just fast enough that he
could keep ahead of them and eventually they got tired and turned
around. He remembers wondering if they managed to catch him, could he
kill one of them and would that perhaps distract the others while they
ate their former pal?
What SHOULD he have done?
--
Cheers,
Bev
********************************************************************
Organized people will never know the sheer joyous ecstasy of finding
something that was believed to have been irretrievably lost.
-- D. Stern
