Have any of you been bitten by a dog while cycling?

Garyj on the Commuting and Road Safety forum has a thread looking for suggestions for ways to carry pepper spray to be used if he is pursued and attacked by dogs. My question to all of you is, have you ever been bitten while cycling? We've probably all been chased, but I'll bet it's a rare occasion when someone is actually bitten. I just ride along until they lose interest and give up.

 

Yes. Pepper spray would not have helped. I did not see the dog and it did not bark.

I find that there are two situations with dogs. 1) They see you and start chasing when you are almost past them, in which case you can out sprint them. 2) They see you long before you get to them, so you cannot out sprint them without risking them running under your wheels. In this case you should stop. Pepper spray cannot be used in case 1 and it's just vindictive (but satisfying) in case 2.

 

Not exactly bitten, per se - but I was 'butted by once by a very over excited Staffordshire bull terrier on my way to work. It wasn't exactly a ferocious act on the dogs behalf - more just one of over exuberant stupidity.

I was ambling along the path at about 25- 30km/h. The path running along the edge of a park, parallel to a road. The dog and it's owner were out for their morning walk and crossing from the farside of the road. The dog, of course was just glad to be getting its morning freedom and was running at full tilt towards the park. As we approached each other, some little alarm bells went off in my head, thinking "mmm.. our angle of trajectory looks to be intersecting" but stupid me dismissed it quickly as something only happening in cartoons.

Nup.

Muttley certainly didn't what know hit him - even though it was him who hit me. He t-boned my back wheel at what I'd guess to be near his top running speed. From memory, I hadn't braked, but had just begin to coast when I realised when it wasn't such a fanciful scenario. I went flying and the dog went reeling. No outward signs of damage on either of us, I had a bit of a buckle to my back wheel and I bet the dog had a hell of a headache for a while afterwards.

sorry.. a bit OT from your overall question... but just an anecdote I thought I'd share. It also further explains why I also prefer cats

 

While riding solo in deep rural Virginia, I was just finishing a long climb. At the crest of the hill there was an old dilapidated house with a small group of people sitting on the front porch. As I reached the top of the hill, a black lab mix tore out from around the house straight at me. I tried to sprint away but did not have the leg strength at that point, however, the dog mis-judged his bite and only grabbed my sock. Thankfully I had a frame mounted pump and was able to beat him back. Ruined the pump. All the while that this was going on, the folks on the porch were laughing and having a good old time. I got out of there quick after that with visions of Deliverence flashing through my mind.Off the subject, a Doberman ran into my car while it was chasing a cat across the road. Put a fair sized dent in my car but the dog only had a small cut on its head, and probably a heathier respect for cats. For the record, I still prefer dogs.

 

Yes like you gents I've had problems hitting dogs, but as I said I've never been bitten. I T Boned a Dobermin Pincer 1/4 mile from y hose one night at about 35mph on my 750 Suzuki motorcycle when he stepped out in front of me. Cocked the bars, and I low sided, getting a road rash on my forearm, and ended up riding it out on my wallet. He got the worst of it.

I hit a dog with my front wheel at about 15mph on my bicycle when he ran across a Boulevard to avoid traffic. Went over the bars head first into the concrete. It knocked me out for about 10 minutes, and I awoke surrounded by paramedics. Glad I had a helmet on or I wouldn't be here to write this, there was a baseball size bash on the helmet.

I both cases it was the result of accidental impact that I was injured but never from being bitten by an aggressive dog.

 

I've outrun a fair number of dogs, and stopped a few other times to defuse the chase instinct. But one time a big dog surprised me in no-man's land, where I was going too fast to stop but not fast enough to avoid him, and he was gnawing at the back of my shoe as I pedaled, trying to gain speed. It must have been hilarious to see, but neither the dog nor I was laughing. I did get away, with teeth marks on my shoe.

As I've mentioned before in a similar thread, a dog that's barking while chasing is usually not much of a threat to bite. His goal is to chase you away and feel good about himself. A silent chaser is the one to fear - his goal is to tear you a new one.

 

I have never been bitten, but have had a couple small dogs chase me I rarly get chased by big dogs, just those little dogs

 

+1 on the small dogs - there is a totally psychotic Jack Russell near us, which I've actually seen hanging off a rider's shoe while they were pedalling. We've stopped riding in that direction because we're worried we might hit the stupid thing.

 

I have been bitten by a dog whilst cycling.

 

Dogs just seem to bark and chase but I haven't heard of someone bitten while cycling.

 

What I really hate is when the dog is in a fenced in yard but some idiot left the gate open!

 

When I was a kid, I was chased, bitten and pulled off my bike by a chow mix. It was a horrifying experience and I ended up at the hospital. The dog was put to sleep after the attack and the people who owned that dog were always angry with me, eventhough they did pay for all my doctor bills. Since then I've had a fear of big dogs and I carry pepepr spray in my rear jersey pocket, I've never had to use it and it actually expires in July. I've been chased several times since then and mostly I can outrun them. I have had to get off my bike and put it between me and the dog until he loses interest in me.

I get chased when running by the little dogs in the neighborhood. One street is just bad for small dogs, every day I've got some sort of viscious ankle biter waiting for me. They must take turns.

 

These damned country bumpkins always let these two dogs roam free at this one spot, and I can usually just outsprint them. On one ride, though, they got in front of me and I had to stop. One of the dogs bit a hole in my leg warmer as I was trying to sprint away.

 

I wonder if this was in the same area where my encounter occurred?

 

Don't think so, luckily this area isn't at the top of a long climb.

 

The good thing is, its easy to out run em

 

You mean there's 2 sets of country bumpkins in Virginia ? That's a scary thought!

 

You guys are all missing the big picture:

It's totally amasing that someone has taught their dog to cycle.

SCotty

 

Does this mean that we are now allowed to bite the dog?

 

Never, I usually smell like one, so they can relate to me.

I have had a few come at me, but usually I just keep riding, and they eventually ignore me.