Dogs!

[lazeebum]

Not the dog, the owner. One of the dogs that bit me broke skin. I went to the doctor after finding out that it didn't have his shots. The only satisfaction was that the irresponsible owner had to pay for the dog to be put up for two weeks.

[Sagebrush]

If there is no law to enforce and were talking a bite, then add a few holes to them. I think its a community service, children die every day from dog attacks. So, I have no issue with the elimination of aggressive dogs running loose.

Calhoun at least has a leash law, and they enforce it. I had a hostile mentally unstable trouble maker neighbor call a complaint in on me, was not my dog of course, but a stray hanging around the house. The police said it was my problem. Picked up the dog and took it to the pound, it was a nice dog, maybe someone adopted it.

[Gam]

I don't mind the ones that chase along and keep out of my space, heck I find myself checking how fast they are running.

[IceCold4x4]

There is one that used to chase me on my way into work. this was for 2 or 3 years now. Got a bike it started chasing the bike well after about a week of having to punch it to avoid him. I got held up by a large truck and a heel to the head was enough that I haven't seen him chasing anything for about 6 months now. Not that he ever had tried to bite but that time he was much closer  than the previous times. I hate people who commit animal cruelty however if the dog is big enough to have an effect on me and the bike then defensive things will be done.

[TFancher]

Get a can of wasp/ hornet spray the next time you go that way. It is accurate to about twenty feet and he will run from you instead of towards you the next time he hears you coming.

[Nice Goat]

Get a can of wasp/ hornet spray the next time you go that way. It is accurate to about twenty feet and he will run from you instead of towards you the next time he hears you coming.

As you spray the dog in the face, you must say aloud, in your best Sean Connery accent, "There can be only one."

[lazeebum]

I actually had something similar happen to me the other day. Riding on narrow back roads means that we are riding through places where the dog and it's owners think we are trespassing.  I had two big dogs stand in the middle of a road and start acting aggressive, bared teeth, and hackles up. I pointed the bike at them and gassed it.  The larger one decided to let it go, the other one chased me for a bit. I think if I had stopped for the dogs, they would have bit me.

[huffy]

I have been known to use a water gun with Ammonia . Will make dogs stop and roll there head in the road or dirt .

[WECSOG]

If it's a slow road like that and a dog approaches me in an aggressive manner, I stop and stare it down along with a verbal challenge to put up or shut up. I've had dog owners sit on their porch and look at me without even bothering to call their dog off. Fine; if it tries to bite me they get to watch me shoot it. I'm on a public road. It is a crime to allow your dog to attack someone in a public area, and it is legal to protect yourself from attack.

I have no idea if my German shepherd would chase a motorcycle, because he doesn't get the opportunity. Anyone who allows their dog to attack passersby do not have any sympathy from me.

[KevinB]

I've had a couple of dogs a few miles from the house that I've been having issues with running in front of me. They never try to bite, but do run in front of me...which would cause a crash if I ran over them. I've been documenting each instance for the last few months and delivered a copy of the State Code and JeffCo's leash law to the homeowner.

I advised them next time it happens I'll be coming back with Animal Control for the dogs and handcuffs for them...which might be embarrassing for them since there's a marked patrol car in their driveway.

[lazeebum]

In Lauderdale county there is not a leash law. So an irresponsible dog owner faces no repercussions.  I do not stop for dogs, if anything I downshift and throttle up. Most just want to chase you, I have petted a dog, and had the same dog get up and chase me as soon as I start up.

[Bamagator]

Last 3 rides on backroad county roads have involved dogs, two of which were close calls.  I'm an average rider on pavement and relative hack on dirt.  What's your strategy when dogs run toward the bike?

I usually pick a line and crack the throttle open.  Yesterday, I was just about to start crossing a bridge over lake mitchell, had a truck behind me and a car on road to the right when 2 dogs behind the car and unseen by me jutted out to chase the bike as another car approached from the opposite direction on bridge.  Luckily the dogs bailed the chase at the last second but the only option I had was to commit to line forward IMHO, which I did.

It's a known evil I know but would like thoughts if you have them. Thx

[klaviator]

Sometimes I just stay on the Gas or speed up to outrun the dogs.  If that doesn't look like it will work I slow down until I have a clear line and gas it.  I have had some dogs blocking the road so that I ended up stopping.  There is no one size fits all solution to this.  You could carry mace or pepper spray as a last resort.  This might be a good idea if you always get chased by the same dog.  One blast might just cure the dog of that habit.

It seems that most dogs just want to chase you, not actually catch you.  Sometimes they screw up.  I had a friend who went 50 years riding on the street without crashing until he hit a dog ???

[Jwwr]

If they are already in the road and you are going slow, like on a dirt road. I'll first try to intimidate them by riding straight toward them, most will back of a little. That gives you an opening to gas it and go by them. Now, for the ones coming out of the yard angling for you, most run straight for you, as you ride by their trajectory becomes and arc, simply speeding up works for these. Some of the smarter ones try to cut you off, they have been at the game a while. You'll see paths worn in the grass where they make the same run at every vehicle that comes by. These are the ones that just appear in the road from behind a bush in the yard. Sometimes you don't see these in time. Usually these dogs, since they're still alive aren't going to make contact. But if I see one has the angle on me, I'll just slow down, or stop if the dog isn't big and mean looking, I'll even call them to me, some will even come, most get a little intimidated and back off, cause they really don't want to catch you. Most of my encounters are dual sporting so the speeds are slower, it's just luck if you are going fast.

[Hammerdown77]

Ya'll think all this is fun on a motorcycle, you should try it on a push bike (bicycle) :D

I spent the better part of my teenage years and 20's riding and racing road bicycles. Which meant thousands and thousands of miles spent training, out in the country (both North Alabama and Tennessee). Which of course meant lots of dog encounters. And I saw lots of fellow riders/racers taken out by dogs, some seriously (one was paralyzed). I myself have run over a few, but miraculously, did not go down. I distinctly remember one race in Tennessee, in/around Leiper's Fork, where we were about 60 miles into it going down a narrow county backroud when these three dogs came tearing out from the side, straight into the line of racers. The first two were smaller, faster dogs, and got into the group before anyone could react. Catastrophe ensued. The third dog was a big ol' lumbering bloodhound. I had avoided the other two but suddenly found that big brown beast right in front of my wheel, and I was still moving along at about 20 mph, having slowed from the 30 mph we were doing earlier. I braced for impact, slid off the back of the seat and lifted up on the bars, and somehow, through some miracle, the dog panicked and crouched down a bit and I seesawed over the top of it, remaining upright. That bloodhound let out the loudest YAAAWWLRRRP! and raced back off the road to hide in the ditch. When I stopped to check my bike for damage (I was sure I'd taco'd a wheel), I saw a big tuft of brown fur and skin stuck between the two front chainrings. Maybe he learned his lesson.

Regarding wasp/hornet spray, don't know I'd use that as it could severly damage a dog's eyes, however a good pepper spray seems to work well, certainly better in my experience than wopping them with a boot or other solid implement (which with the agressive dogs, seems to make things worse). We rode with a Tennessee State Trooper when I lived in Nashville, and he had a training route he regularly rode that was full of loose dogs (well, they had owners, but the owners couldn't have cared less about them trying to kill cyclists). The second time he rode that route, after having marked where all the dogs were, he took his can of pepper spray with him and would stop at each house with dogs, wait for them to come tearing out after him, then spray the sh*t out of them with the can. The next time he rode that route and those dogs saw him, they'd run and hide  :D