In the last couple of years ive been bitten twice, narrowly avoided beibg bitten once and lost track of the number of aggressive snarling poorly controlled mutts that run up to me when im out on my bike.

One ownerexplained “its the wheels you see” well no i dont see. Ive cycled around brighton and the downs for years, with only occasionally feeling threatened by dogs. Im now starting to avoid certain areas, and probably sending out the wrong signals. I have always sought to be polite to the owners, slow down, not provide a race/chase opportunity. I don’t feel like im doing anything wrong. The owners seem to be ignored by the dogs if they are nearby, last bite was a dog walker with 8-10 dogs all loose.

Any tips for avoiding/diffusing the situation when it does hapoen, that diesnt involve pre-emptive violence or carrying secial equipment. I mean its not Afghanistan is it?

There’s been a recent shift in the MTB industry to lower and slacker bikes.

You need to get yourself an old Santa Cruz Bullit or a Cove Stiffee; they should keep you out of harms way.

Meh, what do you expect? Most people nowadays can hardly keep control of their kids. Add a dog into the equation and it will run riot!

Not sure what advice to give other than toughen up and challenge the owners/walkers, why should you be inconvenienced or seek other routes because of wayward dogs?

I’m a dog owner,always have been. I have trained and socialised every dog I have owned to not be a bloody nuisance when out and about with people and other dogs. If I can do it theres no excuse for anyone else not doing it. All it takes is time and patience if they can’t give that don’t get a dog!

There seems to be a rise in weaponized dogs, if you get my drift.

Dog owners, some need to have an aggressive huge dog to go with their gold chain, tracky bottoms. Worse they often combine this with small children who are more at risk. Plenty of idiots around

Too many owners not realising that training is ongoing and not just for puppies. I recently found myself telling a dog owner whose dog had just run in front of my wheel that I wanted to stay in one piece.

Am finding dogs an utter pita these days.

If you remember the dog probably has a higher IQ than the owner you should be OK

It’s all part of the ‘so called’ Dog State. They are rising up from beneath us.
You mark my words. Today, nibbled ankles. 12 months? We’ll be sat watching our slobbery furry overlords execute cats live on Al Pupeera….

Bloody terrierists.

Dog owners, some need to have an aggressive huge dog to go with their gold chain, tracky bottoms.

I don’t find these guys an issue, as they tend not to frequent the great outdoors, more of an issue are the people that treat their dogs like babies, wrap them in cotton wool, then the dog gets frightened when you cycle past.

‘It’s okay, he won’t bite’. Aye, whatever…

I think personally, it a lack of proper training, so the dog pulls on the lead, which is a PITA, so they go to places where they can let it off, dog goes running about and is barely in control (as it’s not been trained) and does pretty much what it wants. Dog owner secretly knows he/she hasn’t done a particularly great job, and is passive/aggressive to people who point this out to them.

OP, all I can say is it’s not you. I too have started avoided places where people are likely to be walking dogs. I have never actually been bitten but have been threatened countless times. When it happens a number of times on one ride, kind of spoils your fun. Like you say, it doesn’t matter how considerate you are or how you try to manage the situation, it’s always “your fault” and nothing to do with irresponsible owner having an out of control dog.
And I don’t really think it’s the gold chain and tracky bums crowd who are to blame, they don’t seem to frequent places where people ride mountain bikes. I think it’s more down to people not giving a damn about anybody else.
I used to live in Helsinki, where there are forests everywhere. Dogs are nearly always on leads over there even in the forests. I used to feel sorry for the dogs – all that undergrowth to explore with all its different smells – but god it made cycling nice.
As for a solution, I have thought about getting some spray to deter dogs or something to make a noise but they don’t really seem very practical.
I suppose the only comfort I take is that we are not alone, I saw some people exercising their horses on a beach the other day, they were completely under control and not causing any problems. What did the dog owners do? Why, let them chase after of course. Sadly, none of them got a hoof to the head – the owners that is rather than the dogs 🙂

Pilot i tend to agree, its often smaller family dogs that are the problem, as has been said with little or no training. It may be my opportunities to ride in the family schedule coinciding with when people take their dogs out. More often than not its in parks and the rough ground near housing thats the problem, not when you stray a bit further from convenient parking. Pretty much stopped riding in stanmer park now, falmer woods arent much better on a Sunday morning.

I’ve certainly noticed an increase, but then the population of people round here is increasing so I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise. Two dogs came at me yesterday when I was out running. They were clearly just having fun but I didn’t really want to be covered in all the crap they’d been jumping into. At least the owner had the decency to apologise, which is increasingly rare.

Owner is probably too busy tieing a bag of its crap to a nearby branch to notice.

For people who don’t bike or know people who bike I imagine it can be quite difficult to train a dog to not be scared of one.

Not an excuse but some people are probably not used to coming across bikers and as such haven’t given it a thought.

On a related note – does anyone actually know why pretty much everything and everyone seems to be scared of, or have a problem with bikes? Serious(ish) question – dogs, horses, sheep, cows, walkers – in fact nearly everything you’re likely to meet out on a ride seems to have some kind of an issue with bikes. And why does it seem to be “our” problem and not theirs?

I had a lady on a horse suggest I should stop and get off my bike as her horse was scared of them – this was on a road!

On a related note – out with my dog at the weekend. We see group coming towards us with their dogs, so as a matter of courtesy put ours on leads.

One of their dogs then “goes” for ours, to which we get the reply, “he doesn’t like other dogs on leads”

??????

We take our Border Collie to dog training every week and the trainers there say that pretty much all dog issues are related to poor handling. I agree.

You see handlers struggling to control their dogs and then as soon as a trainer takes the dog they are as good as gold because they know what to do with them and the dog senses that the handler is in control.

It is indeed an ongoing thing and we see ourselves continuing the training for as long as we see fit. Unfortunately a lot of people just get a dog and presume that it will fall into place and just behave. It doesn’t work like that and they take a lot of time and effort to pull into line. Time and effort that some just don’t want to put in.

Don’t get me wrong, dogs will always try to get away with things but it is up to the owner / handler to get that dog back under control and if the dog isn’t listening or paying attention to them then this is no different to an un-disciplined child playing up in public. The work starts at home.

Straight after this photo was taken I saw the red mist and bit both arms off and beat the child around it’s head with the soggy ends.

Grrrrrrrrr.

I’m really starting to dislike dogs and dog owners. It started when I had kids. I would take my daughter to the park and lost count how many times she got knocked over by an overly friendly dog jumping up her or licking her face. The owners would always have the same line “it’s OK the dogs just being friendly”. The final straw for my daughter was when a dog went for her when we were viewing a house we were looking to buy. I got revenge by unknowingly walking dog poo all through their house after they failed to clean it up from the mess that was the garden. My daughter is now scared of dogs and I can’t blame her.
Another rant is the amount of turds on every park and bit of woodland I ride or take the kids. Within seconds of arriving at Kinver on Sunday mine and my daughters bikes had it on the wheels. I obviously look where I’m going but some is well camouflaged.
Also the pavement outside our row of houses seems to attract every dog to do its business. I’m waiting to catch someone letting their dog do it and leaving it behind. I will follow them and post it back to them in the night.

For reference I have had dogs in the past and really don’t blame the dog and I know not all owners are irresponsible. I do think that some owners just don’t understand that not everyone wants to be mauled by a huge overly friendly dog and they get uppity when you politely ask them to control him/her.

Edit: I have also been bitten 3 times. Twice whilst riding and one when walking. The time when walking was by an English terrier that clamped onto my calf and wouldn’t let go. The owner wasn’t interested.

When I was a “faster” runner our long Sunday run took us out around Bickerstaff from Kirby stadium. The first time I joined the group after about 5 miles the pace quickened significantly and I found myself at the back of the group, it got faster and I was working very hard to hang on (close to 5 min miling I estimate) only when 2 collies came flying out of one of the farm gates did I realised what was happening. Everyone thought it was hilarious but its true what they say. You dont have to outrun the dog just the last runner 🙂

Just out of interest…

wice whilst riding and one when walking. The time when walking was by an English terrier that clamped onto my calf and wouldn’t let go. The owner wasn’t interested.

What happens if you’re attacked by a dog and kill/injure it?

I’m not tying to sound “hard” [lol, I am far from it], but if someone’s dog attacked and injured me I think it’s possible I’d lose it and attack the thing back. With a bike, stones/branch or a good set of boots, I think it might not work-out well for the dog.

What then?

you people need to stop smearing goose fat on your ankles.

I didn’t want to write it as it makes me sound cruel but when dog wouldn’t let go the only thing I could do was repeatedly kick it in the head with my other leg. It was still didn’t let go straight away.

I was raised with dogs in the house and I’m generally very relaxed around them. Dogs can sense apprehension and seem to respond in kind.

About ten years ago, I was riding along a canal towpath which was designated as a cycle path. I woman in an adjacent field threw a stick for her dog, which darted out in front of me and nearly forced me into the canal. I remonstrated with the owner, explaining that I almost hit her unrestrained dog, but she countered with “this isn’t a cycle path”, whilst stood ten feet away from a sign that stated otherwise.

She simply wouldn’t respond to reason, so I turned to her hitherto silent husband and asked “it must be so very difficult being married to someone so colossally stupid?” before heading off on my merry way.

I have always sought to be polite to the owners, slow down, not provide a race/chase opportunity

you mean stop?
slowing down would actually encourage the dog that you are ‘playing’
either carry on regardless or stop and stand your ground

On a related note – out with my dog at the weekend. We see group coming towards us with their dogs, so as a matter of courtesy put ours on leads.

One of their dogs then “goes” for ours, to which we get the reply, “he doesn’t like other dogs on leads”

That’s not that uncommon in my experience. Worst thing is when someone picks up there dog as that will make other dogs become very interested.

On a related note – does anyone actually know why pretty much everything and everyone seems to be scared of, or have a problem with bikes? Serious(ish) question – dogs, horses, sheep, cows, walkers – in fact nearly everything you’re likely to meet out on a ride seems to have some kind of an issue with bikes. And why does it seem to be “our” problem and not theirs?

You do realize that if *everyone* else has a problem, then in general its not them with the problem? 🙂

What happens if you’re attacked by a dog and kill/injure it?

I’m not tying to sound “hard” [lol, I am far from it], but if someone’s dog attacked and injured me I think it’s possible I’d lose it and attack the thing back. With a bike, stones/branch or a good set of boots, I think it might not work-out well for the dog.

What then?
Depends on if you can prove you were attacked, and your definition I expect. If it was “I felt threatened/ it looked at me funny/it screwed up my strava time”; You could be prosecuted for criminal damage I expect, although I doubt that would happen instead I would just expect a hate campaign against you 🙂

I have heard of someone who kicked a dog in a local park, causing quite a lot of damage to its jaw (builder with a temper) Owners asked him to pay the vet bills, he refused, then posters appeared around where he lived (every day) and his kids school with his picture on and the dog with bandages etc, warning people to guard their pets as a vicious animal hater lived here and could lose control at any point.

Made his, his wifes and kids lives hell (kids at school are cruel), reported to the police (couldn’t help, as there was no proof) and he ended up moving as it was that or a divorce.

Personally if you kick either of my dogs and he/she was threatening you in anyway then your kick would be the least they had to worry about. However if you kick them as you don’t like dogs, you thought that it might threaten you or your are simply being a dick, then we would have a discussion as people tend to get quite protective of their pets are you are very attached to them.

Any tips for avoiding/diffusing the situation when it does hapoen

If you can see the dog coming then say in a loud, sharp , high pitched voice – “Sit!” with emphasis on the T.

If the dog has had any training at all then this’ll be the one universal command that it’ll have been taught and there’s a fair chance it’ll at least think about complying.

People ofen fail to understand that dogs struggle to cope with negative concepts like “No” and “stop”.
If you want a dog to stop doing something, tell it to do something else instead. “Stop doing that!” rarely works

I used to have a dog who would chase anyone on a bike

In the end I had to take the bike off him.

Any tips for avoiding/diffusing the situation when it does hapoen

Alternatively, just stay still and don’t look at the dog, and keep your arms at your sides; if it jumps turn your back on it and keep turning if it moves around to jump again; dogs get bored very quickly. Don’t run, wave your arms or stare at it, as that can/usually means that you are playing a game.

I understand people shouldn’t have to do anything, but if you do this should work in most cases; whereas running rarely will.
This site sums it up very well: http://www.be-a-tree.com/kid%20main.htm

and I’ve seen kids do this a few times in park etc, to indicate to dogs they don’t want to play or want to stop playing with them. tbh I have more problems with kids hassling my dogs to play than vice versa, and mine know to stay still or lie down and the kids will get bored pretty quickly 🙂

I take the “dogs sense fear” argument to a point, but i didnt used to have a problem and too grew up around dogs. I also ride solo a lot these days, and possibly makes me more of a target. It does ultimately come down to training of the dogs, and many people are responsible, but it seems an increasing number just buy a dog and expect everything to just happen. On both occasions i was bitten i reported the incident but apparently i was supposed to take the name and address of the owner and have detailed knowledge of the breeed. I know the police are stretched but disappointed that i never had any follow up.

The first time i had gopro of the dog and owner and the second time it was a dog walker and a description of their vehicle and location. Neither occasion did i even get a call to say soory weve looked into it but havent enough info or priority to pursue.

if someone’s dog attacked and injured me

if someone’s dog attacked and injured me

Depends on your definition of attacked and injured, I know TJ used to consider a dog off the lead within a 100 meters of him an emotional attack that would injure his psyche requiring thousands of hours of counseling to get over; whereas my opinion on that form of attack was he was mentally ill.

If you consider an attack to be the dog bites you, then we are on the same page. If a dog jumps up at you or runs towards you, whilst its annoying, would you consider that an attack? As some people on here seem to.

No, I mean biting with actual harm and fear of further substantial injury.

If a dog runs up and snarls at me then I consider that an attack. if I wave a big knife around at you or your kids but don’t actually stab you in the eye (this time) are you okay with that?

No, I mean biting with actual harm and fear of further substantial injury.

At that point if you hadn’t kicked the dog I would have; and no sane person would have a problem with you doing whatever was required if it was within a reasonable timeframe (ie: not the next day)

If a dog runs up and snarls at me then I consider that an attack.

Do you consider someone driving too close to you when riding a bike an attack? What about if someone shouts mean words at you?

Snarling at you isn’t an attack, its is unacceptable behavior but calling it an attack is trivializing people who do actually get attacked by dogs.

Snarling at you isn’t an attack, its is unacceptable behavior but calling it an attack is trivializing people who do actually get attacked by dogs.

It’s not too big a step for a snarling dog to then attack.
If the dog is not on a leash and it’s not in your home then it’s at least ‘out of control in a public place’ which is illegal.

Snarling at you isn’t an attack, its is unacceptable behavior but calling it an attack is trivializing people who do actually get attacked by dogs.

Semantics, try telling that to my 3 year old.

It’s not too big a step for a snarling dog to then attack.

Rubbish, it’s a massive step from snarling to biting. A snarl/growl is a warning, if the warning doesn’t work then depending on the dog or the circumstances it will either run or fight; its also worth bearing in mind dogs have no concept of size so whilst you or I make a decision on how likely you are to get injured/hurt, dogs don’t do this, this is why you see big dogs being seen off by small ones and police dogs are carefully selected for temperament not size.

Its when the snarling or growling stops you need to be worried; guard/police dogs don’t bark at you once they have decided you have crossed the line, as that wastes air thats better served getting to you faster.

Semantics, try telling that to my 3 year old.

You have had dogs snarling (not barking) at your 3 year old and you didn’t report them to the police, if not, why not?

Most dogs are very cautious of small children, as the ones that aren’t are/were killed as its not a desirable trait and if a dog snarls at at puppy the mother will either try to kill the dog or be killed itself, hence why you see most dogs lying down or being very submissive with puppies/young dogs as the consequences of not being so, are huge and painful.