I got bitten whilst on my bike on Tuesday. TBH it was more of a mouthing by a very gay pitbull / staffie cross, but it wound me up to the point where I nearly stuck one on the owner – which would have been very very stupid. I’ve also been bitten by a Rhodesian Ridgeback in the past and so I’m getting a bit fed up with it. So, does anyone know what the legal position is regarding the use of pepper spray? It seems to be the logical – low impact, easy to carry deterrent.

If it’s good enough to keep grizzlies at bay, then it should keep even a Rottweiler distracted?

Whaddya think?

EDIT: Ah I see it is illegal – bugger 🙁

How much stuff are you going to carry on rides? What next?

A rape alarm
A bivvi (‘just incase’)
Spare shorts incase they get ripped

😆

If you used it on my dog it would be the last time you ride your bike! On saying that my dog wouldn’t bite or attack you.

my dog will happily wait while you rummage in your bag to find your preffered illegal method of self defence – but he will be hoping you have treats.

either lamp the owner, or report it, or mtfu.

How much stuff are you going to carry on rides? What next?

Where you not in the Boy Scouts Hora? 😀

Seriously, there is one bit of cycle path and one rough road that I use where dogs are a becoming a real pain. I want a way of defending myself against the buggers without hurting them too much or getting myself into trouble.

kick it in the face, that’ll teach it. Hate the bloody things.

Legality aside you’d need to be prepared to use it on the owner after the dog.

If you’re attacked report it to the police. Not immediately effective but the best you can do imho.

I doubt it would be legal to carry pepper spray TBH

either lamp the owner, or report it, or mtfu.

Problem is that its a quiet cycle path – I could lamp the owner, but that wouldn’t be clever.

And the owner is unlikely to happily give me is name and address details is he / she – so reporting it is not going to help.

MTFU – Mmmm now there’s an idea…. I know I’ll get some pepper spray to use. Oh hang on a minute.

Ok, its all about body language. Do the fright/recoil thing and most dogs will either think your playing or scared. In a non-racial way alot of Asians tend to do this (and some white folk)- this only peaks the dogs interest in them. Scare or enter their personal space quickly and they can react thinking their owner is in danger. Slow right down- after all you wouldnt ride past a horse fast would you? worse comes to the worse- put your bike inbetween you and the dog.

Seriously, dog owners arent all tools- they tend to have a narrow view of cyclists as well. Funny how walkers can also think this of cyclists.

my dog will happily wait while you rummage in your bag to find your preffered illegal method of self defence

Of course, because that’s where it would be (shakes head).

Ok, its all about body language. Do the fright/recoil thing and most dogs will either think your playing or scared. In a non-racial way alot of Asians tend to do this (and some white folk)- this only peaks the dogs interest in them. Scare or enter their personal space quickly and they can react thinking their owner is in danger. Slow right down- after all you wouldnt ride past a horse fast would you? worse comes to the worse- put your bike inbetween you and the dog.

Of course – I’d never thought of any of this on my own.

geoffj, you’d be utterly amazed how people sieze up involuntary when they see a small westie coming down a path (under control and on a lead). you can almost see my dog thinking ‘oh they want to play’/whats up here.

I would just call the police and also sue the owner for damages. Job done.

Some asians and some white people do this? do what? you mean some people are scared of dogs?

Hora-is bloody funny! LOL!

Co2 inflator works but as said you need to be quick as they don’t generally wait for you to look through your bag

Jump off the bike and bite the dog first, may not work but it’ll be something to chat about to the guy in the next bed in A&E.

ok so you are going to hold it in your hands the whole time.

perhaps its better if you just dont leave the house again – we will let you know when its all safe.

ok so you are going to hold it in your hands the whole time.

Like I say, there are only a couple of bits that I ride where dogs are a problem and I was in the boy scouts 😉

perhaps its better if you just dont leave the house again – we will let you know when its all safe.

😀

whatever you decide, i wouldn’t go down the path of carrying an offensive weapon. if you really want something like that you’ll find deodorant equally effective i expect, and a hell of a lot easier to explain away.

Confused here, how come Ive never been bitten by one of these dogs that attack cyclists?!!!! Mind you I annoy everyone I ride with by insisting on stopping, jumping off and stroking owners dog and boring them with chit-chat (true) 8)

sheldona – Member
On saying that my dog wouldn’t bite or attack you.

Paddi could give you a really long stare though. 😀

whatever you decide, i wouldn’t go down the path of carrying an offensive weapon. if you really want something like that you’ll find deodorant equally effective i expect, and a hell of a lot easier to explain away.

may i suggest asdas own (light blue bottle) be carefull not to get any on the ground or surrounding greenery otherwise nothing will grow for millenia.

sheldona – Member

If you used it on my dog it would be the last time you ride your bike!

I take it, from that statement, that you would contemplate permanently disabling a human being, because they sprayed your dog with a substance that does not in any way usually have any permanent effects, fearing attack?

And risk long incarceration at Hey Majesty’s Pleasure?

I like dogs, and am totally against any cruelty to animals. But I place human beings above dogs. I can appreciate that a family pet can be incredibly important, but people need to get the right sense of proportion here: A dog is not a human being.

Also, if someone used pepper spray on your dog, and you reacted angrily and aggressively toward them, it’s quite likely they’d spray you, too. And with you and your dog now incapacitated, possibly seek to harm you further.

I can understand your sentiments; no-one wants to see animals harmed unnecessarily. But by saying you’d ‘make sure they never rode a bike again’ just belittles you, and makes you appear an irresponsible thug. I suspect, however, that you made this statement without thinking it through, and I’m sure you woon’t actually act in such a manner.

Holy flip. That says Bear Deterrent on that can.

If my dog bit somebody and that somebody kicked him that would be fine with me. If they kicked me as well I’d be mightily pissed off as I didn’t do the biting in the first place. I doubt the dog would go biting somebody again if it got a hearty high speed boot in it’s gob.
A Dog Tazer could be the answer but possibly a bit bulky.

Maybe he meant he’d steal it?

I love the idea of hora wandering around threatening “non-racial asians” with his westie… 🙂

It’s illegal. You get nicked for poss of a sec 5 firearm.

Dog handlers tell us not to use cs on dogs it doesn’t work so I would imagine it’s the same with pepper spray.

We use fire extingishers. I doubt you could get one in your bag, so this is in no way helpful.

geoffj
I presume this bit of cycle path is around the Perth/ Dunkeld area

I love the idea of hora wandering around threatening “non-racial asians” with his westie…

Hey Im not! Just saying Ive some a few round our way almost jump over walls and up trees. FFS, act normal!

Chilli oil/water mixture in a water bottle. just don’t drink it yourself.

beinbhan – top end of the North Inch which connects with Inveralmond Industrial estate 🙁

Oh and a side road at Redgorten (on the way to Battleby) which has the ridgebacks.

the fire extinguisher works, so carry a co2 canister and blast that at the dog.

pretty much one shot, but enough to startle most dogs – any that are so fixated on taking you down are unlikely to be out on their own anyway.

Give the owner a good kick up the chuff! If the dog doesn’t start attacking you after that then it’s a pansie!

*then* you can kick the dog.

As above though, if my dog attacked someone then I’d understand entirely if they kicked it and that dog is like a child to me. Mind you, it’s hardly going to pull their arm off.

Stu, thats true!

Rudboy, I didn’t say anything about harming the person I just said it would be the last time you’d ride your bike.

Its funny how the attitude of cyclists in this country is different to anywhere else I’ve been and how most other groups seem to not like cyclists, lets think: Drivers, Walkers, Horse Riders, dog walkers! The problem I think lies here not with the others around us.

sheldona, in one/a nutshell. Ive got a massive amount of respect for walkers- alot more than ‘mountain bikers’. In part because walkers Ive seen out tend to be older, more my parents age, love their environment and have a great degree of stamina/energy for their age. You do wonder why some of them get miffed with mountain bikers- it comes down to consideration for other users.

The other week me (and a Cumbrian) stopped and moved off of the trail to allow two walkers get down a technical bit in Calderdale. Put it this way we could have just ‘gone for it’ or we could have been polite to other nature/trail users.

I am not entirely certain that pepper spray would deter 100% of dogs, it might just make them worse.

Apparently, CS doesn’t work on dogs, pepper spray or PAVA does. Anybody or anything which has suitable motivation will work through the effects of any incapaciant although Pepper spray is supposed to act more quickly/effectively. All of them are classed as firearms, as they are capable of discharging noxious fluid.

You will probably end up in jail :cry:.

Funny, you can buy these things on your way back from sunny spain off the “Betterware”(or Spanish equivalent) stand in the airport…

Certainly not bull-dog breeds, pain is a stimulus for them to attack harder. Get a bull-dog in that state and only death will stop it (yours or theirs). Even Cesar has been bitten by bulldogs.