So, I was riding last Sunday, minding my own business. In the distance I see a couple with two dogs walking away from me. As I approach I slow right down. The couple then turn round and start walking towards me. Both have now seen me and the woman managed to control one dog. The other dog comes barreling towards me so I stop. The dog crashes into front wheel/disc rotor with enough force to knock the wheel off centre. I sigh with disbelief and start to pedal off. The owner proceeds to verbally abuse me for not announcing my arrival.

What did I do wrong?

No bell….. Honest

Idiots own dogs as well.

I’m not a fan of dogs. I can’t see the point of them. Sunday’s episode just serves to reinforce my opinion that they are basically just stupid animals as are some of their owners.

What did I do wrong?

assumed it was a generic problem that other dog owners could answer, rather than realising you have just had a brush with the general public, and sadly that’s just what they are like.

I’m not a fan of dogs. I can’t see the point of them.

ah. irony.

I’m not a fan of dogs. I can’t see the point of them. Sunday’s episode just serves to reinforce my opinion that they are basically just stupid animals as are some of their owners.

then it was never going to end well.

some idiots own dogs.
some idiots own bikes.
some idiots own both.

scholarsgate – Member
I’m not a fan of dogs. I can’t see the point of them. Sunday’s episode just serves to reinforce my opinion that they are basically just stupid animals as are some of their owners.

Some dog owners are “idiots” as are some mountain bikers. Based on your post we have one of each here.

I’m not a fan of dogs. I can’t see the point of them. Sunday’s episode just serves to reinforce my opinion that they are basically just stupid animals as are some of their owners.

Never going to be an unbiased post was it.

The other dog comes barreling towards me so I stop. The dog crashes into front wheel/disc rotor with enough force to knock the wheel off centre

Can’t say I’ve ever seen a dog run into a stationary object. It seems you don’t tighten your skewers enough.
Presuming you were not on a footpath, both parties had a right to be there but you have no god-given right to a clear route.

They could smell your shitty attitude a mile off.

should have shouted “strava” at it..

OP you did nothing wrong.

Same thing happened to me on cannock chase. Dog owner saw me as did the dog, it ran at me, i stopped and the daft dalmation ran straight into my leg. I laughed till the dog owner cursed at me!
its not really anyones fault. It all happens so quickly sometimes, it just surprises me when foolish dog owners get upset at what is simply Daft doggy nature.

This incident was also near Cannock Chase.

Not near Cannock Chase you say?

Was it a dogging werewolf by any chance?

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/werewolf-hunt-on-cannock-chase-interrupted-224605

DezB – Member
They could smell your shitty attitude a mile off.

What’s shitty about my attitude?

Jambalaya – 🙂

As an owner of two dogs (trained not to chase bikes) I a little biased in favour of dogs and their owners. But a few months ago I was “attacked” by a lab (of all breeds) and had to use my bike as a shield. Dotty old woman then appears and does/says nothing. As others have said, some dog owners are idiots!

teamhurtmore – Member

Jambalaya –

As an owner of two dogs (trained not to chase bikes) I a little biased in favour of dogs and their owners. But a few months ago I was “attacked” by a lab (of all breeds) and had to use my bike as a shield. Dotty old woman then appears and does/says nothing. As others have said, some dog owners are idiots!

Out of interest, teamhurtmore how did you train your dogs not to chase bikes?

Out of interest, teamhurtmore how did you train your dogs not to chase bikes?

same way you train them not to chase other dogs, children, sheep, cars etc….

Which is?

hard work, consistency and patience.

you can get an anti-chew thing that you can run ahead and spray on children so when the dog bites them it doesn’t taste so good and they let go.

solved.

Twunts with dogs – they exist.

You probably should of stopped completely though, you know, so you could be completely innocent.

And dogs do run into stationary objects, speaking from experience as an owner.

Nevermind…

I was just curious as to what techniques dog owners use to successfully train their pets in this situation?

not a clue sorry.

mine legs it after stuff the second he sees it. then gets there and licks the item in question till i catch up.

I was just curious as to what techniques dog owners use to successfully train their pets in this situation?

Just guessing, but I didn’t specifically train my dog not to chase things, eg. cars, kids, bikes etc. I just trained a solid recall into it from puppy, then if when young, it decides to chase a bike, car (though, I don’t have her off a lead when on a footpath, near a road, etc.) and you call it back, it soon learns that there’s no point in chasing stuff it’s not supposed to chase, as the recall is stronger. If she wants to chase a dog (that I know and is happy for a chase-about, then she’s more than free to do it).

And yes, also speaking from experience, some dogs to run into stationary objects (or people IME). 🙂

As Jambo says, the training is not bike specific. Just basic control, return to heel on command (two whistle beeps) and rewards to re-enforce behaviour. But far from perfect!!! My dogs are great with walkers, riders (horses and bikes), runners, livestock and other dogs but I have failed miserably with rabbits and deer. Deer in particularly worry me as there are lots where I live and dogs should not chase them. Not only is that bad for the deer but also dangerous if both animals run in to roads etc. So as always with animals, training remains constant WIP combined with awareness of risks (and appropriate use of leads as required.)

So in a situation where a dog has an urge to chase or pull on a lead towards a cyclist who is passing, if that cyclist was to stop and maybe offer some fuss, let the dog have a good sniff about the bike, would that help in any way compared to just cycling past?

Often wondered this?

[edit] thank’s for the replies btw

hard to say.

if it was my dog he would then associate bikes with getting a lovely fuss. and go hunt out the next one he sees…

but if it was a timid/aggressive dog you may well associate bikes with being a nice thing, and he might leave them alone in future.

very hard to generalise. despite fitting under the general ‘dogs’ umbrella, behaviour is massively dependent on breeding and upbringing.

Generally, I do stop when passing dogs (especially to complement well behaved ones!). But the onus should ultimately be on the dog owner to ensure control. Pulling on the lead is not full control IMO, so would you want to “reward” that? Probably not.

Courtesy on both sides is normal the best solution – same with horses.

If someone wants to stop and fuss her, then they’re more than welcome, she’s too old now to start immediately associating that with a “good thing”.

Generally, if a cyclist or runner passes us, I just call her and make sure she stays by me. I assume people want to mind their own business and are entitled to quiet enjoyment of their space without a dog fawning all over them. If they want to say hello, then, yeah, go for it and I’d never stop her getting a fuss from people, as she has to keep feeling that humans will never do her any harm.

As thm says, courtesy on all sides is key, but I do feel the burden of responsibility is on the owner of a dog to keep it under control, especially if off the lead.

What’s shitty about my attitude?

Nothing really, but interesting that you should question that rather than the folks who called you an idiot…

Aaah good old dog threads, the gift that never stops giving. 🙄

FWIW I dont think the OP did anything wrong in this instance. What more could he have resonably done?
All this nonsense that you should make a fuss of someones dog so that it doesn’t do something wrong is just ridiculous. Its the owners responsibility to ensure the dog is under control. In the vast majority of cases they are.
I should be able to ride my bike responsibly without being harrassesd by an irresponsible dog owner’s dog.
Equally, people with dogs should be able to walk them without being ridden at by people on bikes.

We got shouted at the other week by a horse rider. Told us to keep the dog under control.

The dog was in the back of the car as we drove past.

OK, he was barking a bit. But a long time ago we specifically put in a lot of effort to stop the dog bothering horses. Where we live there are a lot of working horses tethered up in open areas (particularly the greens where everyone walks their dogs) and as a puppy he would frantically run around playfully trying to capture any horse’s attention. And whilst not perfect in all areas, he’s now exemplary around horses and livestock. Doesn’t even acknowledge their presence.

But occasionally, if he sees someone in a funny hat, connected to a horse like a mythical creature from another world, and they’re chasing us! He gets a little freaked out, in the same way horses get freaked out by him (or traffic, or bikes, etc).

Sometimes it’s difficult. Animals have their own minds and do their own things. Feel their own emotions, and they’re not always easy to control. They’re unpredictable and you just have to treat them as such. Doesn’t matter how well trained or naturally obedient they are.

if that cyclist was to stop and maybe offer some fuss, let the dog have a good sniff about the bike, would that help in any way compared to just cycling past?

well I guess if you wanted to fuss our dog in passing, fine – but I’d prefer to be asked… you also don’t know the dog, and he might get surprised by the unexpected fussing and try to nip you, anything could happen.

as an owner, there have been times when the last thing I want is for our dog to get a nice reward for e.g. being really rude and jumping up at someone with muddy feet

Dogs Rock!

DSC_21711590 by Evil Goat, on Flickr

(oh, is this not a dogs rock thread?)

Yaaaawwwwnnn

Bigyinn – just wondering if you actually read others’ threads. Apart from a couple of bits of humour, people have made pretty much the same point as you.

well I guess if you wanted to fuss our dog in passing, fine – but I’d prefer to be asked… you also don’t know the dog, and he might get surprised by the unexpected fussing and try to nip you, anything could happen.

as an owner, there have been times when the last thing I want is for our dog to get a nice reward for e.g. being really rude and jumping up at someone with muddy feet

Good points, maybe stopping to greet the dog is not such a good idea in the end then, I did wonder.

tbh I skimmed some of them. 😳
Hey ho.