Relation of stray dogs with my bike- much advice needed

[Tauseef]

So it not a good one.

Though after a long time, a dog dont know if it was stray or a PET dog, it saw me coming towards, and as i passed by him ( I had prepared my mind that if it follows me i'll race up the bike ) , so as i passed by it turned toward me , barked and followed me slowly, and there i was racing my bike and in less than 5 yards , i hit a bush beside the road, fortunately there was a bump in there and the bike got a lift off ground about 2 feet and i was cleared back to road. and racing forward , away from dog

I do not understadn the psychology of dogs really. I never had one.
So how do i keep away , or let the dogs remain away. PET dogs and the STREET dogs. ???

 

[bakaneko]

Umm, call Cesar Milan. I don't have a dog but I watched a lot of his shows. One point is you don't know if the dog was excited or aggressive. Did it bark? Look like it wanted to kill you? Some dogs are just excited and will bark and run up to you but mean no harm. The way Cesar handles true aggressive cases is with a tennis racket to get space and move into its space and then get a collar on it. Would a loud horn work?

 

[zippinaround]

i had a dog before he used to ran after cars and try to bite the tyres , nothing i tried worked to stop him he got knocked down 7 times that i was there anyway and would still chase them eventually it got him killed .

but i think some dogs just chase wheels because they are spinning so fast they think its an enemy?

 

[Steve Best]

I gotta be more PC. Sorry about that.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

So it not a good one.

Though after a long time, a dog dont know if it was stray or a PET dog, it saw me coming towards, and as i passed by him ( I had prepared my mind that if it follows me i'll race up the bike ) , so as i passed by it turned toward me , barked and followed me slowly, and there i was racing my bike and in less than 5 yards , i hit a bush beside the road, fortunately there was a bump in there and the bike got a lift off ground about 2 feet and i was cleared back to road. and racing forward , away from dog

I do not understadn the psychology of dogs really. I never had one.
So how do i keep away , or let the dogs remain away. PET dogs and the STREET dogs. ???

I seriously can't believe people are suggesting kicking an aggressive dog.
Just tap the rear brake once. The short sharp skid sound is like a very big cat hissing and it will take the dog by surprise. Timed correctly it will come from slightly behind the dogs head and really make it flinch and stop chasing or at least lose some ground. This is 90% effective even on a slower pedal bike (we have some pretty determined sheep dogs here).

 

[gary55]

I love dogs, and think for the most part they are more likable than people. Still every once in a while there is that one just plain mean son of a b**ch. If that is your case, and the dog keeps up the aggression a little shot of pepper spray should take the fun out of the chase for him.

 

[butre]

dogs will try to intercept you, so my trick is to make it to and past the interception point before they can. just go WFO. one of two things will happen, you'll either beat the dog to the interception, or you'll hit the dog, but since you're accelerating you're stable and you won't go down. trying to stop is guaranteed to cause a collision that injures both you and the dog

a boot to the nose will stop dogs that are a consistent problem from doing it again.

 

[Yoni]

So it not a good one.

Though after a long time, a dog dont know if it was stray or a PET dog, it saw me coming towards, and as i passed by him ( I had prepared my mind that if it follows me i'll race up the bike ) , so as i passed by it turned toward me , barked and followed me slowly, and there i was racing my bike and in less than 5 yards , i hit a bush beside the road, fortunately there was a bump in there and the bike got a lift off ground about 2 feet and i was cleared back to road. and racing forward , away from dog

I do not understadn the psychology of dogs really. I never had one.
So how do i keep away , or let the dogs remain away. PET dogs and the STREET dogs. ???

Ignore dogs. And I mean completely ignore them. I have been chased by thousands of them. Even while going under pedal power, I completely ignore them. It takes some self confidence. But the will get right up to your heel, growling like they are about to bite-- and they don't. If you kick at them, they will bite back. If you show any fear, or act like prey in any way, it brings out the worst in them. COMPLETELY ignoring them works for me every single time, and I have been chased more than most because of my many cross country trips. Don't look at them; don't make eye contact with them, don't yell out, don't try to flee from them. Just as they seem to be about to bite, they don't. They might lunge and seem to be about to bit several times, but they don't bite.

The one time I make an exception is on a dark night where there are no street lights. I ride with a light on my helmet. When they give that growl while they are right at my heel, I suddenly turn my head toward them, and they get my helmet light directly in the eyes. It stops them cold, immediately. No further pursuit, ever.

Completely ignoring them takes nerve. You will be absolutely certain that they are about to bite. But a dog knows that someone who absolutely ignores them, is absolutely unafraid of them. That is a fight that they do not want.

By the way, I have always told myself that if one ever does bite, I am simply going to stop, calmly get off of my bike, and kill it with my bare hands. The bite won't kill me, but biting me will most certainly kill it. Dogs have a good sense for that sort of thing.

 

[Deleted member 12676]

the meaner the dog is the more likely I will stop the bike and give him the meanest face I can while yelling at him.
I've done it many times and they always back off.
Other than that I would recommend using a squirt gun that puts out a generous amount of water.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

I gotta be more PC. Sorry about that.

I wasn't objecting to the PCness, btw Steve. If you are in a situation where you have to do things that aren't PC then that's just a situation! I've been in a few myself.
But I don't recommend getting into a fight you might well lose if you can avoid it by an easy psychological trick.
The dog's natural predators it evolved with are Leopard, Lynx, Jaguar, Tiger, etc. And an unseen leopard suddenly ambushing the dog would scare the crap out of it.
I believe the single quick pulse of rear brake, to skid the tyre for a fraction of a second, makes use of the dog's oldest and greatest fear. It works well even if it is nothing to do with that.
Of course if you have one of those silly tricycle brakes then you're f¥¢£€d!