Controversial, what do you think?

Sharker69

Time for my second rant in a week!

Now this has happened twice so it's not a one off. I'm riding along a bit of fire road I come to a junction and there is a family with their dog, I slow down even though they are 10 meters away. The guy calls his dog but this has fallen on deaf furry ears. The mutt starts to chase me I step on it (the pedals), now to others this may seem a comedy moment but having been bitten before I'm not liking it. I'm at top speed and the dog is just at my heels barking like mad, I'm shouting like mad at it also. Eventually it falls back to return to its owner, in front of me is a young couple with their son on his bike looking worried as a mad man shouting from his bike with a runaway dog in chase.

Now do you think dogs should have muzzles when off the lead? Im not a dog hater in any way, my friends have them and theyre great. what would you have done?? Stop straight away, try and kick the dog, cycle back to the owner to have a word? I'm interested to hear....for next time. Which reminds me I must remove those sausages from my pack

supersonic

If the owner cannot control the dog it should be on a lead. Simple as that for me. If it is known to bite people then a muzzle should be considered when out in public.

querhoch

Whenever that happens I stop and either send the dog back or pedal towards its owner. Ive only been bitten once but I dont expect all dogs to be muzzled because of that.

Greer_

I'd always either stop, or if the dog doesn't look friendly I unclip, and if it goes for me i'll happily give it a gentle push/kick. Sounds harsh but the dog shouldn't be off the lead if it does that. And I have a dog myself, very well trained if I say so myself!

supersonic

When I have been chased I have got off and put the bike between me and it. Then try talking to it. If you shout a very stern SIT at them they usually do, out of habit!

WindyG

I've found smaller the dog the bigger the problem, nearly every big dog I see is either very well trained or on a lead, it's the smaller stupid handbag dogs that chase me, had one try and bite a few months ago I unclipped and punted the stupid rat.

cooldad

Are you a postie?
Ride off fast shouting and the dog either thinks it's a game, or, if it's got a bit of wolf in it, you're lunch.
Unless it's a real killer, and not many are except inner city pit bulls, it'll back off if confronted. Stop, give it the hairy eyeball, and man up. Hit it with the bike if it gets too close.

Sharker69

Ha! no not a postie, think the adrenalin just got the better of me thinking of the time before. I was motoring along and thought better to flight than fight. When it happens again I'm just going to stop dead and confront it. I agree that it's usually the smaller yappy dogs that think they're brave. On this occasion it was a mid sized cross of some sort, not very friendly looking....

bennett_346

The owners are the dangerous part. Apparently kicking a mutt in the teeth because it nearly bit me was no excuse and he was "gonna hurt me harder than the dog ever could".

Flippin' tit.

batmo

Dogs are as individual as people and about as predictable.

I used to meet a couple of English setters daily on my former off-road commute; they would chase but it was never anything but fun for all of us. Nine out of ten times aggressive chases have ended with the dogs turning tail when I've stopped.

The one time I did get bit, I'd had a friendly five minute chat with both dog and owner, only for the dog to snap as I put shoe to pedal. Beware of three-legged whippets!

shigllgetcha

I cant imagine letting a dog off the lead if he would bite someone.

We let our dog off the lead whenever we can but he'd never bite anyone and he's well trained, he'll lie down if we tell him and well put him on the lead if we need to.

Huckfinn

Dogs should by law be under control in a public place, chasing cyclists and not responding to commands is not under control. If you get injured as a result of a dog causing you to fall off then the owner is responsible.

Please guys if you get bitten by a dog report it to your local dog warden, because it isn't acceptable behaviour and it might be a child next time.

welshkev

there's a ride we do that goes past a farm, it's a bridle way that turns into a road/bridleway. there's about 5 big dogs there barking like mad at us behind the (not very high) gate and a little jack russell thing biting at our heels, we both stop and it's still barking like mad.

we then spot the farmer just stood there behind all of the dogs, we ask him if he'll call his dogs back and he just replies "no" and walks off...knobber. we just tend to get past it as quick as we can now

The Rookie

Huckfinn wrote:

Dogs should by law be under control in a public place, chasing cyclists and not responding to commands is not under control. If you get injured as a result of a dog causing you to fall off then the owner is responsible.

Unfourtunatley your 'facts' are somewhat contrary to what the law of the land says......an owner is only liable if you can show negligeance, if the dog has never done anything like it before for example, the owner is unlikely to be held to be negligeant and has no responsibility (legally anyway).....

BigJimmyB

supersonic wrote:

When I have been chased I have got off and put the bike between me and it. Then try talking to it. If you shout a very stern SIT at them they usually do, out of habit!

This, every time. I always get the bike in between me and dogs.

Not an advocate of blanket rules for dogs, but owners should have them muzzled and/or on lead according to the way they are likely to behave.

Mine gets called to heel the moment I see anyone else. If it's a horse or bike, I stop to one side and let them through, normally to the gratitude of the rider.

Huckfinn

The Beginner wrote:

Huckfinn wrote:

Dogs should by law be under control in a public place, chasing cyclists and not responding to commands is not under control. If you get injured as a result of a dog causing you to fall off then the owner is responsible.

Unfourtunatley your 'facts' are somewhat contrary to what the law of the land says......an owner is only liable if you can show negligeance, if the dog has never done anything like it before for example, the owner is unlikely to be held to be negligeant and has no responsibility (legally anyway).....

Thats contrary to the Dogs Act 1871 and the DDA 1991, with any law you have to prove that it was out of control, but there is usually a witness to these sorts of events and people can always give a written statement, which can be investigated, 9/10 times the dog will do it again

Unfortunately with some cases of dog attacks, the dog has never done it before, but the owner is still always responsible and either legal or civil action can be taken against the person.

Fortunately the majority of owners are very responsible and I personally have only encountered an out of control dog once.

patman666

As a dog owner, fellow cyclist, and someone who actively cycles with their dogs. I only ever let my dogs off lead when I have a enclosed space and am the only person in there, and I completely sympathise with your situation.

I completely trust my dogs, and wish I had the same faith in other owners and their dogs. One of the issues I notice whilst walking and cycling with my dogs is that most owners are simply not exciting enough for their dogs, and the other dog, person or cyclist is definitely more interesting.

Cycling around, I've been barked at a few times, but never chased. Speaking as an amateur dog trainer, running / cycling away from a dog is likely to get you followed, they'll usually see you as prey or something to play with. Should I ever be followed by a dog, I'll immediately stop and move towards the dog, if the dog was being aggressive (judged through body language, not barking), ensuring my bike is between us, whilst yelling at the owner to take control of their dog, or I'll be calling animal control.

Although by far the easiest way avoid any of this, is for us dog owners to keep our dogs on a lead whilst in open spaces. If we want to allow them to run, then find a way to exercise them in a safe manner. Personally I think it should law that all dogs be on leads, as any dog can become dangerous in the wrong situation.

The Rookie

Huckfinn wrote:

Unfortunately with some cases of dog attacks, the dog has never done it before, but the owner is still always responsible and either legal or civil action can be taken against the person.

The number of cases were the cyclist has had no compensation despite being bitten, kind of show you to be wrong!

Huckfinn

Unfortunately with some cases of dog attacks, the dog has never done it before, but the owner is still always responsible and either legal or civil action can be taken against the person.

Please note the word can its not will

The number of cases were the cyclist has had no compensation despite being bitten, kind of show you to be wrong!

I would be interested to see the stats regarding to your statement, a lot of people fail to inform the authorities at the time and there isn't much you can do if the incident happened a month ago and injured party cant give a clear description of the dog or owner.

EH_Rob

The obvious solution to this is that all cyclists should dope more, then we'd be able to outrun the dog.

Either that or everyone who owns a dog should chop off two of its legs. Their choice obviously.

No need to thank me.

The Rookie

Huckfinn wrote:

[
Please note the word can its not will

Pointless statement then, anyone can take action on anyone, even if there is no hope of success at all.....

Huckfinn

The Beginner wrote:

Huckfinn wrote:

[
Please note the word can its not will

Pointless statement then, anyone can take action on anyone, even if there is no hope of success at all.....

Anyone can bring a civil action as long as there is adequate proof, you cant prosecute or claim damages without proof.

Meatfox

Kick it's face off

daverice

Don't ever kick the dog unless you really feel in danger. It is the owner that will need a kicking in almost every situation. If the mutt has not been trained then it should be on a lead. Unfortunately, those least likely to train their dogs are those who are least likely to put them on a lead. A dog will almost always chase things that are trying to run away from it but will run away from things chasing it. Just like down yer local nitespot.

cooldad

If you do ever get seriously attacked, grab it's front legs and yank apart, hard. It should obligingly drop dead.
If not it will be a lot less dangerous.

daverice

Ok, so you want to kill a dog for being aggressive? In my experience if you about turn and go towards it, the dog will realise that you are bigger and run off. The only time that this did not work was with fighting dogs, when I had to pin them to the ground by their collars. Dogs don't kill people, owners do.

daverice

I saw it on a documentary on BBC2.

cooldad

No read what I said. If you are being eaten.

Woodmonkey

the dog owners we come across as cyclists could mostly be deemed as the responsible ones, the ones who are giving their dog plenty of excercise, out in the countryside away from masses of people and childrens play parks before they let them off the lead.
look at it from the dogs point of view (and the owner) they are on a nice walk, fetching a stick, running around sniffing after rabbits, getting horny over other dogs wee and generally having a lovely time then out of nowhere you come hooning round the corner at 20 miles an hour tyres screeching, bouncing and jumping all over the place, you are gonna scare the crap out of it, it's gonna bark, it will prob run after you a short while then carry on with what it was doing before. just keep going. and if it's the rare case of bad owner/aggressive dog there's nothing we can do to change that so keeping going is prob you're best bet anyway.

Giraffoto

daverice wrote:

Ok, so you want to kill a dog for being aggressive?

It should be compulsory. Most dogs are the only thing standing between their owners and the title of "Least Intelligent Creature on Earth"

The Rookie

Huckfinn wrote:

Anyone can bring a civil action as long as there is adequate proof,

No you don't need proof to bring a civil action, you need proof to succeed, hence why can was meaningless......