Another dog story
 

My usual park trail takes me through a short tunnel under a highway. When I emerged from the tunnel, there was an unleashed beagle running around. It started chasing me so I slowed down. Its owner wasn't too far away and yelled at the dog but it wouldn't listen. Then, I decided instead of stopping to argue with the owner about this park being a leashed area, I proceeded to ride along. I rode just slowly enough to taunt the dog in chasing me but fast enough so that the owner couldn't stop me, slowing down and looking back often enough for the dog to catch up. I must have lead the dog on for about 150 m before it gave up. Too bad, I sort of wanted to lead the dog straight out of the park and tie it to the "dogs-on-leash" sign at the entrance, to teach the owner a lesson. But you know, people don't learn lessons.

While I sympathize with you, and think your end game would be poetic justice, I also agree with you that people don't learn. What's more, the owner probably would view you as a dog-napper, and if they were prone towards violence, armed or both, things would not end well for you.

However, I have to admit, your post made me smile.

I would have stopped and petted the beagle but I had a beagle as a kid and am fond of them...might have even shared my sandwich with it if the owner was ok with it

that would have been epic to tie that dog up

IIRC, beagles were bred to hunt rabbits, but not catch them, because they are slow. I ride past a couple of dogs frequently who seem to have, and observe, an invisible fence at the edge of their property. Outbound, it is a downhill where I pass them, and I am doing about 18mph. They can get up from sleeping in the shade, facing the opposite direction, and be pacing me on their side of the edge of the yard in about 100'

I like people who are too ignorant to realize that the OWNERS/HANDLERS are the problem, not the DOGS. I like them sooooo much. ;) Hint: the dog in the OP didn’t drop its leash from its owner’s hand. Treating the dog poorly is a direct reflection upon the OP. (There’s the problem with posting those kinds of stories on the mean ol’ web.)

In the interest of keep the dog safe..another option would be to stop, grab the dog, and wait for the owner to take control.

People are dumb..dogs are dogs..I prefer to keep them from getting into trouble.

As a verified "dog person," I like this response. I wouldn't necessarily stop and try this with just any dog, but I've rarely met an aggressive Beagle. And I never -- NEVER -- blame a dog when the owner is at fault.

'Course, I had to put one of my dogs down yesterday, so perhaps I am just feeling sympathetic. One of the worst days in a dog lover's life, and my third time to boot.

:popcorn:popcorn

Well I guess I'm just a terrible human being. My mother should have aborted me so that this dog owner can unleash it on some other cyclist.

The next time an unleashed dog chases me, I think I'll spray myself with the dog spray.

As a verified dog person, if you keep your dog on a leash in dog-on-leash areas, your dog may not experience these situations.

Or are we getting into the stop-on-stop sign kind of discussions.

Drama..and the ignore list comes in handy yet again..

Thanks for the advice, but it’s unnecessary. I always do leash my dogs when they are outside of my fenced property.

I’m merely suggesting that you should not willfully “taunt” (your description of your behavior) a dog when the owner is actually at fault. If you get your jollies out of taunting a dog, well, that’s sad.

Sounds like good fun to me. The dog probably enjoyed the chase and the dumbass owner had to walk a bit to retrieve it. :thumb:

The dog probably had FUN. 150m isn’t far.

Lighten up with the self righteous. Keeping his distance from an owner was probably a good move in today’s victim blame rage culture.

I disagree. Willfully enticing the dog away from its owner raises the odds that the dog runs away, tangles with another dog, gets hit by a vehicle, anything. If the OP is too timid to talk to the dog’s owner, that does not justify taking it out on the dog.

I am a dog person, and I am a beagle owner, so I'm not sympathetic to the OP. But on the other hand, I agree that the owner needed to be tied up, not the poor dog. It was just doing what it was bred to do. However, that's all beside the point I wanted to make.

I wanted to say: DO NOT REACH DOWN AND ATTEMPT TO HOLD THE DOG. You'll get bit. And then the dog might get put down.

I know it's tough my friend. Sorry for your loss.

Glenn

Koyote: I'm sorry for your loss. Losing a dog is so incredibly painful. I still mourn my best buddy, Seamus, an Airedale, who died about 5 years ago. Most people don't understand how heart-to-heart this relationship is. My thoughts are with you, even though I don't know you or your dog. There's something transcendant and eternal about that relationship.

Riffing on your alias: we have coyotes in our neighborhood in town in Atlanta. They don't do the normal coyote howls. It's more this weird, warbling call that you'd associate with hyenas or jackals. Scary as hell, though I love canids of any stripe. They run the green space that runs right behind our back fence. When my dogs (Beagle and Gold Doodle) hear it, they look away like, "Nope. Nuh uh. I didn't hear nothin'." If they could put their fingers in their ears they would. It's hilarious.

I thank you both for your kind words. I do appreciate it.

I try to keep that sort of personal stuff out of these things, but it was pretty fresh.

Dogs are family....all in....

Glenn

Can we hear the Rottweiler version of this story?

I eat beagles and poop Great Danes.

I was ushering a friend through his first brevet years ago, and this friendly country dog decided to follow us. For miles. I didn't know which farmhouse he came from. First we tried sprinting away, but my buddy didn't have it in his legs. I tried yelling Go Home, No, Stay, Sit. No luck. Then I tried slowing down and let my buddy get some distance ahead, then sprinting away. No dice, the dog went with the bud. We were coming up on a highway crossing, and I was afraid the silly thing would get hit. Finally I stopped, risked getting bit by grabbing the dog's collar, and having my buddy ride away. While I'm there alongside the road, a car comes along and an irate person jumps out and wants to know what I'm doing with his dog.

Frickin' people.

Sorry for your loss. They break our hearts when they go, but it's a heartbreak that I'm willing to endure in exchange for what they give.