Resoman

As I type this, I'm recovering from a dog bite I received four days ago. I was riding down a country road that I'm very familiar with and was approached (silently) by a medium sized short haired dog who got on my right side and started barking and snarling. I tried to ride away, but she got in one good charge and put a good sized gash in my calf. A lot of blood, a lot of pain and a long ride back to my car.
My leg was sewn up at the ER, and the local Animal Control has located the dog and, hopefully, put it in quarantine by now.
Anyway, what are the best dog repellents these days? I had a pepper spray with me but didn't have enough warning to get it out of my handlebar pack. A neighbor recommended the deterrents that make sounds that somehow subdue dogs. Are they really effective, what's a good brand name? Is there anything else I should consider? I don't want this to happen again,
Gary,
Elgin, TX

Juan Foote

You may have noted that after attacking you the dog went it's own way. Generally speaking, human blood is a pretty good deterrent...

On a serious note, if you didn't have time before the attack to pull your pepper spray due to the silent approach, what good will the horn be?

By and large your mistake was trying to "run", it kicks in a natural reflex as you have shown to be weaker/in fear. In a situation like that (one dog) it would have been best to dismount, put the bike between you and the dog, firm no, then spray with (whatever). In most cases a good squirt from a water bottle is sufficient.

Hope you recover well.

ridelikeaturtle

A rock, or rocks, in the jersey pocket.

But that is a bit moot if you can't see it coming.

Ideally, you'd want to predict the attack, and confront the dog off the bike if it's not too large.

Alternatively, if you are able for a quick sprint, there is a method to follow:
-- slow down, to allow the dog to calculate their intercept angle.
-- Once the dog has made it's move / committed to that angle...
-- speed up / sprint so you can easily ride away from the dog.

That method works well for motorbikes too, but again the main problem is predicting this attack well enough in advance to allow you to adapt and prepare for it.

bakerjw

I use some pepper spray that I pick up from our local outdoor store. They key is to have it readily available when needed. This comes with a clip that I clip to my jersey. I have considered getting a dog whistle and attaching it to the back of my glove in some manner; however, I do not know if they are effective.

Daniel4

I remember years ago, when we took family photos with the dog, it would hate it when you charged the flash on those SLR cameras. So now I wonder if those ultra sonic mouse deterrents would work.

I also read somewhere long ago that strobe lights mesmerize dogs.

Nahuel_B58

Generally i ignore the dog. If it is still chasing me, maybe a kick. If it is still behind you, desmount and put the bike in mid and walk some meters. Then just go on.

Rick

I did this once and underestimated puppies territory. After walking the bicycle some distance then remounting I began pedaling. The dog destroyed my left pant leg. I only had a scratch on my leg. I learned to be more watchful after that incident.

MNebiker

This post takes me back to the 50s when I was a kid with a small-town paper route. One customer had a nasty mutt that seemed to hate paperboys and always made a run at me on my bike - finally one day he nipped my ankle. The owner was a hard-case, blamed me, not his dog, etc. Small town marshal would do nothing about it, so I finally filled a water pistol with a mix of Clorox and water. One or two squirts across the dog's muzzle convinced him to avoid me completely after that.

Today I probably would be busted for animal cruelty, but it worked back then. Now I just carry pepper spray.

Stormsedge

I carry pepper spray and a police whistle. Both have broken off/deterred attacks, but as others have said, I saw them coming. Sometimes I'll just get off the bike and confront them...I can't outrun them except on big downhills---and dogs always seem to live on medium to big up hills!

PJay120

Yes, something like those deer deterrent whistles you put on the car would be great.

rumrunn6

recently got a cpl boxes of noise makers. small boxes like the size of a mint can. each box must have 50? little white pkgs the size of a raisin. you throw them at the ground & they explode like old fashioned caps struck with a rock & basically harmless. dunno if you can carry something like that on a bar bag or something so it would be fast & easy to grab a cpl at a time. don't know if they would work on dirt. probably just something hard like pavement

Paul Barnard

Best or most practical solution not likely to find you having a conversation with law enforcement?

anon06

Wow. I'm sorry to hear you got bitten by a dog. I got bitten by a German Shepherd last year, while walking on a route that I'd already done several times and had seen other walkers (it came up behind, and, surprisingly, didn't give any indication that it would bite me, beforehand. It just sniffed by hand, then quickly bit; for a few weeks, my whole arm and wrist felt painful and numb at times). I'm grateful that my arm and hand healed, eventually, weren't permanently damaged.

I haven't tried pepper spray, but have had some luck in shouting at territorial dogs; they, luckily, haven't chosen to bite me, but eventually leave me alone.

Brocephus

I read on another bike forum years ago that yelling, 'NO!", will often get them to at least back off a bit, and give you some room to scoot on past. Most dogs aren't rabid,feral beasts,just someone's pet, that grew up hearing and understanding, "no", so it seems to work fairly often.
If a dog scares the living shinola out of me, and really pisses me off, I've often gotten off the bike, cussing mad, and chased them off. They also seem to understand what bending over and grabbing a rock means.
For dogs I know are going to be up ahead and practically attack me, I've had a rock with me and ready to throw. even if they weren't actually hurt by it, they seem to remember getting beaned by a rock.

Daniel4

Dogs have an instinct to play fetch. I just Googled it after reading the above post.

So grab a big stick or a rubber ball and throw it. He may bring it back but if he's like most dogs, won't let it go so his mouth will be full as you pedal away.

DrIsotope

I've only been chased twice by dogs that had genuine intent. One got close enough to make a lunge for my right foot, but he must have been a novice and missed as the pedal stroke went around. He got two eyesockets full of Lemon-Lime Gatorade, and that was that. The barking and the pursuit ended immediately. The second one was serious serious, but I saw him before he saw me, so a brief period of hammering made for a distance he couldn't cover in time. That dog pursued me for probably 1/3 of a mile.

I don't think there's a real defense against what happened to the OP-- though I've never experienced a "stealth dog." The barking usually starts up as soon as I'm in sight, or when they think they're in striking distance. Gatorade in the eyes 100% works. I think it would work on a person.

FiftySix

Where I ride, loose dogs are within eyesight of their owners. Most of those owners will get as aggressive as the dogs were if you act like you're going to harm poochie.

One time while pedaling down a street one of the same ol' dogs comes out after me. I slowed down and tried to wheelie on the dog's head. The owner wasn't pleased at all, but the owner shouldn't let its dog run after everything that comes down the street, either.

Other times I have either sprinted away or stopped and put the bike between myself and the dog. Most dogs I've run across won't go after you if you stop and confront them a fair distance away from their "turf". Not counting the truly aggressive breeds, though.

As mentioned here and elsewhere, I'm going to adopt the shout "No" and "Bad Dog" at the 4 legged adversary in the future.

Daniel4

Maybe carrying a rolled-up newspaper would also help reinforce to the dog who's the trainer.

San Rensho 

Water bottle that can shoot a stream of water a long way. I can hit a dog in the eyes at 3 meters. Never failed to distract a dog and forced it to give up the chase.

Anything else is cruel and cowardly.