TimothyH

Have you sprayed with OC pepper spray and had one not stop? I ask because that is not my experience at all. I have sprayed maybe a dozen. Every one has stopped immediately. I've yet to have one continue if hit in the face. None have ever come near a cyclist again AKA "Fully trained."

Taking it back to their owners is something I don't want to happen and if a human is present I try to circle back and warn them. I don't want a small child to touch the dog and get contaminated.

"I sprayed your dog with pepper spray. If you touch your dog it will get on you and you'll need to go to the hospital. I'm telling you this as a favor to you." That usually starts the conversation. "Just hose him off and put a fan on him. He'll be perfectly fine in a couple of hours." and so forth. I've only had one owner out of maybe four or five who continued to put up a fuss. Sometimes the dogs are yelping pretty badly and most owners are genuinely relieved to find that I didn't do something to permanently harm their dog.


-Tim-

TimothyH

The dog which bit the rider was picked up by animal control. Animal control told the rider that the dog will be with them permanently. That means it will be destroyed. 🙁

I guess the the owners don’t care or don’t want the dog. A shot of pepper spray would have trained the dog not to chase but now it has gone and bit two people and will be put down. What a waste.


-Tim-

good4u

Two things about pepper spray I wonder about: What is the best practice for the pepper spray? Spray while riding or dismount and spray? The other thing I've wondered about is removing any spray from trigger finger. How would you handle that?

pdlamb

I used Halt! quite a bit riding across Kentucky, but haven't used it since (needed it a couple times, though). A little practice will let you hit the straight-charging dog while you're riding. Just keep it mounted on the bars so you can grab and spray fast -- you don't have time to unpack pepper spray when a dog is chasing you. If there's more than one dog, they may circle you, and you'll need to stop and spray if they get close. Eventually they'll get bored. You hope.

It's funny how some of the problem dogs know exactly how far the pepper spray works. Dang mutts stay 6" outside the spray zone so you can't hit them, nyah nyah.

I never got any spray on my trigger finger. Make sure you're pointing the canister in the right direction?

ironnerd

I think you would have to agree that "West of Atlanta" covers a whole lot of the continental U.S.
But thank-you for narrowing it down. If I get that far along the Silver Comet, I'll keep an eye open for offensive canines.

TimothyH

The title of the thread says "Rural Georgia."

I made it perfectly clear that the bite did not happen on the Silver Comet Trail.


-Tim-

ironnerd

I'll just ride East of the ATL to avoid confusion.

hillyman

I try to use my Dog Dazer first. Usually works well. But I keep Halt spray as backup because says for dogs on it and I travel to many states and regular Pepper spray may be illegal.

TimothyH

Have you used this on dogs?

Can you explain what "Works well" means?

I'm not trying to challenge but sincerely asking.

Does the dog back down quickly? Get confused? Do they come after you again if you ride by a second time?


-Tim-

hillyman

Puts out a sound only dogs and cats can hear I think, haven't tried on any but dogs. Has a range maybe 20 yards. Most dogs will stop, cock their heads and look towards ground. Aggressive dogs make a steady trot away from you. But I did ran into a Chow that didn't do a thing to him. Kept right on a coming. Had to sprint from him.

Paul Barnard

I had a dog that used to come visit from across the field. He was a good dog. I liked him. He started digging in my flower beds. I talked to the owner and asked if he minded if I gave it quick blast. He was fine with it, so the next time I caught him digging, I blasted him. He quit digging and came to greet me. I went inside. He eventually went home and took the spray to his owner. The owner told me it was still pretty potent.

carlos danger

I dont live in georgia neither the us one, nor the russian one. bu i have a feeling that in both of those places guns are not really frowned upon.

so i say use guns to repel dogs! 45acp will probably work well.

Bent Bill

Holy smokes now you went and did it Batman

Lemond1985

"Danger" is his middle name. I just noticed it's his surname as well.

mixteup

Well, as you say "guns are not frowned upon" in places like Georgia - The problem with that, is that rural, southern, dog owners often tend to be armed themselves, and shooting their dog, might tend to provoke a response in kind.

If you're OK with that, go for it - Let us know how it turns out.....

Flip Flop Rider

****

WaveyGravey

I was afraid it was The Silver Comet. I ride it frequently. Never had a dog problem.

But about a month ago there was an armed robbery in the Cobb County section. Appears that robbers ambushed the riders by blocking the trail with a tree limb. When riders stopped, they were robbed at gun point.

bakerjw

You don't have to shoot the dog to get some people PO'd. Spraying, kicking or even yelling at their loose dog will send some over the edge. A friend of mine had a farmer come after him with a shotgun because a cyclist had kicked at the farmers dog the day before.

hillyman

Dogs, helmets and valve caps dont usually end well at BF. This one took awhile to go south.

Lemond1985

Don't forget "chain care".

Notso_fastLane

Howabout tire recommendations?

fietsbob

have the county animal control officer drive your sag wagon..

livedarklions

And now the counter-argument:

Wooof, woof woof arf grrrrr woof woof arf ruff grrr yelp. Howwwwwwlllllllll!

hillyman

good thing BF can't translate dog speak. You'd be getting banned for using such dog language

Lemond1985

It clearly was dog-say evidence, any good dogbite lawyer could have objected, and had the canine jury ordered to disregard it.