Dealing with Aggressive Dogs on Your Ride?
 

I've occasionally encountered aggressive dogs on my recumbent e-trike ride (I live in a rural area.). Until now, I've been able to quickly scoot away by gunning the throttle. However I recently switched to a Bosch e-motor that does not have a throttle, and I know that I won't be able to accelerate away fast enough on my own during any future encounters.

So, I recently purchased this dog repellant. But now I need suggestions on where to carry or mount on my trike for quick access (and I do mean quick). It comes with a clip attached that's designed for a mail carrier to carry on their pocket. But that isn't practical when riding a tadpole trike.

So can anyone offer any suggestions on how to have this "at-the-ready" in case of emergency? Or any alternative ideas to deal with aggressive dogs on your recumbent rides?

Thanks!

I used double sided velco to attach it to the stem steerer thingie on my bent. Pretty hard to deploy quickly enough. I generally dismount and use the bike as a shield walking

On an upright the dog gets your leg, on my bent the dog's teeth and my face are at eye level and it is terrifying to be honest. A Rotweiler almost got me as did a Pit. I did not have time to do anything other than swerve into traffic and across the road with the Rotweiler. Owner says, "Oops, sorry"

Most dogs are barks but no bite.
I usually slow down before the encounter and accelerate quickly when dog is about 10 ft. away,
surprise acceleration and sustained speed, usually dog would lose interest when it can't catch up quickly.
A good squirt from water bottle is usually a good deterrent, aiming can be difficult if you have weird steering arrangement.

You can outsprint a dog with a mere 10 foot lead.

HaHa.

Very ridiculous post you made there.

The dogs I encounter are faster than that and sometimes need two shots of pepper spray to break off the chase. Water doesn't do it.

You failed to read the part about slowing down before the encounter.

Exactly! Thanks for your suggestion!

No, I read it. Slowing down only makes your post more preposterous. A bent is slow to accelerate whereas a dog is very fast to accelerate. Most dogs top out at 22-25 mph, I can hit 35 mph on my bent and if I am going along at 20+ mph, I am confident to out sprint almost all dogs. If I decide to slow down, it is to dismount and deal with the mutt face to face. Your advice to slow down and then quickly accelerate is stupid.

It sounds like you have very little experience dealing with aggressive dogs.

LOL, in my 20+ years of riding recumbents, it's the opposite.
How many years have you ridden recumbents and how many times have you encountered aggressive dogs?

When you slow down in front of an aggressive animal, they stop completely to asses the threat approaching.
I never said to slow down completely, you assume too much. Learn to read.
Just because you disagree with my experience, can't imagine how to execute a "slow down then accelerate to evade from aggressive animal" maneuver on your recumbent; doesn't mean that my experience and suggestion is stupid.

I don't live in a rural area. I was riding along the path next to a local park and two unleashed dogs started chasing me on my trike, one growling. The owners were sitting right there!!!! Fortunately I have a throttle as well as pedal assist on my motor so I was able to blast ahead and the dogs let up. But the stupid entitled owners (and I am a hard core dog lover) acted like it was my fault and were so surprised when I yelled at them to leash their dogs. So I was reading this interested in terms of whether I should carry something to deter dogs. But I"m not sure it wouldn't blow back in my face or just miss them entirely. I've never felt so vulnerable, having recently switched from a DF to a trike, and never had an issue with my 2 wheelers. I do think the trike gets more attention from dogs in general, maybe motion more at their level?

What state are you in, most states have leash laws and locals need to inforce with what appears to be mixed results. I ride in AZ, OR, and WA which have leash laws and they try to control. In Wy no laws but again people try to be good about it.

Get a Marine Air Horn, mount on your Right mirror post.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...514c4369e2.jpg

I don't understand how an air horn will help, I have an Airzhound which is loud and while it calls attention, I don't see it stopping a dog charging at you. Is there something else that one does besides make a loud noise?

It will Stop Them. Wait till they get Close and Blast the Horn.

I have to admit I am looking for a solution to keep them from getting that close. Being low down on a recumbent trike, I'm an easy target for a charging dog. And I don't want to discover the horn won't stop a charging Pittie or Dobie, etc.

I use a bit of electric wire, the in wall kind, that is bent into a hook and dangles from my h'bars. I just grab and pull. The wire straightens and pulls right off for a quick blast.

Bear spray. The fog is easy to aim and effective at 15 feet or more. A half second blast is more than enough to stop a dog in his tracks. None that I've sprayed have ever chased me again. I recommend carrying on a cross body strap.

I'd love to try Bear Spray. Unfortunately, it seems to be illegal in NY State, and Amazon won't ship it here...... :foo: (I don't understand that since we definitely do have bears around here....)

The bears in NY have a strong lobby.

if it's really windy can it blow back on you and if so will it hurt the person spraying? It's often quite windy where I ride and I worry about blow back.

It does deploy as a fog, not a stream. Wind definitely will blow it and even a tiny bit is extremely unpleasant and probably incapacitating. If other people are nearby, they will likely be affected. In populated sections of an MUP, I would not recommend using it at all. The person who sprays the chemical bears full responsibility for every droplet coming out of the can. You should only use it when NO other people are nearby. Usually dog owners on an MUP use leashes. You shouldn't spray a leashed dog.

My personal use has been in very rural areas. In those cases, my policy is that a dog chasing me but staying on the shoulder is not a threat. If it comes onto the pavement within a certain distance, it is a threat.
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It's not going to blow back into your face.unless you spray it directly into the wind. Plus, I assume you would be in motion at the time of use. Really, it sprays a fog to a distance of 15-20 feet, with approximately a two foot diameter of the fog. The wind will disperse it, so you would want to keep moving away from that area. If you get a whiff of it, you'll find out why it's so effective against dogs and bears, as they are hundreds of times more sensitive to it than we are. If you manage to find a place to buy it, don't be too quick to use it. It's for emergency use only.

Ahh, well then it won't work for me. My urban bike paths often cross or surround parks where people have dog off-leash (illegally). Too many people around to use something like that. I need to find a different solution for dogs that aren't trained to recall and aren't trained to not chase bikes. Unfortunately many adults have untrained dogs but think if the dog sometimes looks at them when the call their name over and over, they are trained, lol.

After my first rural 'chased by a dog' encounter, I found the Halt pepper spray newbert mentioned and a plastic handle bar clip that looks like 2 letter Cs attached at 90° angles. One C snaps on your handle bar, the other holds the pepper spray can. Quick & easy to remove for dog use & easy to switch bike to bike. I can seem to find the clip anywhere, but perhaps an open (c-shaped, flexible material) flashlight mount would work? Check the fit/diameter, sorry can't post a pic yet.

One thing that we found that worked w/ dogs (upright, not recumbent) is a taser. They can hear the sparking and smell the ozone and they pull up. Never had to actually hit one with it, but nice to have it just in case. Works the same when walking.

dogs don't have to be aggressive to be a nuisance. if they are unleashed & wildly jumping about, they can wind up like a squirrel in the spokes

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...00c7036414.jpg