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Dog chasing cyclists

Old 04-12-22, 07:48 PM
  #76  
SpeedyBlueBiker
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Never had a problem in the US as most places have leash laws so people have their dogs under control. Just don't ride to close to them just in case. Thailand is a whole different ball game. Out in the countryside the stray dogs just run wild all over the place and there are lots of them. They are usually in groups of 4-5. I've run into them all the time. It's more difficult if they are in front of you and see you coming as you are now entering "their" territory. One tactic I've found useful is that if they are in front of you just make a hard turn into their direction. Now they think you are coming after them. Usually they run off of the road and into the brush. They may give chase once you pass them so it's good to keep your speed up. If you are stopped and they are becoming menacing, just stoop down as if picking up a rock. That usually sends them on their way as many Thais throw rocks at them so when they see that they back off.
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Old 04-12-22, 11:15 PM
  #77  
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Originally Posted by GlennR
I'm half tempted to carry bear spray.
Maybe some dog treats instead will work better?
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Old 04-12-22, 11:22 PM
  #78  
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Originally Posted by SpeedyBlueBiker
Never had a problem in the US as most places have leash laws so people have their dogs under control. Just don't ride to close to them just in case. Thailand is a whole different ball game. Out in the countryside the stray dogs just run wild all over the place and there are lots of them. They are usually in groups of 4-5. I've run into them all the time. It's more difficult if they are in front of you and see you coming as you are now entering "their" territory. One tactic I've found useful is that if they are in front of you just make a hard turn into their direction. Now they think you are coming after them. Usually they run off of the road and into the brush. They may give chase once you pass them so it's good to keep your speed up. If you are stopped and they are becoming menacing, just stoop down as if picking up a rock. That usually sends them on their way as many Thais throw rocks at them so when they see that they back off.
I deal with a similar situation but I never been chased by a dog for the last couple decades. I've encountered lots of aggressive dogs but they always dart for the poor fella right next to me or the other side of the road. Those dogs would even chase motorcycles! The last time I got chased by a dog while riding a bike, I'm still a little kid so many years ago (and that was my purely fault as I have often teased the same dog).

A few factors I could attribute, my very average looking commuter kit even though most of my rides are recreational in nature. Most riders around my place are commuters and I don't stand out at all. I also very little body odor even after those 3hr sweaty rides in 95F temperatures. My saddle always smells like new and it never gets washed. I never wash some of the things I wear and they never smell. My relative lack of odor can be attributed to the low proportion of meat in my diet. I also have a low calorie diet except on days I'm doing long rides. Smell is a big deal for dogs and they can smell things from much farther away than humans. And finally, how I move on the bike, how I pedal, more in an organic sense. I sway a bit side to side in a very fluid motion while pedaling.

Maybe dogs see all of it as a low threat signal so they just leave me alone.
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Old 04-12-22, 11:58 PM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
I deal with a similar situation but I never been chased by a dog for the last couple decades. I've encountered lots of aggressive dogs but they always dart for the poor fella right next to me or the other side of the road. Those dogs would even chase motorcycles! The last time I got chased by a dog while riding a bike, I'm still a little kid so many years ago (and that was my purely fault as I have often teased the same dog).

A few factors I could attribute, my very average looking commuter kit even though most of my rides are recreational in nature. Most riders around my place are commuters and I don't stand out at all. I also very little body odor even after those 3hr sweaty rides in 95F temperatures. My saddle always smells like new and it never gets washed. I never wash some of the things I wear and they never smell. My relative lack of odor can be attributed to the low proportion of meat in my diet. I also have a low calorie diet except on days I'm doing long rides. Smell is a big deal for dogs and they can smell things from much farther away than humans. And finally, how I move on the bike, how I pedal, more in an organic sense. I sway a bit side to side in a very fluid motion while pedaling.

Maybe dogs see all of it as a low threat signal so they just leave me alone.
oh boy…🙄
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Old 04-14-22, 10:49 AM
  #80  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
I deal with a similar situation but I never been chased by a dog for the last couple decades. I've encountered lots of aggressive dogs but they always dart for the poor fella right next to me or the other side of the road. Those dogs would even chase motorcycles! The last time I got chased by a dog while riding a bike, I'm still a little kid so many years ago (and that was my purely fault as I have often teased the same dog).

A few factors I could attribute, my very average looking commuter kit even though most of my rides are recreational in nature. Most riders around my place are commuters and I don't stand out at all. I also very little body odor even after those 3hr sweaty rides in 95F temperatures. My saddle always smells like new and it never gets washed. I never wash some of the things I wear and they never smell. My relative lack of odor can be attributed to the low proportion of meat in my diet. I also have a low calorie diet except on days I'm doing long rides. Smell is a big deal for dogs and they can smell things from much farther away than humans. And finally, how I move on the bike, how I pedal, more in an organic sense. I sway a bit side to side in a very fluid motion while pedaling.

Maybe dogs see all of it as a low threat signal so they just leave me alone.
Again with this nonsense? It's just luck of the draw. As soon as I said a couple years ago that I hadn't been chased by a dog in decades, it of course happened (albeit comically) and has happened a couple times since then. Two of the "chases" involved very small dogs, and all three involved dogs coming at me from a right angle where they were in their front yards.

Dogs react to smell and motion, but they are bred and conditioned to react differently from each other. I guarantee you that no dog is distinguishing your garb from that of "recreational" kit, whatever the hell that is, and the pedal motion crap is just that, crap. They're reacting to cycle and rider as if it's prey, most likely. Or, like the last idiot toy dog to chase me, they just charge everyone they don't know.

I ride in close proximity to dogs a lot. 99.9% of them completely ignore me. I attribute that to dogs that chase people on bikes are stupid or crazy, and pretty much random.

Hey, want to test the smell thing? Wear a bunch of wool and ride next to a bunch of shepherds and sheep dogs.

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Old 04-14-22, 07:43 PM
  #81  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions

Hey, want to test the smell thing? Wear a bunch of wool and ride next to a bunch of shepherds and sheep dogs.
Lol, I would never dare. I know smell is a huge part of the reason for being chased or the seemingly random nature of it (due to the wind influencing how smell is transmitted).

Here's a 2nd opinion from an experienced handler of wolves. Results are similar since dogs are closely related to wolves anyway. It says about certain movements which I often mention (slow, gentle movements preferred). Wearing hats and glasses (like our helmets and eyewear and recommendation is none). Generally, a non-threatening stance. Did not mentioned smells but the article mentions wolves being friendlier to women and women happen to have much less body oder than men (their skin is much less conducive to bacterial growth) and women being smaller, gentler movements, higher pitched voice (in other articles), generally less threatening.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2...h=32ed4ded1aa2

I meet many of those points which would explain how I practically remained invisible, even to aggressive dogs. A natural, relaxed pedaling style at medium cadence, commuter wear, very little oder. Although I wear helmet and sometimes glasses, the glasses I wear is clear. On bright sunny rides, I'd only wear lightly shaded glasses and you can still see my eyes clearly. On most rides, I don't wear glasses at all unless it's windy.

Ironically, aggressive-looking road kits also appears aggressive and threatening to dogs.
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Old 04-14-22, 07:52 PM
  #82  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
I meet many of those points which would explain how I practically remained invisible, even to aggressive dogs. A natural, relaxed pedaling style at medium cadence, commuter wear, very little oder.
For some reason, this reminds me of the old joke about the guy who tells his doctor that he has a problem with silent flatulence. Doctor pauses for a moment, then says, "First thing we'll do is get you some hearing aids."
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Old 04-14-22, 08:54 PM
  #83  
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Originally Posted by Koyote
For some reason, this reminds me of the old joke about the guy who tells his doctor that he has a problem with silent flatulence. Doctor pauses for a moment, then says, "First thing we'll do is get you some hearing aids."
I have no problems discriminating my own smells and sometimes my terrible-smelling farts (I save for drafters). I used to smell bad during workouts.

The low calorie, low meat diet took away those odors.
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Old 04-15-22, 05:19 AM
  #84  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
Lol, I would never dare. I know smell is a huge part of the reason for being chased or the seemingly random nature of it (due to the wind influencing how smell is transmitted).

Here's a 2nd opinion from an experienced handler of wolves. Results are similar since dogs are closely related to wolves anyway. It says about certain movements which I often mention (slow, gentle movements preferred). Wearing hats and glasses (like our helmets and eyewear and recommendation is none). Generally, a non-threatening stance. Did not mentioned smells but the article mentions wolves being friendlier to women and women happen to have much less body oder than men (their skin is much less conducive to bacterial growth) and women being smaller, gentler movements, higher pitched voice (in other articles), generally less threatening.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2...h=32ed4ded1aa2

I meet many of those points which would explain how I practically remained invisible, even to aggressive dogs. A natural, relaxed pedaling style at medium cadence, commuter wear, very little oder. Although I wear helmet and sometimes glasses, the glasses I wear is clear. On bright sunny rides, I'd only wear lightly shaded glasses and you can still see my eyes clearly. On most rides, I don't wear glasses at all unless it's windy.

Ironically, aggressive-looking road kits also appears aggressive and threatening to dogs.

I got about two sentences into your article about wolves before I realized its main point is that treating wolves as if they were domesticated dogs is not a good idea. It's about "befriending" a captive wolf and literally has nothing to do with who the wolves will chase. If it's true they respond better to attention from women, I have no idea why you think that has ANYTHING to do with who dogs will chase. Dogs have been selectively bred for thousands of years to utterly transform their wolf behavior. Some of them have been bred to alter and refine their sense of smell. And the biggest transformation is in their interactions with humans, wolves are utterly irrelevant in understanding this. Also different kinds of dogs will likely react differently.

Some dogs chase cars. Ever hear of a wolf doing that?

You're obviously convinced by your n=1 "study" of this issue, but you can't find anything that agrees with your conclusions. Were you really attacked by dogs frequently before you changed your diet?

BTW, trust me, you have no idea how YOU smell to a dog. How would you know whether a diet low in meat actually makes you smell more like vulnerable prey?

I'll tell you my theory of frequency of dog attacks--it varies primarily on the number of unleashed dogs where you ride, and is otherwise fairly random. Please provide any evidence that there are any other factors in determining the frequency of attacks, and your experience is really nothing special. I went about 4 decades of riding between dog attacks. And I eat a lot of meat.
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Old 04-15-22, 05:47 AM
  #85  
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Dogs chasing meat eaters is Vegan kool-aid. Utter nonsense.

Some dogs and some breeds have a high prey drive. They like to chase.
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Old 04-15-22, 05:52 AM
  #86  
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Originally Posted by slowpacer
Maybe some dog treats instead will work better?
Bad idea about dog treats....All it will do is condition dogs to chase cyclists because they will expect to be given food. The same rule applies to wild animals. Just don't feed them.
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Old 04-15-22, 06:30 AM
  #87  
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Dogs chasing meat eaters is Vegan kool-aid. Utter nonsense.

Some dogs and some breeds have a high prey drive. They like to chase.
Dogs are primarily carnivores and behavior of territorial carnivores in the wild such as wolves and hyenas is to chase other predators away from their hunting grounds. In more extreme cases, they will kill other predators to thin out the competition.

So maybe they can smell the meat you ate so their wild instincts kick in and shoo you away, thinking you are competing for their food source (meat). Ofc, in worse case scenarios, they will try to eliminate the competition.

Dogs don't always see people, especially adults as prey, being taller, bigger silhouette, etc. More often than not, and as mentioned in many articles concerning dog defense, adults are seen as threat by dogs. If they intend to kill, it's less likely they intend to eat you. Dogs with owners tend to be well fed. Elimination of threat or competition is most likely their motivation. You can certainly make yourself NOT look nor smell nor move like one.
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Old 04-15-22, 07:00 AM
  #88  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
Dogs are primarily carnivores and behavior of territorial carnivores in the wild such as wolves and hyenas is to chase other predators away from their hunting grounds. In more extreme cases, they will kill other predators to thin out the competition.

So maybe they can smell the meat you ate so their wild instincts kick in and shoo you away, thinking you are competing for their food source (meat). Ofc, in worse case scenarios, they will try to eliminate the competition.

Dogs don't always see people, especially adults as prey, being taller, bigger silhouette, etc. More often than not, and as mentioned in many articles concerning dog defense, adults are seen as threat by dogs. If they intend to kill, it's less likely they intend to eat you. Dogs with owners tend to be well fed. Elimination of threat or competition is most likely their motivation. You can certainly make yourself NOT look nor smell nor move like one.
Look, you're Dunning Kruger all over this subject. You make these sweeping generalizations about dog behavior that ignores that, by far, the biggest determinant of how they interact with humans is the selective breeding and socialization that have been practiced on the domesticated animal for the past thousands of years. This selection has resulted in all sorts of specialized breeds with very different behaviors and that has gotten even weirder as dogs are now being bred with appearance and manageability as pets rather than function in mind. These are not "wolves and hyenas", so quit armchair speculating about how their behavior reflects instincts of animals they diverged from genetically many thousands of years ago.

You don't know what's "motivating" the dog. You don't even know whether it's a single dog. People have posted on BF about being stalked by packs of stray dogs and I'm assuming they're not lying or mistaken about this. Dog attacks vary like crazy, generalizations are useless.

Some dogs are bred precisely for their predilection of attacking unfamiliar people. How do you know you're not going to encounter one of these?

I think the biggest determinant of whether you're going to be attacked is probably the effectiveness of leash law enforcement and animal control in the area where you're riding. Go ahead, prove me wrong with data, not just your personal anecdote.

You seem like a nice person, but you should know that the quickest way to get known as a crank on BF is to pose yourself repeatedly as an expert on a subject and then make a bunch of absolute statements that literally no one else anywhere supports. I don't think anyone is an expert on how to keep dogs from chasing you. I'm quite comfortable saying I don't know why that stupid little terrier nearly ran under my wheel, stop telling me and everyone else it had anything to do with any of the absurd factors you've made up in your head.

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Old 04-15-22, 07:04 AM
  #89  
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
Bad idea about dog treats....All it will do is condition dogs to chase cyclists because they will expect to be given food. The same rule applies to wild animals. Just don't feed them.

Agreed. I also don't "talk to" the dog when I'm on the bike, regardless of whether or not they're on a leash. Teaching them to interact with cyclists even playfully is just not doing anyone any favors as far as maintaining safety.
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Old 04-15-22, 07:12 AM
  #90  
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Dogs chasing meat eaters is Vegan kool-aid. Utter nonsense.

Some dogs and some breeds have a high prey drive. They like to chase.

Also, if you watch dogs play, they frequently will chase and take a nip at each other. Some dogs play fight, others are out for blood. Good luck figuring out which version you're getting while sitting on a bike.
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Old 04-15-22, 07:15 AM
  #91  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Look, you're Dunning Kruger all over this subject.
You're discussing with qwaalude as if he's susceptible to reason.
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Old 04-15-22, 07:27 AM
  #92  
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Originally Posted by Koyote
You're discussing with --------- as if he's susceptible to reason.
I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt one more time.

There's been a couple of extreme dog lovers who got banned over this subject in the past because they kept accusing everyone else of being inhumane monsters in very unpleasant terms. This person just seems misguided rather than outright nasty.
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Old 04-15-22, 07:39 AM
  #93  
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I was chased by a dog once, the dog was chasing me after the owner failed to use a leash. I slowed down because it was a smaller dog and was going to help the owner catch her lost dog. The dumb arse dog ran between the wheels. I went down, the dog I think was seriously injured but not sure. The lady called the police actually. She wanted me charged for hurting her fufu and the cop gave her a ticket for failing to use a leash. She didn't even have one so the dog was just loose in the city park. Then to make it worse for her he wanted to know if I wanted to go after her in civil court and if I wanted here info. I declined because the bike was fine and I was just a bit roughed up.

SHE WAS PISSED!!! Poor dog was probably really injured and I felt bad for the dog but don't know the outcome of "fufu".
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Old 04-15-22, 07:47 AM
  #94  
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Originally Posted by sdmc530
I was chased by a dog once, the dog was chasing me after the owner failed to use a leash. I slowed down because it was a smaller dog and was going to help the owner catch her lost dog. The dumb arse dog ran between the wheels. I went down, the dog I think was seriously injured but not sure. The lady called the police actually. She wanted me charged for hurting her fufu and the cop gave her a ticket for failing to use a leash. She didn't even have one so the dog was just loose in the city park. Then to make it worse for her he wanted to know if I wanted to go after her in civil court and if I wanted here info. I declined because the bike was fine and I was just a bit roughed up.

SHE WAS PISSED!!! Poor dog was probably really injured and I felt bad for the dog but don't know the outcome of "fufu".

Two such small dog incidents in the last two years. Both times, I chose to completely stop and get off of the bike because the under the wheel thing seemed like the only real threat. The second one, I actually stood in the middle of the road to stop traffic while the kid tried to catch his dog because the dog took off away from me when I got off. By the end of that incident, I think there were about 5 people chasing the little rat and cars were stopped in both directions. The poor kid was mortified but probably learned his lesson about leashing.
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Old 04-15-22, 07:56 AM
  #95  
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I just yell, SIT! And if they keep coming I squirt them in the face with my water bottle, only had to unclip and kick one once.

Most of them just want to run along beside us as we go by but I did watch a buddy of mine run right over a small dog (30lbs) that was on a leash being walked by it’s owner who didn’t have a tight enough grip on the leash, it slipped out of his hand and the dog ran right between my buddy’s front and rear wheel and got run over. My buddy crashed into the grass, not on the pavement luckily, and the dog ran off back to it’s house yelping in pain.
If you ride the same roads long enough you’ll know where the problem dogs are but every once in a while a stray will come out of nowhere and surprise you! We had one chase us for a solid mile at 20 mph! I think he just wanted to play. They can’t bite you when they’re running that fast. It’s the ones that don’t bark that’ll get you!

Oh, btw, I own 5 dogs; a female black Lab, 2 male blue Heelers, a male boarder collie, and a young Corgi. The lab would chase you then lick you to death, the two Heelers would eat you alive, the boarder collie would love to run along next to you forever and the corgi would try to jump into your lap, but he can’t reach your ankle so no threat!





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Old 04-15-22, 08:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Ghazmh
It’s not the dogs you need to worry about, it’s the horses.
And the alligators!


Giddy Up Gator!

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Old 04-15-22, 08:21 AM
  #97  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Look, you're Dunning Kruger all over this subject. You make these sweeping generalizations about dog behavior that ignores that, by far, the biggest determinant of how they interact with humans is the selective breeding and socialization that have been practiced on the domesticated animal for the past thousands of years. This selection has resulted in all sorts of specialized breeds with very different behaviors and that has gotten even weirder as dogs are now being bred with appearance and manageability as pets rather than function in mind. These are not "wolves and hyenas", so quit armchair speculating about how their behavior reflects instincts of animals they diverged from genetically many thousands of years ago.

You don't know what's "motivating" the dog. You don't even know whether it's a single dog. People have posted on BF about being stalked by packs of stray dogs and I'm assuming they're not lying or mistaken about this. Dog attacks vary like crazy, generalizations are useless.

Some dogs are bred precisely for their predilection of attacking unfamiliar people. How do you know you're not going to encounter one of these?

I think the biggest determinant of whether you're going to be attacked is probably the effectiveness of leash law enforcement and animal control in the area where you're riding. Go ahead, prove me wrong with data, not just your personal anecdote.

You seem like a nice person, but you should know that the quickest way to get known as a crank on BF is to pose yourself repeatedly as an expert on a subject and then make a bunch of absolute statements that literally no one else anywhere supports. I don't think anyone is an expert on how to keep dogs from chasing you. I'm quite comfortable saying I don't know why that stupid little terrier nearly ran under my wheel, stop telling me and everyone else it had anything to do with any of the absurd factors you've made up in your head.
Don't get me wrong. I assume everyone is telling the truth and accurately about their experience.

I simply bonded very closely to my last dog, a Belgian Malinoise (a smaller version of German Shepherd but mine weighed 80 lbs!) and learned a lot from our play fights. I learned through those fights and just hanging out with my dog in my free time what triggers and defuses a dog. The sounds, smells, and movements.

I'm not against leashing and I don't sympathize with stubborn owners either. A lot of owners don't really deserve to have a dog.
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Old 04-15-22, 09:09 AM
  #98  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
Don't get me wrong. I assume everyone is telling the truth and accurately about their experience.

I simply bonded very closely to my last dog, a Belgian Malinoise (a smaller version of German Shepherd but mine weighed 80 lbs!) and learned a lot from our play fights. I learned through those fights and just hanging out with my dog in my free time what triggers and defuses a dog. The sounds, smells, and movements.

I'm not against leashing and I don't sympathize with stubborn owners either. A lot of owners don't really deserve to have a dog.

TBH, I think dogs' dispositions and reactions are almost as variable as humans'. I don't think you can generalize dogs' reactions to strangers on bicycles from your dog's interactions with you. I'll assume you're giving an accurate appraisal of what defuses your own dog in your presence, but that has absolutely nothing to do with how your dog or other dogs are going to act towards passing stranger cyclists when off the leash.

You're assigning an impossible task to yourself in trying to determine what will or won't make a dog attack more likely. You're basically spouting your hypotheses as if they were proven fact when they haven't been tested in any meaningfully systematic way. And frankly, many of them are astonishingly silly.

And sorry, "I have a big dog" is not an impressive credential suddenly making you an expert. Most of us are reacting with incredulity at your various pronouncements because we've had dogs, and what you're saying is just wildly inconsistent with anything we've ever observed. Dogs and situations are too varied to be predictable, we've got our hands full figuring out how to react when the attacks actually occur to worry about nonsense theories about when they'll occur. I will continue to dress up in bee colors (see other thread), safe in the knowledge that I'm a lot more concerned with my visibility than some absurd notion that I might confuse a dog with my apian garb.

Please don't make me compile a list of all the weird pronouncements you've made on this subject, it's way too late to make yourself credible on this subject at this point.
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Old 04-15-22, 09:40 AM
  #99  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
Dogs are primarily carnivores and behavior of territorial carnivores in the wild such as wolves and hyenas is to chase other predators away from their hunting grounds. In more extreme cases, they will kill other predators to thin out the competition.

So maybe they can smell the meat you ate so their wild instincts kick in and shoo you away, thinking you are competing for their food source (meat). Ofc, in worse case scenarios, they will try to eliminate the competition.

Dogs don't always see people, especially adults as prey, being taller, bigger silhouette, etc. More often than not, and as mentioned in many articles concerning dog defense, adults are seen as threat by dogs. If they intend to kill, it's less likely they intend to eat you. Dogs with owners tend to be well fed. Elimination of threat or competition is most likely their motivation. You can certainly make yourself NOT look nor smell nor move like one.
I have seen packs of wild dogs hunting big game in Africa.

I eat meat. The dogs did not chase after me even when hunting. I am sorry, I do not buy your explanation because it does not square with my experience. A bike moving along triggers a dog's prey drive, they chase. Pure and simple.
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Old 04-15-22, 09:43 AM
  #100  
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Originally Posted by qwaalodge
Don't get me wrong. I assume everyone is telling the truth and accurately about their experience.

I simply bonded very closely to my last dog, a Belgian Malinoise (a smaller version of German Shepherd but mine weighed 80 lbs!) and learned a lot from our play fights. I learned through those fights and just hanging out with my dog in my free time what triggers and defuses a dog. The sounds, smells, and movements.

I'm not against leashing and I don't sympathize with stubborn owners either. A lot of owners don't really deserve to have a dog.
I agree there.

A well trained Mal is one smart cookie and is obedient. Your dog and your training are not the norm. Most dogs are totally out of control on leash. It is the owner who is the problem
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