From the article: Dogs and Bikes
Ever been chased by a dog on your bike? How about run over a squirrel? Maybe you've even had a deer or other large animal run out in front of you when riding. Share your story of wildlife encounters on your bike! Share Your Experience
3 Dogs in 35 miles
- Lesson learned: ALWAYS bring your citronella dog spray on every ride. I've doen this route for years and never saw many dogs - However, some canine must have spread the word - 3 close calls in 35 miles. 2 of the attacks happened at the crest of a hill so I was able to outrun. the last dog came at me like a rocket and would have knocked me flat - luckily he undershot and flew behind me into a ditch.
- —Guest Randy Cook
Do as much damage as possible
- I'm a commuter cyclist, and I've lost patience with dogs and dog owners. I carry a collapsible trekking pole with a fairly sharp point on the tip. When I get chased or harassed by a dog, I get off the bike and face the dog down. If the dog backs down, I generally attack back, hitting it hard enough to break bones and generally leave it extremely wary of cyclists. If the dog continues to attack, it will lose an eye, a leg, or be dead. In this day and age, there's no excuse for a dog off-leash that could threaten a human. If it threatens me - an adult man - it is likely capable of being severely dangerous to smaller people and children, so I have no issues with disabling or killing aggressive dogs.
- —Guest Dogs and cyclists don't mix
Cycling is a blood sport
- Most dog owners think of themselves as "alpha dogs" and have the same innate hatred for flying bicycles. Carry any weapon you can, and expect to use it. "Country" people are supposed to be friendly, but "country" roads always have people who think it's swell to let violent dogs run loose. Chains aren't enough either, when people are raising dogs that were bred to break the legs of bulls. It is increasingly a problem that dog owners are activively siccing their dogs on bicyclists.
- —Guest Michael Taylor
Just got bit
- Just got bit by a dog today while riding on a gravel road. I frequently encounter dogs on gravel roads who like to chase and bark but this son-of-a-gun bit the back of my calf. I turned on the jets and outraced him on my single speed. From now on I'm taking no chances - I'm going to start carrying some pepper spray with me.
- —Guest Mike
4 dogs... 1 biker.. Asphalt!
- Country rides seem to have a lot more chasing dogs.... I have been chased on 3 of my last 4 rides. This week I went for a ride to get ready for my triathlon on Sat.... When out came four dogs chasing me down! I tried to outrun them, with one right at my pedal. I thought I had almost made it when when one dog cut right in front and took me out. As I was laying in the ground trying to regain my senses and work past the pain, the owner came out, called the dogs and yelled at me and asked what was the matter, and then went back in! Pretty banged up and concerned about the tri in 5 days.. Grrrr! I think I need to start trying some of those dog deterring ideas for sure!
- —Guest Tess
Ammonia water
- I use a water bottle painted black (so I don't drink from it) with a mixture of ammonia and water. I believe ammonia may damage eyes, so I spray in front of a running dog, or on their backs. Either stops them dead. When I was a runner and a dog approached, I would run towards it yelling loudly. It worked every time except for one large dog that kept coming because he was sliding on the ice and couldn't stop. I slugged it.
- —Guest mtbscski
scared
- I got chased by a dog today. The only thing that was going through my mind was to get enough speed to stop pedaling and kick it the snout. It worked as I just rode out of his territory. No kicking involved.
- —Guest kurt
Mammals watch out.
- I ride a Trek FX to work at about 5:45 AM. I use a light. But I swear, I have run over and killed two rabbits this year, hit another (but I think it lived) and today hit a raccoon. The last two sort of ran into my back wheel, bounced around, and then ran off. So they could be on the hit list as well. Good God, what is causing them to run right in front of me. In none of these encounters have I had time to stop or swerve. They just shoot out of the grass next to the paved trail right in my way!
- —Guest Mark (Elmer)
Some Dogs Are Evil
- Just a few days ago I was riding my bike down a road, and someone had their dog out front. No one was out there, and the dog wasn't on a chain. I was on a 1-speed bike on a dirt road, and I got really scared when I saw it so I started screaming as loud as I could. The higher I screamed, the slower the dog went, because it hurt that idiot dog's ears. I finally got away after a 1/2 mile or a whole mile. My chain was so rusty, I thought it would snap and I would be killed by that stupid dog. I don't blame only the dog for this but also the idiot owners that let it run loose. I'm never going on that road again! P.S. I'm only 11 years old.
- —Guest side show bob
Cowboy up, duckherd down
- On my commute to work morning, i would often encounter calves gotten under the neighbors fence and herd them back successfully. Same neighbor had two gray geese. They would not herd, budge and had a proclivity to attack. His daughters pet llama would accompany me for a short distance and thankfully return to their front yard.
- —Guest bob labm
wild rabbit encounter
- A few weeks ago in Glen Burnie MD on the B&A Trail [Baltimore & Annapolis Trail]I nearly rode my bike over a wild rabbit. I was riding along when I heard a rustling in the bush when a baby rabbit ran out in front of my wheel.
- —Guest deniseskis
Guy sicked his dogs on our group ride
- We were riding a 30 mile road loop out in the country, about 9 or so riders. About 15 miles out we came upon a house with some guys sitting out front. As we came by the dogs moved to the edge of the yard in anticipation. They started running out in front of us and the guy starts yelling "sick 'em!" The dog runs out in front, not phased by the yelling or water bottle squirts, gets hit by a guy's front tire causing it to jackknife and throwing the rider over the bars and creating a pileup. We get the downed riders up, a little bloodied up but nothing bad, and the guy standing in his yard starts yelling at us "Ya'll need to get off this road and find a real place to ride" I can't believe people can be so insane like that. We filed a complaint with the sheriff's office upon returning to the LBS. *The dog was ok by the way, just barely got hit.
- —Guest OnlyNativeUKnow
Double Dog Attack
- Out on what started as a pleasure ride, I encountered two dogs, one large and one small, that were persistently chasing and barking at me. I tried kicking at them as I rode along, but was bitten on the ankle by the small dog. At that point, I just poured on the gas and left them behind.
- —Guest Tom P.
Sometimes Commuting Stinks!
- I regularly commute to work some 10 miles away. I have to be on the road at 5am, so in the spring and fall I ride mostly in the dark with a good set of riding lights. The ride is all in the rural area which makes for a pretty sedate and carefree commute. One spring morning while cycling in the dark, I could see a black object in the middle of the road entering my light beam. At first it looked like a crow that had been hit by a car, with one wing sticking up in the air. But as I approached, I quickly realized that it was a live skunk rear end looking at me with his tail fully up and stamping his feet! I quickly dodged over to the shoulder of the road to avoid being a "locked on" victim of a skunk with a bad attitude. As I road away I was thankful that I had not been sprayed, and wondered how I would have got into work smelling like skunk spray. While pondering this another mile down the road, the exact same thing happened again with another skunk! Man! Are these guys carrying radios?
- —drgummibear
Small critters can be a problem too.
- I had finished up about 30 miles and was headed for the barn in a hurry. I had to go by a cemetery with lots of trees and make a 90 deg turn onto a highway using a yield- merge lane. It was then that the squirrel decided to also cross the intersection. I went right, he scurried back,(being sure to stay right in front of me) I went left, he turned around & stopped!. At this point my bike wheels started going in different directions than the bike and more different then I was going. Somehow I recovered and didn't go down, the car drivers got a good laugh, and the squirrel made it back to the cemetery. I now hate squirrels!
- —Guest Oldgrad
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