Some useful knowledge there Mike. But I confess that I don’t like dogs at all, they do worry me, and I like to keep them at a runway’s length. ( I don’t like cats either but STOL is fine for them). Weird really because I am totally happy with snakes, lizards, beetles, cockroaches, spiders and anything else with an extravagant number of legs.
Your post still contained a few too many instances of “usually” and “most dogs” to allay my fears about dogs. There are far too many dogs in the UK, and, as with computers, there is no need for more than about five or six.
I best like those dogs that have their owners on a short leash, preferably whilst comfortably seated in front of their idiot box.
But for the moment: do those high pitched whistles actually work as a deterrant? What do postmen use? Not interested in Mace, except perhaps the medieval version.
Some useful knowledge there Mike. But I confess that I don’t like dogs at all, they do worry me, and I like to keep them at a runway’s length. ( I don’t like cats either but STOL is fine for them). Weird really because I am totally happy with snakes, lizards, beetles, cockroaches, spiders and anything else with an extravagant number of legs.
Your post still contained a few too many instances of “usually” and most dogs" to allay my fears about dogs. There are far too many dogs in the UK, as with computers there is no need for more than about five or six.
I best like those dogs that have their owners on a short leash, preferably whilst comfortably seated in front of their idiot box.
But for the moment: do those high pitched whistles actually work as a deterrant? What do postmen use? Not interested in Mace, except perhaps the medieval version.
I don’t like dogs either, I especially don’t see the attraction of having one as a house pet (unless it’s a little thing you can trust). They always seem too unpredictable and hyper… and the massive one’s (pitbulls?) are vicious (ok, some not but most are). I mean… they kill babies and don’t get banned! WTF!
I just don’t see the attraction of having a dog like that over a nice lil cat or two.
If I was chased by a dog I’d first try and out ride it - I don’t know what i’d do after that though
Every week in the UK, 2 or 3 (the average is about 2.5) children are killed by their own parents. Every day, in the UK, 9 people are killed on the roads. every year in the UK, one or two people are killed by dogs. The question is not one of risk, but of risk perception.
My partner has two Rottweilers. One of them can be chewing a bone or playing with a dog toy and you can take the bone or toy out of its mouth just by holding out your hand and saying “Let go.” Every time.
The small number of people who are hurt or even killed by “big dogs” are usually unlucky or stupid enough to put themselves in the path of a guard dog, or a dog kept for intimidation purposes by an owner who has no interest in the dog as anything other than a status symbol.
Recent cases in the UK:
A baby killed in a pub in leicester. The guard dog was kept on the flat roof of the pub, never socialised, and was deliberately kept for the purpose of intimidating potential burglars or assailants. Someone left a door open into a room where there was an unattended baby. The dog attacked the baby. Irresponsible dog owners, and irresponsible parents.
A child of 7 carrying a baby out of the house into the back yard, where a Rottweiler was chained up. Why is a 7 year old carrying a baby outside the house unattended? Baby carried into the territory of an unsocialised dog. Irresponsible on all counts.
A lady who worked at a kennel, who was badly savaged by a “rescue dog”. That’s a dog that has not been looked after or trained, and has never been socialised, before being abandoned to be “someone else’s problem”.
On the other hand, my brother and sister in law have a Rottweiler that is kept in the house, and knows its place in the “pack”. They have a new baby. I went to touch the baby and the dog stood between me and the baby to guard it, but without biting me. They are responsible dog owners, and responsible parents.
I don’t like dogs. I live in an area where I’m sure there are more dogs than humans and often ride where they are taken for walks.
So far I have more trouble (annoyance really) with owners who don’t have their (in these cases) stupid,dogs on leads. They are supposed to have them on leads, it says so on signs all over the prom. But said stupid dogs wander underneath my wheel, forcing me to dismount. I glare at the owners. Once I even had an argument with the friend of one of the owners when I mentioned that the dog should be on a lead (very unlike me).
Once or twice I have been chased by hostile dogs whilst their owners tried, without success, to call them back. The most recent time I was riding along the prom, which was covered in sand and I was finding the riding tricky anyway. The dog seemed to object to the fact that I was using my arms for balance and kept jumping up, trying to bite my hands. It was very hairy. I thought I was going to fall off and roll down the slope to my right and/or get bitten. Eventually the owner gained control, thank goodness.
You can’t do much about irresponsible dog owners. the best thing you can probably do is campaign for local bylaws that say that dogs should be on a lead when anywhere in public. that way you can sue the owner if you/you unicycle gets damaged because of thier dog.
Mike has a lot of good points. It is mostly things that the dog whisperer is saying here in the states. You are right, sometimes an authorative “NO!” does the trick. It is the need to break their train of thought to hear the “NO”. As for the mace, I personally do not agree though I have considered it. I think you are asking for trouble if you go on the attack. I will let you all know how well that dog “dazer” works when I get it. It should be here today or monday. For those of you who don’t know, it emits a irritating burst frequency that only dogs respond to. What I envision and read, is that you press the button and say no (or whatever) and it will startle the dog. It has a 30’ radius. We can all attest we are not trying to kill dogs we just want to ride safely.
Always carry a cat with you. When a dog starts to chase you, drop the cat. The dog will be distracted and chase the cat. Getting fresh replacement cats is easy.
Well, now I feel silly for thinking that hissing would be a good idea. If I were walking, I’d tell the dog no and use an authoritive voice to tell him to mind his own business. So surely unicycling shouldn’t change the situation too much.
The link you posted was really interesting, especially the discussion on why dogs seem so attracted to unicycles/ unicyclists.
Like I said, You seem to be biased to the dog side of the world. Maybe you don’t understand kids, just dogs.
As for swearing at a total stranger, you got me there. Please excuse my French, but this topic gets me very angry. I don’t like dealing with dogs and I don’t like the rationalizations that I hear from dog owners that tell me what I should have done to have avoid a bad situation with a dog. The fact is if the dog is controlled, by leash or barrier, I don’t have a problem with it.
As for solving problems with violence, when being chased, barked at, or threatened by a dog, I see no other method than return the action. I have stood my ground and yelled NO at dogs and avoided further contact. The act of controlling the dog, or at least standing it down, I can do. Putting up with the attitude of entitlement that is shined from dog owners is the most frustrating part. I loved the pissed off attitude I got from an owner when I tried to pepper spray her dog that was unleashed in a public park. It had chased me off the path and the owner was 50 feet from it. Come on! Your dog threatens me, I defend myself, what is the problem here? The dog and its owner.
You might want to contemplate my thoughts on having rocks thrown close to you by a total stranger. It seems a little scary, maybe even intimidating. When you confront the stranger on this, and he say s something like don’t be irresponsible, I am throwing rocks over there. If you don’t want rocks to come close to you, then go somewhere where I am not. That is what living with someone else’s uncontrolled dog is like.
I think we are under the general consensus that if people would control their dogs we would be better off. As for the leash laws… whether posted or not people do not think they apply to them and their dog. I do like the idea of throwing rocks at people! Ha! (just kidding)
I am in agreement with rem48, I don’t mind dogs if they are controlled.
I do question Mikefule’s argument about comparing dog killings to accidents and homicide. Is it really a fair comparison to equate human activities to animal activities? Car accidents happen by people driving cars, parents killing their kids this could be intentional or accidental. Dog owners not controlling their dog/s is a human activity. Dogs attacking and killing humans is an animal activity.
I am all for nature and loving animals, but if a dog is a menace it should be put down. We do it to bears why not dogs?
I know a few people who have shot their dogs because they were untrainable or mean (the dog). Maybe it is a cultural difference but we get rid of bad dogs, I can’t imagine why you would keep a dog that is mean and does not serve a purpose. Would you keep a horse that bites, kicks and refuses to work/let you ride?
Despite the old fashioned language, that is so very descriptive. I can picture every problem he had with this penny farthing to perfection. It reminds me to make contact with a friend who has one ( genuine article), and to plead with him to let me have a go.
I had a very rare and pleasant exchange with a man who was walking two dogs today on the local nature trail that I usually ride on. He saw me coming and held his dogs by their collars as he let me pass. As I rode by, the man gave me a nod (which I returned) and I said “Yep, just your local neighbourhood unicyclist.”
I am sure they do in some extreme cases. I’d like to extend this practice to the chasing, threatening level.
As long as I am bashing dogs and dog owners:
Why are dog owners ok with letting there dogs bark at every person that passes their yard? Dog owners in general, don’t think of the nuisance that their barking dog is to their neighbors. It is so rude.
My neighbors have two dogs that bark and thrash the fence at every person or dog that passes by. Otherwise, these are very nice dogs. At least they are controlled from chasing. The commotion and annoyance is too much. Fortunately I work during the day so I don’t hear it too much, but if I take the day off it gets old, fast.
I was at their house for a party over the holidays and the misses of the house was lamenting that a neighbor (not me) kept calling Animal Control to complain about the barking. She held up her hands and said “Come on, their dogs; they bark”. As if this was suppose to make it acceptable.
i think yell at them and tell them to sit etc. every dog most likely knows the sit command and by yelling it asserts your dominance. every dog responds to dominance, its the basis of the pack mentality. every pack has a heirachy and a “top dog”. if you can show the dog that your bigger, stronger etc than the dog and make them submissive, then they’l back off (hopefully). the smaller the dog, the easier it is, but it should work with every dog. i have two dogs and it works with them (they dont bark and are obedient etc), admittedly they are small which makes it easier because your physically bigger then them.
if in doubt, wear shid pads:D thats the part of you most likely to get bitten whilst riding (happend to me, dog wasnt too serious but it wouldve sucked w/o shin pads.)
So the lawyer for the prosecution would have to prove that you’d set out on your ride LOOKING for dogs to mace. Now, that might be the case, but it would still be hard to prove. Just don’t wear your “I [MACE BOTTLE] dogs” shirt while in pursuit of fresh game.
As for the owners, I’ve posted about this subject a long time ago. My philosophy is that if it’s a shared road, like a bike path that allows pedestrians, you have to ride safely (slower than top speed) and dog owners have to keep their pets leashed. If they allow their dogs to walk unleashed (which is illegal in NYC), then you are within your rights to squush the dog if it’s small enough. Now, no one wants to do that, since it’s not the dog’s fault, so better yet, aim for the owner.
Luckily, I never had to do this in my NYC-riding days, but it’s always best to be prepared, and believe me, I was certainly prepared to smoosh an unleashed dog-owner whose dog was threatening my safety.
