Don't know if you were talking about me, but that's not what I said!mike1026 said:To those who are skeptical because they have never been a victim one might as well say because I have never died then surely I will live forever!
On every cycling forum, there's a regular thread about dogs. It's as inevitable as the h*lmet debate.
They're always started by someone who has had a run in with a dog, and then everyone else, pro and anti dogs joins in. It's a harmless pursuit, but I reckon it must put people off cycling, because it sounds like a common occurence when it isn't.
Problem is, someone that expects trouble very often causes it, sometimes without trying. If you have resorted to carrying round something to defend yourself against dogs, you aren't in the right frame of mind to deal with them.
The same is true with dog owners, BTW; many's the time I've talked to a dog owner who has said something like "Ooh, our Fido doesn't like labradors/postmen/black people/cyclists"(delete as applicable). Dogs aren't that selective, what tends to happen is the owners change their behaviour around certain individuals, which unwittingly makes their dogs guard them.
Look, I understand disliking dogs is your choice. Personally, I recommend if you are frightened of them you make friends with someone who owns a dog and get used to it, because you are going to encounter dogs, but if you don't know how to act around dogs you are more likely to have a problem with one.