What to do if a dog attacks

[JtB]

I’ve never felt confident with dogs and this is something that’s often in the back of my mind. One of several pieces of advice that popped out at me from this article is “to try and get a barrier between the dog and the person and if cycling, you could use your bicycle”.

 

[presta]

Sitting here calmly I'd like to think I'd have the presence of mind to gouge its eyes, but if it happened, I don't know what I'd do. When a rottweiler went for me I dodged inside and slammed the door in its face, but I don't think there was much thinking done about it.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Yes if its got hold of you then push your thumb in its eyeballs.

 

[Donger]

On an audax ride I was once attacked by a terrier just as I approached a railway bridge. To this day I have no idea why I opted to go all Chas&Dave but I just shouted out "Gerrtcha!" really loud and it ran off whimpering. The lady cyclist who I had been just about to overtake shrieked with fright as the sound echoed back at us from the underside of the bridge, and I had to apologise profusely for scaring the bejeezus out of her.

 

[Drago]

Kill it, is your safest bet. We had a lesson in the prior to deploying in NI. For obvious reasons I won't tell you how, but suffice to say number 1mon the list (shooting it) isn't very helpful for the average Joe.

 

[Joffey]

A finger up the bottom is useful for releasing a dogs jaws.

 

[Drago]

A finger up the bottom is useful for releasing a dogs jaws.

That won't work if you're wearing trousers.

 

[Gillstay]

A farmer I did a milk round with many years ago found that running one over accidently did the trick.
The guys on the dust bin waggon then chucked it in there sharpish as the owner was violent as well, they were also sick of being attacked.
Left the owner wandering the streets looking for the nasty animal.

 

[Cathryn]

I got charged at by pitbulls when I was running in Utah. It was utterly terrifying. I didn't know I could scream that loudly. Luckily they backed off, I think they were warning me rather than attacking, but I thought I was a goner.

 

[Time Waster]

If you know the trigger for the attack then stop or remove the trigger. If its a small dog give it a boot, if it's a big dog get help quick. If it's a dangerous breed you're possibly stuffed, but it's OK it's a companion dog and wouldn't hurt anyone!

 

[geocycle]

Had a collie latch on to my shoe as I pedalled along a shared path in the dark last week. Fortunately no harm done and the owner was apologetic. I think it was the reflector that triggered it.

Worst non cycling dog attack was in the mountains of Turkey. The Kangal sheep dogs are bred to protect against wolves and are protected by collars with 6 inch nails. They also have had ears and tails removed when young. Not surprisingly they are not the most pleasant breed and thought nothing of biting the tyres of a moving pickup which we defended with pointed surveying polls.

 

[Donger]

A finger up the bottom is useful for releasing a dogs jaws.

Have you been watching "Plebs"?

 

[BoldonLad]

All reports of dog attacks I have seen/heard, claim that the animals concerned are “great with children”, so, behave like a child, may do it? 😊

 

[wafter]

If you know the trigger for the attack then stop or remove the trigger.

IME it seems the trigger is often the bike. Someone up the road has a trio of sausage dogs that go mental when I ride past; while I had another one have a go at me recently when out on the MTB; yapping constantly at me while criss-crossing in front of the bike.

I wasn't going to stop in case it had a go at my leg, so just kept going on the assumption that getting run over would be a situation only of its own making..

 

[Ridgeway]

A small goat was my issue last summer. Passing along a farm track on my bike and the thing came charging out of the yard. No one around and i managed to get the bike between it and me. Ended up in a stand off for quite a few minutes as each time i tried to remount it tried to head butt my leg on his/her side of the bike… I managed in the end to grab one of it‘s short horns and realised that if i could control it‘s head then it couldn‘t rear up and things were kind of under control, but what next… Finally managed to remount and clip in whilst holding off said manic goat with my right arm and left hand on the bars - phew. Then the fun bit was getting up some speed with my dragging the thing along and releasing it once i knew i was going fast enough😂

Dogs, they are easy😂

So you may want to add manic goats to your list….

But keeping the bike between you and what ever wants to get at you isn‘t a bad idea, you need to know what your next move is🤓