nirakaro wrote:I had an altercation with a dog in Italy a couple of months ago – dog runs in front of bike, bike hits dog, I hit ground, dog sinks teeth into my arm. Quick trip to pronto soccorso (A&E), five stitches and a week on antibiotics.
What I learned from the incident was that no amount of vinegar, pepper spray, sticks, guns or whatever would have been any use, because the whole event, from when I first saw the dog, to when I stood up and roared at it and it ran off, was over in at most five seconds – there was no time at all to do anything to discourage it.
There are bound to be incidents such as yours but more often than not the problem begins with a dog chasing the cyclist,the cyclist needs to discourage the dog from chasing,vinegar works if a bidon is prepared,we found the worst country for it and so needed a bidon full of the 50/50 mix on the tandem at all times was Portugal where there'd be packs of upto 7 or 8 dogs roaming about on the outskerts of small villages.
The last incident I had recently I stopped the bike,got off it with the bike between me and the dog and bared my teeth and growled at it(stage one),it ran back to it's owner.
Stage two would've been belting it one with the bike if it proved aggressive.
If I have a dog running along side me and the situation is favourable,it gets the boot.