Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

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mjr
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by mjr »

pwa wrote:As I said, you shouldn't have to. But you may find it useful if you can. If you don't want to deal with other people's dogs, don't. Rely on them to do it for you.

No need to learn flaming dog psychology or rely on incompetent owners. Just learn how to hurt dogs and be ready to do so only if needed. Avoiding is better if you can. It's a shame that there seems to be little law enforcement and lots of apologists for our of control dogs, similar to the out of control motorists but at least the dogs kill fewer.
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by Cyril Haearn »

I think there should be restrictions on big dogs, a small dog under 10 kg can fulfil the partner function but is not so dangerous if it goes crazy, anyone agree?

The dog that killed two people was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, all the neighbours were afraid of the infamous beast, something should have been done BEFORE :(
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Are there parallels with children who try to talk to strangers? I am always friendly to them :wink:
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thirdcrank
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by thirdcrank »

No need to learn flaming dog psychology or rely on incompetent owners. Just learn how to hurt dogs and be ready to do so only if needed. Avoiding is better if you can. It's a shame that there seems to be little law enforcement and lots of apologists for our of control dogs, similar to the out of control motorists but at least the dogs kill fewer.


Any tips on how to achieve the bit I've underlined?
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by mjr »

thirdcrank wrote:
No need to learn flaming dog psychology or rely on incompetent owners. Just learn how to hurt dogs and be ready to do so only if needed. Avoiding is better if you can. It's a shame that there seems to be little law enforcement and lots of apologists for our of control dogs, similar to the out of control motorists but at least the dogs kill fewer.


Any tips on how to achieve the bit I've underlined?

This is where I came in... viewtopic.php?p=1307509#p1307509
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pwa
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by pwa »

mjr wrote:
pwa wrote:As I said, you shouldn't have to. But you may find it useful if you can. If you don't want to deal with other people's dogs, don't. Rely on them to do it for you.

No need to learn flaming dog psychology or rely on incompetent owners. Just learn how to hurt dogs and be ready to do so only if needed. Avoiding is better if you can. It's a shame that there seems to be little law enforcement and lots of apologists for our of control dogs, similar to the out of control motorists but at least the dogs kill fewer.

I was out walking again today and part of my walk went through a country park with more visitors than usual. An annual sea swim event appears to bring in extra people. There were lots of dogs not on leads and no aggro, no barking and nobody looking unhappy about anything. So some dog owners are getting it right.

But for those who aren't, it is best to know how to deal with things if you have to. You dismiss "flaming dog psychology", but I suspect you use it even if you don't realise it. If you have been out in the sticks in Ireland, as I have, and met an aggressive dog near a farm gate, the immediate and pressing concern is how to carry on your journey without getting bitten, and reading the dog's moves is part of your way of sealing with it. The dog may see you turning your back as a retreat, a green light for moving closer, so you don't do that. It will see you standing your ground as a reason to hold back, so you do that. If you can inflict some pain, that can be useful. I once managed to hit a dog on the nose with a pebble, which made the dog retreat back to the farm yard it came from, defeated in its own mind. Result! That is all partly "flaming dog psychology" and it is useful.
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Maybe one should try to bite the dog, he would understand that, but where? :?
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mattheus
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by mattheus »

Cugel wrote:You can cry for a rozzer and a beak if you like


How did you know I'm a crybaby?? I haven't mentioned it on this forum.

Hopefully a big tough guy like you will be around when I need one - I love a hardman. x
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by pwa »

mattheus wrote:
Cugel wrote:You can cry for a rozzer and a beak if you like


How did you know I'm a crybaby?? I haven't mentioned it on this forum.

Hopefully a big tough guy like you will be around when I need one - I love a hardman. x

This could be the start of a beautiful relationship.
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by Cugel »

pwa wrote:
mattheus wrote:
Cugel wrote:You can cry for a rozzer and a beak if you like


How did you know I'm a crybaby?? I haven't mentioned it on this forum.

Hopefully a big tough guy like you will be around when I need one - I love a hardman. x

This could be the start of a beautiful relationship.


Yes, I just have to look at a dawg and it fawns and slobbers my mit. Not just dawgs, neither!

But many prefer a rozzer, a beak or even a mammy to shield them from rough things that come along. I understand and will put a pinny on for you if you wish. No helmet or wig, though. I believe it is illegal to impersonate a rozzer or a beak, although some who are official rozzers and beaks are in fact just impersonating them and are ineffective at the roles. Same with many cyclists; and politicians; and .... well, whole swathes of people who have a label stating they're a summick but can't actually do the summicking.

But I digress.

How do you feel about savage pussycats? I did have one living about the house that delighted in pouncing on innocent dogs passing the hedge-bottom wherein lurked the feline rotter. It got many a dog-nose with a rapid claw-swipe before the hounds got wise enough to drag their humans across the road to the other pavement, as my hedge hoved into view. This pussycat never bit a cyclist, mind. He regarded them as too easy and not worth his while.

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pwa
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by pwa »

My only animal related injuries for the past forty years have been a rat bite to a finger when I was trying to get a pet rat used to handling, and extensive bumps on the skin due to midges while I was on a chainsaw course in a Welsh coniferous plantation. One of my kids came home one day with bleeding scratches after being scrammed by a neighbour's cat. And although not injured, I came close to being killed by a horse that took a dislike to me while I was surveying public rights of way. I was last bit by a dog fifty odd years ago when, as a toddler, I reached out to the mouth of a corgi and it nipped me.
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by ANTONISH »

I've been following this thread with interest.
I'm nervous of loose dogs - when I was a child I was in a local park and an Alsation jumped up at me. Probably it was playing because it had its jaws on my throat but obviously didn't do it seriously or I may not have been here to tell the tale. The owner was highly amused.
I've had a face plant due to a dog running under my front wheel.
Over the decades I've been pursued and threatened by various dogs - on one occasion I had a Jack Russel run out at me - it ran back into it's driveway when I shouted at it only for it to reappear a couple of seconds accompanied by a Rottweiler - I suddenly found I could still muster a sprint.
Then there are the owners who have a dog running loose and seem mystified that I'm not aware that the dog won't bite me.
And the owners who think that having the dog at the end of 5m of lead means that they have the thing under control.
I'm surprised there aren't more serious injuries due to these pests and their moronic owners.
I do not dislike dogs - and I can socialise with them -but many owners see them as their obedient or playful children instead of the pack animals they are.
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Cugel
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by Cugel »

ANTONISH wrote:I've been following this thread with interest.
I'm nervous of loose dogs - when I was a child I was in a local park and an Alsation jumped up at me.....[snip]
I'm surprised there aren't more serious injuries due to these pests and their moronic owners.
I do not dislike dogs - and I can socialise with them -but many owners see them as their obedient or playful children instead of the pack animals they are.


One needs to get over the often amplified fears emanating from childhood experiences. The alternative is to live one's life subject to a constant fearfulness not justified by the surrounding reality and it's risks (or lack of them).

There are many moronic owners, of dogs and other beasts. Personally I would make it very hard to be an owner without proof of training and success at, say, dog-managing. There are two ladies near us who train dogs for the blind and also offer general dog-training classes. The first thing they tell the attendees is that they're really owner-training classes.

Dogs are pack animals when in a pack and when running free as such. When they're singular pets living with a human family, they're more like permanently infantilised children - if the owner is competent with the dog handling. They're best managed as such - as children with certain inclinations who need to be managed and dominated when their basic instincts look like they might become problematic.

Of course, humans are pack animals and, in very large packs (or even small ones) very dangerous indeed. Packs of children are particularly dangerous if left to run wild as they lack the inhibitions and understanding of adults. My own theory is that, until a certain age and maturity, they're best treated like dogs. Dogs, that is, that are well trained, looked after and nurtured rather than those that are treated merely as some sort of casual possession that can be ignored if you're not in the mood for them.

I also feel something of the same about children and parents as I do about dogs and owners. Many parents are unfit and should be required to prove that they themselves have the understanding and skills to be proper children-owners. Many allow their children to run about in packs, to the detriment of the rest of us. Many human children turn into slavering adult monsters that terrorise everyone and everything. Their parents allowed their volatile human nature to go thataway instead of thisaway.

Cugel
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thirdcrank
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by thirdcrank »

mjr wrote: ... This is where I came in... viewtopic.php?p=1307509#p1307509


Thanks. I had seen that but I wondered if you were talking about something more lethal than a bidon.

My first point would be that unnecessary violence towards a dog is morally wrong and probably illegal. Being "tooled up" in anticipation is almost certainly illegal, but you need to have a means of defending yourself.

If somebody makes the decision to stop rather than trying to escape, then using the bike as a shield seems to be the obvious firsty step. AFAIK, the most sensitive part of the front of a dog is its nose, so that's perhaps a good target, especially if it keeps poking it through the bike frame. I fancy that a traditional frame-fitting pump may be the best improvised weapon, although as they are not heavy, I'd suggest a thrusting stroke, rather than the more intuitive sweep. Perhaps holding it by the adaptor end and suddenly extending the handle towards its face might briefly surprise a dog. It might well defend itself - join in the perceived game - by biting the end of the pump, in which case, treat the trusty HPx as expendable, and try to push it down its throat.
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Re: Worst dog incidents, and tips for dealing with them

Post by reohn2 »

Not read the whole thread but when we were touring on the tandem in Portugal,which has a bad dog problem IME, we resorted to a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water in a bidon to be squirted at any offending animal that came within range.
The occasional rare dog that gets within striking distance in the UK gets the boot,I've only connected twice and it was enough to discourage the idiot animal.

The only time I ever been really concerned for my safety in the UK was passing a woman on a 2m wide shared use path with an Alsation on a very short lead that was on it's hind legs straining to get at me as I passed,the woman in question said "don't stop or he'll have you".I stopped sto 10 or 15m away and asked her "and what if I were a child passing more slowly?".No answer.
I advised her to have the animal put down if it were so antisocial,which I suspect wouldn't be heeded until the dog did someone some damage.
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