Dog days of summer: How bicyclists should confront the canines

If you ride your bike enough, you encounter dogs, even in suburban neighborhoods.

If you’re on the trails, maybe you’ll encounter only leashed dogs. But yes, sometimes owners let their dogs roam free even on public paths.

In the neighborhoods, there’s a chance a dog, even an angry one, will be loose on the sidewalk you’re riding by.

And of course on the country roads, maybe a dog is not fenced in, or “electric-fenced” in.

I haven’t had many bad experiences with dogs in the suburbs. I’ve had them more in rural areas, like in southern Illinois. But I do deal with dogs on long leashes on the bike trails a lot.

So what do I do with dogs? Looking at some advice out there, particularly from bicyclists who ride across the country or even world and encounter all variety of dogs, I learned that I’ve done some things wrong, maybe a couple of things right.

Dog types

First, in my experiences there are two types of dogs: the ones protecting their turf, and the ones who love to chase and race.

And there are levels to the dogs protecting their turf. That’s where it gets more dangerous.

Some dogs come racing toward you off their property and give you some hearty barks but then run only alongside you, even if a little closely. They’re not looking to nip at you, just to shoo you away. When you ride far enough, they stop and return to their position.

The meaner dogs might come after you. I’ve never been fully nipped at, but certainly I’ve had them run right on my wheel or ankles.

In the spring I was even tag-teamed by a pair of dogs. One was the brains, one was the braun. When I was passing, the brain saw me and barked out, seeming to call attention to the bigger, and bigger-jawed, dog, who gave chase. It was unclear if the braun was the type to actually attack; he had me if he wanted me because I was trapped on a rocky turn, but maybe my shouting at him gave him pause.

Then the chasers, or more accurately racers, are the ones who seem to be having the time of their life when running alongside me.

You can see how happy their faces look. I’ve had a couple run even a few miles; once I had to lead a dog back home.

Tip No. 1: Maybe don’t race, but have a chat

I have tended to try to outride the chasing dogs. But I’m seeing a lot of advice that says I shouldn’t.

The word is that dogs have an instinct to chase fast-moving things. Think “squirrel!” A bicyclist falls into that category. So I’ve heard repeatedly that if you don’t move so fast, you’re simply not as threatening or even exciting to them, and they don’t chase.

This means you might have to walk the distance of the dogs’ turf. Don’t be in a hurry.

You could even try to chat with them in a calming voice, suggesting you’re friendly like their owners. The calming voice seems to have worked for me a little bit, but I’ve remained moving; I guess I should have slowed or even stopped, too.

Some advice does say that if you think you’re clear of the dog, you could go for it. So do you think you’re clear? Are you feeling lucky?

Tip No. 2: Guard yourself with your bike

Suppose the dog remains menacing even if you’ve stopped and tried to chat.

Put your bike between you and the animal, the advice says.

Makes some sense, right? Now that doesn’t mean push or throw the bike toward the dog, or move the bike back and forth; that could only rile the dog further. Just stay behind your bike.

You might be able to walk sideways with the bike rolling in front of you, enough to get past the dog’s territory, or attention span. Then be prepared to hop on quickly and go. Your hop-off, hop-on skills could come into play.

Tip No. 3: Use your parent voice

The advice also suggests to talk firmly to an aggressive dog, to suggest you’re in charge. That’s whether you’ve stopped or not.

Saying “down!” or “go home!” firmly could do the trick, or at least keep the dogs off you enough so you can get past them. They might just tire of you or become wary of you.

Tip No. 4: Not so much on the pepper spray

You’ve probably heard advice to carry pepper or some other sort of chemical spray. The question is, could you use it effectively when it comes time?

As the dog’s coming, or as you see it ahead of you, can you dig the pepper spray out, get close enough to hit the dog right (say, in the eyes), and then get away? Experienced riders say it’s unlikely.

And worse, if the breeze hits right, you might wind up spraying yourself.

Tip No. 5: Squirt the water bottle? Maybe

So what about squirting the dog with your water bottle or sports drink? It could work.

The advice does say any kind of distraction could get you free of the dog, and a squirt in the face might do the trick. Now, can you hit the dog in the face?

If you didn’t, you’re out of both luck and some of your drinks, maybe with miles left to go.

Tip No. 6: Throw rocks toward the dog

I’ve seen advice that says throw rocks not necessarily at the dogs but just near them — enough to startle them a little or even distract them.

Furthermore, apparently you might simply act like you’re throwing a rock at them. Rear your arm, maybe make an exaggerated motion.

Or even act like you’re picking up rocks. Dogs may be alarmed just from that because, the experts say, they’ve had rocks thrown at them before and they don’t like it. I don’t know how much that’s true in our suburbs.

In any case, sticks could work, too.

Tip No. 7: Charge ’em

What has worked for me a couple of times, when I see a scary dog in front of me to the point of even blocking the road, is charge right at him, maybe even with a scream or growl.

It definitely startles the dog, and then, if only because he’s confused, he backs away.

Some advice I see says even walking confidently toward a dog could be enough to make him back off.

Miscellaneous advice

Some people ask about or suggest devices that make loud noises, like an airhorn. Or a dogwhistle or something else that makes a high-pitched sound to distract the dogs. Some say it could work. Or there are bear bells.

I’ve seen the question of encountering a pack of dogs. Experts say you want to startle, distract or appease the leader. Then the rest back off.

And there’s simply weaving if you have the space on the road. Your back tire can guard you against the chasing dog.

The long leashes

Back in more civilized society, there are the numerous dog walkers on the trails. Of course, the owners’ minds can wander while on the trails. That’s some of the point, right, when we’re amid nature?

Then suddenly their dogs also have wandered, stretching the leashes across the trails. Really not good in front of bicyclists.

Yes, we need the owners to pay attention and keep their dogs near them, ideally on the inside of them so we can pass the human, not the animal, on the left.

In any case, all we bicyclists can do on the trails is pay attention ourselves, keep our speed in check and be ready, like always, to brake and/or swerve. You may need to call “on your left” or ring the bike bell, as you see fit (some methods may work better than others).

Here’s a lot of great advice from an impressive pair of worldly bikepackers; their video is excellent. And then there’s the following video; on YouTube, the discussion within the comments may be more valuable than the video itself.

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