Here's a collection of techniques from RBR roadies for making bad dogs leave cyclists alone (and perhaps learn a lesson). Some methods are aggressive, some are fairly passive. We're printing them for your information with no endorsement or censure. You're welcome to try any that make sense in your dog-eat-cyclist world.

Halt and Pepper
Brian : "I keep a small canister of pepper spray attached to my top tube with a little self-adhesive Velcro. I've found that if you have a really troublesome dog that likes to do more than just bark, you only have to give him a shot of pepper spray twice before he loses his taste for cyclists. One word of caution when using this technique: If you are in a group ride make sure that you are at the back of the pack to keep from accidentally immobilizing the rest of your peloton. You might get banned from future rides."

Beemrdon : "While touring, I carry Halt pepper spray (the same stuff your local mailman carries) attached to the outside pocket of my handlebar bag and within easy reach. I have only had to use it once, while touring through eastern Kentucky. A huge bloodhound bounded off of the front porch with teeth barred and in full attack mode. That old boy's jaws got within a foot of my leg when I let him have it. He stopped in his tracks, rolled over and then began to franticly rub his eyes with his front paws while yelping. I hope that that dog learned a lesson and changed its behavior as this was a heavily used transcontinental bike route. I doubt that everyone biking through was as equipped to cope with a vicious dog as I was."

Cofitachequi : "I have moved up to carrying bear spray, available at hiking supply stores. Let them have it square in the face."

Douse that Doggie
Michael : "On our night rides we keep an ear tuned to the clickety-clickety of toe nails coming from the pitch black Amish night air. If the dog seems unresponsive to commands, I will wait till he is 5 feet from me and peg him in the head with a squirt of Gatorade, to which I'll more than likely hear toenails scraping the pavement and an occasional yelp."

Ian from Oregon : "For really persistent dogs that are coming fast upon your heels I have (many times) pulled out a water bottle and given them a good squirt in the eyes just as they are about to taste some calf ala cyclist. If they don't do a quick summersault they usually hit the brakes and head for the old dog house. A last resort is throwing the whole darned bottle."

Dogmeat : "As the dog approaches, take out your water bottle and flip a bit of water at his face. He can't see it to dodge it like he can a frame pump, so as the drops hit him the dog stops short. Works every time."

Turn the Table
Michael : "If a dog comes at me, depending on the size, I will charge the dog. Dogs usually don't know how to respond when put on the defensive. Ever see a cat back a dog down? Better make sure you can accelerate quickly in case he or she is a scrapper !"

Rich Ries : "Any advice to accelerate when facing a dog is bad advice. Even a small dog can maintain 30 mph long enough to cross in front of your front wheel. Tap the dog with your wheel and you're going down.

"A better plan is to psych out the dog. Dogs understand aggression, so when I see a threatening dog I ride toward it, snarling and growling. I make it clear that I'm the alpha male. Every time I've done this the dog has retreated until I'm well past, and I've had ample opportunity to test the strategy here in southern Indiana. I've also perfected my quick-draw for pepper spray on dogs I don't see in time."

John Webb : "Riding away from a dog only encourages the dog's instincts to hunt you down. I always remember that dogs, as much as I love them, are animals, and animals follow the law of the Alpha Dog. When I encounter a dog coming after me (front, side or rear), I slow down, stand up, bow my chest and arms out wide, look them in the eye, and give an angry roar or yell. I let them know that I am the alpha dog and they had better back off. I've frightened dogs so bad that they have thought twice about going after riders behind me."

TexasT : "I agree with the other posters who say not to try to outrun them. Do not become prey for them. When a dog is running towards me I time it to meet him at the edge of the road (watching for traffic) and yell NO! In effect, I'm chasing him and he is the prey. They usually stop dead in their tracks or turn tail and head for home."

Slow Down... or Speed Up
Milky Bone : "When riding solo, the best way to defeat Fido is shift before you enter his airspace, approach slightly slower than top speed, and once he's got his intercept angle set and begins his pursuit, accelerate. Head down, ears flopping, dogs don't seem to be able to adjust on the fly."

Mike from Idaho : "I must strongly disagree with RBR's tip to make use of a passing vehicle. In my over 20 years of cycling, I have twice seen and heard a dog hit by a car when the dog came out to chase me. These were simply horrible sights and sounds and totally unnecessary. When you know a dog possibly is going to chase you and there's a car approaching from the front or back, slow down! Let the car pass and then deal however you need to with the dog. Whatever you do, it is not likely to result in the death or maiming of a dumb animal that is doing only what 100,000 years of genetics has trained it to do. I've said it before and I'll say it again, 'The problem here is not the dog but the dog owner.' "

Choose Your Weapon
Beemrdon : "Before I say anything, I want to state that I am a dog-lover on almost all occasions. OK, but I always ride with a Silca frame pump with a Campy metal head. When Fido gets too close, he gets a headache."

Mark : "I am a dog lover, but a dog who chases me is endangering my life not to mention his own. So I have little patience with them. Yelling usually works, water squirts work too, but I have gone so far as to bungie nunchucks to my bike for a particularly nasty beast on one of my favorite routes. A dog with a severe cyclist-induced headache usually realizes bikes are better left alone, and I figure I have done the dog a favor."

Kimo : "When riding in rural areas where dogs run wild, I carry a box of snaps in my jersey. These are little paper twists that pop when they hit the ground. Drop a couple of these mini-depth charges near the offending hound and he or she is guaranteed to call off the chase."

Tom : "Carry a gun."

Speak !
Joyce : "Try shouting "NO" and "GO HOME" and move your entire arm to point back to their home. This has worked great for me. Most dogs have been taught what NO means and many know what you mean when you point and yell. The dogs will usually do exactly that -- run back home, usually with tail between legs. Others look confused, like 'Who are you to tell me that?' So I repeat it, sounding as snarly as possible."

Scooter : "I recently did a tour through rural Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. Dogs were everywhere. We were greeted one day by 13 free hounds at a single home. They came out a quarter mile away and took up positions on each side of the road. Much barking and growling, but no attacks. Voice commands worked well."

Bitten but not deterred : "Another method is to talk to the owner. Of course, sometimes the owner's bite is worse than the dog's, so be careful."

Be Nice
Moser : "As soon as I see a dog while riding I start talking to it in the same way I would my own dog. 'There's a good boy' type phrases, no need to shout. In more than 40 years of cycling I've never had a dog problem while riding."

Doug : "Almost none of us can outrun a dog who has any warning of our approach, and running away also provokes a prey response in some breeds. Stopping, dismounting and confronting the dog as a human works much more consistently. I've only been injured when trying to outrun dogs. (Killer squirrels are another matter altogether.)"

mountain slug : "Carry a couple of milk bones and toss one to the dog. You might just make a friend."

Call the Canine Cops
Bret Gross : "Don't forget to make a mental note of the location and, when you get home, call animal control. In most jurisdictions a loose dog is not only unsafe (for humans and the dog, who could get injured by a vehicle) but a violation of the law. Correcting the situation may prevent a future injury to you or the dog.

Hewer : "If there is a consistent problem with a dog, the owner is at fault. Animal control needs to be called."

Dan : "When you are safely clear of the dog, use your cell phone to call the local Animal Control department to file a complaint."

Dog Tales
DaveK : "On a group ride a Cairn Terrier (think Toto) ran alongside us, barking his silly head off. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and slammed into a telephone pole. I laughed so hard I almost crashed."

Skip Nevell : "Many years ago, on the Latigo Canyon climb I rode regularly in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, I was chased on every ascent by a dog with only three legs. I always got away while thinking, 'If he had four legs, I'd be dead meat.' "

Anthony : "Fido should not be looked at as a threat, but rather as a cyclist's best friend. My goal on my regular, very hilly 16-mile ride is to break 60 minutes. It was a dog chasing me up a half-mile climb that almost got me to that goal. If that dog had chased me up the big hill, I might have made it. As a way of showing your gratitude, you might leave Fido a little something direct from your stomach at the top of the hill."

Michael D : "There was an area I used to refer to as The Gauntlet when I lived in Illinois -- 2 sets of 2 dogs at 2 farm houses almost directly across the road from each other. We often employed many of the tactics you suggested, especially running silent. Others used air horns or an electronic "dog whistle" device that humans couldn't hear.

"Since it was a sleepy country road, I employed some chase-sprint tactics that worked really well. I would ride as far in the opposite lane to the house I was approaching first. As the first pair of dogs came out to play, I would get just past them and dart to the other side of the road. This did two things: It got that pair so turned around that they couldn't recover, and it put me on the far side of the road for the second pair -- to do the same thing to them. By the time all was said and done, 4 dogs were helplessly in my wake.

"Still, the one dog that was most difficult to handle was the one with 3 legs. Skippy -- as I liked to refer to him -- was hard to predict."

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