Some dogs are "friendly" types, and just sniffing and not threatening, and I can tell the difference, but some dogs are not. The dogs at the trail that have not been, usually keep their distance, esp when commanded "go away" or "get back" etc. A couple though have growled and come toward me.

This was not nice, but maybe we can reconcile.

"I also think counseling for his Michael's fear would help him best, digging deep might find his anger and hatred toward dogs has nothing to do with dogs at all but with his parents who wouldn't let him have a dog he so desired as a child.

Instead of trying to harm the dog, who is bored and wants some excitement and likes to to chase you could use can of compressed air that makes load noise or a compressed air horn would psych the dog better than a gun.
The gun won't psych out the dog he doesn't know the difference between a 38, 9mm or a 45cal, so unless you cycle with a 107 howitzer it won't work.

But seeing your best advise was "get a gun" you could use it to shoot the person who gave you that advise then yourself, lol.
"

I owned dogs when I was a kid. My parents gave me 2 dogs. They were small dogs and I played with them and they were well fed and happy and died of old age.

No, guns won't psych out most dogs, that is why I am looking for other devices, methods, and ways to read dogs.

 Quote: Michael Taylor

I owned dogs when I was a kid. My parents gave me 2 dogs. They were small dogs and I played with them and they were well fed and happy and died of old age.

No, guns won't psych out most dogs, that is why I am looking for other devices, methods, and ways to read dogs.

Then many encounters have been positive?

I think your goal is a good one: " I am looking for other devices, methods, and ways to read dogs."

Thank you Cindy. I was attracted to this forum because it sells Dog Training stuff, so I figure you would know about dealing with aggressive dogs and taking protective measures.

I understand some people get pleasure from having a dog and playing or exercising with it. I don't, but I can understand it.

I think there is a trend in America now to own more powerful and aggressive dogs as status symbols, and this, along with lack of training materials and public relations goodwill, has caused many of the dog incidents you hear about on nightly news, and people's growing polarity about dogs in public.

I do not like most dogs, but I will agree to advocate your rights if you advocate mine. Cheers!



re: I'm going to ask that everyone refrain from name calling. That means EVERYONE. We can all agree to disagree but let's keep name calling out of it.

I've been unable to get to the board to read OR post until tonight but as a person who loves dogs, trains dogs, owns dogs AND bikes with my dogs I have to say I can sympathize with Michael.

My take on it is you have to do what you need to in order to keep yourself safe. Would I ever shoot a dog? Probably not. Would I carry a gun on my bike rides? I doubt it. Do I condone shooting dogs? NO! With that said, I now carry a telescoping ski pole for defending myself and my dogs. It is so bad on our public bike trail (where there are posted leash your pet signs) that I called the park ranger that is supposed to be policing the trail. He didn't seem too anxious to get out there and start ticketing people so I've started documenting every bike ride I take, with a list of the number of dogs I see, how many are leashed, and if I have an altercation with the dogs. I even have cell phone photos of the dogs and usually their names as well (the owners stand there and scream the dog's name over and over)

I figure I can write a letter to the editor if nothing else.

We can all take Michael's email and run with it and make assumptions but the bottom line is that the non dog owning public are the very people we need to educate. Promoting understanding of both sides of the argument is the only way to make things better, no matter what your gut reaction may be.

As dog trainers and owners, our very right to have our dogs out in public with us could be in jeopardy.

Cindy

Again Michael, You really do seem to witness a lot of shot dogs. Out of curiosity where do you live?

I have a friend that is a dog owner and a cyclist. She carries one of those air horns and swears by it.

Betty would remember this - our SchH club had frequent large groups of sport bicyclists ride right past our training field during both OB and Protection training every Saturday, they made good distractions and as far as I can remember we never had a dog react to them *ever* ( the field was fenced for safety of course ).
And this was for national level dogs that the OP would undoubtedly consider "dangerous".

To the OP, I'd offer advice, but your statement:

"don't understand how you can keep dogs if you know how dangerous they are (all the stories and bite scenarios on your website), but maybe you can offer some advice"

If you can't understand why some of us have what you'd call "dangerous" dogs, well I guess I can't understand why anyone would want to own a bicycle.
See, broad sweeping statements with no thought behind them can work both ways.....

Oh, and Michael, instead of having:
http://www.dogsbite.org/ listed as your homepage, how about using:
http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/facts/crash-facts.cfm

I started sports training with my GSD two years ago. I knew nothing about dog sports before that, and my only experience with dog training was with a yank-and-crank trainer from 15+ years ago.

Had I watched one of the protection videos of a highly trained sports dog prior to my own experience with protection sports, yes, I would have thought these dogs were aggressive, and I would never have dreamt of owning one.

I got into ring sports by accident, and now both my GSD and I love love love the training. But I can certainly understand why a person takes no interest in dogs, or misunderstands dog sports (I was one of them), just like I take no interest in sports in general (I can never understand why people get so excited watching sports on TV) or politics.

I really don't think Michael is out of line with what he wants. He just wants a safe neighborhood to ride his bike. Just like I want to walk my neighborhood with my dogs without having to worry about stray dogs (we've had a few unpleasant encounters with dog-aggressive dogs as well, we now carry walking sticks with us).

Interesting blog you have there Michael.

I remember those cyclist Will! I remember having to change my driving time in order to try and avoid them on the road also.

What can you do to avoid a territorial dog? Beyond throwing treats, what else works if a dog is coming fast and you are biking past?
Living in the country it has been a long time since I have had to worry about this issue.

I stopped biking when I got my drivers license!