Saturday Jeter and I were out for our usual ride (he is tethered to my bike). He lives for running alongside the bike and he hasn't been able to go for a few weeks because he was recovering from some rear leg discomfort. The vet gave us an anti inflammatory and he was good to go.

Long story short some idiot had their Min Pin off leash in their front yard and when we rode by the dog came running after us. I continued to ride but Jeter turned and was only interested in getting after this little yapper as it was gaining on us. I knew if I let it catch up Jeter would grab it and it would be all over. He was pulling back and trying to get this dog as I was peddling hard and dragging him to avoid the confrontation. Luckily a neighbor came out (because I was yelling at the Min Pin to try to scare it off) and called to it and it ran into her front yard. Close call. Jeter started limping so I got off the bike and we walked back to the house.

Two questions..what to do for a torn front pad and what is the protocol in a situation like this? I would hate to see that little dog become lunch but this time my dog was hurt and maybe next time more seriously. He has been limping around the house. The tear is a little smaller than a dime but its fairly deep and it is definitely hurting him.

Thanks

Hi Alec,

The loose dog issue has been covered quite a bit here and there are lots of things you can do - from not walking/running your dog where you know there are off leash dogs, to training your dog to fall back behind you so you can fend off the dog, to carrying sticks, bear spray, etc (the later of which are obviously a bit difficult on a bike...). There are probably others here who have encountered this issue with the complication of a bicycle, I'll let them chime in, but as for the torn pad - there isn't much to do really besides keep it very clean, keep him as restful as possible (off the foot) for a few days, and watch it for any sign of infection.

My dog tore holes in ALL of his pads a few weeks ago after a rousing squirrel chase on asphalt - as soon as we were inside we rinsed them in warm water and made sure there was not dirt in the wounds, and while it didn't stay on too long, I did apply some Neosporin (which he both tracked off in the house, or licked off in time, but I like to think it helped at least a little). Since all four feet were effected, he self limited his movement for the first couple days, but we made sure it was about 4 or 5 days before he was taking more regular length walks outside again - calm ones - so he didn't re-injure himself. After each time outside we rinsed the feet and reapplied the ointment, until healing had covered over the wound. It's surprising how fast those pads heal in a healthy dog - by day 3 new dark skin was covering the raw pink scrapes and after a week you could only see a ring around where the edge of the circular injury was.

Poor Jeter - but good job keeping him from making a bad situation worse by not letting him go after the Min Pin. I don't know how you did that balancing on a bike, but well done! Best of luck for a quick recovery.

~Natalya

Your right about te loose dog issue being well covered here and it makes sense to ride or walk where there are no dogs. The problem is that I live in a typical suburb and no matter what route I take there is always some risk.

I know all the dogs along my usual route so its actually easier to stick the where I know and be comfortable with looking out for the regulars. Unfortunately on this occasion it was my regular route and this dog was a new one I never saw before.

I plan to go back and thank the nice lady that called the Min Pin to her because she saw the trouble I was in. I plan to ask her if she knows the people who own the loose dog because I didn't see exactly which yard he come running from. Once I know I plan to let the owners know that if not for a healthy set of legs and my determination to not let my dog eat theirs their dog would be gone.

I have to teach jeter to ignore. Thats the challenge. And I realize its up to me.

Teach the "on by" command...which in heavy distaction (being chased by an offleash dog for example) in our case translates into "Move forward, don't look back. You can't escape when you're looking back" also, practice spinning around on your bike and aiming your pepper or wasp spray at the attacker

For the paws, keep them clean

Yes, the 'on-by' command is very valuable when moving fast with your dog.

I don't think bear spray or mace would work so well (actually I think it could be disasterous) in this particular situation for several reasons. One, it would be very difficult to only hit the min-pin and not get back spray on you or Jeter given that you are biking, the time it would take for you to grab and arm the bear spray, and the confusion.

Two, even if you did only hit the min-pin with the spray, that would immediately disable the little guy and probably send him into a spinning, whining, frantic frenzy. Since you would have slowed down enough to spray, the min-pin's frantic spinning may bring him within range of Jeter, and you're in a worse situation than when you started. Add to that the fact that you probably would have hit yourself or Jeter with the backspray and a very difficult scenario may ensue.

Three, while min-pins can be extremely nasty ankle-biters, they are generally mostly bluster. Ideally, passing by with your dog focused ahead would avoid any bad interactions. Otherwise, a yell or kick (if necessary) would take care of the situation- generally.

If a dog is in 'working' mode, while running with (or pulling) the bike, you might be surprised how well on-by works, even with mega-distractions. The forward motions makes a huge difference, and the situation is much different than if your dog were off-leash and not-focused. Plus, it's much safer for you when you're biking. If a squirrel, deer, little dog runs across the road and into the woods you may end up with some serious road-rash unless your dog is trained with a solid on-by. Very important command.

I would never, ever, just hold my dog's leashes while biking. So so dangerous. I either bikejor with my trained pulling dog, or use a springer attachement (or something similar) so I won't get the leash tangled, need to brake quickly but have the leash get in the way, etc.

For the cut pad, Natalia's advice is spot-on. These things really hurt the dog, but as long as you keep them clean and limit activity, the dog will recover very quickly. If you think that overall, the dog has 'weak' pads, a zinc supplement might help toughen them up. Also, I tend to limit any really hard (galloping or cantering) running on pavement, as it's tough on the feet and joints. I know it's hard in suburbia, but sometimes there are dirt trails in areas you'd never expect. Just takes a bit of exploring. Google Earth is a good resource for that.

EMT gel was originally made for hunting dogs with cut pads and works great but it's just really hard to find. I ended up getting mine from a chinchilla breeder. Awesome stuff!

I use a springer http://www.springeramerica.com/. Its awesome. I thought he was pretty good with the "run" command. When he saw squirrels and such a good enthusiastic RUN from me would get his attention back on the road and him running and focused. He absolutely loves this activity.
I think about trails and stuff but friends tell me there are often off leash dogs on the trails near by so that wouldn't work either.

I need a good "on by" command. We will work on it and thanks

Glad to hear you use the springer. I was picturing a really scary situation with the leash, mace, and a little yipper.

No way...I have all the latest tools. I also carry a stick when I walk with the dogs but on a bike that gets dicey.

In retrospect maybe the right thing to do was to stop the bike, jump off and address this little dog. Perhaps he was chasing just because of prey drive. I don't know.

My fear was that I don't want to see Jeter in a dog fight. In this case he would have torn this little dog apart in 5 seconds. Ina any case I am trying to avoid it at all costs.

To be honest this is becoming quite a pain in the rear. Whit Dakota (my other dog) we can walk past other dogs or essentially anything with no problem. I stopped taking them together because if I have a problem 2 dogs is MUCH more difficult to manage.

I have to use training to desensitize him to other dogs.