[|brake-out|]

Hey people, I need help in evaluating a new idea I have for dog control. I think that the overall purpose of using any sort of dog repellant is to a.) teach the dog a lesson and b.) hopefully teach the owner a lesson in leaving their dog roaming free.

I think that if you had one of those newer paintball pistols that holds 10-12 paintballs, you could really paint a dog any color you pleased. This should theoretically teach the dog that it hurts when you chase a bike. It should also make the owner take notice, because the dog has paint on it. If the dog starts going through the house with paint everywhere, then they might be less inclined to let it out for extended periods of time.

Also, paintballs are really cheap and the CO2 cartridges I already have....

Has anyone tried this ? I really do want to try this, but I'm hesitant unless I hear from other people who have tried this. Thanks !

 

[treebound]

quick way to jail

Depending on where you are located many communities have animal control laws. Continuing complaints about free-ranging dogs is the way to go. And seeing if any members of your local police forces are also cyclists whom you could invite along for training rides.


Around here paintball pistols are for some reason placed into the same general classification as firearms. Also, if some irresponsible dog owner sees you plinking at his loose dog he/she/it may return fire at you with something a bit more potent than paintballs.

Stay legal, play fair, and sometimes you just have to find a different route.

These are my public internet answers.

YMMV

I am a cyclist and a dog owner. I usually play fair.

 

[Fordy]

It's not the dogs fault

Find a better way. Maybe what you said isn't what I heard but it sounds like your anxious to go out and shoot paint balls at the first dog you see.

 

[Spunout]

Ride faster. Sorta like dog-inspired intervals.

 

[pedlfoot]

Instead of a paintball...

...try getting faster.

 

[|brake-out|]

Find a better way. Maybe what you said isn't what I heard but it sounds like your anxious to go out and shoot paint balls at the first dog you see.

No, maybe I didn't explain clearly enough. There's this one dog, who multiple riders in my area have sprayed and he still keeps chasing. It wouldn't be so bad, but he's a pretty dang fast dog and usually he's chasing when we're riding uphill. So, it's not as easy to outrun him as it is when we're going the opposite way.

I don't really want to hurt the dog, the owner, now that's another story. Ultimately my post was to figure out a way to eliminate this dog from chasing us. I won't change my route to avoid this dog, that dog doesn't pay any taxes, and I pay plenty. It's my right to ride through there anytime that I please. And my state has a leashlaw that applies throughout, whether your in the city or the county.

 

[treebound]

Short storytime.

Ride faster. Sorta like dog-inspired intervals.

I was out on a ride one weekend afternoon many years ago, riding through a residential area to avoid heavy main arterial weekend traffic. Came around a corner and saw two medium/large dogs playing in a front yard. Both dogs saw me come around the corner and immediately froze, looked at each other, then one trotted across the street and sat down in that front yard and the first dog sat down in the original front yard. Seeing the trap layed, and not wanting to play along, I just turned around and took a different street.

Either those dogs were very well trained and were just being polite and were waiting for me to ride past, or they were very well trained and were just laying in wait for me to ride past. Me, having an option, in no particular hurry, and not all that interested in finding out what those two dog's plans were, simply chose to not play with them that day.

 

[Dave Hickey]

That will really help our image............

I really hope you're not serious. Packing a paintball pistol is a good way of getting shot.

As cyclist's, we already have a tough job dealing with jerk drivers and sharing the road. Riding around shooting stray dogs is not going to help our cause any.

Out sprint him, spray him with water, or change your route but don't carry a paintball gun.

 

[benja15]

How about scented spray

you know like skunk smells, ect.

 

[|brake-out|]

That will really help our image............

I really hope you're not serious. Packing a paintball pistol is a good way of getting shot.

As cyclist's, we already have a tough job dealing with jerk drivers and sharing the road. Riding around shooting stray dogs is not going to help our cause any.

Out sprint him, spray him with water, or change your route but don't carry a paintball gun.

Oh I am serious, it has already been proven that when a cyclist is carrying a weapon of any sort, drivers give them the extra room that they need. They don't cut you close and don't mess with you at all.

A paintball pistol isn't even the same color as a real gun, so it's not going to be mistaken for a real pistol.

And I'm not riding around "shooting stray dogs". I would be protecting myself from irresponsible owners, who won't teach their dogs not to chase.

I've ridden with a lawyer who packed a .22 with rat shot, and didn't hesitate to use it when a dog came out in the middle of our pack. The dog was fine, but the owner was a little pissed off.

 

[treebound]

There's your answer, but know in advance about possible retaliation

... There's this one dog, who multiple riders in my area have sprayed and he still keeps chasing. ...

... And my state has a leashlaw that applies throughout, whether your in the city or the county.

Carry or borrow a cell phone. Next time the dog begins to chase you, as soon as it has clearly left it's property, stop, get off your bike, and once the dog has lost interest call the local authority and report a vicious dog off it's property. Do this each and every time that dog leaves its property. Have every single one of your cycling friends do this as well. And stay there until the police or animal control officers arrive and wait until they have spoken with the dog owners or posted a citation on their door.

Spraying the dog has not worked, and might have actually worsened the situation some.
The answer is in control of the animal, and that begins with the owner. If they complain then say it's for the animal's own safety, and for the safety of children in the area. If the owners are total jerks then speak with the disctict attorney's office and begin proceeding against them starting with a restraining order requiring them to keep their animal confined to their property. Escalate from there as necessary.

Document everything and every occurance. Record it as a public nusance (sp?) for the public good (gawd I hate saying that). And get your local press involved if they are sympathetic to cyclists. If not then try to keep them out of it.

But be preparred for broken beer bottles to start showing up on the route.

 

[lsnfa]

I'd go with riding faster or avoiding but...

there are a few roblem dogs on my usual route(s) as well and it's a problem as you can't always avoid this kind of confrontations.

This is probably another ridiculous idea but I thought of lighting up a M80 or something, not to hurt the dogs physically, when the dog even starts to think about chasing. They might associate cyclists with that scary big bang they remember next time they think of chasing. Like I said, probably dumb idea but sure need some kind of solution.

 

[Spunout]

Quick question: Does the dog bite you when it catches you, or just chase you and bark?

 

[|brake-out|]

Quick question: Does the dog bite you when it catches you, or just chase you and bark?

Oh this one is on my heels. If I were to stop, he would be all over me. I don't pay much attention to the dogs who just bark and have no chance of catching me, it's the big, fast ones that I don't care for....

 

[10kman]

NO Explosives.....

No shooting at the dogs, no blowing up firecrackers, nothing like that.

#1 way to stay out of trouble is to practice avoidance. If you can avoid it completely, then all the better.

#2 is to play by the rules. If all else fails, then report it to the people that can LEGALLY take care of the situation.

It sounds like this is just ONE DOG. Stay away from it for god's sake, why keep going by him??

Of course, there are dogs everywhere that like to chase bikes, but if you know of them, just stay away from them.

Squirting them with water works if you do get one of those "new" canine friends after you, aim for the face, it'll at least get them to close his eyes or turn away, then sprint. They don't have good endurance, you can beat them.

 

[lsnfa]

Weren't the friendly wagging tail ...

Quick question: Does the dog bite you when it catches you, or just chase you and bark?

and play chase kind. You get to learn the dog lingo after a while. I am not stupid enough to find out whether they were going to sink their teeth into me but once it got close and I had to put the bike between me and the dog until, luckly, the owner happened to come out and yelled at the dog. Spray doesn't do you any good if you drop it beside some dogs don't "get" it or have short memory or are stupid.

 

[|brake-out|]

No shooting at the dogs, no blowing up firecrackers, nothing like that.

#1 way to stay out of trouble is to practice avoidance. If you can avoid it completely, then all the better.

#2 is to play by the rules. If all else fails, then report it to the people that can LEGALLY take care of the situation.

It sounds like this is just ONE DOG. Stay away from it for god's sake, why keep going by him??

Of course, there are dogs everywhere that like to chase bikes, but if you know of them, just stay away from them.

Squirting them with water works if you do get one of those "new" canine friends after you, aim for the face, it'll at least get them to close his eyes or turn away, then sprint. They don't have good endurance, you can beat them.

Well, I've already posted my reasons for not avoiding this dog. I will not change one of my favorite routes because a dog owner won't comply with the rules. If I were to do this, then the dog has won.

Yeah, and they're not getting my water. Some dogs could misconstrue this as a reward for chasing.

I think most everyone who has responded to this thread doesn't bike through high dog-traffic areas. In TN, where people value their dogs more than their rebel flags, the dogs are everywhere and they roam free like cattle.

So, overall I think this post has been most effective, I'll try the paintball pistol and post my results here. If I'm lucky I'll even post some pics.....

 

[blackhat]

not smart.

don't do it. you won't teach the dog anything and you'll end up having to answer to someone at some point what you were thinking. as has been said, the best advice is to out sprint it. if you can't pull that off with regularity, either change your route or man up and ask the owner to leash the dog. the only other feasible option is to let him catch you and see what happens. I've still got 2 tooth size scars on my calf from a dog bite last december. same sort of situation, a dog I pass daily that gives chase usually. usually I drop him quick but it was cold and I was slow and didnt feel like playing and he caught me and got his shot. no hard feelings, that's what dogs do. Now, either I avoid his turf or I sprint. I'm not losing sleep about it either way.

 

[Spunout]

Zefal HPX pump. Either that, or a stick with a frame-fit mount. You'll have to have good bike handling skills as this might be like playing polo.

 

[Mel Erickson]

If this dog has been sprayed with repellent

Well, I've already posted my reasons for not avoiding this dog. I will not change one of my favorite routes because a dog owner won't comply with the rules. If I were to do this, then the dog has won.

Yeah, and they're not getting my water. Some dogs could misconstrue this as a reward for chasing.

I think most everyone who has responded to this thread doesn't bike through high dog-traffic areas. In TN, where people value their dogs more than their rebel flags, the dogs are everywhere and they roam free like cattle.

So, overall I think this post has been most effective, I'll try the paintball pistol and post my results here. If I'm lucky I'll even post some pics.....

It's highly unlikely he's going to give up because you hit him with a paint ball, that's if you can hit him. That will be very difficult. If you can do this consistently you're a very good shot. You risk involving yourself in a legal tangle that you can avoid. If you're unwilling to change your route then use some of the other legal measures to thwart this dog. If necessary get off your bike and put it between you and the dog. Call animal control, the sheriff or whatever authority has jurisdiction. Just don't shoot the dog, for your own sake.