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Dog attacks while riding two wheelers.

I talked to animal control office today and learned what options I have where I live. Any compensation or damages sought for the past dog attack would need to be brought up as a civil matter. Dog owner is presently not not being charged, however they could be in the future if offenses repeat. Dog owner was in violation of “leash law” by allowing their dogs to enter the public roadway. The attacking dog is in quarantine for 10 days and owner must take it to a vet for checkup at the end of the quarantine period. I will supposedly be notified if it is found I am in danger from an infectious disease.

My option(s) for future incidents are: when and only when the dog(s) leave their private property and enter the public roadway, I am justified in using whatever means to ward off an imminent or potential dog attack. So my present task is to gather defensive gear and mount it to the 2-wheel machines or carry it with me while on rides. Suggestions given in this thread are helpful ideas. Thank you.
 
Hi Greg. As I think you know, I am very familiar with defensive weapons. Bear or pepper spray will likely be effective but it comes with risk. First, if you are using an atomized spray there is a high risk of self administration or administration to an unintended subject ( your wife behind you). Delivery of the agent in a stream pattern reduces the risk, foam further reduces the risk of unintended administration. If you choose this approach, understand each has benefits and risks. With any choice, you should be aware of wind conditions before discharging the chemical agent. Personally, this is a solution I would consider but I’ve trained with it for decades. This is a challenging solution to use on multiple targets coming from different directions especially, if you have to adjust your position to avoid self administration.

I would also consider a collapsible baton, such as an Asp. However, if you go this route do not buy cheap knock offs. Most knock offs rust, fail to deploy, or fail to retract. Train with it if you go this route and make sure you consistently make contact with the target with last couple of inches of the baton.

Though I almost always carry a firearm, and it certainly would be effective, it would require substantial training and always introduces risks that may not be worth it to the untrained.

Unfortunately, I have used all three solutions on vicious animals over my career. Each of them were effective, but I had access to the right choice for the conditions on my belt and trained monthly on each.
 
mzflorida said:
I forgot to send well wishes for a speedy recovery. Animal attacks can also be very frightening. Hope all is well.
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Thanks. It’s been a week since the dog bite. The “fang” puncture marks are slowly fading but bruising is still evident and the area is tender.

I had another motorcycle/dog incident last Sunday, making it the third in five days. This time I’m on the Goldwing alone. I’m on a 1.5 lane country road and I noticed ahead a jogging female cross from running on the left side of the road over to the right. I wonder why, and then I see a medium size dog in the brush along the left side of the road. The dog appeared to be staying stationary and quiet, not chasing the jogger, so I moved to the left to get safely around the jogger. Just then the dog darts in the roadway directly in front of me. I panic stopped the Goldwing hard, while then the dog’s apparent owner appears from through the brush, sees the situation, and is corralling the dog and mouthing sorry, sorry, sorry (I’m wearing ear plugs). I realize I‘m now dead stopped in the left half of the road with a blind curve a ways ahead of me that could bring oncoming traffic. I thought ”I’ve had enough of this crap” and blasted my way out of the mess and around the curve, shaking my head.

The dog owner is in violation of the “leash law” by allowing their dog on the roadway, but nobody cares.
 
670cc said:
Thanks. It’s been a week since the dog bite. The “fang” puncture marks are slowly fading but bruising is still evident and the area is tender.

I had another motorcycle/dog incident last Sunday, making it the third in five days. This time I’m on the Goldwing alone. I’m on a 1.5 lane country road and I noticed ahead a jogging female cross from running on the left side of the road over to the right. I wonder why, and then I see a medium size dog in the brush along the left side of the road. The dog appeared to be staying stationary and quiet, so I moved to the left to get safely around the jogger. Just then the dog darts in the roadway directly in front of me. I panic stopped the Goldwing hard, while then the dog owner appears from through the brush, sees the situation, and is corralling the dog and mouthing sorry, sorry, sorry (I’m wearing ear plugs). I realize I‘m now dead stopped in the left half of the road with a blind curve ahead of me that could bring oncoming traffic. I thought ”I’ve had enough of this crap” and blasted my way out of the mess and around the curve, shaking my head.

The dog owner is in violation of the “leash law” by allowing their dog on the roadway, but nobody cares.
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Geesh. Are you driving around with raw steaks or something? Kidding aside, nobody cares to be around untrained dogs. And you are correct, nobody cares about leash laws. Our dog is gentle and well trained. We still leash him except in the backyard.

Glad you are healing up
 
I'll second the notion that kicking the dog requires you to be in control of the bike and ready for the reactive force. Not impossible, but also opens up the possibility of a wreck. Also, everything MZF said about bear spray. In either case, the potential outcomes include a certain amount of risk. Collapsible batons are highly effective, but require at least adequate training to deploy, and requires the offender to be up close and personal. Same for kicking the dog.
Similar to any defensive situation, you have to think through possibilities ahead of time and consider possible actions/outcomes. That way when the time comes again you'll spend less time thinking and more time reacting.
For me in those situations: my first go to is the horn. It's already there, easy to deploy and has zero additional risk. Loud horns save lives. ;)
Failing that, if possible find a way to keep the bike between you and the dog. If it's in front of you, that means you aim right for it. If behind, then gas and go. If beside, then that riding boot on your foot will take a bite better than anything else on your leg.
 
Based on past encounters, and this latest one, the meep meep stock horn of the scooters seems to aggravate the dog and may it more likely to attack. I think the post #2 suggestion of an air horn, right in the dog’s ear, has the potential to be effective. I used them 50 years ago while bicycle riding.
 
Rabbit said:
Had a thought, maybe you could ask you local post office how they handle dogs. They should definitely have some experience
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Local postal delivery is all done by car/van/SUV. They are well protected.
 
I guess I should have spelled it out a bit better: Upgrade the stock horn to something with a little more oomph. That way you don't have to remove your hands from the controls to activate it. A handheld air horn is loud, no doubt. But requires at least one hand off the controls during what is likely a stressful encounter. Lots of options out there for upgrades.
 
skills4lou said:
I guess I should have spelled it out a bit better: Upgrade the stock horn to something with a little more oomph. That way you don't have to remove your hands from the controls to activate it. A handheld air horn is loud, no doubt. But requires at least one hand off the controls during what is likely a stressful encounter. Lots of options out there for upgrades.
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The Ruckus has a relatively small 6ah battery. I’ll need to do some research to see how large of a horn that could operate. Maybe if a relay temporarily disconnected the lights, a big horn could get enough current.
 
I've had this horn on my bike for about 2 years (Wolo Big Bad Max) and it's effective for the two small dogs in my neighborhood that have chased me, and for deer and other critters on the side of the road. It takes a little finagling to mount it because it's considerable larger than the stock horn, but it's do-able.

Demo
 
Dog attacks making headlines in the UK at the moment. Some brute breed called an XL Bully has been attacking and killing people. Set to be banned by the end of the year.
 
jeremyr62 said:
Dog attacks making headlines in the UK at the moment. Some brute breed called an XL Bully has been attacking and killing people. Set to be banned by the end of the year.
Click to expand...
XL Bully... American bred cross between an American Pit Bull Terrier (aka Pitbull) and an American Staffordshire terrier
 
davidc83 said:
Bass pro sells a collapsible walking stick which is also a stun gun. One touch with the stun probe and the dog will scramble. Made for people who walk trails but don't want to lethal carry.
Click to expand...
These could be a good option, and they advertise a lot of volts, but they probably don't have enough charge (volts are not the only factor, there are only a couple of milliamps in these devices) or allow for a spread wide enough to be incapacitating. They might work or they might deliver bee sting like discomfort. In my opinion, if an electric shock solution is going to be considered, a product like Axion's Taser is a great option. I'll try to find the video of me being tased in training. I was pretty bulked up with muscle at the time. Took me down like a sack of potatoes (we had others preventing me from falling but you get the drift). In the two states where I was a cop, we were limited to administering 3 five second "rides." After that we had to move to drive stuns or other less lethal options. On my five second rides, it was entirely incapacitating. The civilian models deliver 30 second rides...cringe at the thought!

https://taser.com/ if you are interested. Axion has a very generous veterans discount, I think I received $100.00 off the bolt 2 for my wife. Interestingly enough, I purchased it because our dog was attacked by two neighbor dogs from across the street and she walks miles every morning.
 
I've been chased by lots of dogs because my home town never enforced leash laws. Same with the next town I lived in. I learned that a baseball bat to the head will stop a 150 pound dog trying to kill my dog but I was standing not riding a bicycle. Pepper spray works great. I've used it many times on foot or on my bicycle but bear spray would likely be better. It's usually stronger & has a longer, wider stream that lasts longer. My plan B is a 9mm but I haven't needed it so far.
 
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