Mr Rhode Island Red Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Yesterday while I was out for a cycle around my local area, everything was going nice and smoothly, when this seemingly viscous dog ran out onto the road and chased me determinately for what seemed like an eternity. I, out of pure fear, just gave it the beans and cycled as fast as I could. Even after he left though, I was paranoid as I passed every single house that a dog was going to chase me. My question is, what is the best thing to do when you are being chased by a dog? I have heard that actually the worst thing you can do is run (or cycle) away. But is any of that true? People say that dogs are into body language in a big way and just turning to face them can send them running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy049 Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I've heard too that you shouldn't run away, although if a dog was chasing me I would run (or bike) away as fast I can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Personally, I have always turned to face them and said loudly and sternly "BACK" and pointed away from me. This has always worked for me, but I'm a huge dog fan and fully appreciate that not everyone would feel comfortable with this approach. Generally I think dogs like chasing things and something running away is a good excuse for a game - clearly owners should not allow their dogs to chase innocent members of the public anyway, but that's another story... ( would just add not to stare a dog straight in the eye under these circumstancesas this may be taken as aggressive and could prompt an aggressive response) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Dogs do have a tendency to chase anything that runs and so running (or cycling) is not always the best idea. Dogs will often respond to being eye balled and being 'growled' at or given a gruff command like 'Go Away' or 'Sit Down' or just an 'Oi' This by no means will work on some of the dogs running riot around the place now though. I might well have cycled away as fast as I could too. I would try and find out who the dog belonged to so that I could either have a word or report the incident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I used to have a dog who was terrible for chasing cyclists - not cyclists out for a gentle pedal, but those sort of hard core off road mountain biker types, hell bent on going as fast as possible regardless of how many people were around. We would always keep her on lead in the park when bikers were around, but the problem with them was they would be going so fast (and quietly) that they would be upon us before we saw them coming and Bramble would just go tearing off after them with the cyclists leaving a trail of expletives in their wake. We weren't the only ones to have this problem - the cyclists said "dogs should be on a lead", many dog walkers said "it would be helpful if cyclists slowed down when approaching people" (with or without dogs and bearing in mind this was a public park for use by everyone). With the cyclists that did slow down or stop, Bramble would immediately lose interest in them, but those that kept on going - so would she ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Dogs do have a tendency to chase anything that runs and so running (or cycling) is not always the best idea. Dogs will often respond to being eye balled and being 'growled' at or given a gruff command like 'Go Away' or 'Sit Down' or just an 'Oi' This by no means will work on some of the dogs running riot around the place now though. I might well have cycled away as fast as I could too. I would try and find out who the dog belonged to so that I could either have a word or report the incident. I agree. That must have been frightening for you. A dog came after and had a go at Cyrus while he was on the lead in the park the other day - I think he generally exudes a sense of terror so is a bit of a target - I shoved Cyrus, who was whimpering, behind me and shouted the dog down until its owner caught up. I totally understand that not everyone is comfortable doing this though and i would have thought twice if the dog was any bigger. Dogs should be either on lead or under control in public places; being charitable, the owner of 'your' dog may not have realised that it had escaped but if that was me, I'd report it to the local dog warden (via your council) as the next person it chased might be a child or a less fast cyclist than you. My Ruby used to chase bikes when she was a pup and I was still perfecting her recall; I worked on her recall more and got a cyclist friend to ride through our park and to shout/growl loudly at her if she chased him - worked really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilda-and-evadne Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 My question is, what is the best thing to do when you are being chased by a dog? Turn your back and keep turning your back to the dog. Keep your hands up and near your body so that the dog cannot bite them (could result in severed fingers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 We used to live in France and I have to admit being chased by dogs was a common hazard as so many people in rural areas have them as guard dogs. Sometimes they clipped their ears which makes them look even more ferocious and in fact one of our neighbours had one that we nicknamed 'Devil Dog'; it was truly terrifying. OH who is a keen cyclist even had a map with dog-hazards marked on it We both used to just cycle away as fast as we could, and seeing he was much quicker than me I always felt like my role was to be the tasty morsel Once, I was out on my own when 2 dogs shot into the road and barked at me. Without thinking I stopped, turned round and shouted Shoo at them. Of course, to a French passerby this would have sounded like Chou. So I was standing in the middle of the road shouting Cabbage at a dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I run classes for children (and adults!) afraid of dogs and the advice i give is to stand very still - do not run nor cycle - you will never out run/cycle the dog - put your hands up under your armpits and stand up straight and tall and say 'NOOOOOOO' in a very deep voice - dont make direct eye contact with the dog - just appear larger and taller than you are. Dont turn your back on the dog though...you want to see exactly what he/she is doing. Remain standing still with your hands tucked away until the dog wanders off. if the dog begins jumping up at you - remain tall, keep saying no - DONT SCREAM and lift you knee to deflect the dog getting near your face and neck. You can practice this (probably in private is best!!) and it does work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
