I carry pepper spray. I've come close to using it a couple times. Sometimes it can be hard to tell a dumb dog, that's just chasing and barking at you, from an agressive dog. I'd hate to spray a dumb dog myself.[-X I've been thinking about getting an air horn. Something like one of these 2. The second one, the can, is probably too bulky. I figure I'd rather give um a good scare than hurt um. I just don't know if it would really be effective or not. Amazon.com: SeaSense Safety Blaster Horn, Sounding Devices, Boating Safety: Sports & Outdoors Amazon.com: SeaSense Air Horn- 1.4oz., Sounding Devices, Boating Safety: Sports & Outdoors
I called animal control. You think I need to make a separate police report, too? Wouldn't animal control notify the cops? Animal control told me they were going to send someone out to quarantine the animal for rabies testing. They said I should call back in 11 days to find out what happened. I guess at that point I would get a rabies shot. I don't think docs give the rabies treatment unless they either can't figure out if the animal had rabies or if they know it did. I did a websearch real quick and it indicated that a course of wide spectrum antibiotics might be given prophylactically (don't even bother with the prophylactic jokes, I already thought of them) but that's it. So, I washed it really super well and smeared it with neosporin twice now. Gots me a good gauze bandage on there too. If someone knows differently, let me know. I don't relish the idea of sitting in the waiting room of the local Urgent Care around all the disease vectors just to have them tell me to keep doing what I'm doing.
Ya, but I don't want or need to be nipped or have the stupid thing get in between my wheels and cause me to crash or knock me over--whch is what it did to my dad once.
Zillow - Your Edge in Real Estate is a great site I use to track down addresses where I run into problems. It is like google maps, but you can get actual addresses. As a bonus, you know how deep their pockets are. I carry a knife, but I don't think I could bring myself to use it. I've wondered about using a personal defense siren (pull rip-cord for loud siren), or pepper spray. Gurp, the dog owners are on the hook for all your medical bills. Those pictures look bad to me, but a quick search of WebMD.com seems to say that you're OK without going to the Dr. Animal and Human Bites -- Check Your Symptoms
I rode bikes in rural Minnesota for years and never had a ride where I wasn't chased by a farmers dog. The best thing to do to stop a chasing dog dead in his tracks is to squirt them in the face with your water bottle (doesn't matter what is in it). I've used the technique here in California a few times with success as well (Minnesota was 19 years ago).
Dude I am really bummed to hear that, I hope you heal up good. Dogs make great pets and all, but nasty unkept lose dogs are just headaches. A trick I learned in New Zealand is that you keep riding and start barking at them and which ever side they are on slowly drift to that side, soon enough they are too busy trying to bite you to notice that you've put them in a collision course with A) a bumper/tailpipe -OR- B) On comming triffic sounds mean, but if they've done it once they'll do it again, I'm just glad it was me and not some poor kid thinking the 'puppy' wanted to play
Thanks, Winger. I'm keeping a close eye on it. It's still tender but doesn't look very badly bruised or swollen. The gauze pad I took off this morning had some blood on it, but not a lot. I had slept with it on, so it was on for a long time. I washed it again this morning and applied more neosporin with a fresh gauze. I was going to use that water bottle trick the second time he came at me, Pakiha, but it's hard to get the bottle out and open with a dog coming at you! LOL! I'd heard of that but it just didn't happen for me. Oh well. I had cold coffee in the bottle so it would have been funny to hit him in the face with it. Good advice, though. I'll try to think faster next time.
ouch. Gurp suggest next time you do a Garp (as in world according to) and bite the dog back :lol: heal up and watch that thing for infection
Yee Yikes! Glad yer okay... I've been chased 3 times and bitten twice while running, nothing like being hunted! The last time I got bit I got a tetness (sp?) shot, I also filed a report with animal control of Burbank. The doc I went to see treats dog bite victims and then follows up with quarantine of the offending dog, they also check out the owner to see if they keep their animal up to date with shots. Not sure what San Berdo does... Leave the sticks and pumps alone, pepper spray all the way. You can loose control while lining up your swing and crash, and then the dog will have it's time with you on the ground! The best is to treat the situation like a mountain lion attack if you can't build speed to outrun a dog, get that bike between you and it and let loose with the spray. My girlfriend has a 130lb. American pitbull terrier, it completely changed my attitude about pitbulls being vicious, not an angry bone in his body. Irresponsible owners = aggresive dogs. I hope you heal up soon!
True dat- except I prefer 1911s Only problem is that you need a CCW permit. And hanging one on your hip tends to make the local constabulary jealous, scared and aggressive (picture a dood in lycra with a pistol on his hip! ) I like the "frame pump" idea. In fact you could actually use a practice bokken from Cold Steel Inc., cut it to fit your top tube and that would work. The Polycarbonate ones are lighter than wood, and pretty much indestructible. Might be better than a broom handle. Pepper spray can be had for about $16 up to $40. I suggest a small can of Sabre police strength. If you go out of state you can get military strength pepper mixed with CS (tear) gas or real Mace, but technically you need a permit to carry it. I am thinking of installing a small can on my handlebars or under my top tube for easy access A thing about knives- I usually carry a swiss army one-hand trekker in my pack for utility purposes. The problem with knives and using them for defense is that unless you know what you are doing and know how to handle a knife you run a bigger chance of hurting yourself and being lulled into a false sense of security. On the other side of the coin, knives are more effective than guns up close. In close quarters combat training the 21 foot rule is learned. That being that if a guy with a knife and a guy with a gun face off and they are within 21 feet of each other, the knife usually wins. (The case being that by the time the Gunman can clear his weapon from the holster, aim, and fire the knife guy has already closed the distance between the two, drawing his knife while moving, and already stabbed the gunman at least once) That being said here are some tips for knife carry for defense. 1. Pick the correct tool. If you are carrying a blade for self-defense, choose accordingly. Small swiss army knives aren't a good choice. Neither are massive folders that take 15 seconds to get out of your pocket. Pick a one hand opening knife, with a locking blade, that is 3.5-4.25 inches long, blade length. Make sure the handle is ergonimic for slicing and stabbing in both tip up and down positions. (Having your hand slide down onto the blade during a stab is bad juju. You are guarantted to sever tendons) Choose either a clip, spear or tanto point. I recommend: CRKT M-16-14 or -04, Spyderco Police model with G-10 scales, SOG Vision or X-Ray vision or Pentagon I, Cold Steel Recon I or Voyager. 2. Take a course on Knife fighting and defense. Barring that at least know the physiology of what is attacking you. If you slice a pit bull's throat it will continue to bite down until it bleeds out, however if you perform a hard vertical stab into it's spine just behind the skill it will paralyze it allowing you to get the jaws off easily. Don't try to stab downward directly into the skull. Skulls are hard and unless you are lucky and hit a suture in the skull or the skull is exactly flat, the blade will probably deflect off the bone and either piss the dog off more or go into your own leg. Instead an upward stab midway between the lower jaw and the spine where the skull is the softest will allow the blade to penetrate into the brain and shut down the nerve centers. 3. Keep it handy. Just because you have a knife doesn't mean doggy will stop and let you get it out. So carrying it in your bag is useless, defensively. Instead, hang it on your camel back shoulder strap opposite your dominant arm. Or secure it to your bike frame. Or hang it on your waist strap. Practice getting your hand to the knife, getting it unfolded and ready to do business. Also practice with your non-dominant arm a little just in case. Practice switching from a tip up hold to a tip down hold and back. Dropping your knife when you need it most is not good. 4. Maintain your equipment. Remember to clean and oil your knife to ensure smooth action and less rust. Ensure the blade is sharp! I mean razor sharp! If you do notr know how to sharpen a knife, PM me and I can teach you or take it to a knife shop where they charge $5 for shapening services 5. If you have a choice between getting in a knife fight and running away, run away. Or pedal away. These tips are last ditch, the dog has a hold of my leg tips, not HeMan-Rambo-Terminator tips Obviously it is safer to carry pepper/mace than a knife for self defense. But for utility a knife is a good idea Ok, I'm done. Sorry it ran so long and if anyone has questions please ask And get well soon, Mr. Gurp. Sorry you got nabbed
You wanna join my riding group as the official bouncer? Those are some great tips. My biggest concern about carrying a knife on me is that I'm going to stab myself. I figure the chances of me falling and doing some crazy endo and having the knife open are greater than getting attacked on the trail.
Dogs aren't really too hard to get off of you if you know what you are doing. They are really good heat exchangers. They have a pocket of air next to their brain so that when they pant it circulates that air and cools them down. Well, if they lock down on you are anything just take your first and hit them on the head as hard as you can and if you hit them hard enough, I guess it knocks that air out and they will die. I have actually just heard that hitting them on the head would kill them, I haven't tried it. Never had a dog bite....yet and it's not something I want to go outside and try on my dog.
I've personally had to hit my dog in the head with a bat and it didn't phase here. When she got a cat, she got a cat, and nothing I mean nothing was going to make her let go ( well, maybe another cat).
Nope. I am not sure where you heard this but unless you hit the dog hard enough with a large blunt object to shatter the skull the dog isn't going to die. On the 15th of this month a man had his hand ripped off and was mauled in the groin, arm and ear. Several people were hitting the dog to get it off, some with baseball bat sized sticks. The dog didn't let go until it wanted to. I do have to say this... It is too bad that the dog has to suffer because if the owners negligence. The Pit Bull breed has been so inbred that it can and has snapped and attacked people. Additionally it is usually the owner who forgets to close the gate, or use a leash, or forgets that kicking your dog after you had a bad day makes a mean dog. Personally I feel sorry for the victims (of course) but also for the dogs, because it is the dog that gets killed either during or after the attack, but the owner will probably just buy another
*Update* I went to the Urgent Care today to have the bite looked at. It's still been oozing and whatnot but doesn't look infected, per se. The doctor said to keep cleaning it and put neosporin on it. But, interestingly, he said NOT to put a bandage on it. He said the bacteria in it was anaerobic and that it should be exposed to air. I get what he's saying but it seems like a bad idea to have my pants leg rubbing against it all day. So, I'm going to compromise and stop putting big gauze pads on it and instead put "breathable" band-aids. I also got a tetanus shot today. I wish it would heal, though. I haven't been riding because I don't want to get it all dirty. Oh yeah, anyone know a good place to buy pepper spray?
