suggestions for dealing with snarling and vicious dogs

[watgate]

On more then one occasion, while riding home on my bicycle at night ( 9 p.m.- 12 midnite) I am being attacked by dogs who are running after me with their snarling teeth ready to take a bite out of me and I am getting annoyed. I understand pepper spray is against the law but any other possible substances I could use on them to send them a message. I am almost at the point of getting a good size stick and really laying into one or more of these dogs.

[JingerBen]

Yes, "getting a good size stick" sounds sensible.

Buy yourself a stout cane and keep it handy.

[FolkGuitar]

I'm partial to the small power air horns that are used for sporting events. Many of them come with handlebar brackets, just for this purpose. If your horn 'barks' louder than the soi dogs, they tend to back off. If that fails, a small pocket-sized spray bottle with a dilute ammonia solutions works wonders...

[siam2007]

legal or not, Pepper Spray is still my favourite. the nasty vicious Soi dog around the corner won't be able to report you to the next BIB outpost.....

Edited January 31, 2015 by siam2007

[uptheos]

"On more then one occasion, while riding home on my bicycle at night ( 9 p.m.- 12 midnite)"

Will you be spraying whilst riding, beating whilst riding or will you stop to carry out the necessary?

Either way sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[Papayabokbok]

i got a extend able baton in nong khai for 100 baht

love to hear that shrook!!! when they come at me

i saw 2 dog chase a thai guy--he was teasing em all the way

they chased and barked but that was it.. rolled right by em

i simply stop and give em the stink and and turn to go after them

usuall they are like--OH S**T!! like when you used to throw a snow ball and the car STOPPED!

[cooked]

I don't think that an air horn would be suitable for late at night? A stick, as mentioned, means that you have to stop; some dogs just get more aggressive if they are in pain, and antagonising a pack isn't a good idea. http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-pepper-spray/ has instructions on making your own pepper spray.

[cardinalblue]

All you need to do is buy time for your getaway - an attachable air/fog horn will do the trick...

CB

[longstebe]

They obviously sense the fear in you.

[chingmai331]

You could rig up some small pressurized tank, fit tubes and nozzles on either side of the bike, along the rear wheel and an 'on' button near your hand. Use ammonia/water solution. But also best to identify yourself to the dogs, use a small noise maker to tell the dogs you are coming, then when they approach give them a blast of highly irritating spray. Use the noise maker again to tell them you have 'spoken'. They will learn damn fast who you are.

Also effective would be a 'cattle prod', which is a fat cane like stick loaded with many 'D' cell batteries and 2 discharge prongs on the end. When poked into the reluctant cow the electrical shock stimulates her to get up and move. A prodded dog would also move away fast but you would need to get close to the dog, which might not be so good if you miss with the prod.

[BuddhaMind]

Maybe it's me (lucky?), but whenever a soi dog has come after me/the motorbike, I just stop. They seem confused, and stop. It's never failed. So far. :-)

[aircut]

http://bicycling.about.com/od/howtoride/tp/dogs_and_bikes.htm

[MrBrad]

Maybe it's me (lucky?), but whenever a soi dog has come after me/the motorbike, I just stop. They seem confused, and stop. It's never failed. So far. :-)

I agree; stopping and getting off the bike works for me, also. So far.

Also, bending down near the side of the road to pick up a real or imagined stone, and then raising my arm as if to be ready for the throw will get them to turn tail and take cover.

Sometimes the dogs will repeat their threat after I've gotten back on the bike to continue my ride. If that's the case, I go through the process outlined above. They seem to understand that you, not they, are the alpha dog, and you're not gonna take any shit from them.

[TheFishman1]

I feed them after just two feedings when they see me they greet me with tails waging seems to have stopped the problem but I am a Dog lover try spelling Dog backwards

[sfokevin]

Their instinct is to run after moving prey... Stopping and facing them usually confuses and scares them... Get your self a one meter long bamboo whip stick... Go after them a couple time and they will learn you are more trouble than your worth...

[hmficc]

i got a extend able baton in nong khai for 100 baht

love to hear that shrook!!! when they come at me

i saw 2 dog chase a thai guy--he was teasing em all the way

they chased and barked but that was it.. rolled right by em

i simply stop and give em the stink and and turn to go after them

Is "give em the stink" the same as breaking wind?

[ThePlant]

Four step plan for getting to know your local dogs.

1) Maybe take a moment to get out of your filthy reeking lycra, get off your boneshaker. Look the hound in the eye.

2) Offer a bit of love to the beast. It is the one thing we humans have in bundles.

3) Buy some doggie snacks.

4) Grow some testicles

[vagabond48]

Whenever I am on my bicycle and dogs start to bark and chase me, I first begin to bark back ( I was probably a canine in a former life) and raise my very handy and convenient arm (that's my natural big stick) that startles them and they usually back off.

[umbanda]

I had the same problem..with bad consequences, until I become a farang skunk, having on my bike basket a sprayer of toilette cleaner.....After spraying them few times they started looking at me with respect....and confusion.

[uptheos]

You could rig up some small pressurized tank, fit tubes and nozzles on either side of the bike, along the rear wheel and an 'on' button near your hand. Use ammonia/water solution. But also best to identify yourself to the dogs, use a small noise maker to tell the dogs you are coming, then when they approach give them a blast of highly irritating spray. Use the noise maker again to tell them you have 'spoken'. They will learn damn fast who you are.

Also effective would be a 'cattle prod', which is a fat cane like stick loaded with many 'D' cell batteries and 2 discharge prongs on the end. When poked into the reluctant cow the electrical shock stimulates her to get up and move. A prodded dog would also move away fast but you would need to get close to the dog, which might not be so good if you miss with the prod.

Aah the joys of a nice bicycle ride.

[Chiengmaijoe]

I feed them after just two feedings when they see me they greet me with tails waging seems to have stopped the problem but I am a Dog lover try spelling Dog backwards

You think you're God? Dogs are Gods? God is a dog? I'm confused. Try spelling Fish backwards or better still duck-billed platypus.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Chiengmaijoe

[Chiengmaijoe]

I had the same problem..with bad consequences, until I become a farang skunk, having on my bike basket a sprayer of toilette cleaner.....After spraying them few times they started looking at me with respect....and confusion.

A father beating his child, a gang-leader being violent or a person spraying chemicals onto a dog don't earn Respect, they earn Fear. At your age, and as a teacher, you should know the difference. Plenty of my teachers didn't either.

[leo202]

Make a steel frame that can bolt onto the frame of your bike and cover it with chicken wire, put a door so you can get in and out and your problem is solved.

[nicksal37]

uptheos

Will you be spraying whilst riding, beating whilst riding or will you stop to carry out the necessary?

Either way sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Wow I do love Thaivisa when I read replies like this! I don't think the OP wants to be bitten!

I think a bamboo cane is enough to ward them off if you can work out who is the leader of the pack.

[Chiengmaijoe]

A dog with some Mastiff blood was trying to take over my Wong Amat beach dog's 'turf'. I stood and stared, whilst thinking that I would palm strike him if he lunged, at the growling interloper. This went on for a minute, then he just turned and ran like hell. He was bluffing! Dogs can read emotions, so - in confrontations - it is best to be strong; however, love kindness, and yummy meat treats will win them over under normal circumstances.

I agree, I sometimes feed the soi dogs so they come running to me wagging their tail in expectation, but if I'm confronted by an unfamiliar aggressive dog I give it one of my looks and that usually works.

[leo202]

A dog with some Mastiff blood was trying to take over my Wong Amat beach dog's 'turf'. I stood and stared, whilst thinking that I would palm strike him if he lunged, at the growling interloper. This went on for a minute, then he just turned and ran like hell. He was bluffing! Dogs can read emotions, so - in confrontations - it is best to be strong; however, love kindness, and yummy meat treats will win them over under normal circumstances.

I agree, I sometimes feed the soi dogs so they come running to me wagging their tail in expectation, but if I'm confronted by an unfamiliar aggressive dog I give it one of my looks and that usually works.

That is the best way to deal with the soi dogs. If your cycling at midnight your gonna get chased.

[PHP87]

There are "Dog Repellant" Apps for both iOS and Android phones. They put out a barely audible sound that most humans, especially adults, cannot hear.

But it works on Dogs as I used it on my nightly walks here in the States and it turns even aggressive Pits and Rotty's into passive, non-threatening dogs although there are 4 settings I find that setting #2 works best on the app I have.

Try different free apps and settings to see what works best for you.

There are also "Mosquito Repellant" apps available that are highly rated and might be worth a try.

I believe they are a free D/L from the Google Play Store. Not sure about iTunes though as I dumped my iPhone a few years ago for an Android based device.

You can also try some small firecrackers known as "ladyfingers" in the States. My Brother has a Jacuzzi and a large screen LCD TV in his yard and likes to relax in his yard after work and he has an annoying neighbor dog that the owner puts in the yard when the goes out to run errands and the dog barks incessantly.

My Brother will light one and toss it over the fence and the bang will silence the dog for about 20-30 minutes.

Might not be practical while riding a bike, but a similar idea that makes a startling sound, even a short blast from an air horn as mentioned above might do the trick.

You can always by some inexpensive doggy treats and keep them in a pocket of a little container that's easily within reach and toss them over your shoulder if the dogs chase you.

Edited February 1, 2015 by PHP87

[WheresWaldo]

I'm partial to eliminating the problem. Vicious dogs have no business patrolling the streets and harassing the public. In the West, these dogs would be rounded up and euthanized. Here, you have no choice but to take matters into your own hands.

Get yourself some carbofuran (a powerful granular insecticide of the carbamate family), some ground pork and a fannypack. Make up some meatballs with the carbofuran (the canine LD50 is 19mg/kg), put them each in a plastic bag and into your fanny pack. Whenever one of these bastards comes snarling at you, just surreptitiously slip a meatball out of your fanny pack and let it fall to the ground. The sonuvabitch won't bother you the next time you ride by.

[longstebe]

I'm partial to eliminating the problem. Vicious dogs have no business patrolling the streets and harassing the public. In the West, these dogs would be rounded up and euthanized. Here, you have no choice but to take matters into your own hands.

Get yourself some carbofuran (a powerful granular insecticide of the carbamate family), some ground pork and a fannypack. Make up some meatballs with the carbofuran (the canine LD50 is 19mg/kg), put them each in a plastic bag and into your fanny pack. Whenever one of these bastards comes snarling at you, just surreptitiously slip a meatball out of your fanny pack and let it fall to the ground. The sonuvabitch won't bother you the next time you ride by.

Have you actually done this before?

[WheresWaldo]

I'm partial to eliminating the problem. Vicious dogs have no business patrolling the streets and harassing the public. In the West, these dogs would be rounded up and euthanized. Here, you have no choice but to take matters into your own hands.

Get yourself some carbofuran (a powerful granular insecticide of the carbamate family), some ground pork and a fannypack. Make up some meatballs with the carbofuran (the canine LD50 is 19mg/kg), put them each in a plastic bag and into your fanny pack. Whenever one of these bastards comes snarling at you, just surreptitiously slip a meatball out of your fanny pack and let it fall to the ground. The sonuvabitch won't bother you the next time you ride by.

Have you actually done this before?

Since I am American, I'll take the Fifth.

Edit: Okay, I won't take the Fifth. No, I haven't, but I would not hesitate to do it in the case of a completely incorrigible mutt on regular route.

I saw your earlier comment: "They obviously sense fear in you." There is a lot of truth in that. I do not fear dogs and they seldom mess with me. Even when they do, I turn and make direct eye contact that says "I'll tear you f'ing head off," and they almost always back away. If that doesn't work, I jump off the bike and run at them screaming like a wild man and they always turn tail and run yipping in fear.

I've known people to carry sticks, as suggested herein; I have never had to. And the people I have known to carry sticks always seem to have an unusually large number of dogs harassing them. They must be scared shitless, because it doesn't happen to me.

It is very rare that I encounter one that doesn't back off. My wife, on the other hand, is afraid of dogs and nearly every dog in the neighborhood will come running out to bark or snarl at her as she passes. (She was mauled a as small child.)

But fear is fear. You can't tell somebody, "Don't be afraid." Fear is not a voluntary response. So if you are scared shitless and the dogs are trying to bite you, try the meatballs.

Edited February 2, 2015 by WheresWaldo