CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting

today's rubbish dog-handling

(217 posts)

1…678

  1. Greenroofer
    Member

    @algo - I had a similar experience with two red setters barking in the face of a three year-old miniGreenroofer and leaping up on me smearing mud on me. A similar request for the owner to control her dog was met with lots of effing and blinding and observations that 'You're not a dog owner, you wouldn't understand, it's what they do'.

    Most people aren't selfish idiots. Some people are selfish idiots, and some of them drive cars, some ride bikes and some own dogs. There's no point trying to reason with them, but it's depressing and stressful when their world collides forcefully with yours.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  2. Frenchy
    Member

    Very sorry to hear that.

    "My dog wouldn't hurt anyone" - genuine question - how do I know that about a barking dog running full pelt at my kids?

    Nigh on impossible to tell. I've seen plenty of barking dogs come running up to mine wanting to play, and a (far smaller) number come running up wanting to not play. Even my dogs (who speak dog) don't always know which is which.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  3. algo
    Member

    Thanks all for the kind comments - excellent observation @greenroofer. I'm not denying I was shouting and stressed and could have handled it all better.

    @Frenchy - thanks. Do your dogs do private dog lessons at all? I feel had I been able to speak dog I could at least have circumvented the need to converse with the owner who only spoke rule two - which I am proficient in, but reluctant to flaunt my fluency in front of the children.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  4. Frenchy
    Member

    Unfortunately they refuse to teach us anything, pointing out that they are retired.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  5. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @algo

    I went through a patch of canine aggression when running a few years back so bad that I seriously contemplated purchasing an object in France which is not allowed here. It culminated in a Great Dane the size of a donkey dragging its owner down Craiglockhart Hill as it pursued me.

    I find it hard to see why large dogs are allowed off leads in public spaces sometimes. They can be utterly terrifying and there seems to be little recourse when they cause trouble.

    Today I got snapped or barked at by four dogs in the space of an hour and twenty minutes running. All of the owners were smiling. I wasn't.

    I really hope you and the girls are well.

    various kind people who.....held the woman back

    This suggests a psychiatric problem with the woman, played out through the medium of her dog.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  6. gembo
    Member

    We are all now just a couple of clicks away from conflict in a small way all the time in our lives. Heightened on commutes and other shared use path activity

    On my commute of late I have had countless dogs just walk right in front of me. Fortunately I have slowed right down as I have learnt which dog owners on the WoL have trained their dogs so they can be off the leash on a shared use path and which are just taking them out for a walk. This culminated last week with me braking and then having to turn the front wheel so the dog did not walk into my bike. All the owners have said sorry. I have said nothing. But I know how nasty it could get if I hit a dog. This would then all be my fault.

    From the dog walkers point of view they are walking on the path and terrible cyclists are bombing past them.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  7. algo
    Member

    Thanks for all the empathetic comments - @IWRATS had I been able to predict the evident mental condition I certainly would not have been so shouty.

    As an antidote - here is the next morning...

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Video Plugins

    Posted 5 years ago #

  8. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Glorious bit of overlanding.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  9. acsimpson
    Member

    @algo, I'm glad you're recovering. My 3 year old has a fear of dogs and at times I find myself wondering about the ethics of a pre-emptive kick to approaching dogs in order to defend her. The worst ones are the ones which have owners who let them jump up on strangers while lecturing children about how you need to speak to the owner before patting an unknown dog.

    It's not a line of thought I like to find myself having but suspect it's only natural as a parent.

    If yappy-dogs run at my bike I continue riding and hope they give up before running under my wheel. I don't want to stop and have my ankle chewed.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  10. gembo
    Member

    We had five dogs running at us in the woods above Balerno this afternoon. My son now 18 slightly wary with me in the front. I used to have a fear of dogs when a big Alsatian jumped on me when I was a young boy but I am largely ok with them now. Don't stop to say hello Esker (first dog, red setter) was what the unconcerned dog walkers said, quite overgrown up there so doubt they meet many other folk. She repeated this instruction to the next dog too.

    You see the thing is dogs have no developed frontal cortex and they have not acquired the
    Capacity to understand language. Indeed Esker is one stupid name for a dog as they respond better to Eeee sounds so Kerry or Skerry or even Eskerree

    I am like five. Is that it? They just ignored me. The dog walkers, ignored me I mean, the dogs were a bit jumpy up but mostly happy. Running at you through dense vegetation would unnerve the old and the young for sure so you do wonder about the mental capacity of the dog walkers?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  11. davey2wheels
    Member

    @gembo
    A mate and I regularly cycle the towpath and WoL path to the Pentlands.
    Situations with dogs on the paths could be extremely annoying but long ago we decided that lack of awareness or consideration of others was not going to spoil our enjoyment.

    We ring our bells early and repeat if no reaction. Everybody gets a "cheers" or "thank you", even the bad handlers though I suspect the sarcasm is lost. Good handling also gets a smile.
    Like you, we've learned to recognise when to slow to the appropriate speed and be ready to stop. Tip for others, you do not swerve, you want to do straight line controlled braking.

    We've had a few dogs walk in front of us, owners have been apologetic, to which I reply "No problem, only one of use needs to look where we are going" and continue on our way.

    I'm not nervous about dogs, even the big ones, but if there was to be a confrontation I'd get off with the bike between me and the dog and be ready to swing it.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  12. gembo
    Member

    @daveytwowheels yes I am going down it in a minute to pick up my old boss who bought a croix de fer on my advice when he retired which arrived Monday. Then we will go back up it to my house then I will take him home again and come back so going to meet a lot of doggies. Path quite gravelly just now due to the heavy rains.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  13. Frenchy
    Member

    In Burdiehouse Burn Park this morning:

    Person 1 is walking two small dogs, both on leads and under close control.
    Person 2 is holding a lead whilst their spaniel runs after the other two dogs. Despite calls from Person 2, the spaniel isn't coming back to them.

    Person 2: "If you stop walking I could catch up with him."
    Person 1: "If you start running you'd catch up with him."

    Person 3 was unable to stop themselves from laughing out loud.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  14. gembo
    Member

    Score was 34 good dogs 30 off leash. 3 dogs wandering in front of me. I was going fairly slowly on two legs and slowing down on the other two legs of the journey.

    Everyone smiley all cool.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  15. chdot
    Admin

    “

    "We don't hate dogs, it's not about that. It's just really about people being aware and it maybe seems like a freak event - but apparently it's not."

    “

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/edinburgh-girl-5-left-broken-leg-after-being-skittled-two-dogs-fife-beach-and-9-month-old-sister-narrowly-missed-collision-2925649

    Posted 4 years ago #

  16. gembo
    Member

    They are wild animals but they can be trained. Less so for some of the owners

    Posted 4 years ago #

  17. acsimpson
    Member

    Less trained or less wild? Training a dog is pointless if the owners don't make use of the training to keep them under control.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  18. wingpig
    Member

    I almost swore on front of the children and had to throw away some cheese and oatcakes today after some dimwits who claimed to be babysitting a dog without a lead lost control of it and made barely any attempt to reclaim it on Leith Links this afternoon, leading to it sticking its filthy beak in my food. Fortunately the child that's really scared of them was a safe distance away.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  19. Kenny
    Member

    Today I had a little spin out round the Bathgate Alps. I was nearly home, passing a local kids park when I came across three dog walkers coming towards me.

    One of the dogs suddenly sprinted towards me, forcing the lead out of its owner's grasp, and charged at full pace towards me. Rather than run it over or it knock me over, I managed to unclip just as it got to me, coming to a halt. At that point, the dog bit my leg, full-on.

    To say I was surprised was an understatement. I shouted out more in shock than pain, and the owner came trotting over, claiming that the dog had _never_ bitten anyone before, honest, and yet also admitting that the dog really doesn't like bicycles. I'm looking at my leg, extremely angry but managing to say basically nothing. The other two dog walkers said nothing, and I can't deny to getting a bad feeling; I wouldn't necessarily say it was threatening, but it was clear that they were going to back their fellow dog walker in any discussion. I decided, rather unusually for me, to simply leave the scene.

    Halfway home, I saw my leg was bleeding. I get home and take a photo and realise that you can actually see the entire mouth print on my leg, and that it was punctured in two places. Off to the pharmacy I go, where I am advised to call either my doctor or the minor injuries clinic. I get some antiseptic cream while I'm there.

    Off home I go. I clean it with some wet wipes and slap on some cream. I try to call my doctor but they have now decided that COVID requires them to shut down for lunch, according to their answering machine message. So I call MIA and after a brief video consult, he tells me to haul my ass in to get tetanus, antibiotics and a proper clean done of the injury.

    While there, they are checking to see when my last tetanus shot was. While scrolling through my medical history, they were still well short of 2013 when the medic announced "my goodness, you have been in hospital a LOT...". I chuckled. It's true. First time for a dog bite, mind you.

    Anyway, they patched me up and warned me it'll get sorer over the next few days. Yay.

    I can't help but wonder whether I should have taken the name and address of the offending dog's owner. I guess I should have, and reported it to the police? But I can't deny, I wasn't thinking straight, and quite frankly in similar situations in the past, things would have not ended up in a good way had the red mist won the day.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  20. acsimpson
    Member

    @Kenny, that's a bit alarming. I hope you recover well.

    Would it be worth reporting this to the police anyway. Just in case there is any sort of pattern with a particular dog?

    Which park did it occur at?

    Posted 4 years ago #

  21. gembo
    Member

    @kenny that sounds very bad. I would also encourage you to report to the polis in case this is not the first time the dog has attacked cyclists.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  22. algo
    Member

    @kenny - really sorry to hear this. I would echo what @gembo and @acsimpson have and report it. I hope you heal ok though - sounds horrible.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  23. Moose
    Member

    shocking @Kenny.
    Agree with the above ref reporting. A responsible owner would at the very minimum have a dog like that muzzled in future. The response from the walker (sounds totally lacking in empathy) would suggest they might need encouraged in that direction.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  24. Kenny
    Member

    Cheers all. Only issue with reporting it is that I have no clue who the person and dog are. I can give a generic description of dog and their lead I guess, and even vaguer description of owner... probably worth a wee call to 101.

    Was at Fauldburn Park, @acsimpson.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  25. redmist
    Member

    Interesting that you were given shots for a dog bite, last time I had one (also bleeding) I called my mate who is a GP and he said not to worry. I was most annoyed that I ruined a nice pair of socks with the bloodstains ;-)

    Posted 4 years ago #

  26. wingpig
    Member

    Eeesh. Hope the treatment works. I'd go back and look for them each day at the same time, or put up posters with vivid photos of the wound and as much description as possible not the offending dog and its person to see if anyone knows them. I'd like to think I'd've taken photos of the dog and owner enough to clearly ID them and probably called 999. If being bitten on the leg isn't a crime in progress not should be.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  27. Kenny
    Member

    @redmist - I had multiple medics come out with the same line of "a dog's mouth is not the cleanest of things", so they clearly disagree with your GP mate. I guess it's all just a gamble; unlikely anything would happen, but there's a chance.

    @wingpig - yeah, within 5 minutes of cycling away I was thinking the same thing. The mind was not thinking clearly, I was far too angry to be thinking straight and I opted for a route that would have less potential for things to get _really_ bad (for me).

    I did cycle past today at around the same time, as it happens, but didn't see them.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  28. acsimpson
    Member

    Was at Fauldburn Park, @acsimpson.

    Thanks, I have the kids down there on bikes now and again so will be on the lookout for such behaviour. I have been chased by yapping dog(s) down there before without the kids but now generally go up Maybury. My memory tells me it was a small black dog on at least one occasion. I generally put the power down when it happened but with 3 individuals blocking your path it sounds like that wasn't an option for you. I have heard dogs can become more likely to bite with age so perhaps it's the same dog and the owner was telling the truth.

    ...admitting that the dog really doesn't like bicycles

    Do they really mean that they don't like bicycles and so have never trained their dog to behave around them.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  29. unhurt
    Member

    100% report to the police - for the bite (NB any responsible owner should have exchanged details with you on the spot - but i suspect this was maybe not an out-of-the-blue never-happened-before incident...) plus the atmosphere of possible threat from his companions makes it more egregious. If you have pictures of the bite - share those with the police too (or you can get a copy of your notes from minor injuries).

    Posted 4 years ago #

  30. Treemonisha
    Member

    Cycling along Cramond Foreshore this morning into the direct sun I narrowly miss rover on about 10 feet of extended lead stretched right across my route.Its owner shouts after me"It's a footpath!" to which I suggest he might reel rover in a little to avoid my squishing it when,of course, it would be my fault.The width of the Cramond foreshore should provide enough space for all except for people like the entitled owners of rover.At least it was on a lead,I suppose.

    Posted 4 years ago #

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