Stray dogs

[Dennis Almeida]

This topic will no doubt have been frequently discussed in the past, but my queries are about the distribution of stray dogs. Are they more prevalent in the built up areas and less so in the countryside? More prevalent in the minor roads and less so in the highways?

Having read the previous discussions to meet possible dog chases/enquiries/attacks on my upcoming tour I'll be taking a stick attached in front of the handlebars (as I use a walking stick anyway this won't be extra luggage), an airzound unit (useful also against wayward vehicles), some pepper spray in case things get out of hand. Any other suggestions?

[A Jaye Vigneshwar]

A Whistle is what I Carry. I use it as Horn, Signal Co Riders, Scare the Dogs.

Thanks,

Jaye

On Fri 9 Nov, 2018, 8:22 PM Dennis Almeida <dennisa...@gmail.com wrote:

This topic will no doubt have been frequently discussed in the past, but my queries are about the distribution of stray dogs. Are they more prevalent in the built up areas and less so in the countryside? More prevalent in the minor roads and less so in the highways?

Having read the previous discussions to meet possible dog chases/enquiries/attacks on my upcoming tour I'll be taking a stick attached in front of the handlebars (as I use a walking stick anyway this won't be extra luggage), an airzound unit  (useful also against wayward vehicles), some pepper spray in case things get out of hand. Any other suggestions?

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[suman paul]

Not sure about the dogs but for safety aspect, a whistle may be handy at times. 

Habitable settlements provide more food options hence dogs are more populated there compare to highways or countryside. 

thank you & regards

suman

+ 91   9886300685

[Dennis Almeida]

Thanks. Yes, somebody else also advised that feral/stray dogs are more prevalent where there are food sources available. So I'll be wary when I pass through the urban areas. I forgot I also have one of those distress whistles/citis attached to my backpack, so will consider using that. My flow diagram then has citi > airzound > walking stick > pepper spray. I'm hoping the first 2 will suffice as I am an affinity with animals and don't wish to cause them harm.

[berkeleydb]

Re: the whistle -- are folks referring to "dog whistles", or just regular whistles?

For ~7years, my policy had been to just keep riding at moderate pace, if stray dogs gave chase (many times, dog packs), & the dogs would drop off eventually (sometimes after running alongside for some time.

But I had 2 stray dog bites (scratches, arguably), in the past year. Now at times, I "shout" at any stray dog, if one barks / gives chase, & at times, stop and confront the dog. I have_not tried using a whistle. I have been considering keeping a handpump on the bike frame; that could be removed and brandished as a small stick.

Bigger/wider roads in general tend to habe kess stray dogs, but overall, I'd say you could encounter stray dogs pretty much anywhere. In rural areas as well. In rural areas, you also encounter "pet" dogs, which are in some house)compound, that give chase when they see/sense you approaching.

-{db}.

[Dennis Almeida]

Good points db. Will bear them in mind. However I would like to think that feral dogs (ones who might give chase in a pack) are to be more likely in the urban areas (cities, towns, villages) and pet dogs defending their patch more likely in the sparsely rural areas. Or maybe my education in these matters will develop shortly.

[george...@gmail.com]

I have had trouble with "semi-pet" dogs in urban areas too (HSR Layout, Bangalore). There are houses which regularly feed a specific group of dogs, but do not allow them inside their gate. These fellows lie around the house lazily during day, but dusk to dawn, they are entirely different creatures giving chase to anything that moves. I avoid these areas while on bicycle now.

-George

On Sun, 11 Nov 2018 at 01:59, Dennis Almeida <dennisa...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good points db. Will bear them in mind. However I would like to think that feral dogs (ones who might give chase in a pack) are to be more likely in the urban areas (cities, towns, villages) and pet dogs defending their patch more likely in the sparsely rural areas. Or maybe my education in these matters will develop shortly.

[Dennis Almeida]

Db as regards what kind of whistle to ward off over interested dogs, I would think that a referee's whistle (the one with a small spherical ball within it) would be best. Such whistles are used in dog training so it should be effective.
And thanks for the info, George. I might therefore cycle only in the hot daylight hours while my canine friends are dozing.

[berkeleydb]

As George said, the time of day is important. At night, I suppose the dogs are extra wary of any potential dangers... any movement can set them off.

Also, if you are moving away when they are agitated, it can stoke their natural predatory instinct to give chase; which is why many folks suggest stopping & holding ground. I suppose there is merit in that.

-{db}.

[Roshan Madtha]

Heard dices are sensitive to sound some whistle distract them very quickly.... Not sure where it's available

On Sat, Nov 10, 2018, 1:31 AM Dennis Almeida <dennisa...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks. Yes, somebody else also advised that feral/stray dogs are more prevalent where there are food sources available. So I'll be wary when I pass through the urban areas. I forgot I also have one of those distress whistles/citis attached to my backpack,  so will consider using that. My flow diagram then has citi > airzound > walking stick > pepper spray. I'm hoping the first 2 will suffice as I am an affinity with animals and don't wish to cause them harm.

[berkeleydb]

I do have a regular whistle.. was using it briefly as a "horn", in traffic. Will keep it handy now & see if it seems effective in keeping dogs away. For that matter, need to see if the loud "tweeting" horn also helps.

-{db}.

[Chidambaran Subramanian]

Keep a good whistle and blow hard when they come close.

Chiddu

On Fri, Nov 9, 2018 at 8:22 PM Dennis Almeida <dennisa...@gmail.com> wrote:

This topic will no doubt have been frequently discussed in the past, but my queries are about the distribution of stray dogs. Are they more prevalent in the built up areas and less so in the countryside? More prevalent in the minor roads and less so in the highways?

Having read the previous discussions to meet possible dog chases/enquiries/attacks on my upcoming tour I'll be taking a stick attached in front of the handlebars (as I use a walking stick anyway this won't be extra luggage), an airzound unit  (useful also against wayward vehicles), some pepper spray in case things get out of hand. Any other suggestions?

[dennisa...@gmail.com]

So I just wanted to share my experiences with dogs while cycling for 16 days around the Bikaner and Jaipur urban and ruural areas. They were completely unlike the dogs I encountered in my Bangalore to Pondicherry ride in 2018, where chases by what seemed to be all the dogs in the locality I was passing through were frequent. In my abovementioned Rajasthan cycling not one dog bothered to chase me  - in fact, all of them were content to continue dozing in the warm sands by the roadside.  

I was reading an article in the Indian Express which suggests that anti-social or aggressive dog behaviour in Bangalore has arisen through dog-human conflict.  If this is true then (most of) the citizens of Bikaner and Jaipur have to be commended for their harmonious interactions with dogs.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Interesting observation, and I can see the sense in the reasoning.

[db]

Dennis -- Did you ride through "inside roads", or were you mostly on main roads?  I doubt the stray dogs along the main roads will be disturbed/ agitated by cyclists.  It's usually on the "inside roads", where they seem to be watching out for strangers.

Though one of the stray dog bites I had, was on a main road... during day time.  And the dog came running from the opposite side of the road.  Completely unexpected.  The other one was during night time, but it was still a main-ish road, & there was lot of traffic, & also quite a few people around.  So again, very unexpected.

-{db}.

.

.

[dennisa...@gmail.com]

Dhawal,  we stayed on the outer suburbs of Jaipur and Bikaner and avoided all the main roads. So cycling on secondary and tertiary roads with dogs everywhere. Most of them content to sleep in the sands, open an eye to check out our passing and then going back to dozing/sleeping. The ones not asleep/dozing just ignored our passing.  

One may make other conjectures: The dogs were happy to warm themselves in the winter sun and warm sandy beds to be bothered to anything else. The sight of adults on small wheeel folding bikes (baache ke cycles, as the kids used to tease us there) were unthreatening. Whatever the real reasons it was a pleasure to be able to cycle without dog/s chasing as was the case in Karnataka/TN/Goa

The unfortunate  dog bites you suffered - were they bites or nips and what treatment did you have on these injuries/

[Prashanth Chengi]

The ones that are most problematic are the ones that turn feral; they tend to view the area they inhabit as their turf, and try to protect it at all costs, so nothing you do or don't makes a difference. They aggressively go after you exactly as you described. Bleeding heart dog lovers who don't take them off the street, but see no problems in casting out food to these strays are the ones who make a bad situation worse. 

Regards

Prashanth

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[dennisa...@gmail.com]

Oddly I had replied to DB's post of April 19 some weeks back but it wasn't published here and my post of 8 April also disappeared. I've restored it now.

When it comes to the possibility of being chased by aggressive dog/s on an extended cycle tour I take extra precautions to prevent the trip being curtailed:  

* wear full lightweight martial arts leg guards covering outer parts of the legs

* carry a can chilli/pepper spray on handlebar mount

* have loud AirZound horn, police whistle 

* and, if required, have an accesssible metal stick in my panniers. 

So far any aggressive dog chase in the past has been curtailed using only the 'sonic weapons'

[db]

Hi Dennis... sorry, lost track of this thread.

Both dog bite instances I had, were 'nips'... thankfully.  In the secone case, the dog had been barking next to me, for half a minute of so.  I could have shouted at it and that almost surely would have driven it away.  I ignored it, & it just nipped at me at one point; under the calf muscle.

In the first case, I had much less time.  But I have realised since, that if I slow down & stop ASAP, & shout back at the dog, they back off.  In the past I have kept riding, w/o shouting at the dog (so just ignoring it); the dogs give chase for some time, & usually drop off eventually. 

But all things considered, I would say it's best to slow down & stop, & shout at the dog.  For stray or general pet dogs, I think that will work best.  Only if it is some dog trained for attacking (which one might encounter on some rural/farm area, or in foreign countries), stopping & shouting might not work.  But even in that case, continuing to ride would still be more dangerous, as the dog will probably catch up, & if one is riding, the risk of falling and having additional injuries, it probably lot worse.

tc,  -{db}.

.

.

[Deepak Majipatil]

Hi Everyone

Check out this Facebook video share by Senior Cyclist from Chennai about dog behaviour. It's really good and it explains why dogs chase you. 

All done by a Dog Training Expert and very informative 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid032YPtiRUdAp5UF9eLMY7Um1iWmcPYMeKbMSyNuTCiY2sXxZfZ2fDpXVZrRHuFg38zl&id=100000213796599&mibextid=CDWPTG

Thanks and Best Regards,

Deepak 

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