I hate being a bubble burster, but
STOPPING DOESN’T ALWAYS WORK! I speak from experience. :bluemad: Feral/wild dogs are not your neighbor’s pets. You don’t know how hungry/angry they are, you don’t know what state of health/disease they’re in, you don’t know what’s happened between them and other humans, and if they really want to bite you they will, no provocation required.
While it’s true that some dogs will chase you for fun and by instinct, it’s also true that they generally don’t like leaving their territory. Once you’re significantly out the range of their pheromones (and into the range of other dogs’ pheromones), they will probably give up.
Carrying a few rocks in your bike basket doesn’t hurt. You don’t need to hit the dogs – just launching a missile in their general direction will send a warning and should convince them to leave you alone. If you don’t have any rocks, miming picking one up from the ground has been known to work. (My experience and many others’.)
I have trouble imagining the “bike as a shield” thing. How do you wield a bike to fend off a whole pack of dogs that’s surrounded you?
One thing that’s been known to work if you’re surrounded is to figure out which one is the pack’s leader and incapacitate it, throwing the rest into confusion long enough for you to escape. (A friend’s experience.)
As a last resort, scream the longest, loudest, angriest scream you possibly can. Any words, any language, just send the message that you are a big nasty predator :fume: so in the natural order of things they have no business messing with you. Instinct should take over and send them scurrying away. (My experience and a friend’s, separate incidents.)
And WTF is a ‘pack of stray Taiwanese dogs’? Do dogs have some kind of ethnic identity? Do dogs in Taiwan subscribe to some kind of specific behavior? How, exactly, are a pack of Taiwanese dogs, to be dealt with, as compared to packs of dogs in other countries? To be politically correct, shouldn’t this thread be renamed to ‘how do you fend off a pack of Chinese Taipei dogs?’.
actually yes they do. I have noticed that dogs tend to adopt the habits of the locals here especially when walking. They adopt the same stupid behavior of walking in the middle of the path, entering the oncoming lane, and going towards you to move out of the way. So they are definitely Taiwanese in my my mind.
Stray dogs back home stick to the side of the path and generally do not enter oncoming traffic, and they tend to keep more distance which I attribute to Americans having a greater area of personal space that they copy.
You keep it out in front of you…using it to ‘shield’ you from the dogs. Kind of like how you would use a…umm…shield. It’s not like the alpha of the group is gonna bark out orders, “We can’t get to him from the front. You 2, flank him! We’ve got to get him out from behind that shield-type thing!” You don’t have to “wield” it like you’re Captain America. Can even keep the tires on the ground. Just stay behind it as a barrier between you and the dogs.
As mentioned, this is taught as a survival technique in outdoor/wilderness classes. Works against bears, mountain lions, and the like.
I had similar happen to me not too long ago, luckily only with one dog. It ran up barking and growling so I booted it as hard as I could on the nose. It ran off sneezing :raspberry: :raspberry: :raspberry:
I also saw a little kid getting chased by a Dachshund. His dad threw his flip-flop at it… which ended up in the river but the dachshund did run away so I’ll give him the victory.
Chapter 8. Shortly after the anecdote where I drove up to Dundee in my bare feet whilst gouging on Toblerones and just before the one where I bumped into Peter Purves on the bus at the height of his Blue Peter career.
I did exactly what was suggested – I stopped – and ended up with a bite and a rabies scare. If I hadn’t given a loud nasty scream, no doubt they would have continued. Whether they were just concerned about territorial integrity or actually wanted blood, I’ll never know. I’ve never stopped for dogs again since then, and I’ve never been bitten by one since then.
I mean if you’re surrounded, encircled, how do you simultaneously shield your front, back, and sides? Twist the bike into a pretzel with yourself in the middle?
First of all, you have to speak Taiwanese since they are Taiwanese dogs.
I’d go in the order Chinese, Taiwanese and then Haka.
If that doesn’t work, put any object between you and the dog.
Something the dog can bite into would be perfect. The dog won’t bite you as long as he/she/it is holding on to this object.
Don’t look the dog into the eyes.
Anyhow, my wife uses pepper spray and it works.
One time, she scared off a whole pack of dogs and I was collateral damage.
They definitely co-ordinate. For example Russian street dogs have been observed sending the youngest, cutest member of the pack out to beg for food from humans and bring it back to share with the rest.
When i was surrounded by a pack in tibet i had 2 sticks. So i kept one in front and one behind. I had to keep turning to see who was getting too close but i was never rushed by the pack. Only one dog at a time moved in and i waa able to keep that one from getting too close.
Btw i was going out hiking and had to return by the same route. When the dogs saw me they jumped up. But when they revognized who i was they woofed and then sat back down. That’s the advantage of not being aggresive with dogs. They leave you alone next time they see you.
)
