Abraham wrote:victory,
Some folks think their dogs should roam free and there's another name for them: Inconsiderate Idiots!
Another dog story: I was attacked by 3 dogs on one of my fitness cycle rides. I peppered sprayed them effectively stopping the attack.
Just as I continued to pedal on, two guys in a pickup slowed down and the driver obviously angry, yelled at me "I'd like to see you come to my neighborhood and spray MY DOGS! He was outraged! I said nothing in order to avoid escalating his anger. They drove on.
Apparently, it was O.K. for the dogs to attack me, in this man's opinion, but not for me to defend myself.
This weird attitude baffles me.
What?
I'm supposed to LET THEM harm me?
Evidently, this yahoo thinks dogs SHOULD BE ALLOWED to attack humans. They're the victims, not the human, me.
Inconsiderate Idiot!
BTW, these were large 50/60 lb. mixed breed dogs, not some little cute dogs.
I'm also a bike rider and get that same attitude from unleashed dog owners all the time. My standard defense when I see an aggressive dog is to dismount and place the bike between us, shifting the bike's position as the dog attempts to circle me. I've had owners yelling, unheeded, at the dog to stop the attack and then tell me that their dogs just wanted to play. I usually turn the back of my right calf to them and explain the bite scars from another "playful" dog that I had encountered. That owner, as the dog was drawing blood from me, told me that his 60+ lb Doberman didn't bite.
I've always expected that if I have to pepper spray a dog, I might end up pepper spraying the owner, too. I've learned never to respond to any of them verbally. All they get from me is a glare. I can normally out-ride any dog under about 30lbs. Anything bigger, I don't even try. I've paced one Blue Healer that always "chases" me inside his fence. At 20mph on my speedo, he is still pulling away from me.