How do you deal with stray dogs?

[LuckyMinnie]

I'm curious, how do most hitchhikers deal with stray dogs? The best defenses I can think of is to either use mace, carry dog treats, or just carry around and wear a bite sleeve to use as a shield or something.

Has anyone here ever had bad encounters with stray dogs?

I have been lucky enough not to have had any bad encounters with dogs. Btw, dogs that are not strays but just got out of their yard can be equally dangerous, so I wouldn't only focus on strays. Most strays just tend to be scared and not want any human contact. I try to be nice, but they tend to run off. In preparing for new adventures, I've watched a ton of bicycle touring videos. Sometimes neighborhood dogs will chase cyclists. And that's why many cyclists carry pepper spray. But of course they don't use it unless they feel truely threatened. Most dogs only chase for a few minutes and then they get tired out. And the dogs that chased the cyclists in the videos were not strays. They were hanging out in their front yard and decided to run after the cyclists. In fact, whenever I heard of a pit bull attack, the pit bull is not a stray dog but instead is a dog that has an owner who apparently has not trained and taken care of their dog very well. I think the only time I would be worried about a stray dog posing a threat to safety is if they appeared rabid. In that case, get indoors away from that dog and call 911 because they are an immediate danger to public safety. And here's a sweet story regarding strays. I was selling jewelry in San Antonio, TX. SA has a big stray population. Too many people who don't take care of their animals. A few of them had gotten together and were buddies looking out for each other. My kids and I got some tacos at Jack in the Box and gave it to them. They scarfed it down. We went back into Jack in the Box and orderec more and told the dude we were giving it to some stray dogs that were hanging out around the bank next door. The guy pitched in extra tacos. The cute dogs had a good night that night.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

I have been lucky enough not to have had any bad encounters with dogs. Btw, dogs that are not strays but just got out of their yard can be equally dangerous, so I wouldn't only focus on strays. Most strays just tend to be scared and not want any human contact. I try to be nice, but they tend to run off. In preparing for new adventures, I've watched a ton of bicycle touring videos. Sometimes neighborhood dogs will chase cyclists. And that's why many cyclists carry pepper spray. But of course they don't use it unless they feel truely threatened. Most dogs only chase for a few minutes and then they get tired out. And the dogs that chased the cyclists in the videos were not strays. They were hanging out in their front yard and decided to run after the cyclists. In fact, whenever I heard of a pit bull attack, the pit bull is not a stray dog but instead is a dog that has an owner who apparently has not trained and taken care of their dog very well. I think the only time I would be worried about a stray dog posing a threat to safety is if they appeared rabid. In that case, get indoors away from that dog and call 911 because they are an immediate danger to public safety. And here's a sweet story regarding strays. I was selling jewelry in San Antonio, TX. SA has a big stray population. Too many people who don't take care of their animals. A few of them had gotten together and were buddies looking out for each other. My kids and I got some tacos at Jack in the Box and gave it to them. They scarfed it down. We went back into Jack in the Box and orderec more and told the dude we were giving it to some stray dogs that were hanging out around the bank next door. The guy pitched in extra tacos. The cute dogs had a good night that night.

That's such a sweet story.

Somehow it doesn't surprise me that neighborhood dogs would be more of a concern than stray dogs. It seems like lots of strays also just want company, from what I've seen.

This all kind of reminds me of my first time through Salida, CO, when this hostel kept this pretty stray mutt, that I can't remember the name of. It just wandered into town, I think, and just started eating leftovers on the streets, so the hostel owners took it in, named it, and gave it a bed and feeding bowl, and it became the neighborhood dog. at least until it ran off again.

It would never cause any problems. Whenever someone new came into the hostel, he just walked up to them, sat in front of them, then tilted his head to the side and stared at them. It was his way of begging for food.

If you gave him food, he'd scarf it down, and then either beg again, or he would sit beside you and let you pet him and play with him.

If you didn't feed him within a minute, then he'd just walk off towards someone else and wouldn't let you play with him.

 

[coltsfoot]

Maybe a lil late on this one but I'm on a reservation in Arizona. Just pretending to pick up a rock and throw it while shouting is enough to scare away the stray/wild dogs here. They often have a history of abuse and are wary of people. And yea like others have mentioned, residential dogs (ie people's pets) are definitely more of a challenge in my experience.

 

[saria wanders]

I've never had any bad encounters with a stray, they are usually either friendly and begging for food/attention or terrified of people and unwilling to approach. I have however had a TON of bad experiences with dogs that had irresponsible/neglectful owners. Imo people are the problem. Either they are neglectful or they're ignorant and entitled and don't understand their dog's body language (a common problem with yuppies at parks, rest areas, etc).

I have dogs so my worry is always along the lines of getting injured while breaking up a dog fight rather than personally being attacked. Mace/bear spray would be good as a deterrent but unless it was life or death I wouldn't want to mace my own dog in the process. Things I've learned the hard way is to never use your hands! Kicking is safer because your foot has some protection if you're wearing good shoes. Or an object like a stick or the end of a leash. A last resort solution I've been told but never had to use yet, is sticking your finger up their butthole.

Had two gang up on my dog while on leash and follow him down the road trying to hump him. I had to slap them in the snout with the end of his leash and shout at them before they would leave. I've also had bad experiences at farm jobs, one time someone let their dog run up and attack my dog while he was playing in a stream. The owner was close by and didn't try to even call their dog and I had to physically pull their malamute off my poor lab.

 

[Bushpig]

I've never had any bad encounters with a stray, they are usually either friendly and begging for food/attention or terrified of people and unwilling to approach. I have however had a TON of bad experiences with dogs that had irresponsible/neglectful owners. Imo people are the problem. Either they are neglectful or they're ignorant and entitled and don't understand their dog's body language (a common problem with yuppies at parks, rest areas, etc).

I have dogs so my worry is always along the lines of getting injured while breaking up a dog fight rather than personally being attacked. Mace/bear spray would be good as a deterrent but unless it was life or death I wouldn't want to mace my own dog in the process. Things I've learned the hard way is to never use your hands! Kicking is safer because your foot has some protection if you're wearing good shoes. Or an object like a stick or the end of a leash. A last resort solution I've been told but never had to use yet, is sticking your finger up their butthole.

Had two gang up on my dog while on leash and follow him down the road trying to hump him. I had to slap them in the snout with the end of his leash and shout at them before they would leave. I've also had bad experiences at farm jobs, one time someone let their dog run up and attack my dog while he was playing in a stream. The owner was close by and didn't try to even call their dog and I had to physically pull their malamute off my poor lab.

Great tips. But Jesus Christ, I hope I make it through life without having to anally finger a dog.

 

[saria wanders]

Great tips. But Jesus Christ, I hope I make it through life without having to anally finger a dog.

Likewise lmao! Better than getting injured trying to break up a fight but....yeah not my ideal scenario for sure.

 

[MFB]

Great tips. But Jesus Christ, I hope I make it through life without having to anally finger a dog.

My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.

Two dog stories;

I had a few beers and 20ish grams of oxy; I was feeling great.
Walking down the street to the corner liquor store in a nicer area
Out of nowhere and before I know it there's a meaaan chow with my lower leg in it's mouth.
I, quite literally, instinctively smashed my glass road soda over its head.
It backed up, laughed at me, and got my other leg.
Right as "im kinda fucked mode" was kicking in, the owner came out, the dogged snapped out of it, and he gained control of it.
The owner was most excellent, offered to take me to the hospital, and gave me 200 bucks so I could miss work the next few days. I just ended up going to the liquor store and bleeding alot, so it was a pretty cool night.
I also learned that night that animal's adrenaline is wayyyy better than human's.

Number 2
I was walking with my dog in a bit of a sketch area in CO springs.
Angry ass pit pull hops over a low fence and is charging at my extremely overmatched companion pup.
I get in between the two and get big and loud and yell at the pit to get on.
He stops, takes an aggressive stance and starts barking
I think we're cool and then I hear "YOU YELLIN AND MY FUCKING DOG YOU FUCKIN PUSSY!"
Some prison yard buffed out mexican vato dood twice my size is walking toward me lookin' all coked up.
Without even thinking I scooped my dog and ran across the street the opposite way saying sorry over my shoulder.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.

Two dog stories;

I had a few beers and 20ish grams of oxy; I was feeling great.
Walking down the street to the corner liquor store in a nicer area
Out of nowhere and before I know it there's a meaaan chow with my lower leg in it's mouth.
I, quite literally, instinctively smashed my glass road soda over its head.
It backed up, laughed at me, and got my other leg.
Right as "im kinda fucked mode" was kicking in, the owner came out, the dogged snapped out of it, and he gained control of it.
The owner was most excellent, offered to take me to the hospital, and gave me 200 bucks so I could miss work the next few days. I just ended up going to the liquor store and bleeding alot, so it was a pretty cool night.
I also learned that night that animal's adrenaline is wayyyy better than human's.

Number 2
I was walking with my dog in a bit of a sketch area in CO springs.
Angry ass pit pull hops over a low fence and is charging at my extremely overmatched companion pup.
I get in between the two and get big and loud and yell at the pit to get on.
He stops, takes an aggressive stance and starts barking
I think we're cool and then I hear "YOU YELLIN AND MY FUCKING DOG YOU FUCKIN PUSSY!"
Some prison yard buffed out mexican vato dood twice my size is walking toward me lookin' all coked up.
Without even thinking I scooped my dog and ran across the street the opposite way saying sorry over my shoulder.

Somehow I believe that chow really did laugh at you.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

Also holy shit the thought of having to put your hand up a dog's ass and pull something out just hit me Jesus Christ. 😬

 

[saria wanders]

My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.

While I've never had to go that extreme....my dog is exactly the same, eats toilet paper, pads, and my panties.... he usually poops it out ok, I did have to use gloves once to pull a difficult strand out of his butt after he spent like 10 minutes scooting his butt on the ground looking embarrassed as hell but fortunately didn't have to go in for the extraction as the end was sticking out. 🤣 he has totally given himself a hemorrhoid doing this, which fortunately went away after a bit. He was all crusty and bloody for a bit though.... our little dog got really into cleaning it up for him which was......kinda weird. Dogs lmao.

Sorry if this was all a bit of TMI lol.

Going back to the original topic, I was at a weird little rest area one time and some tweeker lady in a beat up truck had her dog running around off leash, it kept approaching the car and my dogs are protective of the car and reactive so they were freaking out and it was doing laps around the car trying to jump up so I rolled down the window and yelled at it to get. Tweeker lady shouted back from across the parking lot, "No, YOU get."

 

[LuckyMinnie]

My dog likes to eat tissues and tampons. Salt and blood.
I've had to glove up and pull out some stuff.
Vet's are expensive, and I love her, so it's all good.

Two dog stories;

I had a few beers and 20ish grams of oxy; I was feeling great.
Walking down the street to the corner liquor store in a nicer area
Out of nowhere and before I know it there's a meaaan chow with my lower leg in it's mouth.
I, quite literally, instinctively smashed my glass road soda over its head.
It backed up, laughed at me, and got my other leg.
Right as "im kinda fucked mode" was kicking in, the owner came out, the dogged snapped out of it, and he gained control of it.
The owner was most excellent, offered to take me to the hospital, and gave me 200 bucks so I could miss work the next few days. I just ended up going to the liquor store and bleeding alot, so it was a pretty cool night.
I also learned that night that animal's adrenaline is wayyyy better than human's.

Number 2
I was walking with my dog in a bit of a sketch area in CO springs.
Angry ass pit pull hops over a low fence and is charging at my extremely overmatched companion pup.
I get in between the two and get big and loud and yell at the pit to get on.
He stops, takes an aggressive stance and starts barking
I think we're cool and then I hear "YOU YELLIN AND MY FUCKING DOG YOU FUCKIN PUSSY!"
Some prison yard buffed out mexican vato dood twice my size is walking toward me lookin' all coked up.
Without even thinking I scooped my dog and ran across the street the opposite way saying sorry over my shoulder.

What is scary is what if a dog has rabies? If you got bit by a dog with rabies and you wait until you start having symptoms to get medical care, you can kiss your life good-bye. The shot series for rabies only works if you get help right away.

 

[MFB]

What is scary is what if a dog has rabies? If you got bit by a dog with rabies and you wait until you start having symptoms to get medical care, you can kiss your life good-bye. The shot series for rabies only works if you get help right away.

It's ironic you mention that;
When I told my parents that story a few days later the gave me so much shit for not going to a hospital and getting a shot.

 

[LuckyMinnie]

It's ironic you mention that;
When I told my parents that story a few days later the gave me so much shit for not going to a hospital and getting a shot.

lol. Well, I'm in my 40s and have kids. I try not to lecture, but I guess sometimes it's just part of who I am.

 

[MFB]

lol. Well, I'm in my 40s and have kids. I try not to lecture, but I guess sometimes it's just part of who I am.

Ha! Heard that sis. Im 39, no kids,
But I learned a long time ago that my parents lecturing me came from a place of love, so i smile and tell them they are right and things are good. 😊

 

[Losttraveler420]

I am in mexico. And have dealt with alot of agro dogs. Most of which are the stray dogs that roam around. Even had a few try to attack me. I hate to hurt living things but its either me or them. Usually just try to kick them when they get close or throw rocks at them. They know rocks. And i back away while watching them. More often than not an animal will attack when threatened or when you harm one of their pack.

 

[beersalt]

Alright. As you can see, stray dogs will be the least of your worries in the US. Neighborhood dogs are definitely those you will be dealing with more often. And most people, fucking suck at training dogs, or are so selfish, that they provide "freedom" to their dog over other beings safety.
People suck at dealing with people.
People also suck at dealing with dogs.

One thing I'm gonna say right now is:
DO NOT STICK ANYTHING IN A DOGS ANUS.

This is something I've heard multiple times from people on the road as a solution to break up a dog fight. It's fucking disgusting, and abusive.
I've broken up COUNTLESS dog fights, never have I had to subject a dog to such torture.

I've now been inspired to add or create a thread about ACTUAL NON ABUSIVE TACTICS to break up dog fights. But considering this thread is aimed at advice for folks being aggressed by a dog of foreign nature, here's what I gotta say-

If you are this worried about getting attacked by a dog, carry an air horn, and/or citronella spray.
These are two major deterrents to get a dog to stop attacking you, or something else.
If a dog it approaching you aggressively, the airhorn will likely scare them away.

Sheesh. All of these people talking about using smileys on dogs, and breaking ribs n shit. It's utterly ridiculous. A rabid dog is one thing. But that makes up such a small percentage of dog encounters.

Two simple tools. These can really make a difference. Use airhorn first, Citronella spray last.
Mace if you're really worried. Detterence, not violence.

 

[Wingsday]

Yeesh, this is reminding me I need to sharpen my knives

 

[BillyOtea]

I gotta ask you though, how many aggressive dogs have you actually encountered? I traveled around the country for nearly 8 years and I can say nearly EVERY dog that is a cause for concern is a residential dog (someones pet). When you're in the moment staring an angry fanged beast in the eye who's snarling at you, the only things you're thinking about are the options you have to not get attacked and whatever you have to prevent that and the more effective an option may be the better. You're not going to want to have something that you just HOPE will work, you're walking down the road usually trying to get to your next ride with a big ass backpack on your back generally not trying to be concerned with having to be aggressive at all because it's directly counter intuitive to appearing like someone who people want to pick up and interact with. Believe me the least lethal options have always been my highest priority and desire, but I don't think you should judge certain tactics so heavily that might actually prepare someone and possibly save their life... As for my experience I've always basically imagined that things were going to be alright and traveled without much preparation for dogs, yeah I usually had a knife but never pulled it when in direct confrontation with a dog, because first instinct is generally to have something that gives you some distance like being ready to kick, swing or throw something. However if I had something and felt the need to use it out of pure self preservation you're damn skippy... that shit can be scary.

Alright. As you can see, stray dogs will be the least of your worries in the US. Neighborhood dogs are definitely those you will be dealing with more often. And most people, fucking suck at training dogs, or are so selfish, that they provide "freedom" to their dog over other beings safety.
People suck at dealing with people.
People also suck at dealing with dogs.

One thing I'm gonna say right now is:
DO NOT STICK ANYTHING IN A DOGS ANUS.

This is something I've heard multiple times from people on the road as a solution to break up a dog fight. It's fucking disgusting, and abusive.
I've broken up COUNTLESS dog fights, never have I had to subject a dog to such torture.

I've now been inspired to add or create a thread about ACTUAL NON ABUSIVE TACTICS to break up dog fights. But considering this thread is aimed at advice for folks being aggressed by a dog of foreign nature, here's what I gotta say-

If you are this worried about getting attacked by a dog, carry an air horn, and/or citronella spray.
These are two major deterrents to get a dog to stop attacking you, or something else.
If a dog it approaching you aggressively, the airhorn will likely scare them away.

Sheesh. All of these people talking about using smileys on dogs, and breaking ribs n shit. It's utterly ridiculous. A rabid dog is one thing. But that makes up such a small percentage of dog encounters.

Two simple tools. These can really make a difference. Use airhorn first, Citronella spray last.
Mace if you're really worried. Detterence, not violence.

 

[Tony G]

I gotta ask you though, how many aggressive dogs have you actually encountered? I traveled around the country for nearly 8 years and I can say nearly EVERY dog that is a cause for concern is a residential dog (someones pet). When you're in the moment staring an angry fanged beast in the eye who's snarling at you, the only things you're thinking about are the options you have to not get attacked and whatever you have to prevent that and the more effective an option may be the better. You're not going to want to have something that you just HOPE will work, you're walking down the road usually trying to get to your next ride with a big ass backpack on your back generally not trying to be concerned with having to be aggressive at all because it's directly counter intuitive to appearing like someone who people want to pick up and interact with. Believe me the least lethal options have always been my highest priority and desire, but I don't think you should judge certain tactics so heavily that might actually prepare someone and possibly save their life... As for my experience I've always basically imagined that things were going to be alright and traveled without much preparation for dogs, yeah I usually had a knife but never pulled it when in direct confrontation with a dog, because first instinct is generally to have something that gives you some distance like being ready to kick, swing or throw something. However if I had something and felt the need to use it out of pure self preservation you're damn skippy... that shit can be scary.

I see more aggressive cats then dogs

 

[rotttenj]

I always keep my bear spray and machete in quick access for anything aggressive. Been fortunate enough to not have to use though