Owner claims dangerous dog is triggered by bike saddlebags after "aggressive" pet attacks two cyclists, knocking one unconscious and biting another

Totally. There will be some cases where the dog has been abused, and associates certain things or types of people with that abuse, which will be harder to undo. But a lot of the time dogs pick up wierd learned behaviour and sometimes it's not a big deal, but they can be trained out of it, which also benefits the dog, as they are presumably needlessly stressed by something. Often the dog thinks it's protecting their family from something - often posties. They have learnt that aggressive barking works, because every time they do it, the postie leaves with the house and its occupants unharmed.

My friend's dog would always run to and around a particular tree whenever a train past the local park. In her mind she was chasing the train away, keeping us all safe, and it always worked. 

It's up to the owner, probably with the help of a decent trainer, to train the dog not to be scared or react to whatever upsets them, before they do any harm.

hawkinspeter wrote:

OldRidgeback wrote:

I'm a dog owner and perhaps more aware to dog behaviour than many cyclists. There are some dogs that just don't like people on two wheels. One dog I know well and who knows me and which is very good pals with my dog absolutely hates cyclists. When it sees me with my dog it's super friendly and comes and looks at me for treats. But when it sees me on my bike it runs after me and growls. If I get off my bike it then recognises who I am and is ok. But as soon as I get on my bike it begins chasing and growling again. Neither me nor the owner who I know well have got to the bottom of this as it's not as if the dog has ever been hurt by a cyclist.

Dogs can get triggered by all sorts of things. I recall seeing some dog training show where a dog reacted extremely aggressively to skateboards - possibly due to the noise they make. There's some dogs that don't trust men in hats or with beards, but ultimately, dogs can usually be trained to get over that behaviour if the owner is determined enough.

Dogs can be weird: one I know absolutely hates men but is fine with women and children; one is fine with cyclists but you should have seen him the time a unicyclist went past (!!); my own dog growls at crying babies on the TV, but is worried and goes to try and comfort them in real life.

brooksby wrote:

Dogs can be weird: one I know absolutely hates men but is fine with women and children; one is fine with cyclists but you should have seen him the time a unicyclist went past (!!); my own dog growls at crying babies on the TV, but is worried and goes to try and comfort them in real life.

There's a friend's dog that we occasionally look after and he's both annoying and amusing when taking him for a walk. He starts off being well-behaved and so I let him off the lead when we reach the park, but after a while, he gets more confident and looks for an opportunity to make more friends. He'll hassle me to throw a ball (he's very ball obsessed), but when he gets the ball he'll run off to a suitably friendly looking couple or family and get them to play with him. Meanwhile, I'm running after him and trying to explain to people that once you throw a ball, he'll never stop.

Luckily, it's more embarrassing than anything as he's a good judge of character and doesn't seem to hassle anyone who doesn't like dogs. He also realises how cute he looks and makes a bee-line to groups of women/girls to get the maximum amount of attention ("he's so fluffy!").

hawkinspeter wrote:

He also realises how cute he looks and makes a bee-line to groups of women/girls to get the maximum amount of attention ("he's so fluffy!").

dog has been trainied to be wingman for your friend. it's all deliberate

The question there, presumably, is why is a dog under close control in public as required by law able to run after you and growl?

This was in my local park and dogs are allowed off-lead. Cyclists are required to ride slowly and give due care and attention as it happens.

Never had a dog issue on the recumbent fortunately but I've had some interest.  The fix is probably like with horses get off and show it's really a human, but with the dogs I haven't been motivated to hang about and test that.

And why should it be up to the cyclist to provide the fix?

In the case of "taking skittish (but powerful) animals out in public" I do wonder.  I guess there's a small "priority" argument (brideways were not made for cyclists ... horses were there first) but for me it's because there's a human on the horse.  Even though they've obviously chosen to horse that trip.

And recumbents are sometimes startling even to humans.

Generally only encounter them when not transporting organs for donation though so short delays are acceptable.

Dogs are a different case.  Difficult to avoid because a deliberate policy of "let them fight over scraps" where walkers, dog walkers, and cyclists are all competing for the few non-motor-traffic-filled spaces.

I'm sympathetic to other creatures and have no wish to be a dick but dogs are certainly someone else's responsibility.  Unlike horses there are generally no riders to worry about so if they're not under control it's protect myself first, worry about the owner's feelings (or the dog's bad choice of owner) later.

It's a bigger issue - I've have had dogs come at me more times while walking than cycling.  Though one time it was the height of the "hoodie menace" and I was wearing a shell suit so possibly that triggered it.

As it should be. The owner-dog combination has shown it can't be trusted.

Incidents like this *are* a result of owner and dog. It's just a shame that no matter what the outcome, the penalty is always disproportionate towards the animal.

I love my dog, but she stays on a fixed lead 95% of the time we are out of the house, the only exceptions is in enclosed spaces with no through traffic, and I'm disgusted that it isn't the norm.