Bitten by a dog

muddycycle wrote:
* ... the dog suddenly freaked out ... jaws ... snapping shut ...
millimeters from my face. The man was laughing so hard he must have
thought it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. *
You should have picked up a tree branch (or the unicycle) and started
swinging it at his face -- "millimeters" from his face -- while laughing
hysterically. Which is no different. Except that you would go to
jail.

That sorry excuse for a human being has inspired the following thought
--

A leash has two ends. Which end had the Kutbeest?

Dave (uni57)


--
uni57 - David C. Lowell

TUni, buffoony...
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Chuck Webb wrote:
*I've come to the conclusion that dogs just don't like unicycles for
some reason. Here in rural texas at the hours i ride (early morning
or late evening) sometimes it seems like all the dogs are running
wild. Most of the time a good loud yell will send them running, but
i've had several that keep coming...they always seem to try to bite at
the pedals or my feet! I've become quite skilled at a rapid
dismount/grab the saddle/swing uni at aggressive dog move. Maybe we
should add that to the "redneck skill levels."

Chuck *


Hey Chuck,
What part of Texas are you in?


--
Krashin'Kenny - Crash Tested

If you ain't crashing, you ain't going fast enough!!!!!!
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About 60 miles southeast of Dallas, Kenny.


--
Chuck Webb


I live in my own little world but its ok...they know me here!

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"gerblefranklin" wrote in
message ...

I've found that I can tell if a dog will respond to me from
at least 10 feet away, and have learned when to dismount and when to go
climb the nearest tree just kidding.

I hope you are kidding. Many breeds of big dogs can climb trees.
Shepherds have been known to jump up and grab people 18-20 feet high
thinking they are safe in a tree.

All dogs get triggered by movement, some more than others. That is the main
reason kids get bitten or knocked down, because they decide to run away. The
best thing to do is get off, and stand your ground. Then move away slowly.
Be careful of making direct eye contact. In the dog world that is a
challenge.
And if the owner is around, beat the pulp out of them...its not really the
dog's fault for being a dog.

the same happened to one of my friends but he was on a 5ft giraffe so it
just chased him but it could not touch him or bite him just to add a
lighter note
ben


--
thinuniking - started trails unicycling

i have given up the wheel to live
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when I walk dogs are *very* friendly to me
(that must be my smell because I do not love dogs )
when I ride on my uni they start to be aggressive:
so I have my secret weapon: my horrible Oink-oink that scares the ****
out of them! (a mickey-mouse horn my daughter bought at ToyRUs that
squeaks
so horribly that I can imagine dogs trying to get the noise out of their
ear with their finger).

may be uncicycle.com could sell a really terrible Oink-Oink for that
purpose.

bear


--
wobbling bear - GranPa goes-a-wobblin'
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Defender of Enormous Manhood wrote:
*

Be careful of making direct eye contact. In the dog world that is a
challenge.



*

Is this definitly true?

I've heard it a lot and am just wondering if the definitive thing is
never to look an aggressive dog in the eye.


--
onewheeldave - Semi Skilled Unicyclist

"He's also been known to indulge in a spot of flame juggling - but it's
the Muni that really fires him up."

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Yes, it is true.

If you stare directly at a dogs eyes, there are only two possible outcomes.

1) It decides that you are the dominant dog, stares away to acknowledge that
fact, and offer signs of submission. Try it with your own dog. It sees you
as alpha. It will look away, perhaps flop over on it's back, and offer it's
neck.

2) If it feels that it is the dominant dog, and you don't look away,
offering your submission, then you have challenged that dog. So it has no
choice but to attack. In a dog pack, it has to be clear who is dominant and
who is submissive. So in that case a fight is the only way to figure it out.
Only you are not a dog.

Some people can stare a dog down. Most people can't. You could stare at a
dog, make agreesive motions towards it, make deep sounds, and it very well
may say, no thanks, you are to big and scarey for me.

But it may also think, who the hell does this dog think he is challenging
me - I am top dog. I will show that dog why I am top dog.

It's the pack psychology.

Now that is with an aggressive dog.

That does not apply to a scared dog. A fearful dog is just plain
unpredictable.

The easiest way to determine if the dog is scared or agreessive is to look
at the ears.
Upright and forward - its aggressive. Down and back - it's scared.

AN agressive dog is noot afraid of you. A scared dog is, and you can tell by
the position of the ears.
It is easier to scare off a scared dog. You can't really scare off an
aggressive dog.

So the idea is never challenge an aggressive dog, because it's not afraid
and will attack you.
You likely can challenge a scared dog, because it's already scared of you,
and won't be keen on taking your challenge.

So the best advice is not to offer a challenge to any dog. Look at it so you
can see if it is going to charge, but not eye to eye. If it makes eye
contact, break it and look away, but so you can still see it.

If a dog does charge, remember deep sounds, and loud sounds are threatening
sounds.
Use the word NO. most dogs have had NO in their training.

If it charges, don't run, that makes you prone and triggers its prey
instinct, turning you into prey.
Stand your ground. Hit it hard before it hits you, and say no.

Very few dogs are trained to attack, and if you get the first blow in, with
a big no, they will get the message pretty quick. If you don't hit it first,
then it will hit you, and it has teeth. Most trained attack dogs will not
attack anyways. They are too well trained and soocialized to attack without
command, even though they know how to fight a person effectively and win.
But without that training, very few dogs will do anything after a good boot
or punch.

Remember, dogs don't hunt on their own. There power in the wilds comes from
the strength of the pack.

Now if a pack of dogs comes charging at you - you're in big trouble. In that
case you got to ffigure out which is the alpha, and beat it's head in with
your unicycle, or they will be reading about the man savaged by a pack of
dogs, in the papers the next day.

But yes it is true. Don't stare at a dog, unless you feel that you can stare
it into submission, because if you can't it has to prove who is dominant,
you or him. And its not just dogs - bitches too. Bitches can be alpha just
as often as a dog.

Lots of good dog information here. I know from lots of observation and
experience that many dog behaviors are driven by instinct. The dog
doesn't know why he's suddenly chasing you, something just triggered his
chase reflex based on what he saw.

So some dogs will just stare at a unicycle and cock their heads, while
others may be triggered to chase. So what does a chasing dog do when it
catches up? I guess it will nip or bite.

My own dog Bailey acts real funny if I ride a unicycle in the house. So
I don't. Every time I try it he wants to jump me. He doesn't want to
bite me though; I think it's something worse! But as soon as I get
off the unicycle he reverts to his normal self. I think it's either the
movement of the unicycle, or the fact that I'm taller when I'm on it.
Mostly I think it's the movement that triggers him.

With an unknown dog, to keep riding if they chase is to encourage them.
Chasing stuff is fun for them, and you're playing their game. Often if
you just stop, the dog will chill out and resume its normal
"programming." Of course if it's a real big German Shepherd or
something, stopping might be hard for you to do. But the same is true
for bears. They can run real fast, and climb trees. Your best defense is
to play dead. For a dog, you can get behind your unicycle and say "NO"
as people have suggested. Or "NEE" if you're in Holland?


--
johnfoss - Now riding to work

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"Where's my kids?" -- Amy Drummond
"Where's my unicycle?" -- Andy Cotter
spoken one right after the other, mostly to themselves, at NAUCC 2003

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On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:13:18 -0500, johnfoss
wrote:

Or "NEE" if you're in Holland?

Indeed, that is the single-word command that my wife (who is the
formal owner of our dog) learned in her dog owner training. In fact,
the Dutch equivalent of HEY rhymes at NEE so that may be why that dog
went away after I shouted HEY (which in Dutch is written as hé).

I learned a lot in this thread.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
If the crank is moving then it really sounds as if it's loose. - onewheeldave trying to pinpoint the cause of a clicking crank