Dogs

[Cloner]

As a veteran of several dog strikes (and squirrel strikes, and a bird strike, and....well....do rocks count?), I'll just say hit the mutt going straight-on if it's stupid enough to jump in front of you.  The best solution is to pen the dog up....but if you're going to hit it, straight works best.  The only damage from my last strike was an oil cooler full of "Fluffy".  Fluffy frikkin' stinks when you cook him!! 

[gatorgrizz27]

If it is chasing you, as in coming up behind and then running next to you, its fairly easy to give them a nice solid kick without losing your balance.  If they run straight out in front of you, not much you can do besides the quick evasive twitch like you would if someone opened a car door in front of you, but run them over. 

It's good to practice the twitch move anyway as it might come in handy for the car door example, or someone stepping off the sidewalk into the street.  Basically you just keep the power on, no clutch or brakes, and shove (not turn) the bars hard in the opposite direction, then pull them right back.

[Kopfjager]

  Basically you just keep the power on, no clutch or brakes, and shove (not turn) the bars hard in the opposite direction, then pull them right back.

Shove? You mean counter steer?

[Popeye the Sailor]

Shove? You mean counter steer?

I have no idea what he's talking about.

Also, don't kick dogs while riding.

[Drunken Monkey]

Best advice is do the brakes then throttle and don't bother to turn.

Don't turn because it's just easier to keep the bike upright should you hit it.

Brakes until the dog gets as close as possible then hard throttle. Normally when a predator sees prey slowing down, they do the same since they expect the prey to be making a turn. They don't expect the prey to suddenly accelerate faster than any prey has a right too.

[rideserotta]

Dogs are great chasers but are horrible with angles. In the case where the dog approaches you from the side or rear, change speeds twice (ex. speed up, slow down, speed up again) and the mutt will not come close to the bike. It's the same technique used on the bicycle and it works every time. If it's a head on... run straight over a small dog and counter steer around a big one (if possible). Like anything else, the key is to keep your head on a swivel and not let the dog sneak up on you (I know... easier said than done).

[Jarvicious]

Much easier on a motorcycle.  I've knocked my fair share of dogs in the head on my road bike.  My college had a lot of rural areas around it which was great for riding, but at the same time some country folk don't deem it necessary to lock up their animals, being dogs, cows, donkeys, or chickens. 

I was on a group ride in the off season so just me and another guy went out for a short run.  We were on our way past a house everyone called "The Chicken House" (always a few dozen of them milling around) looking one way when a hen darted out across the street from the other direction and all I could think was "Shiiiiit. This is going to be messy".  The thing managed to scoot in between my front wheel and bottom bracket, get caught in my buddie's front chain ring, take that around for a couple of spins, and get shot out the back.  The farmer wasn't too upset (I'm sure he had a good dinner) but it was still scary nonetheless.  There are some times when you don't have time to think, you just have to keep it in a straight line and hope you keep the rubber side down.

[Jett]

in the class i took they said that you need to try to fool the dog by speeding up and slowing down but if all else fails kick it in the head. yes they taught that in a REAL class. haha.

[thought]

the msf class i took also said the slow down then speed up trick is the best way to get away from a dog.  and that kicking a dog is a really bad idea.

the instructor explained it by saying that dogs are natural predators and will try to angle themselves on a intercept course.... so by slowing down, you change their intercept angle, and then speeding up will make it they have no chance of catching up.

he also said that anything that's small enough to be run over should be run over... because it's down to you or what he fondly called "squishables"  haha... and in that situation, you're way more important.

[WetDuc]

I can't imagine that trying to kick the dog from the moving bike is anything close to a good idea.  I think that is a terrible idea, regardless of if they teach it in the class.
Trying hard enough, I think anyone will wreck attempting that.

[jerryz]

a very common problem in thailand with all the wild feral gogs on the street , usually i slow down then acdelerate hard ....been snapped at many times and knocked down once ,,,,,

[bdub]

Kimber.com

[Jarvicious]

Kimber.com

You want to hit the dog with a speaker cable??

[Dirty Duc]

All I can think of when people talk about kicking things while riding is the story my dad tells of an acquaintance kicking a rock at 25mph and the broken ankle that resulted.

[Jarvicious]

Dogs aren't rocks