Anyone encountered a violent dog off leash at the beach?

You don't forget a thing Rich...:P I don't think the dog in question was violent. He was just stupid.
I was trying to fold and pack a kite on the beach when some idiot decided to let his pitbull off the leash. The damn dog made a beeline right for my kite like he wanted to run right through it. He got all tangled in the bridle. What a mess !!! Not even an apology from the owner...

I frequently have been bothered by dogs. They always seem to want to mark their territory by pissing either on my kite or my bag...
Hate those @#$%&!

The beach where I play with my kites is quite crowded and luckily dogs are banned between May and October!
To bad they allow all those tourists on the beach during that timeframe...


On numeral occasions I have approached the owners and their responses differ from respectful, via ignorant to plain offensive.
I suspect those of the last type are also the ones that do not clean up after their dog.

Quote: Originally posted by Feyd

Dogs aren't stupid. The owners that let the dogs harass other area users, they're stupid.

Ditto that. For the most part dogs don't bother me (I'm an animal lover) but it does irritate me when the owner takes them off the leash and can't control or recover the dog and it starts to chase you. That puts both the dog and the rider at risk as you can't just stop or pivot on a dime and I don't want to aggressively redirect or be forced into the water or soft sand or another rider by a dog. That behavior is annoying and highly irresponsible and dangerous.

I also have had my gear "marked". I screamed at the dog and ran towards him. That made the dog panic and stop midstream. The owner didn't acknowledge the dog or my yelling.

Dogs are just dogs doing what dogs do, are trained to do or allowed to do. Its the owners that are stupid, callous and irresponsible and mostly look at us like we're the ones with the problem because we take offense when the dog puts itself or us in danger or potentially ruins our gear with its teeth or urine.

I had one owner, years ago laugh and laugh and laugh as their two dogs jumped and snapped at my sport kites as I was tricking them at a local field. When I told them to knock it off because it was a $200 kite from Germany that was no longer in production they just encouraged the dogs to "get it". When I responded that I was going to call the police if they did, they became real argumentative which left me exposed as I couldn't land the kite for fear of damage and couldn't, if forced, engage the owner with my hands in my kite straps. Eventually they left hurling a string of expletives at me. I'd like to think they are the exception and most people are good at heart but simply unaware of the danger their dogs present and the dollar value of the gear we protect.

yeah dogs seem to love urinating on kites.. I normally setup the lines and handles first and keep the kite in my hand or in the bag - this way I can layout my kite with the lines already set up and get it up in the air before an annoying mutt can urinate on it. With my stunt kite I also enjoy making it do nose dives towards any dog which comes close...

Quote: Originally posted by shehatesmyhobbies

Ha! Yes. I know a guy in particular that should chime in. He had one attack his kite at WBB a couple of years ago.

Looking back it was pretty funny. He hit that kite at full speed.

Quote: Originally posted by lucifer911

Hi, I have encountered quite a few dogs which run around off leash at the beach. Some are pleasant dogs which I do not mind but some overly curious dogs irritate me while I am trying to setup my kite. Occasionally a not so friendly dog will approach me and repeatedly bark at me. I give a very cold stare at the owner when this happens. Anyone have any advice on how to deal with a not so friendly dog?

i like the trench knife approach, though a compact crossbow has been examined , the gloved fist has been effective as well the board itself which is sometimes necessary if the first blow lacked authority...and have been bitten 2 times and called cops on both , and avoid maybe 20+ events worthy of mention...what makes me take the protective route ? one animal easy, 2 big fast ones --->trench knife ...i'm showing up primitive and harvest some dog. best i can tell i am not dog food.

animal control is easy, the absence of control is liability, hence protection.

Quote: Originally posted by abkayak

all you dogs are welcome on my beach anytime, run around leash free, chase balls, play in the surf, eat crab legs and pee on my bug...whatever makes you happy...sure try not to bite anyone but i get it, its pbly the way you were brought up....and you people might not wanna buy my reactor or a bug from me:D

I always thought you smelled funny... now I know it's just your kite. won't be borrowing YOUR buggy....

Quote: Originally posted by lucifer911

Kicking sand in a dogs face is a good tactic but thats only if you are on soft sand (most times I am on solid sand).

Err....ummmm... no. This might work in the movies. In real life, no so much.

The dog can and will close his eye reflexively just like humans. That still leaves him with a sense of smell and scent that makes yours look like some evolutionary throwback to engage in combat with you.

When you sweep your leg to kick sand at the attacking dog, you are now wildly off balance while facing an opponent that can and will turn on a dime to take advantage of the opportunity you have left gift wrapped and presented him with.

Extending a limb outside of your "personal space" also provides a wonderfully convienent "handle" to latch onto and hang his 80-100+ lbs (assuming a good sized dog). A mastiff can top off at 190 lbs. Breed Weight Chart

Quote: Originally posted by lucifer911

A long stick can keep an incoming mutt at bay.

This works until the dog with a bite force in excess of 200lbs for medium to large size dogs captures the stick in its mouth. Than it is a game of tug-of-war.

Quote: Originally posted by lucifer911

Pepper spray can apparently make a dog more angry that it already is.. but some say it is very useful.

The only dogs I know of that pepper spray is less effective are trained police K-9s, but that's not your usual beach/park dog.

Not sure about other locations, but expandable batons are illegal in MD.

Most expandable batons are 7 inches or so collapsed and unyielding. Not something you really want to fall on if your get lofted or take a spill on the board.

A baton requires allowing the dog to close to "contact range".... no thank you.

If a dog gets inside of your "swing arc" and you haven't properly trained for it, aren't comfortable using the handle as a kubaton or in the worst case scenario transferring and using the baton on your weak side, expect to experience a special flavor of "fooked."

While an expandable baton is essentially a stick and akin to some of man's oldest tools, it still requires a fair amount of training to use effectively in a fight or flight situation. A significant amount of people have gotten themselves injured by failing to give this enough consideration.

Pretty much any ASP instructor will tell you get trained or leave it at home. Effective use of a baton is totally dependent on "muscle memory," the thinking part of your brain will not be present for the fight when it happens.

The notion of innate expertise with a expandable bation is akin to everyone's belief that they are an expert driver. The gap between belief and reality spans oceans.

There's 18 pages of "The Pepper Spray/OC Myth-Busting Thread" here.

Pepper spray comes in various dispersal patterns:

• Cone
  
• Foam
  
• Stream
  
• Gel
  

For dogs, Cone is the recommended dispersal pattern.

Blur (far right, in picture below), Sabre and several other OC (oleoresin capsicum) pepper sprays come in quick deploy sheaths that can be attached to your harness or other apparel.



Most, if not, all OC sprays come in a "for use" OC version as well as an inert, scented version that has no pepper in it for training purposes, so you can get used to the dispersal pattern and range.

Regardless of how paranoid it seems, the dispenser should be in your hand and "off-safety" as soon as you see the dog, not when it is already attacking.

GoPros and other similar devices are great for photographic evidence whenever someone tries to assert that they never let the dog off its leash after the fact.

ATB,
Sam

Quote: Originally posted by PHREERIDER

the clueless owner prolly had alot to think about on the 5mile stretch i took his dog on. as i returned i just waved as i passed by with his dog somewhere 5 miles down the beach.

I did that once to an owner too. Not intentionally at first and I kept returning to them with the dog following me but after they failed to leash the dog after 3-4 return trips, I said "screw it" and road where I wanted with the dog following and the owners far behind. Our beach is 1.3 miles long so hardly the end of the world but I don't think they appreciated it. Oh well, that's what leashes are for.

FWIW, I'm opposed to violence towards animals. Defending oneself is one thing but far better to be the victim in these cases than the aggressor. That point was made by someone else earlier and I whole-heartedly agree. You smash a dogs nose and the cops ARE showing up and if you are deemed to have used excessive force... good luck to you - especially if the cop or judge is a dog owner / lover.

FWIW:

Few dogs are aggressive in the face of....



or if your James Brown impersonation is up to snuff..... @1:38



ATB,
Sam

Quote: Originally posted by riffclown

Had a dog pee on my kite once and I chased him off. The owner was totally unapologetic and just left..

I actually saw that if you are referring to that VAB trip last winter.

Quote: Originally posted by 3shot

Quote: Originally posted by riffclown   Had a dog pee on my kite once and I chased him off. The owner was totally unapologetic and just left.. I actually saw that if you are referring to that VAB trip last winter.

That's the one..

The closest experience I've had with this was at my last sesh... A little lady had (on a leash at least) what looked like a papillon or chihuahua which was determinedly charging my 8.6m... so I lifed off with the dog and owner still 30 ft away... The dog was insistent and the lady acted like she couldn't hold him back... I'm thinking the dog couldn't have weighed more than 5 lbs... Seriously!... so I landed and let the dog sniff and just PRAYED he didn't hike a leg... The lady just kind of smiled at me and waved "oh! He's very interested!!!"... Didn't even act like she was interfering in the least

Very obnoxious.

Quote: Originally posted by lucifer911

well too many people allow their dogs to roam free on the beach at least where I live anyway... I will avoid a confrontation but I feel I need something to keep a dog at bay. It should be illegal to let a dog to roam around without a leash on in a public place. There are designated dog parks where people can let dogs run around without a leash...

Be careful here. Speaking and thinking like this is a slippery slope. This is how we end up with kite bans everywhere. Let me rephrase this to show you what I mean.

"Too many kite riders roam free on the beach. I try to stay out of the way but there's small children about. It should be illegal to kite freely with those lines running around everywhere. There are designated kite parks where people can fly kites without kids around."

Making things illegal doesn't make people not be dicks. Sadly it's not that simple. Trying to force the issue doesn't work. Let's all play nice on the playground or else the adults will make sure no one has fun.

I am sorry to hear of the poor encounters with owners and dogs. Be a better example. Show respect even when they don't. I know you all do. Sorry for the soapbox, I just want to make sure we as a kiting community are above this kind of group think of banning things based on some peoples bad behavior. We know where it leads.

All you guys crying about the doges on the beach, you better start watching the people, they are the ones that will really do you some harm.

I'm going kiting today without weapons. I'll just have to mount it to show dominance if I encounter a mean dog.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

I'm going kiting today without weapons. I'll just have to mount it to show dominance if I encounter a mean dog.

Feel free to leave the GoPro at home or at least include a warning in the titles of any video threads that might result. Especially if posted near meal times

ATB,
Sam

good idea sam

Spencer, we just had a whole night of rain so I won't be on the buggy. It's cold and windy so I'm going to attempt to get to know the peak.