I meet this dog occasionally when I go shopping. It is a very, very good dog indeed: the lead isn’t tied to anything. I donÄt know if the owner just leaves it by the bike rack or if they use a bike and the dog is part of their security.
After all a lock wouldn’t chase you down the road after you steal the bike with a view to chewing your ankle over.
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November 2, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Kim
A lump of prime steak will soon see that security broken
(well it does in cartoons)
November 4, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Andy in Germany
Possibly, although I imagine most bike thieves would find bolt croppers cheaper in the long run.
November 2, 2011 at 2:57 pm
John Romeo Alpha
I hope that his guarding technique is based on the concept that the bike ride is play, and therefore, anyone who touches the bike wants to play, and gets aggressively but playfully covered in slobber and dog-affection the moment one touches the bicycle.
November 4, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Andy in Germany
Well, I haven’t seen any dismambered remains around him so I suspect that’s his style, that or running around the would-be thief and tripping them up and bringing the bike down on top of them.
November 2, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Zweiradler
Some people in my neighbourhood have developed the questionable habit of tying the leash to a bike rack (do dogs have two wheels?) – apparently without thinking about the fact that some bike riders are afraid of dogs (not really fear, but healthy suspicion in my case). I just hate it when I return to my bike and find a dog sitting next to it.
Nico
November 3, 2011 at 12:30 pm
livinginabox
I’m not worried by any dog that I think I can kill with my U-lock. But Rottweilers etc., I know would be a real problem, I don’t like them at all.
November 4, 2011 at 9:43 am
livinginabox
A few weeks ago, I cycles to a favourite place of mine. I took out my camera and took a photo. Immediately, a Rottweiller which I hadn’t noticed bounded over to me and started barking very aggressively at me. Luckily the owner called it off, but it was very disconcerting. This response was triggered apparently by the sound of the camera. Occasionally I get chased by dogs. So far I haven’t been bitten [sometimes only just], but it seems inevitable.
What happens after that I don’t know, but if the owner isn’t there and if one attacks, it’ll be U-lock time. As I said, a Rottweiller would present a problem.
November 4, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Andy in Germany
When I was a teenager a Rottweiler attacked our West Highland Terrier and my dad tried to get it to stop by hitting it with a stick: he said it was like hitting an old matress, and it did nothing to stop the Rottweiler. Our dog, on the other hand, gave it a king sized bite on the stomach and proudly returned from the fray with Rottweiler blood all over her.
I have wondered what would happen if I hit a dog with the Bakfiets though. I tend to drive very carefully around them just in case…
November 4, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Andy in Germany
I find this odd as well: bike racks seem to be acceptable places to leave dogs, rubbish amd motor scooters (parked sideways so they take up three racks) I well understand your caution around the animals, you never know how they’ll react.
Mind you, you can usually get a good idea by looking at the owner…
November 2, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Karl McCracken (twitter: @KarlOnSea)
You say dog, but the rest of us call that sort of canine a “wolf”.
November 4, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Andy in Germany
I hope he stays where he is then: if he dissapears he’ll be a Where wolf…
It’s been a long day…
November 4, 2011 at 1:37 am
the_big_smile
Wolf? Looks more like a Husky.
I wouldn’t be afraid of dog that waits in front of a shop without being tied to anything. Must be a well educated and well behaved dog.
But in fact, you never know for shure…
I do understand people like Zweiradler who are afraid of dog or suspicious against dogs.
Dog owners often can’t even imagine, other people might be afraid of dogs or just don’t like to be covered in slobber.
They should take care of their dogs and either hold them on a leash or be shure to have full control of the dog.
My father was one of these people who couldn’t imagine….
But he is no dog owner anymore, because his dog died a few years ago.
November 4, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Andy in Germany
I tend to treat them with a healthy respect, although I grew up in a dog owning family so I can usually tell by their body language if they’ll be a problem from a distance, I reckon it’s best to be cautious.
November 5, 2011 at 12:36 am
the_big_smile
You are absolutely right, dog you don’t know should be treated with respect. That’s, what I do, too. And I teach my daughter to do so.
So I wouldn’t have tried to chase the dog away just to park my bike where the dog was before.
By the way, I never mind anyone blocking bike racks, because a Yuba Mundo is somewhat of a monster which I can’t park in a rack.
November 4, 2011 at 5:50 pm
Iain Robinson
It must be an unusual Husky, because the examples of the breed that I know are very energetic, need a 20 mile run every day and still like to leap about with surplus energy. I want to know that owner’s training regime!
“a lock wouldn’t chase you down the road after you steal the bike” gap in the market there, I suspect…
November 4, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Andy in Germany
A local person who reads the blog reports that the dog is owned by an elderly lady who walks it very slowly on a lead. Possibly the dog is also quite old: I haven’t been close enough to investigate.
November 11, 2011 at 12:02 pm
David Hembrow
I once heard the esteemed bicycle expert and all-around great bloke Mike Burrows advise someone that the most reliable thing to lock their bicycle to in order to keep it safe when parked was “a f***ing big dog”.
I’m not entirely sure that either this Husky, or indeed our dog who sometimes minds my bike, are quite threatening enough.
November 11, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Andy in Germany
Hello David, thanks for dropping by.
I that’s the advantage I guess: A sort of Pre-emptive security system. It’d stop vandalism as well.
Perhaps something like this?