Thursday Continued

I TOTALLY forgot to mention these two things:

I stopped by work today. Yes, I mentioned that. Did I mention someone has repeatedly violated toilet etiquette? Grossly? No, I did not think so. Well, it has been noted, someone is ON THE JOB, and the miscreant WILL BE CAUGHT!

And I talked to the dog lady today. She and her two service dogs were out and about. I stopped to say hello. The doggies were not upset by my bicycle. I asked her about dogs and bicycles. She went into a long explanation (and she apologized for that!) about how dogs, being of wolf descent, have an intense desire to chase food. And pedaling cyclists look like running food. (I recalling this, so any misteaks are of my own devise, not hers)

Her first suggestion on encountering a chasing dog was to stop, get off the bike, and get the bike between the dog and you. I've heard this before, and it's not bad, but it's easier said than done, sometimes.

She said she trains her dogs to not want to chase after cyclists by feeding them treats whenever bicycles or strollers or skaters go by. This way the dogs associate getting a treat from her with seeing these objects.

She said I could carry some sort of treat to toss to a chasing dog. She suggested tuna as optimum, but we agreed that probably would not work out too well. She then said that moist cat food would work, too. Maybe I could keep it in a baggie or something. She suggested I could rub the cat food over the figures on the front of my basket, and toss them to the chasing dog. Yikes, offer up one of my little buddies for sacrifice? I'll have to think about that!

I was going to tell her about the velodog, but then I thought she may not have my weird sense of what I call humour, and so I refrained.

Hey, remember Eddie from American Flyers (R for language)?

Did you see this article about the ex-mayor on a bike who shot a little dog that chased him five times with a .357 magnum? Seems like a bit much, and why (and HOW?) was he carrying such a big gun while riding a bike, anyway? I don't think I could fit one into a jersey pocket, but I COULD carry one in the Jamis basket. From the comments it doesn't seem the first time the guy had a problem with the dog. I think I would have just avoided that street.