I read a short time ago that someone was worried because a cyclist came too close to her when she was walking her dog and her dog snapped ( I think this was the story ) perhaps this would work !!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/5257076/pedestrain-threw-dog-poo-at-a-cyclist.html

I have the same problem with my dogs when walking now one of them lunges out at them. I am the one who will get the blame if anything happens

I read a short time ago that someone was worried because a cyclist came too close to her when she was walking her dog and her dog snapped

I feel like snapping at them myself sometimes
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As a cyclist and a dog walker I can see both sides and with driving it is all about both parties have a right to be on a path so a sensible thing is for one party to give way which to me the slowest and more likely to react which is a walker with a dog .

I will always get my dogs near me or on a lead to let cyclists or joggers go by. I just think it is common sense and manners and don't think winging some dog poo at people is a sensible option at all !!

There are always ignorant people whether they are cyclists or dog walkers but doesn't mean people's manners should be affected by other people's behaviour.

don't think winging some dog poo at people is a sensible option at all !!

Based on my experience of cyclists, I think its mankinds best idea since they invented the wheel.
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> it is all about both parties have a right to be on a path so a sensible thing is for one party to give way which to me the slowest and more likely to react which is a walker with a dog .

The problem with expecting the walker and the dog to give way is that cyclists arrive at speed with no warning from behind you. I always get to the side and call the dogs to me when I see one coming  towards me. However the ones coming from behind are virtually silent so you don't know they are there until it is too late to do anything. Then they shout at you for being in their way!!!.

I agree. I know plenty of cyclists who've had bad experiences because of stupid dog owners.
They cant all be tarred with the same brush.

Oh, I so agree about cyclists coming from behind in stealth mode. My last dog was inclined to chase cyclists, so was always kept on a lead if were walking on a bike track, usually a flexi lead so she too could have a bit of restricted freedom. Those silent peddlers from behind caught us out a couple of times and we got shouted at for being in the way. A shout back of "ring your bell, we don't know you are there" bounces off most times. Anyone know how to grow eyes in the back of your head?

cyclists arrive at speed with no warning from behind you

cyclists coming from behind in stealth mode

Thats exactly my experience with them & I am talking about countryside with country paths. As for london where I live & drive - well....I think they are arrogant, selfish, pratts with an obvious death wish.

I am always aware of everything going on in front or behind me at all times when walking my dogs.

If I am on my own I always keep awareness of my surroundings for my dogs and my own safety.

I am really surprise a few of you are surprised by cyclists coming from behind without you realising it or in an area that is particularly noisy and so the sound of the cycle is not as loud as the other noises going or maybe you have a slight hearing problem maybe ? If so I can understand why it could spook you.

I walk in the countryside with minimal noise pollution so perhaps it is different but I would be even more aware of my surroundings if that was the case I would expect .

We had that the other day, was walking along the road and my girl has allways wanted to herd bikes. I had her on an extendable lead and she was infrount of me. I suddenly Hurd what I thought was a bike coming bit it was to late a guy came flying past on the pavement. It made me jump and scared the crap out of my girl, she is afraid of strangers as it is. Luckerly she was go shocked to try get it.
Even if he had gone onto the road to pass us would habe been something there was no cars about even so no excuse for not going around. If I had known he was coming sooner I would have moved into a driveway like I do for joggers, pushchairs or kids.

I thought adult cyclists were ment to ride on the road?

Really all it needs is some simple courtesy on both sides so solve problems but it's never going to happen.

If people on bikes allways warned people on foot that they were coming up behind and when passing from any direction just slow down a bit. People on foot should then have no problem being able to move over as much as they can and get hold of there dogs or kids. The bikes going slower past would be easyer then zooming past for dogs and kids. No one has more right than anyone else to use public places so both parties should have a role to play when passing. The same goes for joggers to.

> I am really surprise a few of you are surprised by cyclists coming from behind without you realising it or in an area that is particularly noisy and so the sound of the cycle is not as loud as the other noises going or maybe you have a slight hearing problem maybe ?

I can assure you there is absolutely nothing wrong with my hearing!!!
Part of my regular walk is on a newly built pathway which is designed for both cyclists and walkers. However the cyclists seem to have decided it belongs to them. Is is made of smooth tarmac and is bounded by trees and plants. Visibility is therefore limited in places to a few yards. The cyclists make virtually no noise on it. they dont ring their bells and they come at often considerable speed. they make no allowances for the turns of the path or the fact that they cannot see what is ahead. I do keep an eye on my surroundings. I always know where my dogs are if they are off the lead  and I call them to me on the sections of path with limited visibility. However The cyclists do not show me the same courtesy.Even in the sections where visibility is good cyclists make no allowances for me. Very rarely do they slow down to allow me to get my dogs back to me out of their way. They just charge through at speed tutting as they go. And this is a daily occurrence. If there was any other way to get to the fields i walk on without going on this path then I would but it would involve using the car so I don't

If it is a council owned byway that allows cyclists then report it to them and ask they put signs up asking that cyclist take care when approaching pedestrians. It is worth a go if they are causing that much of a nuisance

> I am really surprise a few of you are surprised by cyclists coming from behind without you realising it or in an area that is particularly noisy and so the sound of the cycle is not as loud as the other noises going or maybe you have a slight hearing problem maybe ?

I am super alert when dog walking, with great hearing (I can HEAR if a light bulb is switched on or off!) but I have been spooked by a cyclist.
The cyclist suddenly appeared around a corner behind me (on a tarmac pathway next to a road), missing Buster by mere centimeters. I nearly jumped out of my skin, but luckily for the cyclist, Buster has been trained to bomb-proof when it come to bikes (with the help of my children & their bike-riding friends), so Buster never flinched a muscle.  The cyclist would have had a shock if Buster had of jumped too, 90kg of spooked dog in mid air would have knocked him flying!

The 4th cyclist in 10 days was killed here in London today.

I walk in the country, and it's very easy for a cyclist to come from behind without me hearing until the last moment, they are cycling on soft ground, there's no noise at all until they get close enough to hear the chain ( I presume ) I also have excellent hearing. Thankfully, Daisy , has the good sense to go to the side when she hears them without me even knowing they are there, it's about the only thing she is sensible about lol.

I have no problem with recreational cyclist along the canal towpath I used to frequent, dogs never took a lot of notice and stayed out of the way.
The ones that annoyed me were the idiots going at top speed and just shouting at everyone to get out of the way without attempting to slow down and giving you no time to get the dogs/kids out of the way. Many of them found they had a choice of coming to an abrupt halt or swimming

I walk in the countryside with minimal noise pollution so perhaps it is different

It is not different for me, those internet crystal balls aren't as good as you think, my dogs is taken to country 5 out of 7 days a week & that is where I get the probs with what someone aptly called 'stealth cyclists' & my dog.

I live in London & thats where I get probs with cyclists & driving, though by todays figs they will soon be extinct here.
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I sometimes walk along a path that is frequented by many cyclists. There is a sign to say that cyclists must give way to walkers but that goes to pot and the majority of cyclists get annoyed when a dog is in their way. I am
considerate of my own dog's safety so call him to one side but let's face it he's not going to come back running at greyhound speed and so sometimes- god forbid- they have to SLOW DOWN!

Heathspaw-The 4th cyclist in 10 days was killed here in London today.

Well that figs out of date Heathspaw, another was killed in London just before midnight last night so thats 5 dead in 10 days.
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We have the old railway track by us which is now a cycle walkway. 

Definitely can't hear the cyclists until they are on top of us, but then we do have plenty of traffic and factory noise.

Never have the dogs off lead there any more, but did when I only had 1 - 2, but it is now a much busier cycle route into town since they lit it, so now way would I now.

Often the cyclists have no bell and even no lights.

As pedestrians/dog walkers are not vehicles with rear view mirrors surely an approaching cyclist cannot expect walkers to be looking behind them all the time, and should warn of their presence????

>As pedestrians/dog walkers are not vehicles with rear view mirrors surely an approaching cyclist cannot expect walkers to be looking behind them all the time, and should warn of their presence????

Exactly. How many of these cyclists have bells on their bikes?

They have a voice :-)

Bells are not seen as cool these days! 

Not forgetting, of course, that to rely on pedestrians hearing one's approach is discriminatory to the deaf.

Exactly. How many of these cyclists have bells on their bikes?

I have not heard one single bell in any instances I have had, which have increased noticeably since that guy won an Olympic medal.
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> Bells are not seen as cool these days! 

Unless used to ring just a few yards behind as they ride on through laughing, as I jump in shock attempting to get the dogs to stand still so they don't get hit again.

Bells are not seen as cool these days!

someone should come up with a thing that takes downloads like a mobile phone for ringtones but press a button and you get..............

There you go - get busy and you could make a fortune :-D :-D

Only snag would be something like that 'crazy frog' sounding 10 yds behind you

> Only snag would be something like that 'crazy frog' sounding 10 yds behind you

That would be worse than nothing!
At least you know to listen out for a bell.... or your subconscious does. Now, if those two young lads on bikes a few years ago, had had bells AND used them, it would have saved me a trip down the cop shop and a caution under DDA Sec. 3.

I must admit I am amazed how much it seems to be a problem with a lot of people.

I must live in an area that has considerate cyclists or perhaps the walks are too hard core for those inconsiderate cyclists !!

I should know as having  being out on our mountain bikes and coming home head to toe in mud because of the amount of times I fell off, it wasn't a relaxing ride !!

I genuinely have never in the fifteen years of living here have ever  experienced being surprised by a cyclist .

I must admit I am amazed how much it seems to be a problem with a lot of people

Well, all the posts are from different people, in different parts of the country. I personally dont know any of them & they are all coming out with more or less the same experiences, thats significant.
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Pedestrians have right of way over traffic; even crossing the road, cars must give way to them. Therefore it's reasonable to expect cyclists to have to abide by the same rules as those in charge of other wheeled vehicles and give way to pedestrians. Inconsiderate, arrogant drivers who don't slow down and give horses and cyclists a wide berth when passing them are no worse than inconsiderate, arrogant cyclists who don't slow down and give pedestrians, with or without dogs, a wide berth.

You must be lucky LJS - my experience is of someone on a very narrow footpath which is sloping and muddy - not the easiest of places to grab dogs and move out of the way.  When told that this was a footpath not a cycle track the cyclist said 'there were no signs to say no bikes'  Well the fact that he had to lift his bike over the 'kissing gate' was a very strong clue that cyclists are not supposed to be there - the same for horse riders on another stretch further on (the council have now put signs up to remind horseriders that it is not a bridlepath).  My dogs go off lead when there are no animals and no vehicles - what can you do when other people break the rules, ride past you and shoot off at speed in front of a collie ( who really does not like alarming things to be too close but was a good girl that day) before I can say please give me time to secure my dog!   On the other hand another (illegal) cyclist did give me time to secure my dog (but he had approached silently and made me jump) and I told him that I would wait until he had gone down the hill out of sight before I released her again and he thanked me.  I have lived in the same place for over 35 years now and it is only in recent years that this has been happening.

> Pedestrians have right of way over traffic

Agree JG - We have horse riders here who ride down on dogs without thought too - as I said on my local footpath mentioned above.  I was so cross because I am always very careful as a driver with horses - and I would have expected the same thought when I walk my dog on a narrow footpath without passing spaces.  Then to get told to control your dog - when the rider gave no consideration to a dog that needs space and kept coming forwards - she even threatened that the horse may kick!  All the more reason for giving a pedestrian and dog space!!  I am not comfortable passing a horse in close quarters either.   Thankfully now the council have put signs up (it is actually illegal for the horseriders to be there) it doesn't happen very often now.

As a cyclist and a dog walker I see both sides of this.
People seldom take notice of/ or hear  a cyclists bell... A dog whistle on the hand works wonders..from both points of view. As a cyclist my worst nightmare is extending leads. Twice I have come off as a result of leads across the cycle path.On the second occasion the poor little yorkie came off a lot worse.

I HATE extendable leads, for this and many other reasons! When I go running I really hate them as people forget their dogs are able to dash in front of my path and do so right at the time they're going to trip me over!

Have to agree they should never be used on roads or paths really, only in an open space.

> they should never be used on roads or paths really, only in an open space

I won't even use them in the car - only change to the flexi lead when we get to where we are going to walk :)

> Pedestrians have right of way over traffic; even crossing the road, cars must give way to them.

Also falls into the Flexi-lead subject...
I was reading on a forum yesterday about how someone almost hit a dog, which suddenly walked out in front of their car, (Flexi lead on, of course). Shocked motorist gave the dog's owner a piece of their mind (not surprisingly!!) - only to be told driver should have looked where she was going and it wasn't their fault!

have to say if I hear a dog whistle I wouldn't associate it with a cyclist.... I expect them to use the normal considerations of the 'road' ie to be considerate, to slow down and to announce their presence if other path users aren't aware... I expect them to use their bell or to hail a greeting... I also expect them to say thank you for walkers standing aside and holding dogs.... this goes for horse riders too... I rarely get it though!  I have seen from both sides as I have ridden both bikes and horses.  Many cyclists have no consideration of others and as for dangers - there's a call for them not to use headphones to listen to music whilst in London - no wonder they get hurt when they weave  amongst traffic with little or consideration of other road users.... and I've ridden a (motor) bike in london and also driven a car so have seen both sides of that too!

>Pedestrians have right of way over traffic

That was the first rule hammered in to me when I first had driving lessons 45 years ago  And each time the instructor added at all times.