Stray dogs in Ultra Races – Some ideas from a rider who doesn’t cuddle dogs

If you’re super confident with dogs, everything I’m writing here may be obvious and nothing new to you. If you’re a bit like me, the following comments may help you handle your dog-anxiety prior to and during an Ultra Race.

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The 9th edition of The Transcontinental Race is coming up this Sunday, 23rd of July 2023. I realized, like every year the topic of stray dogs and how to handle them is on the minds of many fearful riders. So I thought I’d share some of my experiences; the learnings definitely helped me a lot. I rode two TCR editions (6 & 8). Dogs were a major worry for me prior to each of those races. In TCR No 6 they turned out to be one of my worst nightmares – but: mostly because of my own mental state towards them (you can read a bit in this interactive map of my TCR06; you can check the “adversity” markers on the map in Albania). In TCR No 8 I was worried in advance, but ultimately got a really good grip on stray dogs because I suddenly understood a few things about them…

I divided my thoughts into a few paragraphs:

• Before we start…
• 1. The psyche of a dog – Be a master, not prey.
• 2. The best tip I got… show dominance.
• 3. Show them you’re a human.
• 4. Get off the bike – bring a stick.
• 5. Escape sprint
• 6. Middle of the road…
• 7. Where are they?
• 8. Night and day…
• 9. Mind-games
• 10. Other tools & methods
• Conclusion

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Some DISCLAIMERS:

• I did not grow up with any pets, I have no clue how to interact with dogs, and try to avoid interacting with any (even pet) dog at almost all costs. So my thoughts may be more helpful to those who have a similar relationship with dogs/animals. Those who have more intimate familiarity with dogs may have entirely different strategies in their toolbox, and certainly everyone will find their own approach.
• Obviously I’m not a dog-whsiperer, evolutionary psychologist, or the like. So my inferences about the inner workings of dogs’ “minds” are just (to me) plausible speculation.
• Obviously: I provide no guarantees for the effectiveness of my approaches. : D Maybe my post inspires you a bit, but I won’t pay for your post-hoc rabies vaccination hah.
• I sincerely respect and admire all animals. Even the stray dog that chases me down at night. As you will read I’m sorry for them to be wired to annoy us in certain moments; it’s a consequence of the marvel that is biological evolution. I hope all dogs live a comfortable life, and that here and there a salami falls out of a rider’s food pouch.

I’m talking stray dogs here. This does NOT apply to shepherd dogs; and neither to guard dogs. The former (shepherd dogs) will have a very clear task set to defend their herd and territory; and can become dangerous at that. Luckily, I have no experience with them, so will not give any tips. The latter (guard dogs) will not chase you far beyond the immediate real estate they belong to, and will often be behind fences or on leashes anyway; i.e.: might induce a little adrenaline rush until you out-sprinted them or realise they cannot get close to you anyway.

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Before we start…

…keep in mind: Stray dogs may be a major worry in advance of the race. But you will find out they will not define your experience of the ride – I hope I can contribute to that. And secondly: once you now thought about some dog-strategies, make sure to forget about the dogs until you encounter one; you will handle the situation then. And who knows: maybe you will not even have a single dog encounter!

1. The psyche of a dog – Be a master, not prey.

This is the most important principle I realized, and almost all practical tips are derived from this: Dogs are primed to chase prey. They *might* put you in the “prey” category instinctively. In that case they probably can’t resist their inner urge to chase; I feel mostly chasing is where it ends and based on my encounters got the impression they do not want the ultimate confrontation. I feel a bit sad for dogs to be slaves of their instincts in that way. Anyway: Show them you’re a human and you’re their master, or at the very least: nothing they should dare to chase. You are no prey – you are in charge.

2. The best tip I got… dominance.

In Romania last year, a kind dot watcher, Cosmin (hello, of you read this!), waited for me and joined me for a few km at the Northern edge of urban Râmnicu Vâlcea. Seeing how he as a local handled the dogs was eye-opening: Whenever a dog was starting to move up from the pavement, he – in a relaxed way – got into an upright position, very quickly/forcefully pointed his arm and finger at the dog and shouting “hey”, “stop” and the like (almost sounding like a bark) in a very confident (not fearful-sounding) voice. DOMINANCE was the message. The dogs stopped even before they really chased. He did so while holding a conversation with me. Effortless and internalized.

It was evening, and I used this trick to get through the night. Over the next hours it became a habit. It really worked 90% of the time and as soon as I realized how effective it was it gave me so much peace of mind that other worries became more important. So empowering and such a relief to have one worry less.

3. Show them you’re a human.

Firstly, keep in mind: at night, dogs don’t see YOU. They see two obscure lights (red and white) flashing by exactly at their chase pace. All they can do is give in to their instincts. Using your voice, to let them know you’re human, or at least a very powerful creature will often make them aware you’re nothing for them to chase; as mentioned in #2.

But even in daylight you may not immediately be recognizable as a human (I don’t know). You move in an oddly fluent way, you’re a strange creature made up of a unit with your bike. Only things like your voice, gestures of your arms or getting off your bike will reveal you as the class of animal that you are: a human, i.e. someone to obey or otherwise fear.

4. Get off the bike – bring a stick.

I once made my way past a pack of Romanian dogs that wanted to defend their territory at an abandoned railway station. I think I did not really enter their territory, but the dogs came closer, barking loudly, just to make sure to chase me away. Following some advice I heard, I collected a stick/branch that I carried with me to get past the pack (about 1m long, stable). I used it whenever a dog seemed to want to come closer. Waved with it, pretended to be ready to hit. The stick made me look larger, and exaggerated my movements, and I heard stray dogs’ sad experience with human violence conditioned them to fear sticks. It had a clearly deterring effect. Not sure I would have gotten through it without. I combined this with the commands/shouts from #2.

In that situation I also walked. Got off my bike, keeping the bike on the side facing the dogs (i.e. between dogs and me). That way they saw I was a human, and I felt a bit protected with my bike as a (at least mental) barrier.

Getting off your bike is a tip you hear a lot. I’m convinced it’s effective in many situations. But to me it’s not easy to do mentally. I’m just not confident enough. I did it a few times, and found it challenging to then get back on the bike without the dogs getting aggressive again. If you practice it and realise it works for you: use that skill.

Cycling very slowly (walking pace), and not pedalling, is a way, too. I only did that once; ironically for the first time 13km before the finish-line in Meteora (so joyfully anticipating my finish, I didn’t even care about anything else anymore). It was on an uphill where I couldn’t sprint off. The dog came closer, sniffed, and went off. Had I just known earlier that it go this way… would have saved me many worries (see #8).

5. Escape sprint

Honestly… found it super effective so many times. Only works when it’s flat or downhill, obviously. Mostly dogs don’t chase you for long. If they get close during the sprint, I had the impression they either don’t want to really get you, or the whole mechanics of the situation doesn’t allow them to actually reach you (moving pedals, they have to move inwards, losing speed, etc.).

In TCR06 this was my main method to handle dog encounters. In TCR08 I used mostly the gesture+shout (#2), but when it didn’t work a few times, or when I saw the dog too late, I sprinted.

Whether it’s your preferred method, or just a means of last resort… it can be a legit way to get out of it.

6. Middle of the road…

No, not the figure of speech, but literally: cycling in the middle of the road – i.e. keeping a distance from the edge of the road where dogs chill – gives you a head start, safe distance and a good overview when observing the side of the road. Of course: only when traffic allows! I used it on empty roads in Albania and Romania in the night, and here and there during the day.

7. Where are they?

Some awareness of where stray dogs are mostly found, and where of those places they are harmless or not, can help your peace of mind, too:

On the MACRO scale: Of the west balkan countries found stray dogs problematic only in Albania. Somehow in Croatia & Bosnia didn’t have any issues. Might have been a coincidence though; I’ve heard of unpleasant encounters even as North as Croatia. Generally the more south you get in the West-Balkans, the more likely dog encounters are, based on my experience. In Serbia I also had no dog issues, even during the nights. Also locals confirmed there were not really issues with dogs in western Serbia (where I entered from Montenegro). In the East-Balkans Romania was full of stray-dogs (mostly in/around small settlements and edges of cities) while I didn’t encounter any in Bulgaria (neither day nor night, neither cities nor countryside)

I strongly advise you: talk to locals if stray dogs are a problem. It can a) give you valuable information, and b) some piece of mind. Once I asked a gas station clerk in Northern Bosnia. He said: “no dogs”… that simple exchange made my following night & day in Bosnia so much more relaxed. Whether it was true or not : D

On the MESO scale (as rules of thumb!):

• Urban centers: Rather don’t worry. Often many dogs, but they don’t care about you because they’re too used to oddly moving humans and vehicles and probably they cannot have their own territories anyway.
• Suburbs/edges of cities: Be more alert. Stray dogs like the proximity to settlements. Here they are less disturbed by humans, can be more territorial because there’s space, and they find a lot of waste from the urban civilization to live on. All those reasons are my speculation, but the effect (more problematic stray dogs) is a fact.
• Remote countryside: Mostly no need to worry. Except for the occasional farm (guard dogs, shepherd dogs) or small settlement (stray dogs). In those instances: be awake and alert. Otherwise: enjoy the flow through the day or night.

On the MICRO scale:

• on your heels.

8. Night and day…

Night and day… makes a huge difference. My greatest dog horrors (perceived or real) occurred during nights (again: Albania 2018), certainly for the reasons explained in #3 – dogs will not recognise you as a human, and will be forced to give in to any instincts triggered by any little peak of activity (i.e. you zipping by) during this low-sensory time of the 24h-cycle. And on your part: at night you will simply see less, are less able to anticipate the layout and change of scenery, are probably a bit tired and generally have less grip on what’s going on. So: use your ears, but also #7: evaluate how likely it is for dogs to be present. And if you encounter one, use your voice and sounds to present yourself (#3). And keep cool – don’t give in to the mind-games (#9).

During the day however I by now feel dogs are hardly an issue. You see more, they recognise you better. And also: In the midday and afternoon heat of the balkans I felt dogs are less agile. You can often already see it by the way they sluggishly roam along the road: this dog doesn’t care about you.

9. Mind-games

Back in Albania in 2018 when I had no previous stray dog experience, my anxiety had two origins: On the one hand, real encounters, especially right after the border from Montenegro, at night, where I had many encounters and chases. On the other hand, and much more importantly, I terrorised myself by always being alert, being hyper-sensitive to any sound, any corner, the darkness. Always expecting something, because due to my lack of experience everything was uncertainty and it felt like the next chase was just around the corner. So after the first night with encounters, the fearful imagination and anticipation dominated my perception, while I had literally no new encounters. It’s a mental thing; if I had just known some of the things back then, it would have made for a much more comfy ride. Be alert in the right moments, and relax everywhere else.
Sleep-deprivation, exhaustion, heat, traffic… all that certainly wasn’t helpful calming my mind.

10. Other tools & methods

In the many discussions of the topic (e.g. TCR Facebook group) I found many more ways how people (think they could) handle stray dogs. If you think any might work… try it!

The methods I gave you above are mostly designed to establish a power dynamic between the dog and you so in the best case there’s no close encounter happening in the first place. Here you find methods that have more a character of actually “fighting” the dog:

Sound-emmitting devices: I heard Christoph Strasser used some electronic sound device effectively on his TCR08 win. I don’t know what he used. But maybe it’s the miracle solution?
Referee whistle… curious if that works. I doubt it, and suspect it’s most damaging to your own ears as they are closer to the whsitle than the dog and the whistle lies exactly within the audible frequency spectrrum for your ears (ultimately: they’re designed to be audible by humans, not dogs) .

Flash/Strobe-Light: Not sure how that works. Could imagine it makes dogs even more aggressive. And could maybe harm your own orientation, too? Let me know.

Pepperspray: While I did bring a small can on TCR06, also didn’t try that one. You’d need to let the dog come close to you to first apply it and then see if it worked. I suspect it’s not effective quickly enough for that 1 meter distance you have between yourself and the dog by that point. Also, if theres a breeze against you, you’ll get it into your own eyes. I suspect it’s more difficult to handle effectively than one might imagine.

Pebbles: bringing pebbles to (pretend to) throw at dogs. Heard that one a while back. My view is: a) it’s not nice to throw rocks at dogs and probably hurt them. Their life on the road is often miserable already the way it is. b) I wouldn’t want to carry pebbles all the time just in case. And then restock because one dog made me use them all. However, c) some say it would be sufficient to pick up a pebble without throwing it, or even just pretending to reach for a pebble; because allegedly stray dogs know the gesture as a threat from past abuse. This last point may make it viable but probably not reliable.

Spray with your bottle: heard this a few times now. Try it out! If it works it may neatly complement the other measures I suggest.

And lastly a (seemingly) more peaceful method:

Bring treats: some people say to bring little sausages. In my view they are romanticising both dog encounters and food logistics on a race; honestly, often it sounds as if they’ve never actually had or did one. I’d fear to give dogs even more reason to chase me, and: I’d only find out if it works by letting them close to me. Or throwing the sausages or something… too much uncertainty. And practically, you’ll be happy if you manage to keep your own fuel supply in check; bringing extra sausages is a burden you will likely not want to take on.
So: I’m sceptic, but let me know. If – as opposed to me – you’re one of those dog-whisperer people: go ahead!

Conclusion

Now I’ve talked a lot about dogs. It may give the impression they’d be a super big deal; but in fact I was just focussing on a very niche element of your Ultra Race experience. Actually, I hope my comments – all based only on my personal experience, and some lose inferences – can help some of you anticipate the dog issue with a bit more peace of mind, maybe one or the other tip helps you go as smoothly through your dog encounters as I did in Romania on TCR08, and ultimately: I hope my little contribution pushes the topic of dogs even further into a background niche within your racing experiences and (as importantly) memories you make.

Enjoy the ride!

PS: if you have substantially different ideas, let me know in a comment here! Or post it in some discussion forum to share it with other riders.