Bummer

[danimal2]

I'm feeling kind of bad right now. I took a quick run over to my daughter's place about half mile away. Cruising down a side street doing about 35-40 mph I saw a golden retriever on a perfect intercept course with me. I was going straight down the street and he was angling towards me from the left. I couldn't tell if he was just running to get somewhere or chasing me. Wasn't barking or anything so I don't think he was chasing. I could see we were going to collide if neither of use did anything to prevent it. From my motorcycle safety course I took last year they said "don't change your course or speed, maintain your heading and don't brake or speed up". Well that's exactly what I did and I had it my mind the whole time this was happening. Wham...........Yelp! he ran into my crash bar in front of the left bag. He kept moving, but I know he was hurting. He definitely slowed down and was limping. No damage to the bike and I maintained control despite the impact.

Had I not heeded the advice from the safety course it probably wouldn't have resulted in the impact.

Anybody with a similar story maybe with a better outcome? I'm feeling bad for hitting him, but at the same time glad I didn't crash.

[ringadingh]

You came out ok and thats a good thing every time. You could have went down and broke some bones.

[george james]

We were taught in the msc to slow down then speed up to throw off the dogs calculation .

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Many years ago heading to Fort Riley, KS from Alabama somewhere in Kansas two dogs were on the right side of the road. The bigger of the two crossed in front of me and everything was fine. Then as I got closer it decided to crosss back. I did just as you did. I kept a steady speed and held the handlbars straight and as tight as I could. Centered the big dog. Felt like I went over a curb. I went up the road and circled back. He was dead in the road. The Goldwing was too much for it. Didn't do any damage to the bike but it did more to the dog. That was the last time he was indecisive. Moved the dog to the side of the road. Saw no one close by and no close houses. Mounted back up and headed on to Fort Riley.

[cactusjack]

It's the dog owner's fault for letting the dog run loose. Don't blame yourself, a careless owner put the dog in that position. You had to do what you could to protect yourself.

[danimal2]

Originally Posted by george james

We were taught in the msc to slow down then speed up to throw off the dogs calculation .

In hindsight I wish I had. Either or would've probably changed the outcome.

Originally Posted by cactusjack

It's the dog owner's fault for letting the dog run loose. Don't blame yourself, a careless owner put the dog in that position. You had to do what you could to protect yourself.

Hadn't thought of it that way Scott. That helps a bit...........thanks.

[ToeJam]

Still...It's gotta feel bad, especially if you weren't certain it was chasing and was just an accident. However, like CJ said, "it shouldn't have been running free.

[ray2]

More than one way to miss a dog. I learned some time ago from a magazine article to slow a little bit and go to the dog then at the last moment turn away while speeding up. This has always worked for me. One time just leaving a hamburger place a dog was running next to me on the shoulder of the road while pulling away from him I was looking in rearview mirror and saw him run smack into a road sign he yalped and kept shaking his head. Was sorry for the dog but it sure did look funny.

[danimal2]

I keep thinking, had I altered my speed the outcome could've been more like Gene's. Rather than clipping him, I could've hit him square. He was a good size dog. Probably around 70 lbs or so. Hoping he's just banged up and bruised and didn't break any bones or do internal damage to him.

[Rotorboy]

I hit a black lab on my KLR 650 about 6 years ago. Was riding at night in the left lane and off the left rear corner of a car that I was over taking. The car missed the dog by inches as it ran across the road. Left me with 3/4 of a car length at 40 mph to react. Hit the dog right behind the shoulder. The dog was thrown forward and I hit it again and went up over it. I am still not sure how I did not crash. Rode up on the tank for part if it. Dog was killed and I sat on the side of the rode for abut 20 minutes to calm myself before continuing. Took a couple of weeks to stop feeling bad, even though I new it was not my fault.

[markclark57]

I managed to add a loud horn (Stebel) to my '06. If that doesn't work I'm in favor of rider survival over dogie survival. You did good Danimal2.

It's just a little fun to scare the $hit out of a dog rather than hitting them.