As a teen I lived in Hialeah, Florida and had a paper route. Because it was a suburban area at that time there were no paper routes that you could walk. As a result eveyone used either a bicycle or a motor scooter/motorcycle to deliver with. Most guys started on bicycles and moved up quickly. My route was 16 miles long and I delivered using a Vespa that was mine, and sometimes traded with a friend and used his Cushman Eagle.
Being chased by dogs was one of the most annoying and dangerous things that would happen to us. While fussing with the dog you could easily loose control and dump it over. Then you not only had to hope that you didn't get hurt, but you had to pick everything up while still keeping the dog at bay. We had to ride fairly slowly in order to get our papers out of the saddlebag and throw them accurately, so outrunning the dog wasn't always an option. It finally got to the point where we all carried wooden clubs, kind of like a billy club, that you could make out of a childs baseball bat. These clubs fit nicely in the saddlebags we used to hold the papers. You got to know where the problem dogs were on your route and one light tap somewhere near the snarling end usually discouraged the dog from further attacks. Looking back it seems a bit cruel. but after being bitten in the ankle a few times some defensive action was called for. Eventually I learned to always wear boots (engineer boots were the type of choice) and always carry my club. At some houses, the ones where the problem dogs were, I even carried my club when collecting from my customers.
JR
maybe ill lock up the front one next time LOL just kidding! 
