Cyclist playing ukulele encounters grumpy dog

Instrument fends off aggressive dog, breaks

Local man used his ukulele to fend off an aggressive dog with a bonk on the head, not musical charms.

A local man used his ukulele to confront an aggressive dog and it was a bonk on the head, not musical charms, that shooed away the savage beast.

Jose Melchizedek Matos, 22, a Vermilion native who now lives in Lorain, has been seen riding his bicycle around the city while playing the stringed instrument.

It’s a skill he developed a few years ago while bicycle touring from South Carolina to Florida with his brother.

A bike laden with gear may be heavy, but relatively easy to ride handsfree if the weight is distributed evenly, Matos said.

It’s tough to play an instrument and sing at the same time, he said, so he enjoyed challenging his musicianship by adding layers of difficulty.

About 3:52 p.m., Aug. 15, Matos was walking on West Erie Avenue when a dog aggressively ran up and began circling and barking at him, a Lorain police report said.

“In fear of being attacked, Jose bonked the dog on the head with his ukulele one time,” the report said. “The dog then ran back to his home and his ukulele sustained damage.”

Speaking to the owner, Matos said he did not want to be violent, but also didn’t want to get hurt.

The dog “just mistook me as a threat and then I became one because he was a threat to me,” he said.

Matos called Lorain police and an officer also spoke to the dog’s owner.

The man told the officer that his toddler son accidentally opened a door and let out the dog, a 7-year-old American bulldog.

Matos did not wish to pursue charges.

He told police he would like compensation for the Cordoba brand ukulele, but the owner would not negotiate, Matos said.

The situation would be much worse for the owner if the dog got out and attacked someone, he said.

As the owner of two pitbulls named Rosie and Boss, Matos said the incident has made him rethink his own approach to letting his dogs out while unleashed.

“I don’t think I’m going to take that chance anymore, because you never know how your dog’s going to act,” he said. “It takes one person they don’t like.

“You might think your dog’s really nice, but it’s that person that they don’t like that they’re still going to bite.”

As for the ukulele, a crack in the body of the instrument allowed Matos to open it and make a repair inside.

Gluing it back together, it is playable again, he said.

Although he does not play out officially, Matos sometimes strums at Vermilion’s Third Thursday and at the open mic night at the Patio Tavern in Mitiwanga.

He also makes items sold at Crystal’s Treasure Box in Vermilion and would like to expand to other artisan shows.

As a free-spirited artist, Matos encouraged people to develop their own creativity, and especially inspire it in children.

“If I had to give anybody advice … not even how to live, but a tip on how they could get where they’re going quicker, it’s look inside yourself and remember as a child what it is that you loved to do and pick that back up,” Matos said. “Because a lot of people buried that stuff, the things they really cared about.

“And if they could just pick it up, they would rediscover what made them love life again.”

THE MORNING JOURNAL Jose M. Matos, 22, a Vermilion native who now lives in Lorain, combines music and recreation by playing his ukulele while riding no-handed on his bicycle.