Nervous, hair standing up and thought he was going to attack

[PaddyD]

Originally Posted by Duke-2009

The coyotes are small and mangy here in MA. I would guess 30lbs. However these are wild animals and when cornered they will fight til death. Even if my dogs were 100lbs and tough as nails I would not want to see them go at it. Yes they travel in packs and they will collectively rip apart a deer if they are hungry which they are right now. Duke would get clobbered. I worry every time I send them out to pee in the early morning dark.

I live in MA too and I don't send my dog out to pee, I take her out. I consider it my responsibility to see that she doesn't get into any sort of trouble be it her fault or not.

[paulag1955]

Speaking of coyotes, I took Shasta out to pee the other morning; it was still semi-dark. As we were walking towards the back of our property (we back to a greenbelt), she seemed a little hesitant to keep going. We got to her favorite place to pee, and all she wanted to do was stare back into the greenbelt. I couldn't see anything, but she was obviously distressed. She started whining and backing away, so, discretion being the better part of valor, decided that I'd start backing away, too. Shasta wanted to run, but I forced her to go at a pace where I could just keep backing. I'll never know if it was a coyote back there, but that's the most likely explanation.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Duke-2009

The coyotes are small and mangy here in MA. I would guess 30lbs. However these are wild animals and when cornered they will fight til death. Even if my dogs were 100lbs and tough as nails I would not want to see them go at it. Yes they travel in packs and they will collectively rip apart a deer if they are hungry which they are right now. Duke would get clobbered. I worry every time I send them out to pee in the early morning dark.

Coyotes are of course wild animals but i also suspect that most GSD owners have never seen their dog in a real fight where they were fighting for their life as we think of a wild animal doing.

I know that we got an eye opener wjhen our then 2 yo female GSD tangled with an adult raccoon one morning at our home in RI. She caught him coming out of her run when my 11 yo son let her out of the house one morning. The raccoon ran for the woods, Abby caught him and they mixed it up for a while in front of him. Then the animal broke loose and made it to the woods. Abby came back to us with some blood on her but it tured out to be just raccoon blood. No harm to her at all.

But my son was VERY careful how he played with her for over a month. He actually told me after the incident "She was like a wild animal!".

Just shows that many of us do not know or woul not recognize our dogs in a real fight (And hope that we never do get to find out!)

I cannot believe that any adult GSD would have a very tough time beating a single coyote. A group would of course be a different matter, if it comes to that.

Remember too that the GSD is a herding dog and could be charged with protecting their sheep from predators including coyotes and probably even wolves. No house to run into out in the pasture.

[CassandGunnar]

Originally Posted by codmaster

Do coyotes always run in packs - does anyone know? if so, anybody know how big a typical (if there any such things) pack is? The ones that I have seen have always been only 1 or 2 or a mother with a few little ones.

We live about 25 or so southwest of MPLS and have a TON of coyotes around our area.
When I worked nights, I would see a lot them running around. They normally travel in smaller groups, 6 or 8, but sometimes form larger packs for hunting.
I don't do it much now, but I used to hunt coyotes. They are very shy/cautious of humans, but that is tending to change as their environment is being encroached upon.
Around here, a 40lb coyote is considered big. They really love cats for some reason and don't generally mess with larger dogs, even when they're in packs. Don't know why, but it could be a territorial thing. They mark a lot like dogs do, so if your dog is marking "their" territory, that could have soemthing to do with it.

About 8 months ago, a friend of mine who is a DNR officer showed me a few pics taken of a cougar that were taken in the Minnesota River Valley about 3 miles from where we live.
That freaked me out a little bit because the area is all in federal wildlife reserve area and we used to go there with the dogs. We've been back a few times, but I just don't feel comfortable there now, even if I take my duty weapon with me.
I ain't afraid of a coyote or two, but one couger scares the crap out of me.

[RubyTuesday]

Two types of dogs appear to be at high risk from wild wolves. Small dogs they prey on & territorial guard type dogs who probably 'challenge' them & then lose the challenge big time. Many GSDs fall into this last category & could get themselves into a world of hurt. Sadly, many of the larger dogs I've read about being killed by wolves, were tied outside (often to 'protect' against intruders!), & had no defense against a pack of wolves, including fleeing to safety. Yet another example of dogs paying for human folly.

Cougars are a whole different level of risk! They've had several set loose in Iowa after they were no longer wanted as pets. I don't know how risky these previous pets are, but I wouldn't take chances with 'em. I'm not convinced they're ever a safe pet for most people, & any owner who'd just turn them loose obviously failed any & all decent owner standards.

[paulag1955]

Cougars are a problem in the Seattle area, with sightings right down to the waterfront! If you look at a map, you'll see they had to pass through many miles of densely populated towns and suburbs to get there. Last spring we had incidents with two individual cougars, one in Seattle and one in Redmond. Cougars scare the crap out of me because I feel like I look much more like "dinner" to them than I would to a coyote.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by CassandGunnar

We live about 25 or so southwest of MPLS and have a TON of coyotes around our area.
When I worked nights, I would see a lot them running around. They normally travel in smaller groups, 6 or 8, but sometimes form larger packs for hunting.
I don't do it much now, but I used to hunt coyotes. They are very shy/cautious of humans, but that is tending to change as their environment is being encroached upon.
Around here, a 40lb coyote is considered big. They really love cats for some reason and don't generally mess with larger dogs, even when they're in packs. Don't know why, but it could be a territorial thing. They mark a lot like dogs do, so if your dog is marking "their" territory, that could have soemthing to do with it.

About 8 months ago, a friend of mine who is a DNR officer showed me a few pics taken of a cougar that were taken in the Minnesota River Valley about 3 miles from where we live.
That freaked me out a little bit because the area is all in federal wildlife reserve area and we used to go there with the dogs. We've been back a few times, but I just don't feel comfortable there now, even if I take my duty weapon with me.
I ain't afraid of a coyote or two, but one couger scares the crap out of me.

Nice Kitty! Nice Kitty!

[CassandGunnar]

I have to admit, I'm not scared of much in MN woods, but that makes me nervous. It's just that you don't normally hear them coming, from what I've been told.
Even if I had my dogs with me, I just don't feel like I'd stand much of a chance, even with my .45
Better to find somewhere else to walk.

[codmaster]

Need to get a couple of cat hounds - least then you would know when the cat comes!