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Coyotes vs dogs?

16K views 80 replies 29 participants last post by  Chip18 
#1 ·
Not exactly sure where to post but I have a concern. My family and I are moving to a rual area and we hear coyotes a lot. We let all 5 dogs play outside during the day but we have not moved there yet so the dogs are not there when the coyotes would be out. Our dogs stick together and are not afraid to go on little "hunts" (they search for birds and small creatures and to to get them) or to challenge other dogs (if on our property, and not in a playful way, we usually don't have that problem though). All the dogs are larger breeds, 2 labs, a Brittany, a Newfoundland, and a gsd. But I'm still worried about coyotes killing one or all the dogs, do you think coyotes would challenge our "pack"? If they did do you think the dogs or the coyotes would, for a lack of a better word, win?
 
#2 ·
A single coyote is unlikely to. However if you have coyotes that form into packs. Yes. They will challenge your dogs.

A pack of dogs is likely to break up while under that kind of pressure. They'll split apart and run. The coyotes can then single one out, even the newfie could be killed by an attack by the pack. My brother in law had a buddy (working goat farmer) that lost his LSG to coyotes last year.

Plus, almost all of the diseases and parasites that coyotes carry are transferable to domestic dogs. The same guy who lost his LSG has had to deal with mange several times his dogs picked up from coyotes.

I'd make building a dog yard one of the top priorities after the move. Before the move if you can swing it.
 
#3 ·
The Coyotes will/would/could also "lure" one of the dogs away and ambush that dog when he is away from the other dogs. A much more "successful" tactic for them.

Time for a change in approach in how you manage theses dogs, if keeping all of them is your plan and I assume it would be. :)

I did think Coyotes were lone hunters but I have hear of them doing the lure away thing?? We hear them howling all the time around here, first one then another like a relay kinda thing, so clearly more than one is out there??
 
#12 · (Edited)
Coyotes in the Northeast have interbred with wolves, making for an animal that is highly adaptable, hunts in packs, larger and stronger than coyotes, and without the fear of humans and human habitat that wolves have. Much more dangerous to dogs than pure coyotes. Edit: I posted this before reading the whole thread. Yes, coywolves do exist, they are credited with at least one human death. I would consider them actually more dangerous than wolves.

Susan
 
#5 ·
Like voodoo says,better safe than sorry.We have lots of coyotes around where we live too but never have any problems at all except when we had cats.The coyotes wiped them out:(They've never come close to the dogs at all though.
 
#7 ·
Also I think would depend on your area and whether they are true coyotes or coywolves. Up here they are coywolves. Almost as big as my female gsd. Since I've had the puppy I am always out with my dogs because I have to oversee his pottying lol and make sure he doesn't eat anyone else's poop.

Last year I had two adult GSDs and the little 50lb lab mix. If I let them out at night without me, I made sure all 3 went. I doubted anything woukd carry off the little lab if the shepherds were with her.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I'm surrounded by coyotes. They are in packs, I can hear them and they get loud. Most of them are of average to slightly above average size, but I've seen some huge ones. They are out all hours--day and night. We hear them killing things and that drives my dogs nuts. Coyotes are really the only thing my dogs bark at and they seem to sense when coyotes are on the move or coming toward the house. My pack usually form a line along the back fence and look like a football team.

In this picture you can see that they have all stopped what they are doing and they are watching the general direction the coyotes are in. My two females are always upfront and center--the males stay back but alert.



They aren't very small by me
 
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#9 ·
I'm surrounded by coyotes. They are in packs, I can hear them and they get loud. Most of them are of average to slightly above average size, but I've seen some huge ones. They are out all hours--day and night. We hear them killing." Ditto!

Living With Coyotes/Coywolves | Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research

This site speaks of Coywolves. I have been up close enough, they are not small and some seem to not fear us. I have watched them stare and withdraw slowly at times.
 
#13 ·
That picture looks like a coywolf to me, but I thought they were only in the northeast.

I believe the last reading I did about them said they are something like 50 percent coyote, 25 wolf, 25 dog. I watched a documentary on them recently that was pretty interesting. They are literally everywhere, they were studying one that had denned like a few hundred feet from a playground. But usually they are never seen, they are incredibly crafty.
 
#14 ·
Hmmm I'm certainly no expert but yes a lot of tan in color??

The Coyote's I've seen briefly seem more of a dusty kind of grey?? Rocky dwarfs them in size, so I guess if I stumble across a "Coyote" his size ... I'll understand something is up here???

Someone is gonna try and make a "Pet" out of one ... it's just what people do. :eek:


A den by a playground wow??
 
#15 ·
A den by a playground wow??
A year or two a go I saw a heavy with milk coyote in the middle of downtown charlotte NC. Last summer at bike week 3 of them trotted down the beach right in the touristy area came about 10 feet away from me before disappearing into the dunes.

I watched a documentary on coywolves, apparently the resident coyotes in central Park NYC are actually coyote/wolf hybrids.
 
#16 ·
Yeah, they had radio collars on them and it was the only reason they could find them, even in suburbia. They were living right there with all the people but the people weren't seeing them. The only reason they were able to video them running through the streets is because they could hunt them down with the tracking collar.

Crazy stuff. For the amount of them living amongst us they obviously aren't out to get humans or they would be doing it, they live close but manage not to be seen. Smaller dogs and cats though I am sure are fair game
 
#18 ·
Not far from me this happened a couple yrs ago...

"Snoopy just made it.

The slowest of Roger Nelson's three dogs, Snoopy, a 5-year-old beagle/basset hound mix, narrowly escaped four coyotes Nelson says charged his pets while they were out in the fenced backyard at the corner of Lawton and South Herbert roads at 1:20 a.m. on Jan. 25.

The other dogs — Lexie, a 10-year-old golden retriever, and Bella, a 3-month-old German shepherd pup — made it up the back stairs and through the door quickly, but Snoopy, with his stubby legs, waddled up just in the nick of time.

"One more stair and they would have grabbed him," said Nelson, who watched the action unfold as he stood at the doorway. "They jumped the fence, no issues at all, and came right up the stairs."

Once his dogs were safe, Nelson slammed the inside door shut, but three of the four coyotes continues to jump at and paw at the screen door, breaking a pair of glass louvers in their attempt to get at the dogs. Scratch marks were clearly visible on the lower metal panel of the screen door the next morning.

Nelson said he grabbed a high-powered pellet pistol and began firing through the glass panes of the inside rear door to drive away the coyotes. He kept on firing, hitting at least two of the coyotes, which jumped down and ran off. The two others quickly followed, leaping the fence."


 
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#19 ·
guess the operative word is 'caution.'

packs will overwhelm a single, or even a group of dogs that aren't exactly a pack.... group that ensures survival.
 
#20 ·
There's a pack of coyotes around here, tho they are rarely seen. I've only seen the evidence of their "meals remains" which is usually rabbits left behind in my yard every once in awhile. I did hear them howling one evening and Tasha decided to join in and howl with them, the goofy girl! We were in the house at the time.
 
#26 ·
I've seen coyotes crossing my path twice in one month. The second one had a good look-see on me, and it was gorgeous, full coated, large, identical to the Eastern wolf in looks. In my area, southern Ontario, about 50 km from 'cottage' country with mostly fallow field and scrub forest in between, they are becoming more wolf than coyote, both by interbreeding and wolves moving south. They are considered indistinguishable by sight, and a matter of dna. It's evolution in action, wolves & coyotes adapting to a new landscape.

As an animal lover, I am in awe; as a mid-sized (40 lbs) dog owner I am trying to figure out what new 'off leash' rules to apply. With Dynamo (gsd) it was simply 'near me', kinda sorta within sight. With Sonic, I worry. I'm getting him ready for off-leash, but I won't be letting him critter in the bushes or pine islands, for starters.
 
#28 ·
A few years back AC officers killed a coyote in the middle of the city here, in someone's fenced back yard. At our old house, just south of the city limits, we heard coyotes all the time, usually in a pack, not solitary, and when my Sarah was in heat, they would come right up to the fence, really bold. When I had Cesar and Rosco, two rescue males, Rosco would bark at them often at night when we went outside, and they were across the highway from us, close enough to hear them moving in the weeds. They ignored him. When we got Cesar, who was big and tall with a voice to match, it was very different. The first time he heard them vocalizing so close to us, he let out one huge, deep, right-from-his-barrel-chest WOOF!! They went immediately silent, and we didn't hear them as close to the house the rest of the time we lived there.

Susan
 
#32 ·
They're around, and they've definitely infiltrated the suburbs up here as well. I've seen some big ones, on par with Llombardo's picture.


We have, for the most part, coexisted without issues with the local fox & coyotes for a long time. I used to have problems with them attacking some of the other animals, but after we (intentionally) added a donkey, the problems stopped. I wouldn't ask my GSD's to fight off coyotes, I'm not personally willing to accept the risk of that kind of injury to my dogs.


Both of my dogs are both very attentive to coyote noises at night, and my adult female GSD seeks out and pees on every pile of coyote scat she finds on our land.


Here are some articles from my area. They're definitely here, and probably here to stay. There were multiple public meetings last year to attempt to inform suburban homeowners that know next to nothing about wildlife. Best to be careful.


Coyote attacks on larger dogs becoming unusually frequent


?Something needs to be done:? More than 100 pack gym in Wauwatosa to discuss recent coyote attacks | FOX6Now.com


Wauwatosa coyote attacks kill two dogs, neighbors 'panicking'
 
#33 ·
Sometimes it's hard to imagine how dangerous they are. On multiple occasions I have stopped and watched them in the middle of a field playing with each other-- just like any dog would. Last month it was windy out and I watched one chase leaves that were blowing--just like a dog would.
 
#34 ·
I think there should be a systematic program of hazing to make sure coyotes or coywolves retain a heathy fear and distance from humans and pets. I think they have their place in the ecosystem, for sure, but if we want to keep them there, we need to make sure they are not killing or approaching humans or their pets (dogs).

I don't like hunting with hounds in general, but I wouldn't be against that when it comes to coyotes, run them with hounds a few times a year and they'll develop a healthy fear of dogs and people.

As far as cats, they're getting annihilated by coyotes and fisher (the animal). Pet cats should be indoor only.
 
#35 ·
I picked up a hitch hiker and his Pit a few years ago, he lives out in the desert and he said his "Pit" was attacked by three Coyotes, when his idiot family let the dog out unsupervised! The dog gave as good as he got, no easy meal their! The dog was injured but he fought them off and looked fine when I saw him.

By and large they are not looking for a fight, if they start fence hopping here??? I'll just forgo the Boxer and move up the schedule on a "Dogo" I don't let my dogs engage with wildlife but as I am want to say "crap happens." Rocky needs back up. :)

I'd advise other dog owners with "snack type dogs" to consider a guardian for there little guys. The Cane Corso owners could use one of there spare shovels, to help out of they are on site. (inside JK) :)
 
#36 ·
It would be wise to take coyote presence into account when you choose your vaccines (Lepto, etc). I know they live near me, which means they're able to drink from the same ponds and puddles as my dogs.


Talk to your vet if you haven't yet, ask questions, be informed.


If you have other animals (including cats) that are outdoors, you'll need to be very thorough in how you set up your fencing and enclosures. Coyotes are very smart.
 
#37 ·
When I was very young, maybe 6, a pack killed one of our foals. We had about 20 horses & ponies at the time. All ran free as a herd on over 100 acres. They always came up like clockwork for feeding time & the mother never came up so we knew something was wrong. We went looking for her and found her across the creek staying with her dead, half eaten, baby. She had some scratches on her as well. That mare was a very good mom & was one that always chased off the other horses from her babies. She would also guard them from the family dog & strange people just for caution, so we know she had to give them a fight, but that's what they do in packs. Distract the alpha/herd & pick off the weakest/easiest target.

As an adult, living in CA, I worked with some horses in Pacific Palasades, that had 2 turnout paddocks. I would turn the horses out, go exercise/train a few, rotating the paddocks. Quite often, I'd see a pack of 4-6 smaller sized coyotes, close by, eyeing the horses from time to time. These were huge horses too. I never really trusted the coyotes, you never know what they'll do if they get hungry enough. Any time I saw them, I'd calmly chase them off, throwing rocks at them, I'd also chase them off on horseback so the horses would be more likely to stand their ground with them instead of running away, engaging in a chase that they wouldn't win cause they were confined & so the coyotes would get the idea to leave them alone. I believe if coyotes will go after a horse, they'd also go after a dog.
 
#38 ·
I've seen a dead deer on the side of the road with a coyote dead within feet of it. Obviously both hit by a car, assuming the coyote was chasing the deer.

Not that long ago about a mile away a pack of coyotes were seen eating a deer near a park by a bunch of kids.
 
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