Do Hawks eat small puppies?

Any bird of prey will try to pick up something that looks like food. It's easy to prevent, though. Watch your puppy. Don't leave her outside alone.

There isn't a solid answer to your question -- it depends on the hawk (or osprey, eagle, owl or any other bird of prey).  Depends on how big it is (there are many varieties of hawk too) and how strong it is, depends on how hungry the bird is or how motivated it is to take it.
 
They don't just sit down and make a meal -- they will pick it up and fly as far as they can and generally hunt in pairs.  Dropping the 'food' to kill it and then take it to the nest or whatever works.  You aren't going to find any statistical data on it.  I've known birds of prey to TRY to fly off with a dog 15 pounds or more. 

im really curious why you asked this?
 
i remember when my dog was a puppy we lived on a lake and hawks would circle around alot when i had him outside, our yard was 650 ft. so it would really freak me out and i would stand by my pup the whole time.

Yes, it's very possible - any dog weighing up to 15 lbs or so can be regarded as prey.  We live in a suburb on the edge of the mountains around LA, and our yard is surrounded by an 8 ft. anti-snake/coyote fence.  Some years back, I was looking for an adult oodle to adopt and the rescue rejected our house because of the danger from owls or hawks above.  Never mind that the dog would've been an indoor dog, with someone home all day to supervise whenever it was out in the yard.  At the time, I was very angry with rescue, but their objections made me more aware of the danger of flying predators.  As a result, when my little girls were puppies I made sure to stay by their side when they were in the yard, and at night they were only out long enough to do their business.  They are now older and bigger, but we are still watchful when they are outside.   I would love to build a dog run (with roof) right up against the house, with a dog door between the run and the house - this would be nice and safe, but the layout of my house doesn't really allow for that.
 
Last summer, my daughter was awakened around 3 am by the sound of a scuffle outside her window, and then a most awful scream.  We think it was an owl who got hold of a rat in the bushes.  Ugh. 
 

Watch out for owels also.
 
Around here Great horned owels will carrie off cats and small dogs.  We have had some cats come into the clinic with what looked like claw marks on their back, could only guess it was one lucky cat to get away.  We have even heard stories of owners who clame their chi was carried away ringht in front of their eyes, yep, they were even outside with the dog.  So even if your outside with your dog it's still at risk.  10lbs seems to be the limit they can carrie.

When we lived out in the woods in PA there was this hug owl that would come and steal our ducks.  2 went missing and then we saw the owl a little while later.  We then had to build them a safer pen.

Years back, I was driving in Colorado.  I saw a hawk with a huge snake.  It was all he could do to get off the ground with this snake.  Maybe he bit off more than he could chew.  []

Hawks, eagles, owls and even some larger falcons will go after any small enough animal.  I have also seen some king sized ravens and crows attack smaller animals although in that case, the desire is not to eat them, but to drive them away from a nest area or food.  We got our brittany at 3 days old because the mother had a litter of 14 pups and could not begin to feed them all, and the day she came home to our house, I think she weighed about 6-8 ounces...even waiting until her eyes were open and she was fully mobile to take her into the yard, she was still smaller than alot of bunnies you see out in the yard, and the larger raptors love bunnies as prey.

That is so weird you brought this up becuase just the other day I was out with Jetta and this huge black hawk swooped down on our roof and started watching us. I totally freaked out and grabbed Jetta and brought her inside. I'm sure she would be to heavy for him to carry away (15 pounds) but he might still TRY and hurt her. [] I'm paranoid now...

I've heard of cats and kittens being snatched up for sure, which freaks me out.  I'd probably die if something tried taking Trixie. 

I have a friend in Houston with a six pound Yorkie.  She's afraid to leave him out there alone ... so I'm sure it happens.  With Roxie, I'm not too afraid of a hawk or bird of prey getting her.  If they're willing to duke it out with a 60-pounder, then they're more than hungry ...[&:]

Our breeder was having a fit over two hawks that were supposedly after her puppies.  I was recently at my son's house who has a Jack Russell terrier.  There was a rabbit  (large - two to three times the size of the puppy) maybe fifteen feet from me.  I was standing on his deck. A large hawk (or similar type bird) zoomed in and grabbed the rabbit with its feet.  I yelled and the hawk let go and flew away.  It scared me and the rabbit.

ORIGINAL: yanke

Our breeder was having a fit over two hawks that were supposedly after her puppies.  I was recently at my son's house who has a Jack Russell terrier.  There was a rabbit  (large - two to three times the size of the puppy) maybe fifteen feet from me.  I was standing on his deck. A large hawk (or similar type bird) zoomed in and grabbed the rabbit with its feet.  I yelled and the hawk let go and flew away.  It scared me and the rabbit.

Yeah, I'd probably let out a blood-curdling scream if something similar happened. 

My former cat actually caught a rabbit and ran under the house once.  I was outside reading ... and I heard a hideous scream.  I look up to see my cat running towards me with a kicking rabbit!  I did scream loudly, trying to make her drop it.  Instead, she ran under the house.  I waited on her to come out -- and she did.  I believe that rabbit's screaming was one of the most unnerving sounds I've ever heard. 

Lest anyone get ANY ideas about harming ANY hawks, falcons, eagles or owls, please be aware that they are all protected species. It is a Federal offense to harm an eagle! I'm pretty sure the same for the rest of the list, too.

Keep your pets out of their way, but you are NOT allowed to harm the birds.

I had to say that just in case someone has a stupid bone in their body and thought they'd shoot some hawks. [:@] (No one here personally. It's just that there are potentially thousands reading this.)

I saw awesome wildlife footage once of a raptor taking a kid (goat) off the side of a mountain.  It  swooped in, grabbed the kid by the head and dropped like a stone out of the frame, and then like bionic slow motion surged up from the bottom of the frame still carrying  that kid. It was amazing - saw it years ago and it still just blows my mind purely from memory.

So I think there are birds big enough to carry off a small dog or cat.

Paula