Coyote Attack

DPU

It all comes down to your skill sets and experience and always looking to improve, whether it be using the bow and arrow or teaching the COME command. 

 I do not think anyone participating in this discussion has downplayed the importance of the come command or of constantly working on making it as foolproof as possible. I have also successfully called my dogs off of rabbits and coyotes. I am not foolish enough to think that because I have had success in this that they are somehow 100% in their recall. They are not. If my timing is off or if they are fully committed to the chase then there is always a chance that they will not come on command.

 I think everyone here is looking to always improve perhaps with you being the exception, you have already achieved the perfect 100% recall. There is nothing that could possibly happen that would prevent your dogs from stopping dead in their tracks and returning instantly. At least that seems to be what you are implying. I eagerly await your book on teaching this 100% against all odds recall.

dgriego

 I think everyone here is looking to always improve perhaps with you being the exception, you have already achieved the perfect 100% recall. There is nothing that could possibly happen that would prevent your dogs from stopping dead in their tracks and returning instantly. At least that seems to be what you are implying. I eagerly await your book on teaching this 100% against all odds recall.

I want my dogs safe, free of injury, no fighting, and under my protection.  I would like to ideally think that I would put myself between the dogs and the coyote.  I work with my dogs with their safety always paramount in my mind.  Everyone who knows me says I am super cautious with my dogs and that came about because of hard experiences just like the OP had.  I am not the type the person that would "Next time a coyote comes into your yard let the dogs do their thing and reward them for it afterwards".  A majority would say there is nothing wrong with that, but its just not in my definition of what a caretaker does.  If something would ever happen to my dogs because I did not work on other choies, I surely would have great regret.  When it comes to wild animal encounters, I chose retreat and there are opportunities to practice and practice and practice.

its kinda hard to retreat when the wilderness comes into your back yard. lets not lose sight of that little fact.... outside the gate its still a gamble. there are no sure things in life in SPITE of training 24/7. we shouldnt lose sight of that fact either.

DumDog

its kinda hard to retreat when the wilderness comes into your back yard. lets not lose sight of that little fact.... outside the gate its still a gamble. there are no sure things in life in SPITE of training 24/7. we shouldnt lose sight of that fact either.

So are you suggesting no preparations, no precautions, deny the potential danger, Que Sera Sera?   To lose sight is not to plan for the inevitable.

I'm pretty confident on Rory's recall. I've called her off cats, geese, ducks, a wild turkey and a skunk but none of those were in our yard, LOL.

Just a couple of months ago she was bush sniffing and got scratched pretty bad by a cat hiding under the bush, I didnt have time to call her but OH MAN did she turn tail and run straight to me, LOL. We didnt have Primo with us though and he hates those kitties!

Its kinda strange that she will haul doggy butt away from any cat, I didnd even think about it until now.

DPU

DumDog

its kinda hard to retreat when the wilderness comes into your back yard. lets not lose sight of that little fact.... outside the gate its still a gamble. there are no sure things in life in SPITE of training 24/7. we shouldnt lose sight of that fact either.

So are you suggesting no preparations, no precautions, deny the potential danger, Que Sera Sera?   To lose sight is not to plan for the inevitable.

So you've got a plan for when a grizzly, pheasant, or the errant pinniped comes into your backyard??  I think that all the posters would benefit by the sharing of all your planning for potential danger and random incursions of wild animals into your yard.  Instead of lecturing us about our attitudes, why don't you share with us your planning and procedures manual.  That way we could all be on your side, following you in dog training perfection and care. 

DPU

dgriego

 I think everyone here is looking to always improve perhaps with you being the exception, you have already achieved the perfect 100% recall. There is nothing that could possibly happen that would prevent your dogs from stopping dead in their tracks and returning instantly. At least that seems to be what you are implying. I eagerly await your book on teaching this 100% against all odds recall.

I want my dogs safe, free of injury, no fighting, and under my protection.  I would like to ideally think that I would put myself between the dogs and the coyote.  I work with my dogs with their safety always paramount in my mind.  Everyone who knows me says I am super cautious with my dogs and that came about because of hard experiences just like the OP had.  I am not the type the person that would "Next time a coyote comes into your yard let the dogs do their thing and reward them for it afterward".  A majority would say there is nothing wrong with that, but its just not in my definition of what a caretaker does.  If something would ever happen to my dogs because I did not work on other choices, I surely would have great regret.  When it comes to wild animal encounters, I chose retreat and there are opportunities to practice and practice and practice.

DPU I am confused??  Did you read the original post??  The OP didn't open her door and sick the dogs on the Coyote.  The Coyote was hiding behind her shed - she nor her dogsk new he was there.  And the OP has stated that now she goes out first to check behind the shed and make sure the yard is clear of any Coyotes.  And by the way, my dog has a 100% recall to and its been proofed many times, stopping him from engaging, that's easy.  But if a full blow attack and fight were they are in the throws I am 100% sure that my dog would not stop and come immediately. 

DPU

I want my dogs safe, free of injury, no fighting, and under my protection. 

 You would never make it as a police dog handler, or as a rancher, farmer nor as a hunter, I consider the protection of the yard and the home to be part of the dog's job.

DPU

I would like to ideally think that I would put myself between the dogs and the coyote.

I would if it were Gunnar but Hektor is better equiped than I for taking out coyotes. I do not encourage him to attack coyotes and in the field he is not allowed to engage them at all, unless by chance one was foolish enough to threaten us.

DPU

Everyone who knows me says I am super cautious with my dogs and that came about because of hard experiences just like the OP had.

 I am also cautious, I work hard on recalls and making sure my dogs are safe when we are out and about, as stated I do not hunt coyotes with them nor do I encourage them to attack coyotes.

DPU

I am not the type the person that would "Next time a coyote comes into your yard let the dogs do their thing and reward them for it afterwards".

 It is easy for you to take this stance, you have not had a coyote in your yard, you have not seen the countless missing dog and cat signs all over your neighborhood, you have not come accross the dead carcass's of dogs and cats killed by coyotes while out for your evening walk, you can have young children play in your backyard and all you must fear is a possum or a raccon attack. I wonder how well you would do and what your philosophy would be if you lived in coyote country.

DPU

my definition of what a caretaker does. 

 again, very easy for you to say, just like it is easy for people who do not live around large carnivourous wildlife to cry about the poor bears or the poor wolves or the poor puma since they never need worry about being eaten by one nor about watching their animals ripped apart by one, nor about having their kids hauled off by one. I have always lived around working dogs, dogs that hunt, dogs who job it is to guard the livestock and guard the home and although mine are spoiled rotten and really do not have to work much, I still consider it to be their task to guard the house.

DPU

I chose retreat and there are opportunities to practice and practice and practice.

 It is easy to choose retreat when there is nothing dangerous to retreat from, when there is no risk that the thing from which you retreat might  one day hurt something or someone. I really think that until you live in a place surrounded by coyotes (or wolves, or bears, or pumas)  you can never really know what you would do in the situation,

luvmyswissy

DPU I am confused??  Did you read the original post??  The OP didn't open her door and sick the dogs on the Coyote.  The Coyote was hiding behind her shed - she nor her dogsk new he was there.  And the OP has stated that now she goes out first to check behind the shed and make sure the yard is clear of any Coyotes.  And by the way, my dog has a 100% recall to and its been proofed many times, stopping him from engaging, that's easy.  But if a full blow attack and fight were they are in the throws I am 100% sure that my dog would not stop and come immediately

 That was directed at me and not the OP. I am the one who stated that if the coyotes come into my yard, my dogs will kill them. And yes I also said I would reward them for their efforts.

luvmyswissy

DPU I am confused??  Did you read the original post??

Did you read the other post by other posters.  The OP was put in a uncontrollable situation and what was done was the best that could be done.  I keep having to repeat myself by saying that I hope the OP examines what happened and see what could have improved the scenario in preparation for another unexpected encounter.

Other posters are saying that if a coyote comes into their dog they would sic their dogs on the animals.  If that is the choice, the owner should do some planning, preparation,and fight training so the dog has the best chances to survive.  Que Sera Sera seems to be their attitude.

dgriego

 It is easy to choose retreat when there is nothing dangerous to retreat from, when there is no risk that the thing from which you retreat might  one day hurt something or someone. I really think that until you live in a place surrounded by coyotes (or wolves, or bears, or pumas)  you can never really know what you would do in the situation,

We all have our own "neighborhoods" in which we live.  Retreat is the best strategy for the "dangers"  that surround me.  The difference is I would be able to cope in your neighborhood but you would not be able to cope in mine.   Think about what you are doing, over time, the dangers are going to be younger and stronger while your dog gets older and weaker.  Don't you think you should prepare for that?

Xerxes

DPU

DumDog

its kinda hard to retreat when the wilderness comes into your back yard. lets not lose sight of that little fact.... outside the gate its still a gamble. there are no sure things in life in SPITE of training 24/7. we shouldnt lose sight of that fact either.

So are you suggesting no preparations, no precautions, deny the potential danger, Que Sera Sera?   To lose sight is not to plan for the inevitable.

 

 

So you've got a plan for when a grizzly, pheasant, or the errant pinniped comes into your backyard??  I think that all the posters would benefit by the sharing of all your planning for potential danger and random incursions of wild animals into your yard.  Instead of lecturing us about our attitudes, why don't you share with us your planning and procedures manual.  That way we could all be on your side, following you in dog training perfection and care. 

lol i'd be the first in line... i do believe in preparedness but i DONT believe in paranoia.....
 

DPU

luvmyswissy

DPU I am confused??  Did you read the original post??

 

Did you read the other post by other posters.  The OP was put in a uncontrollable situation and what was done was the best that could be done.  I keep having to repeat myself by saying that I hope the OP examines what happened and see what could have improved the scenario in preparation for another unexpected encounter.

Other posters are saying that if a coyote comes into their dog they would sic their dogs on the animals.  If that is the choice, the owner should do some planning, preparation,and fight training so the dog has the best chances to survive.  Que Sera Sera seems to be their attitude.

Sorry Dave I am getting lost in this discussion.   I agree I would not purposefully endanger my dogs.  If a Coyote was in my yard and my dogs were in the house I would use other means to scare them away - not use my dogs and risk them getting hurt or killed.  That's how I feel about that situation but that is not what happened with AL, and I believe that an unfortunate situation happened and AL is taking every precaution going forward, that is what's important.

DPU

If that is the choice, the owner should do some planning, preparation,and fight training so the dog has the best chances to survive.  Que Sera Sera seems to be their attitude.

 DPU because of the precautions I take and because of my philosophy regarding coyotes in suburbia and because of how I control and watch my dogs when out in the field it is doubtless that I will ever have a coyote jump my fence. And therefore I will never have the opportunity to set my dogs on one. First off it is a 6 foot fence on the side that borders the desert, and considering that any coyote that gets near the house is met with shouts, stones, paint balls and bb's as well as a snarling, growling 100lb dog who makes it very clear how he feels about coyotes near his house. They avoid my house. They go and eat my neighbor’s dogs and cats, the ones who leave their animals out unattended or chained in unfenced yards.

 And furthermore I do not feel there is a need for fight training to prepare for the off chance that one is stupid enough to jump the fence. Hektor has taken one down and he did it very quickly before I could even react to the fact that there had been a coyote standing in my front yard. He is larger now and more mature. A single coyote in my yard will have no chance if he does not run and run quickly. You have Danes, I have a Dogo, one who comes from hunting stock, his father was bred in Argentina and is responsible for the demise of hundreds of boar, his mother was born and bred in Texas and is a highly successful hunter of pigs in her own right. If he cannot handle a single coyote in his own backyard then most Dogo people would say he is not much of a Dogo.

Is there the chance of injury? Sure there is but taking out a single coyote is nothing compared to wrestling with a huge wild boar. Hektor is a working dog, bred to hunt big game.

I most certainly would not want my girls to end up with chewed up faces.  I do not like having possums come into our yard,, as last ween when Honey (our golfden/sighthound mix) got one cornered under some wire fencing we had taken down, but nto removed.  My full golden, KayCee just stood and watched--but she is a true chicken.  Any wild animal can be dangerous when cornered.

But my mind keeps going back to the idea that the wild animals of today are like the Indians of the 1800.  White men wanted their land and just moved in on them and they tried to fight back, but were stuck on reservations of land white men didn't want.  There was little game for them to hunt--which they had always done.    My husban'd grandma was full cherokee Indian and this happened to her parents.

Today manwnats to move out of the city, it expands into the woods, etc, wildlife either has to try to find a place to live--where man doesn't want to live--or learn to fend for themselves in towns, housing developments, etc. They do notg understand picking up and moving 100 miles away to where there are no humans.

 I remember many, manmy yeas ago you would leve Dallas, drive thru country side with cattle on both sides of the road, come to a small town, drive thru more country side and then hitFort Worth.  No more--you can't tell when you leave one big city and get to the other.  Wild animals lived out there in that pririe land, which was taken over by man.

 I can't help but feel sorry for the coyotes, wolves, bears, pumas, and other wild life who hae lost the land they and their ancestors lived on for centureies or longer---because man wanted it.  But at the same time I know this is a growing country and people have to have a place to live and they want their dogs and cats safe from being snatched and eaten or attacked.  I know I most certainly do.  It is a cath22.