Coyote Attack

FourIsCompany

mudpuppy

I'm not proud of it

 

There's not a thing wrong with being proud that one's dog endangered its own life to protect itself, it's people or its property. IMO, that's something to be proud of. Not ashamed of. Not at all.

Sorry, for me when my dogs got the possums and the cats, my response was pity on the animal and neutral to my dogs, I was not proud.  When one of my fosters killed my pet parrot, I felt for the bird and was neutral toward the dog, and I was not proud.  In these situations, proud or not proud is owned by the individual and frankly no cares of other's judgements because that judgement does not change the feeliings.

FourIsCompany

mudpuppy

I'm not proud of it

 

There's not a thing wrong with being proud that one's dog endangered its own life to protect itself, it's people or its property. IMO, that's something to be proud of. Not ashamed of. Not at all.

I think it is also possible top be saddened by the situation, and yet proud in some part of yourself. I think you know what I mean. I have that kind of feeling about my cats and their hunting. They are very skilled, and while I don't like dead birds or rodents, there a part of me that admires their skill and instinct. They are being cats, and doing a pretty great job at it.

Lest anyone doubt my bleeding heartness, when I found a dead mama rat and her dead litter, killed in my side yard by a neighbors cat, I shifted through the dug up nest and found one tiny baby unharmed. I spent two weeks trying to nurse the fellow along, including getting up in the middle of the night to feed him. Sadly, he was just too young to survive without a mama.

When the decision is in my hands, I choose life. I also choose to share my home with animals who have instincts - my dogs and cats. I don't blame coyotes for eating cats and small dogs. They are doing what coyotes do. I don't blame larger dogs for going after coyotes. They are doing what dogs do.
 

We have Coyote and I am forever afraid they will attack my dogs or son.  I never allow my son or pug outside without all the dogs out hoping that if a Coyote were to attack the dogs would do exactly as the OP dogs did or at the very least keep a Coyote from thinking about attacking.  I would be very proud of my dogs should they ever attack a Coyote who attacked my child or one of my other dogs.

Just 20 minutes from my house a baby was attacked. 

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. —  Authorities are setting traps to catch a coyote that brutally attacked a 20-month-old boy outside a New Jersey home Friday night.

The coyote bit Liam Sadler on the head and neck while the toddler was playing in a back yard, then approached the boy's grandfather.

“It proceeded to come after my dad. ... It was like it was used to people,” the boy's mother, Rena Sadler, told FOX News on Tuesday. “He shouted and then it turned around and walked away."

Liam, who was visiting with his mother from Florida, took antibiotics and received rabies shots after being treated and released from an area hospital, Sadler said.

The danger begins when the scavenging animals lose their fear of humans or when humans feed them.

“Coyotes start to recognize human beings as a good source of food,” said Dave Salmoni, Animal Planet zoologist. They become used to tearing through garbage cans near homes, where pets and small children also play.

“When they lose they’re fear of human beings” then they look to animals and small children as a possible source of food, Salmoni said.

 Just a month later;

For the second time in as many months, officials believe a coyote has attacked a small boy in this wooded, suburban town in central New Jersey.

Police and state wildlife officials set traps Tuesday, and were looking for the animal that attacked 5-year-old Brayden Gazette.

Joann Gazette saw her son and 8-year-old daughter, Sydney, screaming as they ran to their home.

"He was bloody and they were crying," Gazette said. She said the children were in the Lawrence family's yard across the street from their home at about 8:15 p.m. Monday when the animal bolted from a stand of trees and jumped on Brayden, biting his head. The animal ran off when Sydney screamed.

Wow, Luvmyswissy that is the boldest story I've heard of coyote attacks!

Thanks again everyone, for the support!

 I got home from work, Rory greeted me tail wagging!!!!

She wont give kisses because her nose hurts I'm sure but she ate a big bowl of food, ate her meds and is resting!!

Primo is easy, even though he has the staples he takes his meds and cleaning without a wince!

Tonight is looking much brighter then I thought it would.

Good to hear they're doing well!  :) 

 I must say, I don't know what all the fuss is about.  I think what your dogs did was great.  We have coyotes galore where I lived, and several dogs have become prey to them.  And I'm not just talking about little poodles and such.  Our neighbor even lost his pyr mix (very large dog, maybe a tad smaller than a purebred pyr) to coyotes.  Dad would always go out and shoot his gun when their howling got too close to the house.  Our lab was smart enough to always stay close to the house (and we finally got dad to give in and let her inside at night), but other dogs weren't always as lucky.  I live in a more suburban area now, so coyotes aren't a big deal here, but you just never know.  I wouldn't doubt that the coyote may have been sick, because usually they won't go after things that big unless they're in a pack, but I'm not saying its impossible. 

Hope your puppies get better soon and that Rory doesn't end up needing surgery! 

I feel bad for the coyote and I feel bad for the dogs.  We can't blame neither for what happened. Auroralove did all she could.  But when I read the first post, the poor coyote being ripped apart by two pitt bulls and his entrails hanning out, I felt sick and angry.  Not long ago I was unfortunate enough to witness my dog being attacked by a pitt bull and when I read this post it all brought it back to me.  The pitt bull was so silent in his intentions to kill my dog that the minute he saw us walking he went right for my dogs throat in a blink of an eye and without any hesitation.  I know all pitt bulls are not like that but I can't help it, every time I hear of a pitt bull attack I picture a dog who enjoys his sport!  Maybe Callieope had the same experience to make her so uneasy?

When the decision is in my hands, I choose life. I also choose to share my home with animals who have instincts - my dogs and cats. I don't blame coyotes for eating cats and small dogs. They are doing what coyotes do. I don't blame larger dogs for going after coyotes. They are doing what dogs do.
 

I like this statement, I agree with it.  Its part of life, sometimes a kind of sad part of life. I too feel sorry for that lone coyote, but I don't blame the dogs in the least.   I don't know that I agree to being proud of the dogs for doing attacking it,,, like Mudpuppy said, they  probably are not protecting as much as doing what they do.    When my shepherd/dane almost killed a rabbit many years ago I was horrified.  On this board, one of our regular posters a few years ago... had a dog that killed her duck that lived on her property, that she named and took care of. She knew the dog could do it,,,so she watched him as well as she could but one day the inevitable happened. She posted about it for a long time...she was so upset and sad and mad at the dog...even though she knew it was his instinct.  Its all part of life.

I'm afraid this will turn into a pitbull conversation. It should not, I know there are other breeds and other dogs that might do the same as these did.

For me,,, its a lesson. I would never let my dog out if I think there is a possibilty of a wild animal out there.   I don't want to be part of what wild animals OR dogs do what comes naturally to them. I also would worry that my dogs would get hurt and/or sick or leave a lasting on them. I hope your dogs recover nicely Auroralove, it looks like they are!

AuroraLove

Wow, Luvmyswissy that is the boldest story I've heard of coyote attacks!

Just like the bear around us Coyote attack people too, frequently.  We are over populating and allowing the wild animal’s access to our garbage and feeder.  They hang around waiting for food and then when there only option is a small child or pet they attack.

There was a story in PA of a pack of Coyotes that attacked three children a couple of years ago during a T-ball parade, at the same time they bite a couple of adults too.  So even with an event and many people around them attacked.  In your situation the Coyote was trapped and protecting itself but if you were the lone person going outside without the dogs you very well could have been attacked under the circumstances.

DPU

Sorry, for me when my dogs got the possums

Were these possums (and cats and the pet parrot) predators threatening the safety of you or your dogs???? Of course a person doesn't feel pride simply because their dog kills another animal! But if there's a threat to you or your loved ones and a dog comes in and neutralizes that threat, then I think it's possible you may just feel a little pride along with the sorrow for the death of an animal. This is a perfectly natural feeling.

Dog_ma

I think it is also possible top be saddened by the situation

Naturally. I think that goes without saying. Just because someone feels pride doesn't mean they are incapable of having other feelings at the same time. But I know when a bobcat came into our front yard and I, in a protective rage, ran out and chased it away, there wasn't much room at that moment for me to feel sorry for the thing. But if it had been hurt, I'm sure I would have felt bad in some way and I'm sure the OP felt bad for the coyote. That doesn't preclude feelings of pride for her dogs protecting her life, though. And she shouldn't be made to feel guilty for having those feelings.

AL, I'm so glad your dogs are doing ok and hope they recover without incident.  

Wow, what a story.....as long as we have lived out in the sticks we have never had a run in with a coyote.....thank God......hope the boys recover quickly.....

FourIsCompany - I totally 100% agree with everything you have stated in this whole thread.  100%.  You speak the truth girl.

 Yikes, I'm sorry, that must have been absolutely terrifying!

For what it's worth, while Rascal (all 8 pounds of him) doesn't have a very strong prey drive (the one time he actually caught up to a squirrel all he did was sniff its butt), he does tend to be VERY protective. We've been working on this a ton and practicing him ignoring or being friendly to strangers (he used to growl and lunge at people on walks) and he's been doing very well (99% okay on walks now). Even so, last week I was taking him out to potty at about 11:30 at night and some drunk fellow came up and got RIGHT in my face - like 6" away - and started talking to me. I was extremely uncomfortable, and said, "Sorry, you should step back, my dog is not friendly and he might bite you." Just then Rascal let out a (spontaneous) impressive growl and a snarl, and the guy got scared, backed right off, and left us alone.

On the one hand, Rascal was going against all the training we'd been doing recently, and was actually getting reinforced for it. I HATE it when Rascal is unpleasant to people, I find it incredibly frustrating and depressing. On the other hand, while I *probably* wasn't in immediate danger, it was definitely an uncomfortable to frightening situation, and I was proud of Rascal for trying to protect me. Particularly since he's a very timid dog, and was certainly faking bravery for the sake of running off the threat.

IMO you can't expect a dog to know that coyotes are supposed to be timid/harmless, and you can't expect any dog to have 100% obedience 100% of the time. Who was it who had the friend with a national off leash obedience champion who bolted off leash one day and disappeared? Stuff happens - we're talking about animals, not machines. And you can't expect a dog to logically consider the situation beyond "big animal = threat." As much as we'd like them to, dogs don't typically read encyclopedias - they don't know the peculiarities of every species. :-p

I hope Aurora and Primo recover quickly. I'm sorry the incident had to end the way it did, but I think you definitely should be proud of them for doing what they thought would protect you. Whether you needed protection or not is irrelevant - they saw a situation where they thought they were needed and they rose to the challenge.

I have not yet had a chance to read through all of the replies since last night.  But I will say GOOD DOGS as well.  You tried to call them off.  They let go once.  But they were protecting you and their home.  Give them extra scratches from me. 

What I am concerned about is this talk of a lone coyote not taking on 2 dogs blah blah blah...  did you also notice (or perhaps I read wrong) that she was putting the dogs out in the morning.  Now from all my expierance on the farm, and with coyotes, if you see one during the day, espically one that turns to confront you instead of just high tailing it out of there, you have a problem.  They typically come out at night or dusk even, so who's to say that this coyote was all there.  It could have been sick.  I don't want to sound horribly cruel, but if I saw one and it tried to shoo it away and confronted me I would LET my dogs have it.  Now I wouldn't let it die a slow painful death, but coyotes usually run from people.  THIS ONE DIDN'T.  There was something wrong.

I do hope the puppers are feeling better and your heart can eventually stop pounding.

FourIsCompany:

 

mudpuppy:

I'm not proud of it

 

 

There's not a thing wrong with being proud that one's dog endangered its own life to protect itself, it's people or its property. IMO, that's something to be proud of. Not ashamed of. Not at all.

but they weren't protecting. They were hunting a prey animal and caught it. My dogs have ALSO protected the property/ me  and I assure you there is big difference in a dog's behavior between protecting and hunting.  I am proud of Baxter for finding and cornering a poacher; I am not proud of him leaping twenty feet up a tree to grab a terrified raccon and kill it.

How scary! I can't even imagine! I hope your pups heal quickly. I am sending lots of good vibes.

It scares me just to think about it. We don't have a problem with coyotes here although there are some around in the more rural areas. If the same situation happened at my house it would have been terrible. Although Salem would protect, Cheza's response to threat is to roll on her back. I don't even want to think what the outcome would have been here.