Dogs and Coyotes

[JeremyL]

We are at our barn most evenings after dark with our 3 small dogs. The smallest dog loves to bark out into the dark void, just to hear herself make noise. We know there are coyotes around having seen them and heard them regularly.

The question I have and have not been able to find any information on is: Does a barking dog attract coyotes or repel them?

I can see them wanting to avoid a confrontation, but also know that they are hunters.

Here is a picture of our daughter's little dog with the big need to bark at The Void.

 

[Thall303]

Her pretty little dog might be irresistible to the coyotes....beware!

 

[TripleR]

We had coyotes come into our yard after our German Shepard and my son had to shoot the main aggressor possibly the alpha. After that we put our dogs up a bit after dark. My brothers, pen theirs in after losing one to coyotes.

This is just anecdotal l am no coyote expert.

 

[nybirdman]

Small dogs and cats beware.Coyotes will take them in a heart beat.Around here they hunt them with Walker's,which are like a log legged beagles.

 

[kebo]

Her pretty little dog might be irresistible to the coyotes....beware!

Yep, that little Pom is a cutie! I think my next pup will be a Pomeranian. Please keep it safe from the coyotes, they would love to invite it for dinner!

 

[kebo]

Small dogs and cats beware.Coyotes will take them in a heart beat.Around here they hunt them with Walker's,which are like a log legged beagles.

There are a number of videos on youtube showing guys that hunt coyotes with "decoy" dog's. The first time I watched one of those videos, I thought they (the dog owners) were crazy for letting the coyotes get so close to their dogs and not shooting them. They had rifles, but they just let the dogs spar back and forth with the coyotes for a while, each species trying to get the upper hand, before the guys eventually shoot the coyotes. It took me a while to figure out they were doing all that on purpose! (Yeah, I'm slow lol) This video is a prime example:

A Freep'n Double - YouTube

 

[Billrog]

I'm thankful for the coyotes around here they keep the rodents down and stray cats that come for my birds.
A small dog may be on the menu but the Shepherd I had for 12 years and 28 lb. poodle spaniel cross would take after as many as 3 at a time and not return for 1/2 hr. so I know they chased them a long way. After the Shepherd past on the poodle thinking he was a Shepherd did the same thing with coyotes and bears for the next 5 yrs. and died of old age. The last dog we had was a small city dog we inherited from an old friend so she was never out side the house out of our site. I was raised in the bush and the rules were you don't shoot it unless you plan on eating it.

 

[Argonne]

Small dogs get taken around here fairly regularly. My vet even witnessed one but couldn't shoot to defend the dog at the time.

Last week my 100 lb German Shepherd, Jack, turned up with a couple of mysterious wounds on his back. The next night I also caught him sneaking back in to the homestead at 3AM (grinning, but sheepish like) through a gate that I hadn't meshed yet. Other than that gate, the whole 2 acre homestead is meshed, and so far the dogs have been kind enough to respect it and not jump it. The area coyotes were very close and active the night of the injury and the following night when I caught him sneaking in.

I took him to the vet to make sure the wounds were just something simple like a fence wound and not some disease process. The vet took a look at the two wounds on either side of his back, spread his hand across them, and said "coyote bite radius". He examined Jack for other injuries and found none. He said that the first wounds a larger dog being pursued by a pack usually gets is on the rear legs. If they get away, that's usually all there is. If the pack gets him down, you'll find other wounds on the body, and finally, killing wounds are on the neck.

My interpretation of the events, and his wounds, is that he left the property to "communicate his displeasure" to the pack about their choice of locale, and that he was the aggressor rather than the victim. I figure one of them jumped on his back and got a bite in while he was otherwise occupied. Indeed, the pack has moved about a mile south now, despite the fact that there are still young calves here.

Here's a pic of Jack waiting to see the vet.

 

[Billrog]

Jack sure is a good looking dog glad he wasn't seriously injured .

 

[oosik]

I seriously doubt that a barking dog either attracts or detracts any coyote. The coyotes know the dog is there - its the human presence that might detract them.

I have lost all my cats to either coyotes or owls and a couple of my dogs to coyotes also.

When the dog & I go out in the evening the coyotes start barking/howling within a minuet. And this is from some of the groups that are at quite a distance.

I would not send any sized dog outside at night on their own. Coyotes are masters at attracting dogs - which will become a meal.

 

[Billrog]

I'd like to expand on my statement if you done plan on eating it don't shoot it because I certainly realize there are times of necessity. Whether it's coyotes, bears, or other predators that become to bold and and present a danger they should be dealt with.

 

[shaeff]

My mother's friend had her small dog taken right off their back porch by a coyote. Tore it up pretty badly.

My uncle began trapping/shooting them when they started tracing the woodline following his grand daughter back and forth as she played. Now they stay far, far away from the house.

I'll likely have to fence my property when I get some dogs, the open area way behind my house is filled with coyotes. Had one right near my back door last summer.

 

[GregbkH]

I've got a pretty good sized Black Mouth Cur (80 lbs) that runs everything off of my property. So far, the coyote's haven't ganged up on him. I've watched him run off coyote's several times. What worries me are the wolves. Last week, I heard my dog aggressively barking from my deck. I looked out the door and saw a wolf just staring at him from about 70 yards away. When I opened the door and called him inside the wolf ran away. The wolf was definitely not afraid of my dog. I don't care for wolves at all.

 

[EddieWalker]

Our fear is that one of our dogs will take off after a coyote and never come back. They are big dogs, but you never know what will happen out in the woods. I've lost multiple cats to coyotes. People dump them at the gate, I take them in, then one day, the cat is gone. I've found tracks close to the house, seen them close to the house and took this picture of one about 20 feet from my front door.

 

[oosik]

No wolves here. Many years ago, two coon hound type dogs showed up at my door around 7PM. They were obviously lost and I was able to contact the owner because the dogs had big leather collars with name tags. The dogs just came right in my house and passed out in front of the wood stove. The owner drove back down from a town about 70 miles north of my location to get his dogs. He had been hunting with the dogs about five miles west of my location.

I kind of chuckled when he said he and the dogs were hunting mountain lion/cougars. He said - "come take a look" - - there in the back of his pickup was the biggest cougar I've ever seen. He indicated that they routinely bag five cougar from that location every year.

I NEVER go out at night, anymore, without my big flashlight. As if a big flashlight would do any good - ha,ha.

When we first came down from AK in 1982 I lost my first dog - a male black lab - to a small pack of coyotes. It was spring time and a female, obviously in heat, came sashaying into our yard. The labs ears perked up and no amount of yelling on my part would deter him. Over the hill and down into the valley - he followed the female - right to where the others were waiting. I sure hope they enjoyed their meal.

 

[dmccarty]

...

I NEVER go out at night, anymore, without my big flashlight. As if a big flashlight would do any good - ha,ha.

...

Don't down play a flashlight from scaring off critters. Once upon a time, I backed of a dog that was too aggressive and too close by flipping the maglite on while aimed right at his eyes. The dog yelped, jumped in the air and ran like I had hit him with the maglite. All I did was blip him with the light and that was with one of the old style light bulbs. If I used the maglite with the super duper multi LEDs head, I think it would have fried the dog's eyes. :shocked:

Course, with a mountain lion you might not get a chance to blip him with the light. :shocked:

Later,
Dan

 

[beowulf]

Coyotes will take down cats and dogs, and not just small dogs. I have, more than once, watched two or three coyotes try to lure one of our 60 lb dogs away from the home area. One coyotes gets close, then backs away, the dog follows a bit farther out, another coyote does the same, or waits nearby. Our dog gets farther and farther away from the home area. When I have caught this I yell at the dog and he comes back, but it was quite clear what was happening. I know nothing about the barking as luring them but I doubt it. Our dogs - kept in a 50 x 80 fenced kennel at night - seem to start barking only when they hear the coyotes or learn about something else being in the area. The coyotes seem to come near the home area and then at times go into a yelping chorus. Cats, that my wife manages to be gifted from time to time, disappear - except for two of them - must be smarter.

 

[PJSprog]

Our fear is that one of our dogs will take off after a coyote and never come back. They are big dogs, but you never know what will happen out in the woods. I've lost multiple cats to coyotes. People dump them at the gate, I take them in, then one day, the cat is gone. I've found tracks close to the house, seen them close to the house and took this picture of one about 20 feet from my front door.

View attachment 501318

We've lost a few cats to coyotes over the years, too. The current outside kitty knows to stay out of the barn after dark, and has managed to stick around for almost 10 years now. We've not really discouraged the coyotes and foxes from hunting our barn, as they seem to help control our groundhog problem out there. The barn is 75 yards form the back of the house. Once they get inside that perimeter, though, they lose safe passage rights. It's been several years since we've had to drop one in the yard.

 

[95XL883]

Two coyote stories. While I have rural ground, I live in surburbia (as in less than 1/4 acre lots). The coyotes have come back to suburbia.

First story. Last year while walking my GSD at night two coyotes started stalking us. I thought they had stopped but was wrong. A couple of hundred yards later, I turned around quickly to find one of them 3 yards behind me and closing. A quick yell and it stepped into the brush a few yards away. I then spotted the other, in the brush 10 yards out, flanking us. I drew my weapon but this time they stayed about 10 yards out. After another 200 yards, they finally gave up the stalk. They haven't come that close again until last night.

Second story, last night my youngest is on the back concrete pad working on his car about 8:30 at night. He hears something rustle in along the fence line and there is a coyote, in our yard, about 5 yards away from him. It totally ignored him but he was nervous. Came in and brought our GSD out, tied to heavy weight a few feet from where he was working. He figured he would have some warning next time and the yotes will keep their distance. I don't think they will. These coyotes have lost all fear of man. It may be city limits but if they become an imminent threat and at very close range, I'm shooting at least one of them. I figure the small dogs and loose cats in our neighborhood are about to disappear.

 

[dmccarty]

... The coyotes have come back to suburbia. ...

T'aint just suburbia. I just ran an errand into the big city. Driving back through a construction zone I saw a dead coyote in between the Jersey barriers. Guessing it had hopped over one and was about to hop over the other when it got hit. Second guess is that the right away for this new road construction is a "green way" for coyotes that runs from one side of the city to the other. The road has been planned for a very long time so there has been no development in the planned right away. Figure the coyotes knew where people are located, and they are not in that right of way, so the yotes use that right of way as their own highway.

There is a power line near us and we often here the coyotes over that way. Figure they are using the power line as their path through the county.

Years ago, one of the first dead coyotes I saw was on a very busy road in a built up area. The road intersected a power line, aka coyote road.

Later,
Dan