# Should I worry about coyotes ????



## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

A few days ago while walking Luna my dog walker saw a coyote. My house is surrounded by woods and she said while walking out the driveway the coyote come out of the woods, crossed the drive in front of them (about 10’ away) and went in the woods on the other side of the drive. She said Luna was very interested in going towards the area the coyote went. So….. if we’re outside we will usually let Luna off leash as her recall is pretty good but now I’m wondering if thats a good idea. Will Luna go after a coyote if she see’s one OR will the coyote go after Luna??? Also, my dog walker comes bet 12noon - 1:00 and I thought coyotes were nocturnal?? I know the coyotes are out there and I can hear them at night but I’ve never seen them on my property!! Oh the joy of living out in the country. At least the bears will hibernate soon :surprise:


----------



## Jmcarp83 (May 4, 2018)

They typically are nocturnal but early morning or sunset aren’t a rare time to see them. Something could have spooked it during the day or it might have been out searching for food since you are in a sparsely populated area (country). 

IMO, if you can’t be 100% sure she can be trusted on her recall if she sees an animal...don’t chance it. I know I certainly wouldn’t with mine. I have a lab who I 150% know...squirrel or cat...she’s gone. My 12 week old golden not sure because she’s too interested in carrying her leash to see anything in front of her cute face!


----------



## joro32000 (Feb 25, 2017)

Coyotes are common in my area. They have migratory route along the creek I live by. 

I don’t worry about a single coyote passing, especially during the day. My experience is they are timid, afraid of large dogs and humans and are much smaller than my goldens. 

The same can’t be said about packs of coyotes passing by. They are capable of killing a large dog. My neighbor’s Irish setter has been killed by coyotes a few years back during the night. Surely it is partially his fault as I would never let out my dogs unsupervised during the night. Coyotes are pretty smart, they can send a single female as a bait and the rest of the pack is waiting in the bush. But this kind of scenario is common during the night or early morning. 

During the day all I could ever see in two decades of living in the suburbs are coyotes that are single, malnourished, small and shaking like a leaf.


----------



## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

If her recall can't be trusted, I wouldn't let her off leash but generally the coyotes aren't going to attack. Ive seen one while out on a walk with the dogs and it kept it's distance. I lost 3 chickens to coyotes this summer though. At like 3pm too.


----------



## dlmrun2002 (Mar 4, 2011)

You should treat all coyotes sightings as a serious threat to you, your dog and anything else that could be killed. They are wild animals and will do anything to survive. And they are greater hunters too. So they know how to trick you or your dog. Sure they can be skittish, but that is just a survival technique. Don't underestimate a coyote. Keep your dog on a lease. You won't be sorry that way.
HTH

dlm ny country


----------



## eeerrrmmm1 (Apr 15, 2018)

Coyote attacks on large dogs generally only happen during whelping season where I live. We've had a lot of instances of dogs being attacked in a local state park that's heavily wooded while being walked with their owners right there! But, again, that's really only during March-May roughly, with April being the high season for whelping. Other than that, we just have a lot of missing cats and smaller dogs.

Still, I would be nervous that she could chase a lone coyote straight to it's pack and potentially be in serious trouble.


----------



## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

ArchersMom said:


> I lost 3 chickens to coyotes this summer though. At like 3pm too.


Oh no!!! That’s too bad. My SIL lost a bunch of chickens this summer to a Fox :frown2:


----------



## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

Thanks everyone. I think we’ll just keep her on leash to be safe. Hopefully, it was a lone coyote on his way to the next town.


----------



## jessny (Jan 21, 2018)

We've had a coyote spotted numerous times this summer during the daytime in our neighborhood in the Hudson Valley. It's been disconcerting, to say the least. I think you are smart to keep your dog leashed. We keep track of coyote sightings in our community Facebook group and the coyote always seems to be taking the same route, so it's led me to be extra careful. We've also had a fox sighted a few times.


----------



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

LynnC said:


> A few days ago while walking Luna my dog walker saw a coyote. My house is surrounded by woods and she said while walking out the driveway the coyote come out of the woods, crossed the drive in front of them (about 10’ away) and went in the woods on the other side of the drive. She said Luna was very interested in going towards the area the coyote went. So….. if we’re outside we will usually let Luna off leash as her recall is pretty good but now I’m wondering if thats a good idea. Will Luna go after a coyote if she see’s one OR will the coyote go after Luna??? Also, my dog walker comes bet 12noon - 1:00 and I thought coyotes were nocturnal?? I know the coyotes are out there and I can hear them at night but I’ve never seen them on my property!! Oh the joy of living out in the country. At least the bears will hibernate soon :surprise:


Yes you should be aware of them and watch out for them whenever you are out. 

We have coyotes here, I've seen them out in the middle of the day.
I was on the Island early to mid afternoon one day, there was a family of coyotes, the male was out hunting for food. Talked to someone that lived in the area and they told me a few dogs had gone missing.....


----------



## LdyTlfrd (Jan 11, 2017)

We have two known packs of coyotes in our area. A woman walking her two shih tzu's at night had one nabbed from her. Other locals have had cats go missing. 

I've actually seen a lone coyote in a field that we walk by, I picked up my bil's toy poodle, prayed Phoenix (jack russell) didn't see it as his hunting instinct will kick in & he won't hear me after that. Luna will just follow whatever Phoenix (alpha) does. 

I have a fully fenced yard but whenever I let them out early morning & late night, I stand by the door and watch, just in case. Hubby lets them out, goes back upstairs to watch tv which we argue about. He says I'm being paranoid but better safe than sorry.


----------



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

The coyotes in our neighborhood wooded area attacked my cousin's dog which is the exact same size as a Golden, in the woods near their house (on a trail) in broad daylight. She needed stitches. These coyotes will come up in broad daylight to the edge of the fenced backyard. Coyotes killed my other cousin's small dog in Illinois. I would not take risks if you think your dog will follow them into the woods.


----------



## Neeko13 (Jul 10, 2010)

Ive just seen a coyote in our neighborhood, not 5 minutes from us. I thought it was a shepherd, and I thought it was lost, until It turned around, and I realized it was a coyote!!! Thank God I had my glasses on, all I could think of was the commercial where the woman lets the skunk or raccoon into her house when she doesnt have her glasses on....lol...I coulda let him in my car!!!!! Anyway, on a serious note, the development 7 minutes from me all got letters from the Police Dept. about all the coyotes,. how to be safe, dont leave food around, beware of your surroundings, and keep your cats indoors...Scared me... I let Neeko out for his last walk @ 9:30... I used to just let him go by himself...(his recall is 150%), but now I go out with him, to be sure there are no coyotes out in the fields....


----------



## David Pearson (Aug 30, 2018)

Coyotes are very smart. I have heard they will trick a bigger dog into following them to the pack, then the pack will attack.


----------



## ryanf (Oct 26, 2016)

We have coyotes sometimes behind our house. It's a large wooded area and lately around 6 am we've heard them hunting. They've been so close and loud that it's overtaken the volume of my alarm to wake me up. It's actually quite unnerving.

I walk Autumn close to that time and we usually walk along the wooded area a street over but I have been avoiding it. Autumn is too submissive to protect herself so I'll take any precaution needed.

Like others have said, I would suggest you keep Luna leashed at lease for a little while longer. 1 wouldn't be too bad but a pack would be bad news.


----------



## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

I’ve seen a coyote walking down the sidewalk across the street one night. We live in the city but the end of the street opens up into a turf farm. Yeah, that’s a farm where they grow grass for yards and golf courses. I guess it’s a Midwest thing.


----------

