Possible moving to the country + coyotes

[Bonny]

It is wise to feed dogs in house & not outdoors. Years ago we had a coyote helping itself to the dog food on the porch.

Have had coyote's sitting on round bales across the valley watching us. Have seen them playing out in the fields jumping around etc.

We have lost cats to coyotes, & raccoons.

The dogs have cornered lone coyotes in the woods & I stayed a long distance away when that happened. Got one dog to come & tied my scarf around the dogs neck, got another dog to come & eventually the third dog joined us.

We took in a rescue dog that was not country smart. She decided to enter the woods on her own & a pack of coyotes raked her over good & took a patch of hair out of her shoulder. She made it home all right & after that didn't wonder out of the yard without us being along with her.

Coyotes like to bait dogs. They will send one coyote for the dog to follow over the hill & then gang up on it.

Our dogs are trained to stay in the yard or we have them in the house. I sleep with my bedroom window open in the spring when the cows are calving. The dogs will growl & bark if they sense the coyotes are near.

Your dogs will learn your home & yard is their territory & warn you if anything approaches.

Another thing to be concerned about are snares. Farmers will use snares to catch the coyotes. The snare works very quickly in doing the coyote in but if your dog should get caught in one it will be the end. It is good to check with your neighbors if you are in a farming community if any one is putting out snares.

That pretty much covers the coyotes in the country around here.

[robinh]

I have small dogs and live in the country where we see and hear coyotes frequently. I do have a fenced yard, but do not leave my dogs outside alone especially when it's getting dark. The coyotes here have taken cats, small dogs and chickens. I've had a face down with one smaller coyote where he was just on the outside of the fence staring at my dogs. I stood on my side of the fence with a flashlight in one hand and a loaded .38 in the other. He never moved and I didn't shoot at him. If he had moved, I would not have hesitated to shoot him.

[chocolatepuppy]

Coyotes here too. I never leave my dogs out alone. I don't worry too much about Layla but Jake is around 40#. I worry one would be in my fence at night when we go out. I always 'kick' the bottom of the screen door before we go out. It also gets neighbors cats out of my fence doing that.

[CountryWolf07]

We have coyotes here as well. We have been considering to put up a fence, but as for now, Ryder spends MOST of his time indoors, obviously. HE is only a puppy at this time.

[Sowa]

I never feed the dogs outside.

I think if/when I move to the country I'll likely get another large breed dog. I'll feel safer with multiple dogs to keep each other safe.

[Steve Arnold]

I live at the very edge of a small town; the cornfields are just beyond the next street. At night, I can often hear coyotes in the distance. No one in this little subdivision have fenced their yards; we like it open like this. My dogs are strictly indoor dogs and never go out unattended. There are regular sightings in the neighborhood of creatures like deer, coon, skunk (no sightings on that one, but you don't need to see them to know they're around) and so the only dog in this neighborhood who is ever left outside alone could probably eat two coyotes for breakfast and still want more.

A number of years ago, a couple I know here had a beautiful little dog (I don't remember the breed) but the gentleman was an auctioneer and realtor, and this dog almost never left his side. (I know, you don't really expect to find a dog at a real estate closing, but Buddy was there when I sold my condo almost eighteen years ago.) He was one of the friendliest, most mild mannered and well behaved dogs I have ever known. The couple who owned him had a cabin out in the country in addition to their house in town, and one day a group of coyotes came around, and being the friendly soul he was, Buddy approached them with out fear and was killed quite quickly. The woman was unable to save him.

This was the only time I have ever seen a death notice in a newspaper for a dog, but so many people in town knew him that it really wasn't all that surprising.

So yes, here in rural Iowa its definitely something to watch out for.

[Sowa]

The coyotes here are like 65 lbs, I think some places they're a bit smaller. They're probably breeding with large dogs or something.