How do I keep my dogs safe from coyotes?
January 6, 2022 12:49 PM Subscribe
I live in a reasonably urban area with a fenced yard and two dogs: a 40 lb. staffie mix and a 20 lb. Boston Terrier. My neighbor has chased coyotes out of her yard the past couple nights and just let me know, so I'm trying to figure out how to let my doggos have some free, unleashed play but also keep them safe.
One side of our yard has a 6 ft tall wood fence. The back, sides, and driveway have a 4 ft chain link fence. There is about a 30 foot "green space" beyond our back fence. We live behind a freeway park and ride lot, so the layout is our yard, a 4 ft chain link fence owned and maintained by the county, 30 feet of "green space" which is just open space at the moment, and then a giant concrete freeway wall thing. The side fencing is 4 feet of chain link from rear lot line to the front of the house, and is owned by our neighbor.
I guess the coyotes have been roaming in the green space, and passing into backyards as they see fit. Our backyard is currently partially lit by a floodlight at night (but it's not a motion sensitive one, it just stays on all the time). I looked into coyote rollers but I'm not sure if I'm able to permanently attach something to either chain link fence, since I don't own either of them. I'm also not sure if rollers or PVC pipe or any other materials would be effective, since the fence is so short? My neighbor mentioned when she chased them off the other day, they went out underneath the chain link, which is reasonably terrifying. Are there other solutions we should be considering that would help deter them from climbing into our yard? Or is the safest course of action to keep the dogs on leash and have them potty in our front yard for now?
**I am very pregnant and with another child at home, and it's currently sub-zero here, so standing out in the yard with them while they run laps for 20 minutes at a time is not the most desirable option for us, at this time.
One side of our yard has a 6 ft tall wood fence. The back, sides, and driveway have a 4 ft chain link fence. There is about a 30 foot "green space" beyond our back fence. We live behind a freeway park and ride lot, so the layout is our yard, a 4 ft chain link fence owned and maintained by the county, 30 feet of "green space" which is just open space at the moment, and then a giant concrete freeway wall thing. The side fencing is 4 feet of chain link from rear lot line to the front of the house, and is owned by our neighbor.
I guess the coyotes have been roaming in the green space, and passing into backyards as they see fit. Our backyard is currently partially lit by a floodlight at night (but it's not a motion sensitive one, it just stays on all the time). I looked into coyote rollers but I'm not sure if I'm able to permanently attach something to either chain link fence, since I don't own either of them. I'm also not sure if rollers or PVC pipe or any other materials would be effective, since the fence is so short? My neighbor mentioned when she chased them off the other day, they went out underneath the chain link, which is reasonably terrifying. Are there other solutions we should be considering that would help deter them from climbing into our yard? Or is the safest course of action to keep the dogs on leash and have them potty in our front yard for now?
**I am very pregnant and with another child at home, and it's currently sub-zero here, so standing out in the yard with them while they run laps for 20 minutes at a time is not the most desirable option for us, at this time.
Only let them out together from now on.
Get spiked collars for both, this is what they are historically for.
Get a spiked vest for the littler one (eg a combo collar/vest I just googled.
You can use human urine to mark the border too, although hopefully the dogs are doing their part it will still increase the signal to stay away.
You can get landscaping staples to help anchor chain link down, apply liberally and they will prevent easy transit from below.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:01 PM on January 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
Get spiked collars for both, this is what they are historically for.
Get a spiked vest for the littler one (eg a combo collar/vest I just googled.
You can use human urine to mark the border too, although hopefully the dogs are doing their part it will still increase the signal to stay away.
You can get landscaping staples to help anchor chain link down, apply liberally and they will prevent easy transit from below.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:01 PM on January 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
Don't let them out unsupervised. I have lived in suburban areas with Coyotes - and very little will stop them - and the ones that live in/around cities and suburbs are typically much larger and stronger - as they are *cough* very well fed. We currently live in an area with lots of Foxes, but no Coyotes - and we are careful about letting the sub-20lb dogs into our yard.
posted by rozcakj at 1:13 PM on January 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by rozcakj at 1:13 PM on January 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Follow up question: is it possible for the dogs to hurt each other if wearing spiked collars/harnesses/coyote vests? Despite their size difference, they usually wrestle pretty yard. Generally they chase more than wrestle in the yard, but perhaps this is worth worrying about?
posted by cheese at 1:13 PM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by cheese at 1:13 PM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hungry coyotes will hunt in the daytime so the threat is even larger if they're in the area and it's wintertime. I've seen them walking on the shoulder of our main boulevard during morning rush.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:19 PM on January 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:19 PM on January 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
I'm no expert, but grew up with dogs in coyote country. A fully-enclosed excercise pen with a roof and strong fasteners that's been thoroughly staked to the ground is probably the cheapest way to entirely insure the dogs would be safe long enough for you to hear them and respond to trouble.
My naive guess is that even a 20 lb dog isn't likely to be picked up and carried away or seriously injured while in the yard. One coyote isn't usually too much of a threat, especially with both dogs together. The danger is that they'll be lured or chased out of the yard and then overwhelmed. If the dogs can't possibly get out of the yard - which is an important if - I'd probably feel safe keeping an ear out and checking on them visually every few minutes. Perhaps with a ready weapon by the door. But, there's no guarantee your coyote isn't weird or unusually agressive. Building a coyote proof fence is far harder than it sounds. Best wishes.
posted by eotvos at 1:30 PM on January 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
My naive guess is that even a 20 lb dog isn't likely to be picked up and carried away or seriously injured while in the yard. One coyote isn't usually too much of a threat, especially with both dogs together. The danger is that they'll be lured or chased out of the yard and then overwhelmed. If the dogs can't possibly get out of the yard - which is an important if - I'd probably feel safe keeping an ear out and checking on them visually every few minutes. Perhaps with a ready weapon by the door. But, there's no guarantee your coyote isn't weird or unusually agressive. Building a coyote proof fence is far harder than it sounds. Best wishes.
posted by eotvos at 1:30 PM on January 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
This is how we lost my folks' beloved dog one morning around this time of year a few years ago. He was about 18 lbs, a stalwart kind of senior pup. One of my parents let him out like every other time, stepped away for literally a minute to put something in the kitchen, and he was just gone. He was never more than 15 feet from the front door. It happened so quickly, he never even barked. The only way I found out exactly what had happened was by going up there and following tracks in the snow, and you don't want to see what I saw that morning in the snow.
They knew there were coyotes nearby but they'd lived at that house for literally decades at that point and had never had an issue, even with smaller dogs.
I would assume that the staffy would be a helpful deterrent, and I would assume that a big fence would help. But in your place, I'd always be outside whenever your Boston Terrier is out.
posted by mochapickle at 2:56 PM on January 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
They knew there were coyotes nearby but they'd lived at that house for literally decades at that point and had never had an issue, even with smaller dogs.
I would assume that the staffy would be a helpful deterrent, and I would assume that a big fence would help. But in your place, I'd always be outside whenever your Boston Terrier is out.
posted by mochapickle at 2:56 PM on January 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
I've seen coyotes stalking prey around 7am, so maybe keep an eye during their morning wee.
posted by brachiopod at 3:02 PM on January 6, 2022
posted by brachiopod at 3:02 PM on January 6, 2022
Since nobody has answered the two-dogs-playing-in-defensive-spikes question:
I don't know, but I imagine it could be fine? Are they generally smart and competent, or doofuses that have little obvious sense?
Put them on when in the house, let them learn and nose the spikes gently, go out with them at all times until they get used to them. These spikes are not like dangerously sharp enough to draw blood at a bump, it's more like "you won't be able to bite down so hard on me to draw blood, bc if you do this spikes will hurt your mouth."
As eotvos mentions, the main thing is to give them a bit of an edge, so that they are not easy targets and you can hear and come help on the (unlikely imo) chance you need to. Do make sure you keep an ear out and yes maybe have a bat and/ or bear mace ready. Brooms can also be good tools to break up fights.
My understanding on this is that the coyotes are looking to easily nab a 10lb cat or dog that has no idea what's up. Two dogs, one of them plenty big, both protected, deterrent fence and scent marking etc, it's not impossible for this to be a problem but that's a pretty good recipe for a safer situation. Good luck!
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:51 PM on January 7, 2022
I don't know, but I imagine it could be fine? Are they generally smart and competent, or doofuses that have little obvious sense?
Put them on when in the house, let them learn and nose the spikes gently, go out with them at all times until they get used to them. These spikes are not like dangerously sharp enough to draw blood at a bump, it's more like "you won't be able to bite down so hard on me to draw blood, bc if you do this spikes will hurt your mouth."
As eotvos mentions, the main thing is to give them a bit of an edge, so that they are not easy targets and you can hear and come help on the (unlikely imo) chance you need to. Do make sure you keep an ear out and yes maybe have a bat and/ or bear mace ready. Brooms can also be good tools to break up fights.
My understanding on this is that the coyotes are looking to easily nab a 10lb cat or dog that has no idea what's up. Two dogs, one of them plenty big, both protected, deterrent fence and scent marking etc, it's not impossible for this to be a problem but that's a pretty good recipe for a safer situation. Good luck!
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:51 PM on January 7, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mskyle at 12:58 PM on January 6, 2022