Athena the Coyote Chaser

cparian

Songster
12 Years
Nov 5, 2008
245
4
191
Cincinnati, Ohio
My doberman Athena (she's my avatar pic) is the best girl in the world! I rescued her when she was 6 months old from a person who was keeping her as an outside dog. It was the middle of winter with temps dipping into the teens at night & she was missing most of her hair from a bad case of mange. She is now 5 years old & pays me back everyday with unconditional love & dedication.

This morning is a overcast rainy day in Cincinnati & I was being lazy & slept in (9AM) so was late in going to the barn to let out the chickens & feed the goats. While I was in the kitchen I heard the dogs making a racket & looked out to the woods where they were barking thinking to myself why can't I ever see what they are barking at? As soon as that thought went thru my mind there it was... a coyote! Even with the dogs barking it kept coming closer to the barn to within about 50 feet. Athena had had enough, she took off after it barking & charging, she chased it back into the woods & turned to come back to the house. Wouldn't you know as soon as she reached the house it was coming back, again she charged full speed ahead. Again back into the woods, & again it turned to come back. She is such a good girl she never leaves the property even when shes in full pursuit. I never had to teach her this, it's hard to believe but she is really that good of a dog. Now my other dogs would have chased it until they looked up & were lost. They are on an electric fence.

At this point I had had enough! I am not a good shot at all, so I went up to wake my stepson who is & brought the dogs in. Of course this is when the persistant coyote decided not to come back. Grrr! Now I thought coyotes only got to be about 50lbs. Athena is 82lbs & was within 5 feet behind the coyote & it looked slightly bigger than her?!!?? And yes I am 100% sure it's a coyote & not a dog. My friend had put a trail cam out in the woods this winter & we got a pic of it. He was saying it was a monster, but I thought he was just making a big deal & exaggerating. Now that I saw it in person with my dog right next to it, it is a monster coyote! The dogs are still watching & patrolling the woods on high alert.

So the chickens are still locked up & I don't think I'm going to let them out til after 12 noon. I found the pic of the coyote on the trail cam & attaching it.
18105_coyote.jpg
 
As far as I know there aren't any wolves here in suburban Cincinnati. Ohio. LOL Any thing is possible I guess, they have recorded sightings of black bear within 25 miles of here. I told the stepson (he's 20 years old) I would wake him with a hot breakfast everyday for a week if he gets it. Meanwhile Athena is chewing on a rather large rawhide bone as a reward.
 
Be careful with your dogs. This is typical behavior where a dog is lured into the woods by a single coyote to be attacked and killed by the pack. Sometimes they will play with a dog-anything to lure them away from safety. Smaller dogs and cats they just snatch and run away with. It will probably be back.
 
Thanks for the warning. I have watched Athena chase many animals out of her territory. She only chases it enough to make it run away. She won't follow it into the woods & returns to the safety of "her" pack as soon as it runs. She only chases them to move them off her property. I'm positive if it turned on her she would run from it, she is brave up to a point. She has no kill drive like my Akita. I pity the coyote that makes it within the invisible fence boundary. It will have 2 Dobermans, a very angry Akita, & a 110 pound Great Pyrenese to deal with. This is why I make it mandatory for the dogs to understand all animals here are a part of their "pack". The Dogs know any animal I bring in here is a part of their pack. It took alot of time & effort to train them but it is now worth it from the security the chickens, goats, guineas, & peacocks get from being able to free range with the dogs side by side.
 
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My first thought at your description and after a look at the picture was wolf, also. I would be very careful with this. Watch your dogs closely.
 

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