What could be doing this to my dogs?

[Gryphon]

Did the vet have an opinion on what kind of wound it was? They can sometimes tell if it was slashing or ripping that did it.

As for all the teasing about no cougars and other animals, there's usually a period when they take in reports of sightings and proof before changing it from "locally extinct" to "rare" and so on. Let's face it, there's plenty of people who see a small cow and insist it was a fire-breathing bull. They can't take every report of a cougar at face value, although video and photos of pug marks with a ruler by them go a long way.

 

[Buster52]

Vet had no clue, except it was big.

 

[Buster52]

my money is on a raccoon, or a fence, but raccoon is my guess, they can get away from dogs very easily but if cornered they can be some very mean critters!

The only coons I ever see around my place are dead ones. Sometimes big dead ones.

No, it was no coon.

 

[centrarchid]

Enough speculation. Setup a gamecam.

 

[Buster52]

I have 4 big dogs and the lab now. I have a feeling it won't be back.

If it does, I'm sure I'll find out what it is (was) the next morning.

 

[tellynpeep]

I've seen a gash like that when our neighbors dog cornered a ground hog. It was MEAN! Only took one swipe of its paw to do that damage.

That's what I was thinking. If the wounds are always on the snout, they must be sticking their noses into a hole out there. I've seen snapping turtle bites, and they leave a big triangular tear. Saw two dogs who both came home after trying to play with a snapper... one nearly died from a rent into its abdomen. The other had multiple tears all over its bottom half.

 

[GhostRider65]

Wisconsin DNR had to release a statement after they were getting hit by cars!  Before that ALL livestock injurys were from coyotes or wolves.  Some farmers even had video... A new law is now in affect.....You can shoot to protect your livestock.  However, the Wisconsin DNR is......Well.....Kinda-like a Neo-Nazi group. So I really cannot see anyone testing out the new law to learn their house is now gone due to some "fine-line" in the DNR's legal discription of the law.

LOL....
I am also in Wisconsin, and our DNR is the laughing stock of our state....if you ask me most of them are idiots or worse, look what they have done to the deer population with there useless bull kill all the does crap over the last 5 years............. I would also not test there ground, because they are also the biggest crooks in our state............ SSS, hoep ya all know that ,meaning...........hehehe
Shoot..........shovel.......and shutup.................because otherwise who knows what crap fine print might all of a sudden appear....... I seen a nice big male about 4 years ago hunting. so I know they are here, my dad and me also seen one pretty far away, 22 years ago hunting and we were called fools, it was a deer ya know with a 4 foot long curved tail..............
Same as 11 years ago had a bear in yard wrecked all my bird feeders, almost got my dogs, when I reported it they said it couldn't have been a bear they don't come down this far, later that fall seen a news article about the same bear just 5 miles from me............ now shows ya what they know, and how much they are really in the woods. Kim

 

[animals1981]

A cougar will not bug a pack of dogs but if it wants to fight it will win and it will kill a couple and leave very quick. Do you guys even know how far a single cougar can jump? after it fights? They can take a hell of a beating also from moose, elks horses. I can promise you this was NO COUGAR. Dogs can deter from cougar attack but if the cougar does attack dogs will die. IF the cougar is an adult.

Sounds like other dogs or maybe a badger. Maybe a pair of wolves also but i dont think so wolves if they pressed an attack would kill those dogs.

 

[Gallus Sapien]

I would say a cougar can jump at least 20 feet or close to 7 meters easy. I agree, IF one would be caught in the open and had to fight, their would be dead dogs. However, they would not stop in the open pasture. Moreover, our wolves here in Wisconsin EAT dogs that are trained(weened on Russian Boar) to hunt bear in packs of 4 to 6 with breaks or fresh dogs every cross road ( about every 5 miles or 1 hour ). We are looking for a den or smaller critter...badger,coon, or small hog. Did you find a den? Tracks? Fur or hair? Gamecam pics?

 

[Buster52]

I'm not going to say my dogs could survive a cougar attack (although I'm certain they would die protecting their charges), and I'm not going to say they would win against one. But...

Great Pyrs have been known to fight off grizzlies. At least in one case, a very hungry and determined grizzly, one on one. I think making a blanket statement that cougars and a couple of wolves would win in all cases against 2 or more determined Pyrs is too broad a statement to make. It just wouldn't be worth it, not when there is unprotected livestock elsewhere. I definitely do not see two wolves taking on two Pyrs and killing them. Just don't. A pack, yes. Maybe.

But then, we don't have wolves in Oklahoma, either.

In any case, we now have 4 Pyrs. Whatever it was, it has not come back, and I don't expect it to. We are back to a level of protection where critters just don't think it is worth the trouble.