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Old 07-06-2018, 02:27 PM
 
Location: Canada
7,235 posts, read 9,208,206 times
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I had strange and close encounters with one coyote (?) in particular and coyotes in general in spite of my dogs a few years ago. I had a coyote (?) that stared me down and when I yelled at him made a lunging motion to me. I was within 25 feet of him on numerous occasions. My then female German shepherd barked and ran towards the coyote and the coyote didn't run off. I thought the coyote abnormally large as he was as tall as my shepherd. One neighbour said he had had similar encounters with a similar acting coyote whom he estimated to be about 75 pounds, which would make the coyote not a coyote.

My shepherd and the coyote were within 15 feet of each other and I called her back. I then watched the coyote move off about 25 feet and lie down in the field watching us. We never had coyotes her until about 10 years ago.

That was weird enough for me, always running into this particular creature that I called a trapper neighbour. He said he had been watching this abnormally large coyote for a while through binoculars and he thought it might be a cross between a wolf and coyote. I don't normally allow hunting on my land but this was all too much, not to mention I regularly ran into normal looking coyotes far too close to the house far too often. After the trapper caught a few coyotes, even though he never caught the big one, I stopped running into them.

My step daughter has a vineyard in BC and she has a Great Pyrenees as an outside dog that has chased off bears, even a cougar one time.
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Old 07-06-2018, 02:41 PM
 
Location: USA
2,830 posts, read 2,618,172 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by netwit View Post
I had strange and close encounters with one coyote (?) in particular and coyotes in general in spite of my dogs a few years ago. I had a coyote (?) that stared me down and when I yelled at him made a lunging motion to me. I was within 25 feet of him on numerous occasions. My then female German shepherd barked and ran towards the coyote and the coyote didn't run off. I thought the coyote abnormally large as he was as tall as my shepherd. One neighbour said he had had similar encounters with a similar acting coyote whom he estimated to be about 75 pounds, which would make the coyote not a coyote.

My shepherd and the coyote were within 15 feet of each other and I called her back. I then watched the coyote move off about 25 feet and lie down in the field watching us. We never had coyotes her until about 10 years ago.

That was weird enough for me, always running into this particular creature that I called a trapper neighbour. He said he had been watching this abnormally large coyote for a while through binoculars and he thought it might be a cross between a wolf and coyote. I don't normally allow hunting on my land but this was all too much, not to mention I regularly ran into normal looking coyotes far too close to the house far too often. After the trapper caught a few coyotes, even though he never caught the big one, I stopped running into them.

My step daughter has a vineyard in BC and she has a Great Pyrenees as an outside dog that has chased off bears, even a cougar one time.
An older lady who lives a few miles from me uses great pyrenees to keep bears out of her yard and they work very well. She doesn't have a/c and would sleep with the windows open in the hot weather and one night woke up to a bear in her kitchen. That was 10 years ago and she's had GP's ever since and no more bears. We have them come very close to our house. They like to knock the grills over and lick them clean and tear down bird feeders. I've been storing my grill in my laundry room for now.
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Old 07-06-2018, 04:03 PM
 
Location: on the wind
22,830 posts, read 18,112,983 times
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Originally Posted by Hollynla View Post
An older lady who lives a few miles from me uses great pyrenees to keep bears out of her yard and they work very well. She doesn't have a/c and would sleep with the windows open in the hot weather and one night woke up to a bear in her kitchen. That was 10 years ago and she's had GP's ever since and no more bears. We have them come very close to our house. They like to knock the grills over and lick them clean and tear down bird feeders. I've been storing my grill in my laundry room for now.
A good rule of thumb in bear country...put the bird feeders away while bears are active. There is plenty of food available elsewhere. You can still attract birds by putting up nest boxes, planting flowering shrubs that attract insects and provide nesting cover, providing a water source, not letting cats roam outdoors. Storing your grills (at least the part that gets food on it) indoors is smart. Folks here who love to grill build a brick or stone type with a removable grill and store that indoors. Also, anything that has a strong odor will attract bears even if it's not something edible. Chemicals, paint, lubricants, especially petroleum products attract them. A neighbor of mine had problems with bears licking the lubricants off farm equipment. They also ripped an outboard boat motor apart to get at the smelly bits.
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Old 07-06-2018, 04:07 PM
 
Location: USA
2,830 posts, read 2,618,172 times
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Originally Posted by Parnassia View Post
A good rule of thumb in bear country...put the bird feeders away while bears are active. There is plenty of food available elsewhere. You can still attract birds by putting up nest boxes, planting flowering shrubs that attract insects and provide nesting cover, providing a water source, not letting cats roam outdoors. Storing your grills (at least the part that gets food on it) indoors is smart. Folks here who love to grill build a brick or stone type with a removable grill and store that indoors. Also, anything that has a strong odor will attract bears even if it's not something edible. Chemicals, paint, lubricants, especially petroleum products attract them. A neighbor of mine had problems with bears licking the lubricants off farm equipment. They also ripped an outboard boat motor apart to get at the smelly bits.
Yes, I know this. We pick up our bird feeders in early spring. I live in the forest of the ozark mountains, I'm not ignorant to dealing with bears. I was giving examples of what a nuissance they can be.
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Old 07-07-2018, 12:07 AM
 
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I have dogs on a ranch. Ours are either herding dogs or guard dogs. Working dogs have got to have a job or they will find one.

A heeler would not be a good idea for your situation with toy dogs & people walking in the area. They can be great dogs & I know several who are. But I would say if anyone's dog was going random bite you, it would be a heeler. If you want a dog to hang off the nose of a rank bull to turn it around, that's the dog.

Note--female dogs can be every bit as protective as males, sometimes more so...in many breeds the females will not roam like males, unless it is a roaming breed.
A Great Pyr would never stay in 40 acres unless it was well fenced & also had a hot wire at the bottom & at the top. They are major roamers. We have them.

An Aussie would need a job & need to be well trained --you need be willing to spend major time with these types of dogs & one may or may not want to nip passing people in attempt to herd them. It likely would be fine with your small dogs. They can be all over the place as far as temperament goes. There are easy going ones.

As for bears or any predators, I would never have just one dog by itself.

What were your other breed choices?

Last edited by historyfan; 07-07-2018 at 12:15 AM.. Reason: spelling
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Old 07-07-2018, 09:28 AM
 
Location: USA
2,830 posts, read 2,618,172 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by historyfan View Post
I have dogs on a ranch. Ours are either herding dogs or guard dogs. Working dogs have got to have a job or they will find one.

A heeler would not be a good idea for your situation with toy dogs & people walking in the area. They can be great dogs & I know several who are. But I would say if anyone's dog was going random bite you, it would be a heeler. If you want a dog to hang off the nose of a rank bull to turn it around, that's the dog.

Note--female dogs can be every bit as protective as males, sometimes more so...in many breeds the females will not roam like males, unless it is a roaming breed.
A Great Pyr would never stay in 40 acres unless it was well fenced & also had a hot wire at the bottom & at the top. They are major roamers. We have them.

An Aussie would need a job & need to be well trained --you need be willing to spend major time with these types of dogs & one may or may not want to nip passing people in attempt to herd them. It likely would be fine with your small dogs. They can be all over the place as far as temperament goes. There are easy going ones.

As for bears or any predators, I would never have just one dog by itself.

What were your other breed choices?
Thanks for that info. As for other breeds, not really sure. The specific breed choices are mostly my husbands. My choice would be to find a mutt puppy with my local rescue.
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Old 07-07-2018, 10:43 AM
 
Location: Canada
7,235 posts, read 9,208,206 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by historyfan View Post
I have dogs on a ranch. Ours are either herding dogs or guard dogs. Working dogs have got to have a job or they will find one.

A heeler would not be a good idea for your situation with toy dogs & people walking in the area. They can be great dogs & I know several who are. But I would say if anyone's dog was going random bite you, it would be a heeler. If you want a dog to hang off the nose of a rank bull to turn it around, that's the dog.

Note--female dogs can be every bit as protective as males, sometimes more so...in many breeds the females will not roam like males, unless it is a roaming breed.
A Great Pyr would never stay in 40 acres unless it was well fenced & also had a hot wire at the bottom & at the top. They are major roamers. We have them.

An Aussie would need a job & need to be well trained --you need be willing to spend major time with these types of dogs & one may or may not want to nip passing people in attempt to herd them. It likely would be fine with your small dogs. They can be all over the place as far as temperament goes. There are easy going ones.

As for bears or any predators, I would never have just one dog by itself.

What were your other breed choices?
That was my concern about a Great Pyrenees - the roaming. My brother had two and one was hit by a car while roaming. Great Pyrennes are so popular in my area that they've made it into the pet market, often mixed with really strange mixes. I always wondered how that would work out. Back in the 80s and early 90s, almost every dog you saw advertised was a heeler mix of some kind but by the time I was looking for a heeler specifically, there were almost no breeders left. I think heelers proved too difficult for your average person with a town yard, or even a small farm and lost their popularity. I see them popping up again in ads and that worries me for the sake of the dogs that end up being given up, although neutering is more common now than it used to be. I think a similar glut of Great Pyrennes may be happening in my area.

My vet always said that he was wary of heelers as the dog most likely to bite him. My old heeler mix would grab hold of people's hands if they tried to touch her before they had been properly introduced - no bite - just a meaningful hand hold. And she always followed my father very closely when he came over her mouth a nip away from his heels as she did not like him nor he her. He never noticed and I stifled a laugh but kept an eye on her in case.

My current heeler stays at my side, close enough to stick, and has no intention of letting random people pet her except under certain circumstances. I'm sure she would bite if she felt backed into a corner but if she has a way of escaping, she's more likely to do that.

She ignores all other dogs when we are in the big city for some reason. She pretends they don't exist. But played well with the dogs I had when she was a puppy and which are now deceased and plays well - VERY well, which surprises me a bit - with the new puppy.
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Old 07-07-2018, 06:03 PM
 
2,319 posts, read 1,957,683 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hollynla View Post
Yes, I know this. We pick up our bird feeders in early spring. I live in the forest of the ozark mountains, I'm not ignorant to dealing with bears. I was giving examples of what a nuissance they can be.
You live in the Ozarks! How I missed that I don't know. All your bears are black bears, I'd think. For some reason, I thought you were out in Wyoming or Colorado.

It's been an interesting conversation. You'll have to come back and let us know what you end up with.
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Old 07-07-2018, 09:05 PM
 
Location: USA
2,830 posts, read 2,618,172 times
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Originally Posted by hiero2 View Post
You live in the Ozarks! How I missed that I don't know. All your bears are black bears, I'd think. For some reason, I thought you were out in Wyoming or Colorado.

It's been an interesting conversation. You'll have to come back and let us know what you end up with.
Yes, it's all black bears here. Since we border forest land and much of our land is forested, we get them passing through often.

This just happened this evening. That feeder stands about 7' tall. It's been empty since February but bears still check it out all season. This time, he completely knocked it over. This is a big one! I was on the porch grilling at the time. This is not too far from our main house, maybe 100 yards. Grill came right back in the house as soon as it cooled.
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Old 07-08-2018, 12:49 PM
 
2,319 posts, read 1,957,683 times
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A big one! Ha, that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw that photo!
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