100% Jack Russells. with papers to prove it. Didn’t mean to brag. I have talked about them here many times. Your opinion as to what they are is worthless however.
Just curious, what organization certifies them? ‘Jack Russell Terrier’ isn’t a AKC breed as they only certify them as their subcategories ‘Russell Terrier’ and ‘Parson Russell Terrier’
Weight isn’t a required statistic in certification but height is, I’m having trouble picturing a dog that weights 50 pounds while being under 16 inches in height. Perhaps you could explain without the hostility?
Yeah, I know it’s a total hijack, but I too am curious about The Mysterious Case of the Fifty-Pound Jack Russell Terriers.
For example, this is a Jack Russell, but it ain’t no 50 lb. dog.
OP, you have a number of mistaken premises: for starteres, coyotes DO hunt cooperatively. They don’t have a strict hierarchical pack like wolves, but that doesn’t necessarily make them solitary loners, either – or else, why would they howl? Howling is a communication tool for cooperation. Besides, just because it’s extremely rare for a coyote to directly attack a human doesn’t at all correlate with your dog’s safety.
I get a 403 error (access denied) when I click on this link. I think this is probably the image you were trying to link to.
OK, how about this:
Perhaps you can post a pic of your 50 lb JRT?
Its not unusual for hunting purposes the you get Jack Russell cross with Staffie - and that’s the only time I’ve seen them at 50lbs.
Makes for a very strong and lively game dog, also really goo companions - but not too good attitude with other dogs
Perhaps you don’t live adjacent to a large wilderness area like I do. Coyotes and bears that live around here aren’t like the ones that frequent cities and national parks. These are truly wild animals and are not accustomed to people or domesticated animals, such as dogs.
A Grizzly bear will certainly attack a person or a dog if it feels threatened, but in my experience black bears will often run away if they have the chance and are frightened. I have gone out into my yard many times and scared away a black bear just by yelling and waving my arms. (You don’t want them hanging around your house, and there is no food available for them on my property). My dog is able to assess the situation and just by barking loudly and approaching cautiously will frighten a 300 lb bear away. He’s done it a number of times.
The mistake comes when someone, or something sees a bear and then runs away triggering the bear’s predatory chase response, or if a runner runs by a bear with headphones on and the bear then chases and tackles them without the jogger realizing what has happened.
So the coyotes we see around here are afraid of people and will run away if you even make a subtle move towards them. Again, if there is a pack of them I don’t think a small dog is going to survive, but one-on-one I think it’s likely that the coyote will try to run away rather than deal with an aggressive dog, but I could be wrong. Time will tell.
The fact that an animal (coyote or bear) prefers to avoid confrontation doesn’t mean that it would lose in an actual fight. I’ll say it again: if a bear decided to defend itself rather than run, your dog wouldn’t last ten seconds. This could happen if the bear were cornered, or it had a cub nearby, or the dog surprised the bear before it could run (e.g. it encountered the bear on the other side of a tree).
It’s true that a wild animal will usually run away from an aggressive dog. Sometimes they don’t. When this happens, it will usually turn out very badly for the dog.
The point is, you have no idea when the last time the coyote had a meal. So, do you fell lucky? Well, DO YOU???
That is not my dog.
Recently, this coyote skipped the Rottie, must have been pissed about it, came back for the owner. Gave him a dose too.
Nitpick: neighbor, not owner.
My family has a cattle ranch in SE Colorado. It’s not at all uncommon to find the back legs and butt of calves nipped and chewed by coyotes and occasionally they’ll take one down despite it being paired up with the mother.
For this reason we sometimes will hunt them. While the norm is to call singles in, I’ve seen three and four at a time come in from the same direction, apparently working as a pack and cooperatively. What’s amazing is their ability to use the natural lay of the land, the topography and vegetation, to get incredibly close to their prey before they’re seen. Even on relatively open land I’ve had them pop up 50 to 75 yards away when I was scanning over several miles. And yes, I’d agree that they are freakishly athletic, far more so than your average dog and that, along with their wild instincts, more than offsets some differences in size.
makes sad puppy eyes at lieu
There are coyotes in my neighborhood, and there are also reports* of these coyotes attacking LARGE dogs in backyards in the area. So when I’m walking with my dog and see one (fortunately, not often!) I hang onto my dog. He does want to investigate. The coyote appears to have no fear at all, either of me or of my dog. (Who is medium sized, maybe a 50-lb dog.)
So, dog stays on the leash, and doesn’t stay in the yard alone.
Also, while the coyotes I’ve seen have been singletons, I have heard what can only be packs of them. I think they do band together to hunt at times. I don’t know if the ones who [allegedly] attacked the large dogs were in a group or not.
Anyway in my neighborhood there are plenty of rabbits.
*As in, handwritten warnings on the telephone posts, along with all the photos etc. of lost pets.
Thanks LSLGuy, TSBG, and Colibri;
I swear I read thru the thread, but somehow missed the fence comments. I guess I’ll continue escorting the little dog outside (esp in the early am).
Just came across this discussion ! We live adjacent to a forested area of North Vancouver B.C. My 18 month jack Russell took chase at speed after a coyote yesterday -off into forest and was gone a good 10 mins - heard growls & yelps & thought he hasn’t a hope -as it prob led him right to rest of pack - I have a whistle for recall -& he eventually returned - but after about 7-10 long mins , luckily unscathed - I have not left him off-leash since ! The prob with Jacks is their Prey drive is so strong- they absolutely cannot resist a chase - he has also chased black bears & squirrels /birds etc but Coyotes worry me the most - they are very active and protective of young at this time of year - they are less fearful of humans than they used be -and are definitely becoming more confident & aggressive , there have been numerous aggressive coyote encounters in Vancouver He’s not getting off leash In forest any time soon !
Yes, any more you can’t count on coyotes being afraid of humans. And, of course, there are stupid humans who’ll leave food out and wonder why coyotes are coming into their yards. We were told to actively harass any coyotes we see.
I didn’t realize this was a zombie until I got to the last two posts. But here’s a gift link to a recent NYT article about the problem we’ve been having with coyotes in our small town on the North Shore of Boston. Three small dogs have been attacked and killed while being walked by their owners, and dozens of pets have gone missing. I regularly see a small dog wearing a spiked jacket out for a walk.
Do not have any confirmation of this: Our northeast coyotes are said to have been interbreeding with domestic dogs leaving them more aggressive.
Whether true or not, a yapping Jack Russell is very annoying and a coyote is likely attack one just to shut it up.