what dog breeds can protect tortoises and take down coyote?

[enchilada]

any suggestions? i live in a typical urban area in southern california,
just saw a big fat coyote , Cruising Down the Street in the middle of the day
and neighbors been complaining every night they Howling like this swirling storm inside, Couldn't keep it in;


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i need to get a dog strong enough to protect my torts and turtles. i currently have a Maltese , which is one of the favorite items on coyotes' dinner menu

 

[leigti]

What kind of outdoor enclosures do you have? Because whatever kind of dog you get to protect your tortoises will also be big and strong enough to kill your tortoises. A pack of coyotes can kill a good sized dog. How many coyotes are usually around there at one time? Electric fences and a 22 work well

 

[Tortoise_Wrangler]

The problem with big dogs, no matter how good they are, dogs will be dogs, and a big dog can and most likely will wreck your Tortoises. I would never trust a dog of any size or temperament around my tortoises. My suggestion would be to build a secure enclosure that a coyote couldn't get into. I live in SoCal too, we have the same problem with urbanized Coyotes. Coyotes have not been an issue for me though, they seem to go after cats, opossums, rats and raccoons over my Tortoises. However, I'm the kind of guy that goes overkill with security and refuse the mind set of "It can't happen to me." because only idiots exist with that mindset. I have an enclosure my dogs can't get into, so neither can predators. In my experience with coyotes, the biggest dog can't do anything against a pack of desperate coyotes in the winter. My uncle had 6 big dogs, German Shepard/Pitbull mixes and they got attacked by a pack of over a dozen desperate coyotes one winter, he had to go out and shoot the coyotes, one of his dogs died in the attack and all of them were hurt pretty bad. They were tough dogs too. In my uncle's case, he lived in Wrightwood, and it was the worst part of winter. Here in urban SoCal we don't have to worry about that kind of thing considering there is always trash available.

As I stated above, I go overkill. I have three mid sized dogs that do a great job at keeping predators away. I have a Shiba Inu/American Eskimo mix, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and a Basset Hound patrolling my property. I would suggest the Basset Hound, he broke into my enclosure and just chilled with my tortoises, I got lucky. I still don't allow him around my tortoises, he might have just been considering which tortoise he wanted for lunch, or maybe he wanted to be friends, either way I don't care, I keep them separate. The thing about my Basset, he has a loud thundering bark that you will hear very easily and they scare off the predators. They are naturally gentle, and mix that with the bark, I would recommend that breed for Tortoise protection. They're stubborn though, annoyingly so, and they're cowards. My Shiba is a thug, she'd step in front of a bear to protect me. What ever you choose, keep them separate from your Tortoises.

 

[Tortoise_Wrangler]

What kind of outdoor enclosures do you have? Because whatever kind of dog you get to protect your tortoises will also be big and strong enough to kill your tortoises. A pack of coyotes can kill a good sized dog. How many coyotes are usually around there at one time? Electric fences and a 22 work well

I rock a .22 Bolt Action Long Rifle for predators, great gun. I got a .45 1911 for home invaders.

 

[Big Charlie]

We used to have a golden retriever. The coyotes travel in packs and they would try to lure my dog out. Even though he was a big dog, he would have lost in a fight against an entire pack. He never bothered my tortoise at all.

 

[Speedy-1]

Well a Dobie would take care of your coyote's , but no promises for you and / or your Torts !

 

[leigti]

So it sounds like you need a good perimeter fence, enclosures that dogs and coyotes can't get into, good size dog to make some noise, and if all else fails you locked boxes you can put your tortoise in at night that are even more secure.
I love the idea of a basset hound I've always wanted one of those dogs. But they are hound dogs and they have their own ideas of what needs to be done. My dad uses two great Pyrenees to guard his alpaca. But your neighbors will hate you, his are pretty much silence all day and then in the evening and night when the predators come out they seem not to shut up. And they prefer to bond and mingle with what they are protecting, and I don't think a tortoise is fluffy enough for them

 

[Tortoise_Wrangler]

The one on the left is Sami, the Shiba/Eskimo mix, I found her in a dumpster near death, best dog I've ever had. The one in the middle is Scout, she is throwback Toller. Toller's are normally red and very expensive, her brindle coloring makes her worthless, I got a $2000 dog for free. Got her through a rescue. Oliver is the one on the right, obviously a Basset Hound and he entered my life when I met my wife. All good dogs, but Scout is kind of an idiot and Sami, though she's obedient and loyal, is aggressive and runs the pack as my Beta. This pack protects my Tortoises, Scout also chewed up two of them and broke into my old enclosure, so don't ever trust any dog with your tortoises. The Torts lived with minimal injury, luckily.

 

[Big Ol Tortoise]

DONKEYS!

 

[leigti]

DONKEYS!

Hey, that's a great idea a friend of mine has a couple miniature donkeys, one of them has actually killed an adult mountain lion.

 

[bouaboua]

DONKEYS!

Ohhhhh～～

Love to see his backyard with one of this~ ~ ~Hahahaha!!

 

[Tortoise_Wrangler]

Hey, that's a great idea a friend of mine has a couple miniature donkeys, one of them has actually killed an adult mountain lion.

I lived on a ranch on the weekends with my dad and his cattle company partners as a very young child, they used donkeys as security for predators and people. Never saw it in action myself but I would pay good money to see a miniature donkey kill a mountain lion. I saw a local news report about 3 Chihuahuas cornering a mountain lion while their master's young child was in the yard only a few feet away. Trapped it in a shed and yapped at it until animal control arrived, can't remember accurately because it was when I was in my early teens but I think they held it a bay until animal control could arrive to tranquilize it. Mountain Lions are stalkers, they're nothing to be scoffed at in a toe to toe throw down either, but their nature isn't toe to toe. Bears are toe to toe, so an intelligent animal like a donkey catching a stalker off guard in a toe to toe fight is believable to me. You gotta share more detail on this story.

 

[enchilada]

how about this badass mf( since they are vegetarian, they aint gonna hurt tortoises right?)

 

[Tom]

A dog in your yard would be far more of a threat to your tortoises than a coyote. I see coyotes on a daily basis out here and they have never attempted to mess with my tortoises in 20+ years. There are many ways a goose could also hurt your tortoise, so that is not a good idea either, plus a coyote pack would make short work of a goose.

Just lock your tortoises up at night and you won't have a problem.

 

[leigti]

A dog in your yard would be far more of a threat to your tortoises than a coyote. I see coyotes on a daily basis out here and they have never attempted to mess with my tortoises in 20+ years. There are many ways a goose could also hurt your tortoise, so that is not a good idea either, plus a coyote pack would make short work of a goose.

Just lock your tortoises up at night and you won't have a problem.

Darn it @Tom, we were just starting to have fun thinking of all the different ideas. Practicality is getting farther and farther away from us. Let us have some fun

 

[leigti]

I don't really know any details about the donkey, the guy used two of them. They were pretty darn small. He had them on a sheep Ranch out in the middle of nowhere. It was the female that actually got the lion. Is a female donkey called and Jenny? Heck I don't know my grandpa had mules not donkeys.

 

[leigti]

I lived on a ranch on the weekends with my dad and his cattle company partners as a very young child, they used donkeys as security for predators and people. Never saw it in action myself but I would pay good money to see a miniature donkey kill a mountain lion. I saw a local news report about 3 Chihuahuas cornering a mountain lion while their master's young child was in the yard only a few feet away. Trapped it in a shed and yapped at it until animal control arrived, can't remember accurately because it was when I was in my early teens but I think they held it a bay until animal control could arrive to tranquilize it. Mountain Lions are stalkers, they're nothing to be scoffed at in a toe to toe throw down either, but their nature isn't toe to toe. Bears are toe to toe, so an intelligent animal like a donkey catching a stalker off guard in a toe to toe fight is believable to me. You gotta share more detail on this story.

Are you sure the mountain lion wasn't just too busy laughing to do anything else?

 

[Tom]

Are you sure the mountain lion wasn't just too busy laughing to do anything else?

We have a regular sized donkey. It tries to stomp and kill anything that gets in its enclosure. Pigeons, chickens, anything canine, etc… They are good "watch dogs". I hear of them killing coyotes once in a while out here, but I think most coyotes know to steer clear of them.

 

[mark1]

you can teach a dog to respect boundaries ....... mine know not to go into the turtle pens ..... they have protected and killed many threats to my turtle , forever ..... I've seen them surround a raccoon in a pen , they know not to jump the fence , but whatever they trap in a pen has a slim to none chance of getting out the yard safely ......... a coyote will not fight a dog out of anything but defense , unless you got a greyhound I doubt they could catch a healthy coyote , I know mine couldn't .........

 

[Tom]

you can teach a dog to respect boundaries ....... mine know not to go into the turtle pens ..... they have protected and killed many threats to my turtle , forever ..... I've seen them surround a raccoon in a pen , they know not to jump the fence , but whatever they trap in a pen has a slim to none chance of getting out the yard safely ......... a coyote will not fight a dog out of anything but defense , unless you got a greyhound I doubt they could catch a healthy coyote , I know mine couldn't .........

Out here, there are some people who use pit bulls for coyote control. One pittie will destroy an entire coyote pack in minutes. I'm told the sound is god-awful.

I can also tell you that malinois have no problem catching up to coyotes on the run either, although they had no intention of doing any harm.