Rick, I'm talking about the Rideau River - I fully intended to bring her back there once I figured it was frozen had I not read the posts below. Yikes.

Faith and Juno run way off into the woods together (Juno is the pioneer, Faith the follower). We put bells on their collars so we have them within earshot at all times, but both would chase a coyote if they saw one - and it could be far into the woods....

If this cold weather keeps up, the Rideau Canal will be opening for skaters much sooner than it did last year. For those who aren't familiar with it, the Rideau Canal runs through the city of Ottawa and it is the world's longest skating rink. It attracts thousands of tourists, especially during our winter festival Winterlude.

Still not sure what to do about bringing Faith to the park.....

Sandra

Abby and Keeper got in a coyote chase in the pasturelands once.

I was in big, heavy, clunky winter boots, almost impossible to run in.

One second they were about 50 feet in front of me when a coyote was idling the day away over the other side of a little bump in the landscape and . . . . bingo, bango the chase was on.

I'm clunking along, yelling like crazy but there they go, over a rise at least a half mile in front of me!!!

So I get to the rise about four or five minutes later and I'm looking down on the blank canvas of a forest.

They're in there. All of them.

I yelled into the forest to make sure they had a reference point to come back to. I wasn't sure what else to do. Going in didn't seem to be a way to retrieve them as sounds echo all over the place. I did that for 15 minutes.

Finally they emerged.

I have no idea what went on in there, just that they came back safe.

Fortunately, as frequently happened on our trips in the pasturelands, we surprised the coyote, rather than coming across one lying in wait. Big difference.

They've had many other coyote encounters, sometimes with me hanging on for dear life to the leashes, and other times through the fence, the coyotes trying to lure them away.

Coyotes hang out in the big, cavernous parks in Calgary as well. Becky, our old sheltie, had one spring up right beside her in the prairie-like Nose Hill Park but fortunately, she obeyed my verbal command to stay. Definitely a trap that time.

From the side of our hill we watched a single coyote lure a farm dog into a trap that had it surrounded by five. . . . . fortunately, the other farm dogs got their friend out of that one as we frantically phoned down the hill. It was an awesome example of how they co-operate with each other though.

I think you would find a great many of the bigger urban parks in North America will have coyotes hanging around. Seriously.

That shouldn't necessarily deter you. You might go to the park when there are lots of other dogs or people around, rather than solitary forays.

As I said, thousands do it every year without incident and Abby and Keeper continue to head out as well.

It's a smaller chance that something will happen. The human just has to be aware of the surroundings and keep them out in front of you where you can see them.

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

O/T, but great picture, Rick. When I lived in Ottawa years ago (don't ask, it was really years ago) I went down to the Canal a couple of times a week, skates in the winter, bike in the summer.

John, Ben and Ripley

Sandra,

Rick is an expert on this topic but I had an experience with a coyote last year that scared the heck out of me.

The boys and I were walking in my neighborhood one night and it was getting dark. I just happened to look to the left of us and there stood a coyote, calmly staring at us, sizing up my dogs. The boys saw it and went nuts. I mean they both tried so hard to get away from me and I was hanging on to them as hard as I could. The coyote was trying to lure them his way. I finally got the boys to walk forward with me and the coyote followed us for about 30 seconds and turned around. If the boys would have gotten away from me, I'm afraid they would have followed that coyote back to his den and they would have been dinner. I never expected to see a coyote in the city. I know better now.

Molly suggested that I take a bull horn with me. I guess the bull horns will scare the heck out of the coyotes. I never bought a horn but I do need to do that.

Good luck. I hope you find a safe place to walk.

Vicki

Faith and Juno are off leash in the park because they stick with us - but they'd chase a coyote if they saw one and no amount of hollering would bring them back. My options are running out....

Sandra,

Can you just walk Faith around your neighborhood or is that a problem?

Vicki

I know it's so nice to have a place to take the dogs where they can run and have fun. We have a place we can take the boys for that except I started getting scared of rattle snakes this summer.

Seems like there's always something to worry about :-(

Vicki

Vicki, Faith has either an hour long power walk or a jog every evening in addition to a morning and lunch hour walk in my neighbourhood - this in addition to three days of doggy day care a week. She has earned the name TAZ for a good reason - she is wired with energy. She will run for almost two hours in the park - full tilt - so I really do need to find a place to take her. I can't wear her out myself.

Sandra

I got the boys trained on my treadmill this summer. It took a while but it worked. Just a thought. I'll try to come up with more ideas.

Vicki

Here is another idea: train them to run up and down the stairs. Honey does it for the ball. I stand on the landing throw it up to the second floor, she retrieves it. Then I throw it down from the landing to the first floor, and she retrieves it again. REPEAT as often as needed. We do this when the weather is really nasty.

Trish, Honey and Abby

I wouldn't take Boris offleash if I new there was a coyote around. Last year a man was with his yellow lab in the woods. The lab was lured away in a chase by the coyote. It wasn't a happy ending. They are a pack animal and Rick is right, if there is one there most likely are more

Last year when DEZ and I were walking in a local park (winter time), a coyote came out from under some evergreens. My first thought was that it was a stray dog! Then I got closer and realized it was not. DEZ was leashed, but it surprised me that a coyote was in a park in my suburban neighborhood. We finished our walk quickly and went back to the car.
This past spring a coyote walked into a Quiznos in downtown Chicago!! They captured him/her and released him in a better environment.
Jill

what about a 50' or 100' long line - you could hold it or let it drag behind her - stepping on it as needed...

I buy parachute weight line for training (meaning I can go to areas of high distraction and work my dogs "offlead" but still have them if something goes wrong or if the fuzz comes but "Yes officer, he's on a leash".


Erica

Good idea.

I don't want to scare people and their dogs away from city parks because of my coyote stories.

Lots of people use urban parks in North America to have fun with their dogs and they do so without incident. Smaller dogs are probably more at risk.

If it's a large urban park and there is some corridor whereby animals can migrate into it from the countryside, then the more likely it becomes you're sharing that park with wildlife.

There are coyotes in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, etc, etc . . . they've proven themselves to be a remarkably adaptable animal.

Those of a certain age might remember Disney on Sunday nights with one of their shows in the 1960's or early 1970's on the urbanization of coyotes.

It's a long-time issue for urban dwellers.

Our Sheltie Becky and I were in a Calgary urban park and we spotted a coyote and decided to sneak up on it. It was catching mice, throwing them in the air and swallowing them. We got pretty close before we sprung up out of the snow and scared the poop out of it. Then it stood there balefully staring at us, clearly calculating what to do.

Just apply some common sense to it, like not sneaking up on them, and you'll probably have no problems at all.

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

Rick,

I don't think you're scaring people. They need to know that coyotes CAN be very sly and if they do lure your dog from you, you could lose your dog.

Funny thing is, I grew up in the country by the river and listened to coyotes howling every night. Sometimes we would lose a cat or two but not very often.

Now that I'm living in the city, the last thing I ever expected to see was a coyote! Sure did surprise me!

Vicki

Thanks for all of your input - I think I'm going to have to find another place after hearing your stories. I would be a nervous wreck the entire time and I can't knowingly bring her anywhere where I think she could be in harms way. It's too bad about the park with the river - it's on 35 acres of land and she runs like the wind for several hours, playing with other dogs - but Faith is drawn to the river like a magnet, more so than all the other dogs.

Back to the drawing board. It's going to be a long winter....

Sandra