Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Protecting the Bird Dog?

Hey guys - I know some of you have bird dogs for hunting upland game or ducks.

How concerned are you about wild predators attacking your dog while hunting, and what do you do to prevent it?



I hunt a lot of wild country, not much in farmland. Like yesterday, Mav was hunting off leash, running, enjoying, working to find birds where there weren't any. I've hunted that same area for mule deer & elk.

There are wolves, coyotes, mountain lion, bobcat, and black bear in that vicinity. Yesterday when a coyote sounded off, only a couple of hundred yards away, I put the leash back on Maverick to keep him from going after the coyote.

A few years ago I was working Clark on some wild chukar in a nearby canyon before season. He was so intent on the birds that he didn't notice the large black bear about 200 yards above us! The bear clearly had seen us. I put the leash on Clark before he could go running after the bear. Would he? I don't know. Fortunately he never even noticed the bear!

I have a shock collar I put on Mav anytime I might have him off-leash. He's good about coming when I call, and getting better, but if he gets more than about 100 yards away, I give him a quick beep with the collar. That normally works. Only time to time have I had to actually zap him. That brings him running back to me for sure! Normally he just comes when I call.

I almost always have pepper spray and a decent handgun with me. Of course a shotgun while bird hunting.

What do you guys do to keep your dog from getting attacked by wild predators?

Thanks, Guy

Training, being able to stop your dog and recall it should be one of the top priorities. Rarely will a wild animal attach a dog if they are in close proximity to a human. I would be far more worried about cars and porcupines than coyotes and bears, horses and cows will stomp your dog also.

Ya - a friend's dad lost their GWP to a wolf.

The dog got out of sight for a bit, and the wolf attacked & killed the dog. That was a while back.

Just last week in Chelan County, WA, another friend had their two husky dogs attacked while hiking. Feral dogs in that case. He was right with his two dogs. Used his trekking poles to eventually drive off the attacking dogs, but not before both of his dogs had been injured, one severely. He didn't have either pepper spray or a firearm, but is buying a handgun now.

Leavenworth, WA a few years back a cougar got into a garage, and killed the boxer dog that was there. I know that's not a field scenario. All this stuff and more has me worried about the dog.

Yes! Agree about the stop and recall. Happy to say that my young dog is getting better and better at that!

Guy

Your best protection is a well trained dog.
If you have to leash or zapp your dog, it's not well trained.

With my 2 drahthaars the only thing I really worry about is wolves. They can handle coyotes no problem. Even if they are out numbered I can get there before coyotes are going to hurt them too serious.

My dogs don’t realize there is animals that can and will kill them and they make me slightly nervous in wolf country and I’ve had 1 close call that I know of and who knows what has happened in the woods when they’re out of site.

Besides a shotgun I also carry a handgun usually a 10mm. If the dogs are fighting especially fighting more than one animal I’ve found something you shoot one handed while moving cover or holding a dogs collar is far better than a long gun.

We're working on it!

He's 15 months old, but a rescue dog, and I've only had him 4 - 5 months. He's come a long, long way.

I'm actually pretty proud of him - was told by some that he'd never be up to it - well ya - he is. Took us a while to start working well together, but it's just getting better and better.

Regards, Guy

I don't worry much about predators attacking my dogs, that ranks far below a number of other problems potentially encountered in the field. Weather and accidents are a greater worry for me. A dog that obeys commands will prevent many problems from occurring.

I also don't worry much as my dogs are generally in contact with me. The noise we all make moving through cover is typically more than enough to let any predators know we are in the area and gives them time to clear out. I run beeper collars on my dogs set to the "Run" mode which adds even more noise.

Black bears are common where I live and hunt, the greatest risk to my dogs is getting hit by a car if they wander into the road after a bear opened up the run to get food. I see maybe two bears a year while bird hunting and every bear but one was high tailing it away from us. That one was coming straight for me in its effort to get away from the dog. As soon as it realized I was there, it turned inside out changing directions.

Where I mostly hunt, cougars aren't nearly as common in the woods as in the bars and taverns. Many Cougars find my dogs attractive but they quickly move off when I approach as I am far too old for them to have any interest in me. There have been reports of mountain lions in the area from time to time but with their scarcity, vast range they occupy, and overall shyness I am not worried about these either.

Wolves are of the greatest concern for most around here though the stories are more plentiful than reality. Most problems when hunting are dogs surprising wolves which is easier to do than one would think if the wolves were sleeping off an eating binge. As mentioned, I run a beeper collar on Run and that has worked well for me and many others.

Coyotes aren't much of a scare for my dogs either, my dogs are big enough to take care of themselves at least until I can catch up. More often, coyotes generally take off if they know people are around. The only place I have actually had coyote problems is at home with a male coyote occasionally challenging my dogs. More than once I've obliged the coyote by turning the dogs loose on him which often ends badly for the coyote. In the past, my setters have been fast and aggressive enough to catch or bay coyotes long enough for the wirehairs to catch up and end the problem. My only Pointer would kill the coyote himself given the chance.

Bobcats are like coyotes, run off well before we catch up to them. I've only had the dogs tree one bobcat while in the woods and bobcats are relatively plentiful at our cabin and family property.

My biggest animal concerns are porcupines, skunks, and raccoons, in that order. They aren't likely to kill a dog but they can be a great inconvenience. Snakes would rank in there too but I've avoided them for the most part by picking times and places I hunt. Pigs/Javelina are somewhat of a concern but again, I have been able to avoid them by utilizing the above methods.

The more time one spends in the outdoors, the more likely they are to experience an animal problem. The other side of that is one also realizes how rare it is.

Coyotes and old dogs don't go together well; I have an led light on his collar, in his day I have seen him kill two adult coons at once and several times 4 or more small coons, he is 12 now and still game, that scares me. Best dog ever !

Good stuff, thank you.

I'm not new to upland game hunting or to dog ownership/training, but am seeking more info. Thank you very much. It seems like I'm on the right track.

Regards, Guy

I rely heavily on my collar for recall. No whistles, no voice commands. Reason being we hunt public land roosters and we make no noise till shots are fired. And even though I have him broke on running deer, I still like having remote access to reinforce if needed. It hasn't been. And due to hunting Nebraska and Kansas, only thing he can tangle with that is bad are porkies. Well skunks but knock on wood, none of those yet.

If I was hunting a wolf area, I'd be much more concerned. Bears do concern me in blue grouse habitat. So that said, I'd follow the advice given above from several posters. Next fall will be putting two drahthaars on the ground so should be a learning experience on how to handle two at once. Season is winding down and it only reinforced how much fun I have upland hunting these days. Good luck!