Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Stacked up against 11 coyotes, herd dog kills 8 to save sheep in neighborhood

Surprisingly, the Great Pyrenees has a very strong bite force. These dogs have an average bite force of around 500 pounds per square inch (PSI)! That's actually a stronger bite than Rottweilers and Pitbulls! This varies between individuals, but still makes these dogs some of the strongest biters around.Jun 1, 2022

Bite force for a pit bull is approximately 235 psi

Wonderful story.. Thank you for posting that.

Coyotes do run in packs and they will stand and fight when they have numbers on their side. They'll also stand and fight when they're guarding dens with pups, the males will stand by themselves in the spring and early summer if you get near their den. We had a golden retriever who thought he was a hunting dog, liked to chase everything if you let him, up to and including elk. I used to take him a few places and let him run off leash including the state park with a few thousand acres and a wild pheasant population. He killed two pheasants out there by himself, a pile of fox squirrels, a few rabbits and pds too so he loved the place but it also had a lot of coyotes.

We'd go out there a few times a week all winter and have the run of the place but around mid May we'd be going throught the same spots and if we got close to a den the male would come out, skyline himself if he was on a rise (which is where they put their dens out there, mostly creek bottoms) turn sideways to make himself look bigger, bare his teeth with the hair on his back standing up. From that time on we'd stay out of those places until later in the year but it was a good way to find dens. I'd come back laiter and watch with binos, it was interesting to see when the pups would come out to play and sometimes there'd be more than just the pair watching over them, there would be three adults.

We did a 3 or 4 mile loop and on an average day we'd come across at least one coyote because the dog would sniff 'em out. Single or in pairs they'd usually run but if there were three or more they'd stand and fight. Wasn't really a problem because I could get him on the leash beofore that happened. I also started carrying a wrist rocket, that would run them off pretty well.

And if they have numbers they will set an ambush. Whenever I'd see one come out and make itself visible on purpose I'd snap on the leash because I knew something was up, it happened three or four times. Get out the binos and scan around and pick out one or two laying in the grass waiting, with more that I didn't see I'm sure. One night we were out in the little open space in the neighborhood, full moon with snow on the ground so visibility was good. We were walking down the paved trail when a big male came out and stood in front of us, right on the trail. We stopped, I snapped on the leash, and he sunk down on his elbows with his butt in the air, trying to act like he just wanted to play. I looked out in the open space and there were at least four more out at about 100 yards, spaced out evenly in a line, waiting.

And if they don't want to be seen you won't see them. More than once we had just come through a patch of waist-high grass and sage and not jumped any, and a fire truck from the local station would go by with the siren on. And two or three would open up from the patch we just came through.

Biggest coyote pack I've seen was 9, they were following and harassing/ nipping at a limping coyote about 600 yards from the hilltop I was on.

"It agin the LAW", you know.

Well screw that! Shoot first, fug around later.

And that math above was beer drinking math.

Sounds like more fox BS, story say's 5 or 6 in the pen with a few killed, and the owner just standing around for a half hour. Owner should have been able to call off Casper once the threat had left instead of allowing to continue on the chase. Other dead coyotes were found at a later time without a Casper. But nowhere does it say that the dog faced off against 11 Coyotes all at once. What the hell the owner was thinking is the real story, when one shot probably would have taken care of the whole problem.

Phil

Yes, stock dogs, guard dogs, hounds, etc are tools. They have been tools for the last 100,000 years.

Fur babies, and thinking of dogs, or cats for that matter, as a surrogate child is a pretty new concept. (maybe with the exception of cats in ancient Egypt)

My younger brother, when he was a freshman in high school, acquired a female redbone pup. When the dog was about nine months old, he went out to her shelter to feed her before school, but she failed to bound out and greet him.

He reached into her house to pull her out, and found her in a pool of blood. A quick look found her inner thigh slit open from the knee to the pelvis. Instead of school they went to the vet that day, and the little bitch got stitched up and recovered.

We back tracked her blood trail in the snow, and found where she had tangled with a coyote out about 150 yds from the house. As far as the tracks indicated, it was a single coyote.

Unfortunately, brother's pretty little redbone died six months later, about a week before she was due to deliver her first litter of pups. A necropsy showed a dead and decomposed pup inside her.

Lots of good the owner did. He could have helped with a simple 10-22.

My uncle said he had a Greyhound as a kid. Said it was a coyote and coon killing SOB. Always talked and bragged about that dog.

A friend’s Ranch I hunt in Coleman County has a neighboring Ranch that has sheep and goats that has two big ole Great Pyrenees that live with the heard. Beautiful dogs. They’ll sometimes come over and check me out when I’m opening the gate at his Ranch.

Another friend of mine had a half Lab / half Great Pyrenees male that was huge. Said it was the best family guard dog he ever had. Said it wouldn’t let anyone in his yard when his kiddos were small and playing outside.

Sounds like something I would do.

This odd-looking little 15lb mutt was a skinny stray when she showed up. Used to be off leash she would sprint after anything that moved, including deer and feral hogs, 100 yards at a time. One time she took off not far behind two coyotes, they were all out of sight for like three minutes, thought for sure she was a goner 🙂

She’s gotten a lot better since, sticks close by once she figured out that’s what her job is, reliable recall.