Our black lab disappeared about 5 days ago. We may have lost him to coyotes, not sure, we haven't found him yet. The wild rabbits were scarce this year and I know that happens in cycles. I've heard female coyotes will lure male dogs out and then the pack will kill them. I tried to talk hubby in to getting our male fixed for the past 5 years but for some reason he just never got to it. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but I hope if any of you have been putting off neutering you will take this as a warning. This makes the 3rd male dog we've lost in the 6 years we've lived out here. We've never had that problem with our females.
Just to warn you neutering will not always stop a wandering dog. Many breeds and many individual dogs will wander. Many females of many breeds tend to be "homebodies" but some may be wanderers as well. The only thing that will stop a wandering dog for certain is a fence. Ofcourse it will stop a male from looking for females as you were concerned. Have the other dogs you have lost been labs or similar breeds? You may want to look into a more fitting "farm guard" then a lab. Most hunting breeds will get bored and wander off, not to mention they are not suited to protecting stock. If you have predators you could really use a livestock guarding dog. try going www.moloss.com you can resaerch breeds there and there is a forum, link is on lower right side of page, says molloser talk. The people there can help you in finding a good replacement breed. Word of warning though, some people are more friendly then others over there( if you know what I mean ) When you ask a question just make sure you state that you live on a REAL farm and have stock. I am sorry for your loss and hope thing work out in the future.
Thanks for the kind words. He was actually more of a watch dog really, he would never have bitten anyone unless they attacked one of us. I'll take a look at that website you suggested. This was the 2nd male Black Lab we've lost. They do tend to wander since they love to swim in ponds. We have a pond and 32 acres but you know how dogs can be if their not confined by a fence. Our neighbors know us and know which dogs are ours. We've always had an agreement out here that if one of our dogs gets into the others poultry or such that we would call and warn the other person before taking any action on an animal. Most of our neighbors have farm dogs that aren't confined. We had an injured Rotty show up in our shed last week, so, it makes me wonder if we don't have some type of a predator problem now or possibly a wild dog pack. He couldn't move and didn't belong to anyone that we contacted, so, my husband had to perform a difficult task and put him out of his misery. People tend to dump dogs out here not realizing they won't end up with any better fate than they would at the pound, probably worse. I need to find a breed that's good with children and good as a protector. I don't want a dog that will bite our grandson or any other family children that might visit. Black Labs always seemed to be very well tempered around children, but then we always taught our daughter and grandson to respect animals and treat them well.
We have a yellow lab that sometimes wanders. Actually she began wandering after she disappeared for almost a year. We suspected that that she was taken because the sherrif said that several pure bred dogs had been taken in our area. Good ending for us though, she came back looking mangy and tick ridden and skin and bones. It didn't take too long to get her back to normal again. However, she took to leaving for one or two days, so we kenneled her when she came back for four or five days and she has been pretty good about sticking around. We are looking for another dog to keep her company. I think she likes to visit the other dogs in the area. I would kennel her more often but my husband hates to do it because she loves running and playing in the pond so much. He would rather risk losing her than keep her kenneled all the time. If your dog comes back, and I sincerely hope that it does, you might try kenneling it for a while. Please keep us updated. Arkansas Transplant
Yes, we have had mountain lions in the area before. Within the past 2 years they've attacked livestock within 15 miles of here. I'm not so sure the ones that have been spotted weren't released on purpose or escaped. The stupidity of the law in Oklahoma allows private citizens to have wild animals as pets. Then people can't feed or take care of them after their full grown and figure they'll survive just fine if they release them out in the country. Stupid isn't it? He still hasn't returned and considering we have a female (spayed) who is his best friend and constant companion (she came back without him) I'm not too hopeful. I hope to have our neighbors keep an eye out for him, even if he's dead I'd rather know what happened and be able to bury him. I told my husband he's probably within walking distance of about a 1/2 mile. The female won't go far from home at all now, which makes me think she saw something that scared her. We've had friends who lost dogs to coyotes before, it's a reality when you live out like we do. It's pretty unusual for them to kill a large dog, but when the rabbit population is low it happens sometimes.
I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, Vickie. Those guys get to be family after a while!! :waa: I'm not sure if coyotes are your culprit. I have heard from folks in northern MN about wolves using the "bait and ambush" on male dogs, but not coyotes. Coyotes really don't have a pack structure, although I have seen them work in pairs on several occasions to hunt prairie dogs...one acts as the distraction while the other snatches the ones close to the edge of the town. And, it would be hard to imagine a 30 lb coyote, or even two, taking down a full-grown male lab. We were swimming in coyotes on the farm when I was younger, but never had problems with them taking dogs - of course, we had a Chesapeake and a Lab, so they were a bit large for a coyote to take down. I think you had the right idea about fixing him, especially with the history you've had with males. From what I understand, a male dog can detect a female in heat within a mile radius, although that does seem a bit far! I think if it was predation, you might have had more of a problem loosing the smaller females, although that does not explain what happended to the Rottie... When I was in younger, we had a young male lab that would come by for extended visits...just as friendly as could be, but we didn't need another dog on the farm! We had just found a new home for him when we found out a local rancher owned him. After that, he would visit again from time to time, but at least we knew who to call. I'm really hoping that your boy is just out on an extened social call! Again, I'm really sorry about your lab, I pray you find him soon, all waggy-happy to be home! April
So sorry to hear about your dog. I hope he didn't meet a painful end. If you are looking for a protective dog that is great with kids and animals check into collies. We have a great collie who is marvelous with our 5 kids, cats, and guards us all fiercely. He once charged a stranger who came into our fenced yard when the children were out playing. He knew the man did not have permission from me to be there and he did not hesitate to defend his brood. He also attacked and knocked down a HUGE Lab mix that threatened to bite me. He is not vicious, though and will not attack unless he fears for our safety. Even if he does attack, he just tries to knock the offender down rather than biting. If my kids are fighting he will walk in between them and try to separate them. He is a peacekeeper in our home. He is humble but dignified, gentle but strong. He is not much for learning commands, but has great instincts and impeccable manners. It took him a year to learn "sit" but one day to learn not to eat out of the garbage. Collies are very sensitive and try hard to please. Collies also have the added benefit of herding ability. Collies are VERY INTO children and will look out for them and any and all animals they see as part of their pack. Any time ours sees anything out of the ordinary he alerts me by barking or coming over to me and "asking" with his eyes for me to put him out. As a breed collies are working dogs and not especially playful or silly, but very serious-minded and job-oriented.
Well, we still don't know for sure what happened, he just disappeared one night. Our neighbor has a 4 wheeler and I've asked him to watch as he's out riding in case he finds anything. He did tell me that cougars have been spotted in our area again, I hope it wasn't a violent death either, in our area it could have been a snake bite too, you never know. I had thought about Collies. As a matter of fact I've been thinking about Border Collies, we have a friend who breeds his female and I think we could get one for little or nothing from him. Hubby won't talk about it right now, it's too soon, so I've decided to wait a few months, at least until we come back from vacation in July. Thanks everyone for the support, what would we homesteaders be without our faithful servants!
Sorry To Hear About Your Dog. We Had Coyotes Come In And Get Several Of Our Chickens. We Found That They Didn't Take Them Far. We Found Them In The Woods Behind The Farm. Hope You Dog Is Visiting A Lady Friend
Thanks Carol, but he never came back. Found some evidence that something happened, so, I know he won't be back. We loved him while we had him. :waa: Some time in the past few days though, someone dumped a pup out over here. He showed up on our deck with lots of ticks on him. He looks to be about 5-6 mos. maybe. He's pretty cute and when he barks he sounds like a hound dog. I decided to keep him, but he's apparently been abused and he's pretty scared. He's eating okay, but I hope to get him to trust me so I can clean him up and take him in for shots and neutering. So, it looks like our female has a new pal!
Abused dogs that have the sense to get out, and then find a loving hope will usually defend you to the death.
He's gonna be a good one! I finally got him to come to me last evening. I've got to get some tick drops tonight. Once I got him close enough to look at I think he may be younger than I first thought. I'm gonna get an appt. with our country vet and get his shots. Maybe he can give me a better idea how old he is, so, I can make sure to get him neutered asap. My grandson has been wanting a puppy, but they live in apartments, so I'm going to tell him this is his puppy but he has to stay with us. He'll be thrilled, he loved the Lab we lost and this pup is a real sweetheart!
