# owls, birds of prey etc..



## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

hopefully I am posting this in the right category (never posted a new thread before or posted much for that matter just always watched along)

But I was wondering if anyone else has ever had problems with birds of prey like owls.. I live in Canada and my boyfriend's mother is a chi breeder (where i got my dog from) anyways her husband let the 3 dogs out and was tinkering in the garage and heard an awful scream from the dogs and rushed out to find one dead and he saw a big bird flying off.. Has anyone else had something similar happen?

Ever since that day I've never let my dog out alone I always try and stay near her when we are in the backyard. (His parents live in a rural subdivision not out in the bushes or anything)

We've called animal control and they've said there's nothing they can do so we've warned people in the area with small animals to just be very watchful


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Yes this is a constant problem for me as I live in the middle of the woods. The birds of prey around here are quite brave and do not care if I or any of my big dogs are around. I had a real close call withy Yoshi thankfully I saw the shadow of the hawk coming before he got to Yoshi but he came within about 6 foot of getting my boy with me and my Great Danes standing there. I do not let my guys out in my yard period whether I am there or not so they are pee pad trained inside. I also know of a lady that lost her Yorkie that was on a harness while she was walking it. The Hawk did not get away with it but the talons were to sharp and it killed the Yorkie anyways:-(


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## Marie (Apr 22, 2006)

We almost lost our little Chloe to an eagle not too long ago. We live on a lake in a rural part of central Maine and my husband had all three of them out running around the yard. While he briefly had his back turned watching the other two chase each other, Chloe wandered over to the side of the lake and down into the rocks. Hubbie turned around just in time to see an eagle diving down towards her. He ran to where she was and started jumping up and down to scare the eagle away just as it was about to snatch her - he couldn't immediately grab her himself because of where she was down into the rocks. The eagle then circled around again and actually came diving down again, but by then my hubbie had her in his arms and the eagle gave up and flew off.

I had nightmares about it for a few days after that. We're always on the lookout for the eagles now. They really don't look all that intimidating where they're up high, bu close up those talons are HUGE. She's 9 lbs, but that eagle could have easily flew away with her. It's so frightening!!!!!


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## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

Ahh terrifying stories.. i was really hoping that it was just a fluke that it happened to us.. We were thinking of getting a doberman thinking if the big dog was out there the birds of prey wouldn't come down but guess not  
I always joke about dressing emma in neon clothes and putting one of those umbrellas (from those weird umbrella hats) on her so the hawk or whatever might be thrown off by seeing this blob wiggling around the yard


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

Best thing you can do is when you take her out then keep an eye on the sky and the trees the whole time;-) I still used to take Yoshi out after the incident but with Chibi here now it is too hard for me to keep my out for both so I opted for pee pads;-)


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## KayC (May 3, 2005)

We have a big dog and it didn't keep the Eagles from trying to get my Roxy. The eagle was a small female and I think Roxy bit and barked and with me screaming and hollering so she was let go but she did have 4 talon marks in her sides. The eagle kept comming back even when I was right there.


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## SCY0226 (Sep 11, 2008)

All these stories are terrifying  
I never let Riley out in our yard alone, because I'm worried something like that happening.. but I had no idea that a bird would be so bold to attack even when there are people or big dogs around. Thats very scary..


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## babydoll (May 18, 2006)

Where i live, there really isnt a threat with these kind of things, but i am still very cautious and dont leave them outside in the backyard alone.


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## Chili-mom (Sep 7, 2008)

Scary to think about, I wonder if puttting a brightly colored shirt on them would help. Maybe the birds wouldn't see them as food them?


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## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

That's what I was thinking dressing the dog up in something bright pink or the umbrella thing you can buy and strap to dogs so they have their own umbrella. 

I always go out with Emma and I'm never a few steps behind her which she hates me for she wants to go explore and she has me running after her. We haven't seen the bird of prey since but this past summer we found lots of vomit balls with little bones in it. We don't know if it's living in one of the big trees in the backyard we've fired off some paintballs up into the trees hoping to startled it out of the tree so we would at least know what we are dealing with


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## KayC (May 3, 2005)

My Daughter was only about 5 feet away from Roxy when the 2 coyotes came out of the woods and grabbed her and ran, it only took a second and it was in the middle of the day. That is why Zoey does not go out side.


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## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

Ahhh!! Right now I live in a subdivision and backyard is fenced and its more city-like here no coyotes near but when we move to our house its in another subdivison but its all new development so I am sure we will have coyotes then.. But I'm saving money the first thing I am buying is a dog run with a chainlink roof so i can at least leave emma out for a bit and have no worries.

I really hate how brave these wild animals are getting grrr


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## catz4m8z (Aug 28, 2008)

God, I'd be petrefied to let them outside at all.:sad8:
Luckily where I live there are no predators bigger than foxes or kestrels which wouldn't go for a chi anyway. I still don't let Adam off lead outside tho as chi's seem to be quite fragile. (He was just frightened and clawed by a 13wk old staff pup in town today).


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

I think no matter where you live (city, country, desert) it is essential to watch your dogs at all times. Chihuahuas are prone to so many threats it is insane! From puppy stealers in the city to hawks to coyotes or other dogs ....

We take our dogs outside _on leashes_ and we are with them from the moment they step outside to the moment they step back inside. We are watching them, the sky, the woods ....

Our neighbor has a Chihuahua and when they moved in a hawk tried to carry off their little Chi! She has scars on her head from the attack.

We live in the country and foxes, coyotes, hawks, wolves, stray dogs, feral cats and a multitude of other animals are known predators. We are not worried about our Chis though because we are diligent in our supervision and we don't let them off leash ever. 

The only times our pack is allowed off leash is when they are at one of the dog parks. 

We are building our own dog park here on the farm as well and it will have fencing 2' under the ground to prevent predators from slipping under the fence and we are going to be putting up a netting system in summer to prevent hawks - however that does not mean they won't be going out without us ... we will always have to be there. 

We are our Chis best protectors but it is us humans that are causing this issue in the first place. Humans are taking away the natural habitat of these wild animals and they are now forced to find their food sources elsewhere - unfortunately for us - our Chihuahuas look just about right.


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## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah I understand that we are the cause of our own problems which is rather unfortunate to say the least. Emma doesn't go in the backyard as it stands unless I am at her heels but when we move the first things we plan on doing is putting up a fence around our yard and building her a dog run with a roof that's not to say I won't be in the yard with her when she's in it but I want to be gardening or reading a book or crocheting for her and I won't be at her heels. Your lucky to be able to take your chis to the dog park!!! Everytime I go to take Emma there, there's always big dogs and I am not so trusting that they won't harm her so she's never had the opportunity to go into the dog park we stand outside of it and she plays on leash with other small dogs that don't go in the park because of the big dogs


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

Both of the communities close to our home have dog parks. Each one has two separate areas too which is nice. You can choose the small dog park or the large dog park.


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## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

Bah! You are soo lucky! We as far as I know just have one huge dog park and its for all types of dogs  I want one for small dogs i'd feel much comfortable taking Emma to socialize if it was just smaller dogs


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

Are there any Chi-meet ups in your area? We organize one monthly for our city and surrounding local - and it is great fun!


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## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

I'm not too sure I found a group on facebook for a meet up in my area but there isn't very members and the group doesn't look to active. 
I've ran into some chihuahua owners at the boardwalk by the beach but none of them seemed very interested in letting the dogs play. It's unfortunate Emma's only friend is my bfs moms boy chihuahua


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

Why not post an ad on Kijiji or something seeing if fellow Chihuahua members would like to get together or know of an existing one. That is how we organized our meet ups at first. You might find out from someone who has one going already


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## Northern Princess (Sep 23, 2008)

We had our Lola out in the garden the other day when a sparrow hawk came down to the tree next to us trying to catch a pigeon so my eye's have been peeled when ever we are outside now.

We live in the middle of the city so it was a real eye opener for us.


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## pinkglitterybunny (Jul 26, 2008)

wow and i was thinking i was safe as i live in a town, you never can be too careful iv hear owls in my garden iv always liked the sounds they make but my babys are pad trained inside now as its getting a bit chilly out.

Awful stories, I would never have imagined such things but thanks for bringing it to light so we can all prevent anything awful from happening again.

xx


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## randiik (Jul 7, 2008)

OMG these stories are terrifying! I will be moving into a house with a big backyard and it does have a dog pen but its by the back fence way far from the door. i take joey out now on a lease and i live in a apt complex so i havent seen anything yet. i sure hope that i dont see anything when i move either! my roommate has a yorkie and a yorkie/chi but they are both a bit bigger then joey is. now i just want to keep him inside on the pee pads!


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## Tora-Oni (Sep 13, 2008)

Well I noticed alot of people saying neon colors and stuff like that, I don't think they are completly color blind. But birds of prey seem to react to movement more than color, so once the prey has been sighted and it sees it move it has a lock down on the target. They have a excellent sight, they seem to catch sight of really small animals from really far up. So to me cama flouge be better than pink blob, I can't see them being thrown off by color, some animals are color blind not sure about birds of prey though. I know movement is a key to their sight. Honestly I don't think anything will stop them and food is pretty scarce sometimes so they will be pretty aggressive. I wonder if a toy gun would scare one b/c you can't use anything real due to endangerment of their species. Lots of birds of prey are on the list so I'm just trying to come up with an idea. I heard a coke can of pennies may scare dogs/cats but a hungry bird?


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

The dog parks in our area have a small dog park and a large dog park but we always have people that insist on bringing their larger dogs into the smaller pen and then the smaller ones end up getting trambled, or bullied. No matter what the small dog owners say or what the signs say they continue to do so:-(

I found my Chihuahua meet-up group on meetup.com


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## Ginger Snaps (Sep 28, 2008)

Wow.... Our Vet warned us about things like this happening. I'm glad I listened. Mine never go outside unless they are in their crate.


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## mychiisqueen (Jan 3, 2008)

When I have a chance hopefully tomorrow or sometime this week I will do a little more indepth research on the birds of prey and see what I can learn. It's such a nuisance- Emma HATES pee pads absolutely hates them she'd rather sit at the door in pain then use a pee pad.. I have a pee tray set out and its rarely ever dirty MAYBE 2 times a month which is cool by me cleaning up pee is not on my list of favorite things to do.. She's always been an outside go'er since she was a baby


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