How to keep your dog safe from coyotes in Toronto
Coyote stares directly into camera
Why are there so many coyotes in Toronto?
In my years of being a dog trainer in Toronto, I’ve become very familiar with urban wildlife, especially coyotes. I’ve had clients warn me about a roaming coyote in their neighbourhood, and even stumbled upon one in someone’s front yard when I was working with a dog - at first I thought he was a dog! Luckily, I’ve never had any scary encounters where I feared for my safety or the safety of the dog I was with.
But lately, I’m seeing more and more news articles and posts on the Toronto subreddit about coyote sightings, and even coyote attacks. Some Toronto dog guardians have been featured in the media with heartbreaking stories of their pets being snatched up by coyotes and even killed. These stories are devastating to read about, and I really feel for these guardians.
So why are there so many coyotes in Toronto in the first place? The City of Toronto website explains that there’s a lot of reasons for them to hang around, because there’s a lot of food sources, from improperly stored garbage to small animals and birds. Coyotes themselves have few natural predators to control their population.
Coyote safety tips for dog owners in Toronto
So whether we like it or not, coyotes are in our neighbourhoods. There’s been pressure on the City of Toronto to deal with the increase in coyote sightings and attacks, especially given the recent fatalities to pet dogs. While the City sorts out what to do about the coyote problem, here’s what I, a certified dog trainer, recommends you do to keep your dog safe:
Keep your dog on a leash, always. There’s never been a better time to keep your dog on a leash. Enforcement of leash laws may be super lax in Toronto, but don’t leash your dog because you have to - do it for your dog’s safety. This is especially true if your dog doesn’t have the most reliable recall. Which brings me to…
Work on your dog’s recall training. Recall is one skill every dog should have, as it could literally save your dog’s life. If you find yourself calling your dog’s name over and over and he takes forever to come back to you, how is he going to be in an emergency situation? The best time to work on recall training is when you don’t actually need it. (I can help you with building a rock-solid recall!)
Practice "coyote hazing” before you actually encounter a coyote. We don’t want to hurt coyotes, but we do want to keep them afraid of humans. Wildlife experts recommend “hazing” if you see a coyote: make yourself big and loud, yell “Go away, coyote!”, wave around a big object like a pop-up umbrella, make noise with a bell. You can even grab the loose end of your dog’s leash and whip it around in a circle.
The problem is, these hazing techniques might frighten your dog! So I recommend practicing them before you see a coyote, in your home, in a quiet, boring room. Get some of your dog’s favourite treats, and practice counterconditioning: teaching your dog that “When I do this, you get a treat.”
Say “Go away, coyote!” at a normal volume, then give your dog a treat. Repeat a few times.
Then say “Go away, coyote!” at a slightly raised voice, then give your dog a treat. Repeat a few times.
If your dog seems relaxed and not afraid or worried, keep raising your voice to the volume you’d actually use with a coyote, until you’re shouting “Go away, coyote!” Always give your dog a treat afterwards, so your dog learns that you shouting this phrase isn’t scary.
Similarly, before you need to actually open a mini-umbrella to ward off a coyote, practice opening it in the house (bad luck, I know!) Open it, then give your dog a treat, in that order. This is the proper way to teach your dog that an umbrella opening isn’t scary!
If you need help training your dog to keep them safe from coyotes, I can help! Send me a message.
