Dog walking fixed blade

[Boattale]

Disregard the coyotes are no problem people.
Do carry a good stout walking stick. That's your best bet to fend off a dog or coyote tool.
A 119 would be my fixed blade choice, or a USMC fighting knife.
Do keep your dog on a leash and not one of those retractible flexi leashes.
I personally know two people that have had coyotes try to take dogs that were out for a walk after dark. The coyote you see or hear won't be the one that causes a problem.

 

[midnight flyer]

I think folks don't understand the difference between an animal that is quite used to humans and one that is actually a wild animal. About 12 years ago, (actually reported April 27, 2010 on CBS news for those that need a cite) this happened to our Texas governor at the time. He was a well known jogger that took his pets along for exercise, and was living temporarily in an area known for its wildlife and great jogging trails. From CBS:

On this particular morning, Perry said, he was jogging without his security detail shortly after sunrise. "I'm enjoying the run when something catches my eye and it's this coyote. I know he knows I'm there. He never looks at me, he is laser-locked on that dog," Perry said.

"I holler and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go," he said.

Perry said the laser-pointer helped make a quick, clean kill. "It was not in a lot of pain," he said. "It pretty much went down at that particular juncture." Texas state law allows people to shoot coyotes that are threatening livestock or domestic animals. The dog was unharmed, Perry said.

Perry's security detail was not required to file a report about the governor discharging a weapon, said Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange. "People shoot coyotes all the time, snakes all the time," Mange said. "We don't write reports."

The governor left the coyote where it fell. "He became mulch," Perry said.

As a Texan, we are used to folks thinking we are a wild west show down here. Not really. OTOH, even the coyotes need to be afraid of who they mess with around here. Love the comment "we don't write reports" and the observation "He became mulch". Actually, he notified the city and they sent out a dead animal removal crew. Things are a lot tighter now, and firing a gun in public regardless of the situation can get you arrested and/or your gun confiscated.

If you cannot carry a gun, carry a club or walking stick. I don't know why, but many times people have "accidentally" let their dogs out of the house when I have been working in their back yard. It pleases some of the 2 inch crowd to see me scramble up a ladder or lock myself in their storage because I don't want to be bitten by a big dog.

So, one day I was working in a backyard where the homeowner had been notified the day before we were coming (most of the pet problems were not attacks; it was the family dog making a play for freedom!) and then the company I worked for called a couple of hours before. I knocked on the door and the guy made a real big story out of the fact that the dog would eat me alive, told me how many people he had bit, etc., etc. It was about a 90 pound Shepherd mix.

Working in the yard, I actually see the man quietly slip open his patio door and let the dog out. On purpose. Then he starts to yell "to warn me". I had a long handled flat faced shovel in my hands, and I waited for him to get to me ( 3 seconds? ) and I did my best impression of Barry Bonds and caught him just behind his shoulder. He went down immediately, and could not stand. I was made enough to crush his head, but didn't. That owner deserved it, his dog didn't. But the dog had broken and cracked ribs and was coughing blood out of his mouth, so I left it alone.

You can carry a stick/club of some sort and never raise an eyebrow, and never have any problems with law enforcement, and you don't have to get close enough to stab or slice. My friends that hike the nature trails around here all carry heavy sticks as they see an occasional coyote or snake, but more often they see lots of semi-feral dogs (and occasional kinda of humanized coyotes) that have no fear of humans. They hang around in the heavily wooded parts of the parks and raid the trash cans at night. I would be more afraid of the dogs than anything else when walking or jogging as they always seem to be in small packs. That and the fact law enforcement might take my pistol or knife.

 

[lambertiana]

You may have to check on the legality, but you can combine a staff and a knife with the Cold Steel boar spear. You can cut the staff down, my son has one and the staff is pretty long. But it puts you farther from the coyote. I wouldn't want to get within knife range of a coyote.

Before they moved I would take my daughter-in-law's shepherd for walks on leash around the neighborhood. I would occasionally encounter large dogs that were just let loose in front yards and they would come after the shepherd from across the street. Although I would have my CCW .45, I would also carry a kamagong escrima stick to use instead of the .45 just to avoid the hassle. When the dog's owner would see me raise the stick, they called the dog back with panic in their voice. Kamagong escrima sticks are pretty impressive, very heavy and hard, and one hit on the head would put a large dog down. On the back or sides would break ribs.

 

[crn3371]

I see the point of carrying a staff, but walking after dark it’s either a flashlight or a staff, not both. I’ll rely on my flashlight to handle the clubbing duty. I received the 119 today and have to admit it’s a hell of a knife for the price, much more substantial than I envisioned. I was worried that the 119 wouldn’t be enough of a knife and that maybe I should have gotten the 124. After handling the 119 I can’t imagine what the 124 must feel like in hand. One thing I will say is that I was somewhat disappointed in the 119’s sharpness out of the box. It will roughly cut paper and not even close to be able to shave hair. My 4 Max Scout came WAY sharper than the Buck.

 

[Mannlicher]

I don't believe a coyote or two is really a danger, but I'd prefer a stout cudgel over a knife for an encounter.

 

[Horsewright]

"Coyote attacks on humans are uncommon and rarely cause serious injuries, but have been increasing in frequency, especially in the state of California. In the 30 years leading up to March 2006, at least 160 attacks occurred in the United States, mostly in the Los Angeles County area"........ from Google

I was chasing some reticent cows through and across a canyon. They had simply not got the memo on what was going on. The far side was brushy and I had lost track of them but could hear them crashing through the brush. The wife had stopped on the other side and was spotting the cows for me, yelling directions. I needed to get ahead of the cattle to turn them back and down to the right towards the corrals. I got to the a clearing on this steep canyon wall and stopped to give my horse a breather. I was pretty sure I'd got most of them turned but I hadn't heard any directions in a bit either. Looking back and across I could see the wife on her horse, Lil Man with the cowdog Canela. They were surrounded by a pack of about 7 or 8 coyotes and the coyotes were closing in. I could see Canela moving closer to Lil Man. Now I always carry a sidearm at the ranch but they were too close to the wife to go popping off rounds and she was unarmed. So I turned my big gelding and we started crashing down through the brush at a run. Now I was riding Sonny and he's a big stout pony, stupid tough. Not much of a Ferrari in him, more of a Peterbuilt kinda guy. Fact, one of his nicknames was Battleship. So we came crashing through that brush, a whipping and a spurring, (yeah I remember Slim Pickins In Blazing Saddles) and making all kinds of holy heck and those coyotes actually hung out for a bit. I could see Canela starting to snarl. She was small but had a huge can of CRAZY she carried around with her, (saved my butt more than once loading some snot slinging steers), she wasn't going out with out a fight. About this time the tank I was riding got there and the coyotes melted away, a couple scurrying away pretty darn quickly in fact. Like the Gov Perry story related above, seemed to me that the Coyotes were focused on the cowdog. But the presence of a person, even on horseback wasn't slowing em down any. The wife always carries a sidearm at the ranch nowadays. Ya know me gotta have pics.

Stupid tough Sonny:

Bringing in the last few. The wife on Lil Man and Me on Sonny. Bout the time of this escapade.

That's Canela near the heels of Sonny. Kinda coyote looking her ownself. The canyon in the story is in the background, we call it Hog Canyon cause there's lots of pigs back up in there. Nichole the wife was on the left side and I was on the right.

Late last summer I had to put Sonny down. He'd been retired with several other older horses out at the ranch for some years. Horsey Cancun. But he was starting to struggle getting up and down and getting around. Folks say why don't ya let em live out their lives naturally there, ya've got the room, thousands of acres. Well, nature taking her course ain't very nice. A horse or an old cow goes down and can't get back up, the coyotes will just eat them. Won't kill them first, they just eat em. Don't much like coyotes. So I sell the old cows and put the horses down when its time. Tough part of the job sometimes. He was a good one.

 

[MarkN86]

Late last summer I had to put Sonny down. He'd been retired with several other older horses out at the ranch for some years. Horsey Cancun. But he was starting to struggle getting up and down and getting around. Folks say why don't ya let em live out their lives naturally there, ya've got the room, thousands of acres. Well, nature taking her course ain't very nice. A horse or an old cow goes down and can't get back up, the coyotes will just eat them. Won't kill them first, they just eat em. Don't much like coyotes. So I sell the old cows and put the horses down when its time. Tough part of the job sometimes. He was a good one.

Real sorry to hear that, it's never easy letting go when you've developed a bond. You're right, though, after a certain point it's just suffering and nature is cruel, so you did the right thing.

On the subject of Coyote/Dog/Bear/Mountain Lion defense, knives absolutely work, but the problem is you're so close they're going to chew on you the whole time you're jabbing for their vitals, and if things go sideways you're possibly going to get cut by your own blade in the chaos. It's quite amazing what a good walking staff can do, it's short enough to maneuver and long enough to build up some momentum and give you good reach. It takes a good smack, but it doesn't take as much force as you'd think to do some permanent harm on more delicate bones. A jab with a staff has about as much force as a 16 oz hammer, and the sheer speed and momentum of a long stick can immediately disable a smaller animal's legs from outside their reach.

I've had to fend off a wild critter or two trying to get into my chicken house. Often times you can't really shoot, too likely to hit a bird. Never used a knife, but I have used a staff and a boot to firmly discourage that behavior.

Add a knife to one end of the staff and you have the best non-firearm defensive tool possible.

 

[RousingRabbles]

Do you want to use it for more than walking your dog? There's a lot in that price range that can suit your needs. The Mora Garberg is pretty well regarded as one of the best "do everything" fixed blades for the price.

I'm in the camp though that says you'd be better served by bear spray or pepper spray if a negative encounter ever does occur. I grew up near the foothills of So Cal and came across coyotes often with no issues, and if you're walking anything larger than a shiba you won't either, but it's mountain lions that are a cause for concern. They are definitely all throughout the foothills and mountains there.

 

[gamma_nyc]

Coyotes are too fast to fend off with a knife. You need reach and a big walking stick would be better imo.