Something I never expected recently happened: my Bullboxer Pit was attacked by a wolf. Actually, let me rephrase that more accurately: my Bullboxer Pit attacked a wolf. It didn’t go well.
It was about 10 PM, and one of my dogs, Morty, wanted to be let out. I obliged and opened the front door to let him out. It quickly bolted outside, and after just a few seconds, I heard horrible fighting noises. I looked outside and saw that he was being completely manhandled by a large animal with white fur. Panicked, I grabbed my largest machete off the wall and ran out there.
By this point, my Foxhound, Maggie, had also jumped in the fight. In my deepest, loudest voice I began yelling at the animal to “get out of here” as I approached the melee. As soon as I had a clear shot, I hit the animal across its back with the spine – blunt side – of my machete, and then it immediately ran off. At this point, I still had no idea it was a wolf. Instead, I thought it might have been a neighbor’s dog.
Right after the incident, I described the canine to my wife, but she said the description didn’t match any of the dogs in our neighborhood, especially the size of it – it had to be at least 70 to 80 lb. I started to think maybe it was a Mexican Grey Wold, since they do scarcely exist in our region of the country. After looking at some pictures online, I became a bit more convinced that’s what it was. Then a few days later, one of our neighbors came over to warn me that a wolf had been spotted in our area. Mystery solved.
Wolves are incredibly dangerous animals that can easily kill most dogs. They are typically larger, faster, and stronger than the average domesticated canine. If your dog is attacked by a wolf, you need to take swift action to protect their life. Continue reading to learn more…
Act as Fast as Humanly Possible
One thing I cannot stress enough is that if your dog(s) get in a fight with a wolf, you cannot not just sit back and wait to see how things play out. The vast majority of dogs are no match for a wolf, and even multiple dogs don’t exactly stand a good chance against a large wolf. It also probably goes with out saying that a wolf pack is even worse by orders of magnitude.
Grab the Nearest Weapon You Can Find
I don’t want to encourage anyone to ever hurt an animal, but in this scenario your dog’s life is on the line. This is no time to be a compassionate animal lover who wouldn’t hurt a fly. You’ll want to make sure you grab something that will allow you to stay as far back from the wolf as possible. – e.g., a gun, a long shovel, hunting bow, etc… I’d even suggest picking up rocks and using them as projectiles if you have to.
Aggressively Yell and Scream as Loudly as You Can
You need to make yourself as scary and intimidating as possible. Yell, scream, make animal noise, waive your arms around… whatever you can do. The fact of the matter is, most wild predators scare easily when they’re on their own and out of their element. That’s because, just like a person, they don’t really want to get in a fight with something that could hurt them. They’d rather spare their calories for hunting prey, and avoid getting injured or even worse, killed.
Wild animals aren’t smart enough to know you’re no match for them. If you’re big, and loud, and mean, they might decide the skirmish isn’t worth it, and bail.
Get Your Dog to an Emergency Clinic as Quickly as Possible
If your dog manages to survive the attack, they are like going to be cut up pretty badly – mine certainly was. Stitches have to be done within 24 hours of the injury, and the sooner the better, so don’t waste any time.
How to Prevent a Wold from Getting in Your Yard
To prevent a wolf from getting in your yard so an attack never happens in the first place, you’ll need to erect a fence around your property. The fence has to be a minimum of 4 feet high – 1.2 meters – but taller is better. I would recommend 6 to 8′. The fence will also be more effective if it is electrified.
References:
Gallagher. Keeping Out Wolves. Retrieved from https://www.gallagher.eu/en_de/keeping-out-wolves
