Spiked Vest Stops Coyotes From Killing Dogs And Hawks From Flying Away With Them

Dogs aren’t just pets anymore, as they’ve become four-legged family members in many homes across the nation. Protecting your pet is serious business today, with all the dangers that lurk outside your front door. From a tiny tick carrying Lyme disease to coyotes looking for their next meal, your dog is at the mercy of Mother Nature’s hungry wildlife. Even with your dog on a leash, the animals are not completely safe from big, hungry predators.

There are flea and tick collars for dogs, which were created to keep them safe from the small parasites. But what about the bigger predators that loom and wait for their next meal, such as bobcats, coyotes, and even large flying birds? According to the Atlantic, there could be a solution to such a problem.

The report suggests that you can protect your dog against the bigger predators that are coming closer and closer to populated areas. You might not worry too much about a coyote killing or maiming your pet if you live in a city, but you should. With more and more reports of coyotes wandering into populated areas, you just never know. While all dogs are at some risk if there’s a hungry coyote in the area, small dogs are especially vulnerable, according to USA Today.

In Arizona, a dog named Beanie faces all types of predators out his front door, as reported by the Atlantic. Beanie’s owner is very aware of the coyotes, bobcats, and javelinas in their area. The publication describes javelinas as “weird” and “aggressive” pig-like animals.

Yesss! It’s Kevlar and spiked so harder to grab them. The long pink whisps prevent hawks from grabbing her. AND there’s a shock collar component so if a coyote does get her, I can shock it! I got it from https://t.co/8kiiOgsgQf

— Amina Akhtar (@Drrramina) December 4, 2018

Beanie looks rather funny in his protective gear, but he’s a tiny dog. Beanie is a chihuahua, so his owner, novelist Amina Akhtar, makes sure Beanie’s safe against what lurks in his backyard in Akhtar’s rural home outside of Sedona, Arizona.

The novelist’s remote home offers all the beauty of nature, but also poses a lot of danger to her dog. Beanie only weighs a little over eight pounds, making him easy prey to the hungry animals, which even include hawks. When first moving to this area, Beanie’s owner was afraid a hawk would pick up her pup and fly away, adding to the threats from coyotes. It’s happened in other places, so there’s always that possibility.

Akhtar moved from New York City with Beanie to her new desert home, and the thought of Beanie in this new terrain prompted her to do a Google search. What she found might help other dog owners keep their pets safe.

When Beanie goes outside, he is dressed for safety in a vest fitted with spikes and wire. The vest is made by a company called Coyote Vest, whose CEO, Paul Mott, lost his dog to a coyote in Southern California and was inspired to create the product due to the unfortunate incident.

There’s a coyote outside. You know what that means: coyote vest time! pic.twitter.com/Pj164giawL

— Amina Akhtar (@Drrramina) December 3, 2018

While the vest was created to ward off a coyote attack, it can also keep dogs safe from the attacks of other dogs. It is also designed to ward off birds of prey from carrying your small dog away.

If you look at Beanie in the vest above, it seems to give the dog the same type of protection that’s naturally built into a porcupine. Spikes protrude out of the vest, along with stiff neon-colored wires. This makes it almost impossible for a coyote to grab the dog with its mouth.

The vest comes with other options as well. These include an LCD blinker, a bite-activated shock device, and “whiskers,” which the Atlantic described as “sprays of wire” that work by “offering a prickly effect” to animals that try to attack a dog by biting it.

You don’t have to live in the desert for coyotes to be a threat to your pet. Reports of coyotes killing dogs in New England have made the headlines over the past year.

Dogs were killed by these predators in both Westfield and Agawam, Massachusetts over the last few years. Channel 22 News reported that coyotes have some Springfield residents worried as well. The coyotes are not just in the rural areas anymore, but in surrounding cities and towns as well.