Dog was attacked...by what though?

[tobydog]

A friends do went out into their woods behind the house to do her morning tinkle...wound up getting in quite the tangle with something. Nobody saw the other animal. Any thoughts on what it may have been based on the markings in the pic? I know its not much to go on but figured this would be the place where someone may have seen something similar before...
?

 

[Acrossthepond]

Ouch! What kind of dog is that? And how big?
An idea of the scale of the dog may help determine the culprit.
Also, roughly how deep are the puncture wounds ?
not much bruising there so he hasn’t been ragged about much

 

[longbow]

I would guess a coyote or dog. Looks like some tearing bites and punctures. Bitten on the top of the back and rear like that, looks like it was pinned down on it's side and stomach and chewed on.

 

[Acrossthepond]

Pure speculation but....are those the sort of wounds you would expect from an encounter with a black bear?
Evenly matched dogs tend to bite each other on the head/neck and belly but it’s not often that they bite on the back like that and the scratches aren’t exactly typical of a dog I would say.

 

[longbow]

scratches aren’t exactly typical of a dog I would say.

I was thinking maybe bobcat with the scratches, but then I looked up coyote and dog bite marks and there were scratches like that, along with punctures. I would think it could be a bear also.

 

[Mainewoods]

So hard to tell, not knowing the size of the dog. Nice to see the vets put in proper drains so it doesn't abscess.

 

[Acrossthepond]

I was thinking maybe bobcat with the scratches, but then I looked up coyote and dog bite marks and there were scratches like that, along with punctures. I would think it could be a bear also.

And we can’t rule out that there could have been more than one attacker I guess so one could have distracted the victim from the front while the other bit/scratched at the back?

 

[helen]

Pure speculation but....are those the sort of wounds you would expect from an encounter with a black bear?
Evenly matched dogs tend to bite each other on the head/neck and belly but it’s not often that they bite on the back like that and the scratches aren’t exactly typical of a dog I would say.

+1

 

[mowbizz]

Looks like some type of clawed critter...there is actually a pretty good swipe that looks like a paw with claws (rules out a dog)
Bobcat could be possible..

 

[Acrossthepond]

I guess the thing to do is to examine the exact site where the fight took place and look for clumps of hair that don’t belong to the dog !

 

[outdoorsman]

Bobcat attacks on dogs are rare. Given the time of year the event occurred, and the orientation of the marks, I would suspect coyote over all other wild species.

 

[longbow]

Looks like some type of clawed critter...there is actually a pretty good swipe that looks like a paw with claws (rules out a dog)
Bobcat could be possible..

I will respectfully submit, that those could be canines scraping along. I noticed some marks like that on some dog bite images I viewed.

 

[Acrossthepond]

I will respectfully submit, that those could be canines scraping along. I noticed some marks like that on some dog bite images I viewed.

Dogs will use their paws in an attack, particularly a large dog attacking a smaller one, trying to pin it down, so you end up with scratches that way too.
It’s difficult to tell how big that dog in the photo is. In fact it may not be a dog at all....going by his haircut it could be Rod Stewart

 

[longbow]

Could be that white rabbit.

 

[Grandkid]

I think it may have been Ozzy Ozborn.
Glad your dog is ok. What is the breed.

Roger-

 

[RememberBaker]

I thought cats generally went for the neck of their target? I’d lean toward a coyote.
Not sure where it happened but there are still bears up and about in VT so I would guess there also are anywhere South of here. like everyone has said, it would be nice to know the size of the dog and where it happened.

 

[tobydog]

Ouch! What kind of dog is that? And how big?
An idea of the scale of the dog may help determine the culprit.
Also, roughly how deep are the puncture wounds ?
not much bruising there so he hasn’t been ragged about much

schnauzer
30lbs

 

[tobydog]

 

[longbow]

Maybe the schnauzer is thinking. “I don't know what all the fuss is about, these scratches are nothing... you should see the coyote!”.

 

[longbow]

View attachment 23100

OK that settles it. Grandkid was right, Ozzy....