Keeping My Yorkie Safe from Hawks
 

a hawk swooped down and grabbed a squirrel from a down the street neighbors lawn a few days ago. I've been in such fear for my lil' 3.5 lb Yorkie ever since...I go out with her now, but I read some where that if you put bright orange or hot pink clothing and bells on them that it helps to deter the hawk from attacking her and thinking she could be a meal...but sadly I can't find that thread any more...do any of you know if this is true?

I would make sure you are with her at all times and on a leash

Oh yes be very careful about those hawks and your little one!
I don't know about the colors etc , but don't leave them unprotected. Always use a leash.

After a close...TOOOOO close!......encounter with an owl and one of my babies, I called the Houston Zoo and spoke with someone in the "Bird Exhibit".....He told me that these birds (hawks and owls) do see color and if I were to put something made of "hunter orange", that covered the dogs body almost completely, that would certainly lessen the chances of my Yorkie, who to a predator bird, looks a lot like a rabbit or squirrel from 400 feet in the air, being mistaken for a squirrel or rabbit......So, I had "Hunter orange" vests with sleeves that covered all 4 legs, back and sides and even high up on the neck made for each of my kiddos. Of course, I never let mine out unattended and under cinstant supervision, but I almost lost one of them to an owl that swooped down in the early evening, while my baby was on a 6 foot leash.....I was standing very still so the dog would do her business, and the owl did not realize I was standing right there, alive and a danger to the owl! For summer, the vests were made out of a mesh material that was that neon orange....."hunter orange".....so the babies would be cooler.

Thank You Yorkiemom1!!! that is very helpful!! I have had the hardest time finding hot pink and hot orange in pet sections, so I went to children's section of walmart and found some cute newborn & 0-3 month lil' baby dresses, bathing suits and shirts that fit perfectly after a few minor alterations. Where did you get your vests?
Did the incident with the owl in the later part of your post happen even when the vests were on?
I also found some of that neon orange and reflective wide strip that you can stick on clothing that I'm going to put on each of her outfits, the reflective stripe is so blinding when you look at it in the sun.
I'm also gonna try to find some of those biker spikes that you see some people wear as chokers and armbands and try to fasten that to the back of her outfit as well so if something did try to swoop down it would have a nice lil' stab in the claw if it tried to grab her!!

Thank You Yorkiemom1!!
I haven't been able to find any dog clothes small enough and in hot pink or hot orange colors for her so I went to childrens section of walmart and bought a couple newborn and 0-3 months bathing suits, dresses, and tshirts that after a few minor alterations fit perfectly and were only around $3.88-$7.88. I also bought a neon orange with a reflective strip in the sewing section that can be attached to clothing and the reflective strip is really blinding when in the sun so I'm gonna attach those to her clothing as well. and I am going to get some of those biker chokers and armbands that have spikes on them and attach to the back of the outfit so if something does swoop down it's gonna get a nice stab in the claw surprise!!
Where did you get your Yorkie's vests?
Did the owl in the later part of your post happen with the orange vest on or before?

We have hawks and owls here too, and it scares me bc our smaller 2 are about 4lbs only and could be swooped up. I don't leave them unattended outside.

so sorry for the double post...i'm new to this and this was my first reply and I didn't see it post immediately so thought I had hit the wrong button...

thank you all for your posts!! Luckily we have not had a problem in 7 years so my lil' Prada has been so lucky to have free run of the back yard, she's such a tomboy, don't think she knows she is suppose to be a lil' princess..LOL...I will so be going out with her from now on, but I'm not home a lot and I'm afraid my boyfriend will not take the time to go out with her as she is such a tomboy and every time she hears something out back she always wants to go check it out as we have always had many wild rabbits and squirrels in our backyard. which many days is 10-20 times a day. This past couple months have been the most hectic for us..one neighbor had 2 baby gators under their window and one had one in their pool, neither have fences but we have a high privacy fence so we haven't been too worried about them, but that hawk landing in our neighbors front yard and picking up the squirrel was the first any of us have heard or seen anything like that on our street..

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I would definitely make sure you are taking her out on leash and not an flexi leash. My yorkie is 17 pounds and I still get scared about birds of pray getting her because I swear the birds are getting bigger.

No worries about the double posts. The reason you don't see your posts right away is bc they sit in the Moderation Queue until you hit 10 posts, then it stops. This helps mitigate the 1-post spammers that come here just to post spam.

Is that hawk just sitting in your yard? Or is that your neighbors? Wow.

Yup. I've read the average weight a bird of prey can pick up is up to 13 pounds. So, 17 wouldn't totally be out of the question for an unusually large bird.

My friend who sews, custom made my vests for me. I had to REALLY
Aggie engineer" my vests.....I bought vests that people wear doing road work or work in parking lots, and also what cyclists wear....they were very light but they were the Hunter Orange the man at the zoo told me to use. They even had the blinding silver reflective stripe and my friend cut the material where she incorporated that reflective stripe down the back and down the sides of the little vests. The incident with the owl happened before the vests. I had watched years ago, as an owl swooped down and carried off my little chihuahua girl.....I have NEVER gotten over that and I have been soooooooooo protective and cautious about predator birds since that happened (1970's).....I NEVER let my dogs out unattended....even though I was with that little chihuahua, the owl still swooped down and took her.....so I keep all my dogs very close. THEN, along comes this incident with my Yorkie! I had her on a short leash, and we had just stepped out the back door for her to stand in the grass and pee along side the house.....the owl did not see me standing there, waiting patiently for Aisa to find the exact right spot, the exact right position, the exact righ direction.....and it swooped down....it came within 3 feet of me before it saw me, and pulled up so fast out of that dive, it hit the overhand on the house, flew / tumbled uncontrollably into my patio cover.....fortunately for it, it regained control before it hit the ground within my reach.
The vests you are making seem like a very good thing....sound like they will work. Those CD discs also frighten the birds with that reflection thing they do....anything that reflects brilliantly like that would work.....

Even if they are unable to pick up the animal, the hawks and owls can do a lot of damage. Our neighbor's 9 pound Yorkie was almost killed in his front yard by a hawk. He survived only because he had a good layer of fat that prevented the hawk's talons from shredding vital organs. Came very close to his diaphragm.

After Jack was attacked, my father finally understood my concerns in our yard. We have hawks and owls living in our trees, so we are unable to use our yard for running around. :(

That is so scary! It really gives me food for thought... To Yorkiemom1 can you please post a picture of your vests?

After Cali\'s hawk attack I made her a vest with Kevlar fabric on it because the main physical damage was from the talons the try to get a hold of there prey with. This way they can puncture very well. In general she does not go out alone.

Be very careful - they are feeding their nesting young right now and food is important to them.