We Are On LOCKDOWN!
 

For the past couple of weeks at night I have been hearing an owl hooting somewhere across the street. Yesterday evening we were out planting the fall annuals and sprucing up the yard. I had Holly and Presley out with us on their leashes and of course they were having a ball "helping" Mama outside. It was turning a little cool so I put them back in the house and was finishing up in the yard. Within 2 minutes I seen the owl I had been hearing and he is HUGE! He was flying into the trees at my neighbors house, around the same time a hawk was eating a fish in the tree on the empty lot on the other side of me.. No doubt my babies were being stalked while outside with me, it freaked me out! So we are done with being in the yard at least until I know the flying creatures are gone tormenting someone else...Both of mine are trained to go potty outside and never on pee pads, my husband was not a fan of those..as of last night he doesn't get a vote now! Any suggestions on how to go about this with training my babies? I have had both since they were babies, Holly is now 5 and Presley is just shy of 1. Thanks!

Thank goodness you actually saw the owl and are now absolutely forewarned of the danger! I had an owl dive at one of my babies as I was standing not 5 feet from the pup....I had been standing still, lost in my own thoughts, and I guess the owl did not realize I was alive....when the thing swooped down, the wind rushing through the feathers is a sound I will never forget....and I moved, and the owl slammed on his air breaks and made an immediate 90* mid flight turn, almost slamming into the roof line of the patio cover directly overhead from where me and the dog were standing......they can kill your dog just by the force they use when they slam into the dog....and up close and personal, owls are HUGE!!!! They are easily 4x's the size of a big chicken!

You are so very right to be on alert!! And that owl knows there is a source of food right there, so it will be watching your yard.....just be ever vigilant and dont let your guard down for one second. I bought mine bright yellow rain coats and bright orange (hunter orange) vests so the dogs looked less like a rabbit or prey and more like some colorful obsticle running around....but I have actually lost a little dog to an owl long ago, and it is something you never erase from your mind....so I always err on the side of over caution......

Oh gosh I am sorry you lost a baby this way, that is horrible! It scared me so bad when I seen him yesterday and almost immediately seen the hawk on the opposite side of my house. I was shocked at how big the owl was, as pretty as they are, they are a force to be reckoned with. I was hollering for a gun, lol- my son made me aware it's illegal to kill owls. I am not a hunter or one to kill animals but I could have killed the hawk and owl yesterday when it dawned on me why they were hanging out so close to the house. It doesn't help that at the end of my street is the inlet and people are always dumping fish heads etc. when they get through fishing, so it's already a breeding ground for these creatures. My babies paws will NOT be touching the ground here no time soon. I do like the idea of the orange vest, but Holly had on her pumpkin dress and Presley a pumpkin sweater and they are both orange and it still caused them to be stalking my babies..:confused:

I got that suggestion from the head of the bird department at the Houston Zoo, as it is illegal to shoot owls/hawks/eagles.....and she kept reiterating that to me, just as I kept reiterating that I had NO intention of watching an owl or hawk or eagle carry off another one of my small dogs....she told me what the fine would be for shooting the bird....I told her I paid more than that for the dog initially, so that was not a problem for me....but long story short, diligence! constant diligence when they are outside and NEVER alone! And I would NOT put my trust in a brightly colored vest or coat....you ust have to be ever watchful when you have these birds of prey watching your yard for these babies.....and dont kid yourself for one minute....that bird IS NOW WATCHING!!!

Absolutely! I agree wholeheartedly, I will not let mine out right now for nothing, they will be carried to the vehicle if they are going with me anywhere. The orange is a good idea just not foul proof as mine had on the Orange yesterday and were stalked. I take no chances, my two are literally on lockdown and I have give the what-for in my household as NOBODY is to let them outside for NO reason. If I had only known it was a fee yesterday I would have probably shot it, I'm still not so sure I won't keep my eyes peeled to try to do that now. I'm not up on those types of laws like I should be, when my son said it was illegal I immediately thought handcuffs and jail lol! Neither of which I have ever experienced nor care to, lol

We have an owl the hangs out on the side street, I have never thought of it aas a predator. I guess I better start to. We do have 2 hawks that have built a nest in one of the trees at the edge of our property, so I am always cautious when my baby is out.

I've said this on several other threads. This is why we can't let Zeus outside. At less than 4 lbs., the armadillos, raccoons, snakes, and owls would get him. My friend, who doesn't live far from me, has to be very careful taking her Chihuahua outside to potty. An owl tried to pick her baby girl up. It just so happened that their outside dog, which is much larger, started barking loudly and scared the owl off. She only takes her outside in the dark on a leash on her "fake" potty grass on the front porch that is well lit. We have to be so careful with these tiny babies. We currently have an armadillo and raccoon that are much bigger than Zeusy hanging out in our yard, not to mention the plethora of snakes. I'm so glad your baby is safe!

Yes be very careful, they are on the hunt and fast as lightning, and your baby is just the right size.

Eeek! We saw a great horned owl in our trees once. Hawks of all sizes are daily visitors, along with vultures, including the kind that kill their prey. We've had them stalk us on walks. It is unnerving and one of the reasons we cannot enjoy our backyard off leash. :(

Rather than try to pad train (unless you want to for inclement weather too) I would do short leash walks in the yard.

Stay safe!

Thank you I am so glad my babies are okay too. I always go out with them but things happen so fast! Reading about the raccoon attack and the pit bull attack on here this week is proof of that. We too have raccoons and they really scare me because of rabies and they are mean critters. Snakes are a problem here too, moccasins, copper heads and rattlers are just a few. I HATE snakes and don't care what kind they are, if they are in my yard and I spot them, they have slithered their last! As of today we are now starting potty training on pee pads, I just am not going to risk it outside.

Thank you! I'm going to go ahead with pad training, Holly is stubborn when it's raining and cold, so she will like it better on those day :) Presley loves the rain, loves getting wet, so it will keep him out of trouble :) If they stalked me on walks I would have a fit!! It is sad when we can't enjoy our backyards with the babies and they love to run and play, but I'm like you I am not taking the chances. I still cannot get over the sheer size of the owl from yesterday, and knowing he had been lurking and only a swoop away when they were outside did me in...:eek:

Indoor potty training
 

So scary about your outdoor wild critters!

Just wanted to share with you how we indoor trained our little girl we recently adopted - she was outdoor housetrained but with the critters, snow and rain, we wanted her paper trained. We used a plastic boot tray covered with newspapers, and placed it in an exercise pen. When I thought she had to potty, I locked her in the pen and told her to go. Of course at first she just stared at me for a long time. Finally she did her business and she got tons of praise and a reward. I then opened up the exercise pen so she could get to the potty pan. After doing this a few times a day, and after about 2 weeks and A LOT of patience, she now is paper trained. After going potty now, she prances up to me, expecting a treat - which is only one piece of Kix cereal!

Pads are very handy for bad weather. Fantastic4Yorkies gave great advice above on how to train.

My Teddy was also 100% outdoor trained when he came to us at 8 months. We trained him to use the pads. Here is the blog post I wrote about potty training including pad training: Potty Training Small Dogs - Dog Life and Style

We have large horned owls here, too. I had one sitting on a power line, directly overhead whose body was close to twice as large as my Yorkies...and they are not little tiny Yorkies...it was a HUGE owl, and he had been watching us walk toward him. If he had not been backlit by a street light, I doubt I would have seen him at all against the trees. I picked all three of my Yorkie babies up in my arms and rushed them back in the house...told them they had to use the pads tonight...LOL I have seen owls take flight in our yard on many occasions, and hear them 'hoot' and, since we have a huge canopy of grandaddy oak trees overhead, I am super careful. We had a hawk a few months ago, but it was small. We had an eagle last week about two miles from the house...another cause for alarm. Even if a bird of prey cannot carry the baby off, a talon injury is NOT something I wish to have happen either. We have pads indoors, and they go potty outdoors, too. Caution...and close attention...and when we were seeing owls every night, I carried my phone with the flashlight on...very bright light...and shined the light up into the trees hoping to 'interfere' with their keen night vision. Not sure if that works, but it sure is scary to NOT know where they are, or a foolproof way to prevent harm to my Yorkies. We also had a fox...another cause for alarm. Gosh, so much can go wrong and so much danger can be a reality we sure don't expect.

So sorry about the fright. Hope all goes well and no more danger for your little one.

Thanks so much!! Many good tips in your blog! I read a lot of your blogs! Your boys are BEAUTIFUL!!! And I love your website and all the clothes!! I will be ordering some of the beautiful things you have!!

Oh my goodness you have a lot of critters and creatures too! They are scary and it has made me paranoid lol! I feel like I am being watched now everytime I go outside, I haven't had the dogs out since. I'm always scared here at night but it has always been because of snakes, now I'm looking up and down, lol.. Thank you for your reply!

Be very careful! Some here know the storynof my Cali who was attacked by a hawk - which she killed in the fight of her life! Because the authorities felt she was way to small to kill that big hawk (she broke it's neck shaking it as hard as she could for her 3.5 pounds) I got a citation from the government for $10,000.00 - that was the cost for killing a protected species at that time!

I won't go into the cost of the attorney - this goes to federal court.

Bottom line: always be watchful! If you (the human) have to defend your babies, bury the evident to China and shut up:D.

I had witnesses that blabbed to animal control so that would not work for me. Fortunately some of the witnesses and the university that did the post-examination of the hawk were helpful to me in the end.

Fun part aside: Cali got to go to Federal court and growl at the judge when he tried to pet her😁

Getting your pups to use the piddle pad in the house
 

Just a suggestion:

After Cali's attack my friend retrained her babies to go inside on the pad by taking pads and dipping them in the urine where the dogs went outside, then putting the pad with that smell on it where she wanted the pad in the house.

Did not take long before her pups got the idea.

Others here may have better suggestions!

Kristen- I love your shop but didn't realize you had a blog. How fun! Gonna check that out :)

My little ones have been on lockdown and potty pads all of their tiny lives. I once tried to save a dove and when I went to let it go a hawk grabbed it right in front of me. I'll never forget that! It was horrible and nothing I could do. Good luck with your potty pad training!