I took our dogs for a walk this morning in one of the usual places. My 6-month-old field setter Maggie wears an GPS tracking collar on these jaunts so I could trace her movements as she rocketed about 500 yards to the top of a hill and then stayed there even as I tried to call her back. She's usually pretty reliable about looping back so I was just a bit concerned as I double-timed in her direction, using the GPS display. When I got within 200 yards I could hear growling and yelping which prompted me to run full speed directly to her. My whistling & calls pushed the coyotes off about 100 feet, and a sling shot with .40 caliber ammo sent them running.
Poor Maggie was pretty well mauled, though she finished the walk in good humor. Then we were off to the vet for a shave and stitches and drains. She's sleeping it off on the couch now and is expected to make a full recovery. None of the wounds were life threatenting, though that would have changed very soon if I had not been able to get there so quickly. The GPS collar probably saved her life.
