OT: Who would win, a sixty pound dog or a fox?

[Scarlet1984]

We are getting a fence (finally) for our backyard soon and we coincidentally noticed a fox hiding out under some bushes.

Our dog is an assertive (but not aggressive) Portuguese Water Dog.

Naturally, we will have to be careful about leaving him out there alone but I am pretty sure that fox would be scared off by a much larger dog.

I still think my dog would kick the fox’s ass, but I’m probably biased. And, of course, we will take pains to avoid that happening.

 

[zappaa]

Depends on what kind of dog.
But for the most part I think a 60 pound dog would take a Fox

 

[zappaa]

My mother in law has a 60 pound cross between a Lab and a Pit.
That dog snaps the necks of raccoons and groundhogs regularly.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

My mother in law has a 60 pound cross between a Lab and a Pit.
That dog snaps the necks of raccoons and groundhogs regularly.

You should be ashamed talking about your mother in law that way.

 

[RULoyal]

We are getting a fence (finally) for our backyard soon and we coincidentally noticed a fox hiding out under some bushes.

Our dog is an assertive (but not aggressive) Portuguese Water Dog.

Naturally, we will have to be careful about leaving him out there alone but I am pretty sure that fox would be scared off by a much larger dog.

I still think my dog would kick the fox’s ass, but I’m probably biased. And, of course, we will take pains to avoid that happening.

I think a lot would depend on the specific dog. The fox is a wild animal and is in constant survival mode. Your typical dog house pet - not so much. Is your dog a couch potato? Is it physically fit? A friend in college had a shepherd that was basically a 75 lb. bean bag chair and I don't think it could have taken out a hamster.

 

[angmo]

Only one way to find out.

 

[Zimm80]

I think the only thing to worry about might be different parasites the dog may get by attacking the Fox.

 

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

I had a dalmatian about 60 pounds. She once merked a fox. I go 60 pound dog

 

[zappaa]

I had a dalmatian about 60 pounds. She once merked a fox. I go 60 pound dog

Had to look up merked...lol

 

[koleszar]

We are getting a fence (finally) for our backyard soon and we coincidentally noticed a fox hiding out under some bushes.

Our dog is an assertive (but not aggressive) Portuguese Water Dog.

Naturally, we will have to be careful about leaving him out there alone but I am pretty sure that fox would be scared off by a much larger dog.

I still think my dog would kick the fox’s ass, but I’m probably biased. And, of course, we will take pains to avoid that happening.

Your dog belongs to a class of working dog. If it could catch it, your 60 lb dog would destroy a fox. But he isn't going to catch it so don't worry.

Hell my two 110 lb. Great Pyrenees(LGD's) were breed to take down Wolves. But I'm not so sure about that one. At Ag Field Day they had Wolves in cages, stood my one male dog Rawley next to it and those things are huge. I looked at Rawley and said, "I'm not so sure about that one buddy"

 

[zappaa]

A Coyote is a different story

 

[G- RUnit]

Foxes are exceedingly smart. Doubt it would happen.

 

[newwavedave1]

Any sixty pound dog would win.

 

[RUInsanity]

My 60 lb. Plott Hound mix is always on the hunt for ground anomals and would make quick work of any fox. My intimidating looking 80 lb lab/pointer/bull mix would try to chase it away....and then want to play with it if the fox stayed in the yard.

 

[RULoyal]

Any sixty pound dog would win.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

A fox would avoid the dog because it's not worth it. We used to have a fox in our neighborhood that we eventually discovered was making regular nightly trips through our front yard, which is where one of our cats would hang out. One evening I'm looking out a window on the third floor and see the fox walking past the neighbor's yard and then through ours, about 15 feet from our cat. It glanced over at the cat, the cat's attention was mildly focused on the fox but didn't seemed freaked out by it, and the fox just kept moseying on by. But they both knew about each other's presence.

The next day I called my buddy in North Carolina who knows all about this stuff, and he said that a fox will typically just avoid an animal that will give it a fight since it's not worth it. The fox looked to be about 20 lbs and our cat weighed about 10, and I guess that was big enough for the fox to say screw it. Net-net is a fox isn't likely to bother with a 60-lb. dog.

 

[Caliknight]

A Coyote is a different story

Those f’ers are athletic.

 

[hoquat63]

Would worry fox could be rabid

 

[koleszar]

A fox would avoid the dog because it's not worth it. We used to have a fox in our neighborhood that we eventually discovered was making regular nightly trips through our front yard, which is where one of our cats would hang out. One evening I'm looking out a window on the third floor and see the fox walking past the neighbor's yard and then through ours, about 15 feet from our cat. It glanced over at the cat, the cat's attention was mildly focused on the fox but didn't seemed freaked out by it, and the fox just kept moseying on by. But they both knew about each other's presence.

The next day I called my buddy in North Carolina who knows all about this stuff, and he said that a fox will typically just avoid an animal that will give it a fight since it's not worth it. The fox looked to be about 20 lbs and our cat weighed about 10, and I guess that was big enough for the fox to say screw it. Net-net is a fox isn't likely to bother with a 60-lb. dog.

Same with predator birds. We had a big problem with Hawks before we got our LGD's. My chickens were getting picked off 3 to 4 a year. So I got a larger chicken breed, Brahmas, they get to 10lbs. where an average chicken gets to about 4 lbs.

Well I'm looking out back and this Red Tailed Hawk lands right next to one of my Brahmas in the pasture. Eyes it up and my chicken is almost 3 times the size of it. Say's, no way Jose and flies off. Like I told my wife, animals don't have a Medi-Merge they can visit for scrapes and bruises.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

Loyal That Bassett is 160 if he's a pound.

 

[alden1]

We have a chicken coop in our loosely fenced in back yard and used to let the chickens roam about the yard. One day we heard a commotion in the yard and my wife and our larger than average sized border collie went out to investigate and found a fox dragging one of the chickens by the leg towards the back of the yard. My wife yelled to our dog to go get the fox as he just stood there watching and he looked at her as if to say "not my job" so my wife ended up chasing off the fox. However, let any field mouse dare set foot in the back yard and our dog will be on it faster than a Japanese bullet train!

 

[RULoyal]

Loyal That Bassett is 160 if he's a pound.

I suppose if he fell on the fox he could kill it.

 

[Pils86]

Foxes are about 20lbs, dog wins easily. Predators are very conscious of getting injured, because if they get injured badly enough they can't hunt and then die. The fox won't go near a big dog.

 

[Scarlet1984]

Some good advice!

 

[BIGRUBIGDBIGredmachine]

A fox would avoid the dog because it's not worth it. We used to have a fox in our neighborhood that we eventually discovered was making regular nightly trips through our front yard, which is where one of our cats would hang out. One evening I'm looking out a window on the third floor and see the fox walking past the neighbor's yard and then through ours, about 15 feet from our cat. It glanced over at the cat, the cat's attention was mildly focused on the fox but didn't seemed freaked out by it, and the fox just kept moseying on by. But they both knew about each other's presence.

The next day I called my buddy in North Carolina who knows all about this stuff, and he said that a fox will typically just avoid an animal that will give it a fight since it's not worth it. The fox looked to be about 20 lbs and our cat weighed about 10, and I guess that was big enough for the fox to say screw it. Net-net is a fox isn't likely to bother with a 60-lb. dog.

I had a similar situation a few weeks ago. A fox was in the woods about 50 yards away from our 80 lb rescue dog that is a lab/cane corso/aussie shepherd/rotweiller mix. They stared at each other for maybe10 seconds then the fox laid down and folded over its front legs--as if to message "I'm not gonna start anything" LOL. My dog kept looking for a few more seconds then just turned and started walking again.

 

[knightfan7]

During the off eason I see a number of Fox, Raccoon, Rabbits, and Possums. I watch from an upper floor so they don't notice me. The Rabbits and Fox seem to try to avoid all contact with humans and other animals except when the Fox sees a Rabbit. If the Fox sees a 60lb dog it's hitting the highway.

 

[Zimm80]

Definitely needs to lay off the table scraps, looks like a cow with a dogs head.:Laughing

 

[yesrutgers01]

I don’t think a fox would even take on that fight.

move have two boxers- first one was 72 lbs and this one around 60. They may even be able to catch a fox and or defend themselves well against one but they have no weapons to win the fight, they just wouldn’t lose.
On the other hand, when my GS was a youngster of 5-7 y/o and about 115lbs and trained as protection as well as service and could scale a 9 foot wall- not sure a Coyote would have had a chance and a wolf would be an all out battle I never would have wanted to see

 

[Extra Point]

If a dog caught the fox, the dog would win. The fox might get a bite or two in, that's about it. Fox's size is deceiving, they look large but most are under 15 pounds. Fox are the good guys their primary diet is rodents. They do like chickens though. I think a raccoon would give a dog a bigger battle. Raccoons are tough.

 

[RUich]

It is always about wild vs. domesticated. As already mentioned, their mindsets are totally different. Assuming the fox is healthy, my guess is that he will find another place to hang out rather than deal with the dog. He is looking for small rodents to eat and they may also relocate with the dog around.
But, all bets are off if the fox is sick. May just decide to stand its ground and hurt your animal or worse.
As for size, big does not always mean tougher. Seen a lot of big guys go down to smaller, faster more athletic guys.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

A fox would avoid the dog because it's not worth it.

exactly.. foxes do their work in the middle of the night when dogs are sleeping.

 

[beaced]

GOOD question.Who would win? My money is on the dog for a 1500 meters win and the fox for the 40 meter dash. t

 

[Abro1975]

There are a bunch of dog vs fox on youtube. Some are a bit disturbing as you see the dog take a while mauling the fox to death.

 

[koleszar]

. They do like chickens though. I think a raccoon would give a dog a bigger battle. Raccoons are tough.

And smart. We let a bow hunter(friend) on our property every year. On his trail cams we caught a Raccoon who figured out how to use his automatic deer feeder. He jumped up on it and figured out how to spin the wheel to get a handful of food. Well an 8 point Buck decided he wanted some too, thus the stand off started. That Raccoon wasn't backing down till the Buck rammed it with it's horns and flung it out of the camera view.

 

[Yeah Baby]

The fox would not mess with your dog. They go for smaller prey.

 

[Blitz8RUCrazy]

The fox wins

 

[angmo]

 

[Jm0513]

The fox wins

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I figured eventually someone would post this.

 

[OriginalKnight]

My mother in law has a 60 pound cross between a Lab and a Pit.
That dog snaps the necks of raccoons and groundhogs regularly.

That dog might have a pit bull jaw. That will pretty much kill anything. Normal dogs don’t have that.

 

[zappaa]

That dog might have a pit bull jaw. That will pretty much kill anything. Normal dogs don’t have that.

Has a Pit head for sure.