The only coy-dogs of which I know first-hand had coyote sires. Momma was a house dog. The pups were locally in demand as yard-guards. But this was just two litters, and maybe 20 years back.
What we've found, these last 30 or so years, is that occasionally a group of three or four coyotes will come past a house where there is a yard dog. If the yard dog is lured out by the smell of a bitch in heat, shame on him; it's a one-time event. I doubt that anybody knows whether this is deliberate or "just happens", but it's been written about for over a hundred years.
Art,
If you read over my posts, this goes right along with what I said. I have serious doubts about a bitch coyote letting a dog breed her. I'm sure it can happen, but it's almighty rare.
A litter of dog pups sired by a male coyote is more likely, yet still very rare. They're generally raised/dealt with in captivity by a dog as the mother, and aren't the problem many folks like to believe. They're usually about half wild and tend to be shy, but they aren't necessarily agressive unless cornered. In fact, some reports are that they don't make good watch dogs because they don't bark much, and tend to hide rather than show aggression towards an intruder.
I've no doubt that it can and has happened, but I also know it's very rare in the wild. "Packs of coy-dogs" rampaging an area is a nearly non-existent concern.
I've spent a lot of time over many years in the outdoors, and my primary focus over much of that time afield has been hunting coyotes. When you spend that much time interested in a critter and their habits, you invariably learn a bit about them. I've never in my life seen anything resembling a coy-dog in the wild. I once knew of a litter of pups that I suspected might have been sired by a coyote, but that was never checked to prove it one way or the other. The litter was mothered by a captive mutt that was very friendly, and the pups were never (as far as I know) tamed to the point of becoming decent pets.
BUT, they were raised in captivity, were not a problem in the wild, and never showed any aggression towards a person that I'm aware of. They'd hide rather than show any aggression at all.
As I've said over and over, I've no doubt it's possible, and I'm even fairly sure it's happened in the wild, but it's mighty rare.
Rare enough, in fact, that any threat they might pose would seem non-existent to the general public.
Daryl
