Hawk Problems

[Amy and Annabelle]

We live in the country and have a big fenced in area for Annabelle to run around in. Lately there has been a hawk watching and circling her from above. Today he swooped down to try to get her and luckily I was able to get there in time to scare him off. I don't know what to do other than have my neighbor shoot it down or keeping her on the 6ft leash at my side. She weighs 14lbs and even if she is too big for him to carry off, he still might hurt her trying. Any other suggestions?

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I recently saw what I thought were

four young hawks on one prey under a tree in the park.  I was on my bike and stopped to take a photo and the largest one grabbed the prey and flew up in the tree.  This is a hawk, is it not??

[Amy and Annabelle]

Looks like a hawk to me. Great picture. You have skills

[F, Calla & Luca]

Great shot.

[Amy and Annabelle]

We have plenty of turkey vultures around, but it is not those. I don't remember seeing 6 hawks at a time, usually 1 or 2 once in awhile 3. Knowing Annabelle she was probably chewing on the frisbee too, I just don't remember. But today my husband and I were throwing it back and forth and Annabelle had very little interaction with it. They were way up there, they seemed more like they were flying the currents more than anything, they didn't really seem interested in us or that threatening other than the number of of them. I was thinking maybe the one from the other day thought Annabelle was chewing on some food and wanted to take it away from her. Today who knows, maybe they thought it was a red bird.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

We have a friend who lives in the San Diego area and they have been known to pick up a dog and fly off with them.  Be very careful.  I not sure a leash will protect her.   

[Jennifer Tramell]

We have hawks - we see and hear them on a regular basis.  My dogs are big but when they were puppies we fenced off a small area in the yard up close to the house.  We put up a pop-up tent/canopy ( 10x10 or 12x12?) used 3ft? garden/rabbit fencing about 1 foot from the sides of the canopy.  This area was the puppy play area when the pup wasn't in the house with us (only short term play times).  Hawks like wide open areas, they avoid any cover.  We had a hawk kill our large pet chicken in our backyard, but they never noticed our puppy. 

[Phoenix]

Quick google search suggested things like

-Provide cover for the dog to hide under

-Plant Shrubs and/or trees

-Place reflective material around (hang old CDs or place a big mirror down to reflect the sun)

-Dog 'jacket' with big eyes looking up at the sky