We live near a mountain preserve in North Phoenix. Recently, my wife was out walking our boxer dog and watched 2 coyotes saunter down into the neighborhood not far in front of her and our dog. She was about to go down the same street, her usual route, when she looked up into the mountain preserve and saw a third coyote watching. She and the dog turned around and high-tailed it home.
Since we live in a residential neighborhood, we can’t really get away with shooting them. If several coyotes were physically attacking the dog and a couple of shots were fired the cops might or might not let you off without charging you — you know how that goes. But we sure can’t get away with shooting them to thin the herd, though we would really like to.
Baseball bat, pepper spray, and a tazer. Or better yet, get a couple Russian wolfhounds.
Some RWs have had agressiona bred out of them but not all: they work in pairs to bring down wolves and kill them. Coyotes are smaller - should be no problem. Probably even be fun for the wolfhounds!