On Thursday evening, Marylin Young of Whitefish entered her house after tending to her three small goats to find her 16-year-old black schnauzer, Schotzie, cut open and crying on the bloodstained floor of her East Edgewood home.

She rushed the dog to Central Valley Animal Hospital where Schotzie underwent surgery.

Young said the veterinarian believed the schnauzer was attacked by a coyote while it was outside.

“I leave a crack in the door so my animals can go in and out,” Young said. “She was bit in the butt really bad and sliced open on her side and some of her innards were hanging out.”

After an overnight stay at the clinic, the pooch appeared to be in better shape, and the veterinarian told Young on Friday morning that her dog had a 70 percent chance of recovering.

Officer Paul Charbonneau of the Flathead County Animal Control said that in his 15 years on the job, this is the first time he’s heard of a coyote potentially attacking a dog.

The nearest incident he could remember was several years ago when a mountain lion lashed out at a dog in the North Fork.

“We don’t get a lot of calls like that,” Charbonneau said. “The biggest thing is you need to keep an eye on your animals and bring them in at night, especially if you’re out in the country.”

According to the Humane Society, the likelihood of coyote conflicts can be lessened by keeping pets’ food and water inside, cleaning up spilled bird food on the ground and keeping trash and compost in enclosed containers that wild animals can’t access.

Those are essentially the same recommendations for avoiding bear problems.

Reporter Samuel Wilson may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.