The short answer
Your dog looks like a predator to a javelina herd, and herds defend themselves as a unit. A dog that chases gets charged, tusked, or bitten, and owners get hurt trying to intervene. Keep your dog leashed, turn away from encounters, remove yard attractants, and train a recall strong enough to beat prey drive.
You live in Scottsdale or Cave Creek, your street backs to desert, and the desert comes visiting. Walk near washes or preserved open space and you will meet a javelina herd sooner or later. This guide covers what the herd sees, what the law says, what to do in the moment, and how to train your dog so the moment never happens. For the method behind every training recommendation here, see our methodology.
Who this is for: For the Pet Parent who hikes, walks the neighborhood at dawn, or has javelinas crossing the yard: understand the animal, manage the environment, and train the recall before your dog meets the herd.
On this page
The short version: your dog registers as a coyote, and coyotes are the enemy.
Say it once and move on: javelinas are members of the peccary family, not wild pigs (Arizona Game & Fish). Adults run 40 to 60 pounds and stand about 19 inches at the shoulder.
What matters is the herd. Javelinas travel in groups of 2 to more than 20 that defend territory and young as a unit. Your dog trips the predator wire: dogs and coyotes are natural predators of javelina, and the department is blunt that the two can seriously hurt or kill each other. Darren Julian, an urban wildlife specialist with Arizona Game & Fish, says almost every instance of javelina aggression the department sees is directed at pet dogs, because "javelina see our pet dogs like coyotes; a canid that is a potential threat" (azcentral, 2026).
So the herd is defending itself. Cornered, guarding young, or catching a dog's scent, javelinas go defensive: charging, teeth clacking, or a barking, growling sound. Factor in the eyesight: very poor vision and a keen sense of smell, and the department warns an animal may appear to be charging when it is actually trying to escape. A scared javelina can hurt you by accident. Think of the herd like a bouncer at a club door: the decision is made in one glance, and arguing with the bouncer has never worked. The only move is to leave.
"The herd makes one decision, fast: threat or not. Your dog already looks like the threat. Do not give it a reason to finish the argument."
In a Group Class at Partners, a trainer would set this up as a drill: the dog sees the trigger, and the trained default is to check back with you instead of charging. No wish, no shouting match - a default built rep by rep.
The short version: when young are present, when the herd is cornered, and when someone has been feeding them.
Javelina young are born year-round, most often from November to March. That stretch is when herds carry newborns and turn most defensive, so late winter and early spring walks near washes deserve extra attention. A herd with young defends first and sorts out the details later.
The second trigger is cornering: a javelina that cannot leave will fight its way out. Give the herd an exit and it will usually take it. The third is feeding. Bite incidents are almost always associated with people providing food, which teaches the herd to lose its fear of people and pets. Feeding wildlife is illegal in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties (A.R.S. 13-2927), with a modest maximum fine (tucsonlocalmedia). Fed javelinas hang around longer, push closer, and turn bolder.
The local picture: in the Phoenix area, javelina rank second in wildlife calls to Arizona Game & Fish, behind coyotes and ahead of bobcats, according to Julian. The 2023 aerial survey of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve estimated about 100 javelina there, with the survey agreement renewed through 2028 (City of Scottsdale). If your street backs to that preserve or the washes threading through Cave Creek, the herd is not a rumor. It is a neighbor.
The short version: the herd turns on the dog, and the owner who jumps in gets hurt too.
Walk through it. Your dog spots movement and gives chase. To the herd, that is a coyote running an attack pattern, so the adults pivot and charge. One javelina is 40 to 60 pounds of muscle with canine teeth, and a charging javelina aims for legs and belly. The dog wheels back toward you, and now the herd is running at you as well. Raul Vega, a regional supervisor with Arizona Game & Fish, says "the presence of dogs is the second leading cause of injuries to humans by javelina" in Arizona, with feeding first (thisistucson.com).
In one Tucson case reported by the department, a leashed dog broke its collar, attacked two javelina, and died from its injuries while the owner was hurt trying to intervene. The department's standing advice: if you see javelina while walking your dog, avoid going near them and quickly take your dog in a different direction.
And the chase costs the dog even when nobody is hurt. Every successful chase pays the dog in adrenaline and self-reward, and the behavior gets faster and harder to call off next time. The dog trains itself while you watch.
The short version: turn around, keep the leash short, and give the herd the exit.
Run this protocol like a drill. It is the department's advice, and it works because it takes your dog out of the predator category:
Carry pepper spray on trail walks for an extra layer. At home, the department recommends hazing with a garden hose, or a squirt gun with diluted household ammonia (one part ammonia, nine parts water), to teach the herd your yard is not worth visiting. An unpleasant association reinstalls the fear response that feeding destroys.
The short version: remove what invites them, then fence what remains.
Javelinas visit yards for three reasons: food, water, and shelter. Run the department's checklist:
Yard work pairs with seasonal work. When a dog-proof yard also needs to handle rattlesnake season, the fencing and attractant habits overlap: our guide on snake-proofing your yard covers both at once. None of this is punishment. Management sets the dog up to succeed while the training catches up.
The short version: yes, by installing a recall that pays better than the chase.
Chase is a prey-drive pattern. In our reading, prey drive is a pull drive: the dog moves toward something it wants, and the chase itself is the paycheck. You do not erase a drive. You install a default response that outranks it. Like upgrading the brakes instead of trying to make the engine smaller: the horsepower stays, but stopping gets faster.
Definition: default response. The behavior your dog offers automatically under pressure, conditioned through repetition: recall to you, check in, disengage. Installed before it is needed.
The build runs through the four phases: Teach the recall somewhere quiet, Reinforce until the dog offers it freely, Proof it against the five D's (duration, distraction, distance, direction, difficulty), and Maintain it with written take-home protocols. A recall that works in the kitchen is Teach. A recall that works when a herd moves through the wash at dusk is Proof. Every tool is conditioned to the dog before use and set to the lowest level the dog notices, a tap on the shoulder. Correction is never the starting point: positive reinforcement is the base of every program, and fair, minimal, well-timed correction is legitimate once the alternative is understood.
Off-leash freedom is the end of that process, not the start. If your dog cannot recall off a squirrel in the backyard, it cannot recall off a herd in the desert. Our off-leash recall protocol lays out the build order.
"Recall is not a wish you whisper at the end of the leash. It is a default you install in the kitchen before you ever need it in the desert."
You are the mentor on that walk, not the remote control. Read the dog in front of you: the moment it starts to fixate, call it off, and pay the check-in. The two of you figure it out together, one walk at a time.
Step one
In Foundation Camp - 14 nights of daily structured reps - our trainers install a bombproof recall and a place default through all four phases, tracked in the PD360, then teach you to run both at handoff with written take-home protocols. Chase-proofing is recall-proofing.
The short version: coyotes hunt your dog. Javelinas defend against your dog. The response differs.
A coyote is a predator. It may stalk a small dog, test the fence line, or lure a chase into the dark. A javelina is a defender. It does not hunt your dog; it reacts to your dog as if your dog were hunting it.
| Javelinas | Coyotes | |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | Your dog, by approaching or chasing | The coyote, by stalking or luring |
| Highest-risk season | November to March, when young are present | Year-round |
| Warning signs | Teeth clacking, barking or growling, charging | Following, circling, testing the fence |
| What works | Leave, give them an exit, haze from the yard | Haze hard, never let the dog pursue, supervise small dogs outside |
One rule covers both: the dog never chases wildlife, and the recall is the tool that makes the rule real. For the full coyote playbook, see our guide on coyotes and dogs in Scottsdale and Cave Creek.
Which program fits
A senior trainer reads your dog across nine dimensions, maps the prey drive behind the chase, and routes you to the right program.
Feeding wildlife is illegal in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties, with fines for violations. Every figure sourced in the fact pack.
| Myth | Fact |
|---|---|
| Javelinas are wild pigs. | They are collared peccaries, a different family from true pigs. The name is the only thing they share. |
| They only attack if you provoke them. | True for people, incomplete for dogs. A dog simply being present reads as a coyote threat, and that is enough for a defensive herd. |
| Feeding them keeps them friendly. | Feeding destroys their fear of people, creates neighborhood conflicts, and usually ends with the javelina dead. It is also illegal in Maricopa County. |
| A fleeing javelina will run away from you. | Their eyesight is so poor that a javelina trying to escape can run straight at you. Give it a clear exit and stand clear of the path. |
| You can trap or shoot a problem javelina. | Javelinas are a big-game species. It is unlawful to injure, kill, or trap them except under strict hunting provisions. Call Arizona Game & Fish instead. |
Key takeaways
Yes. Arizona Game & Fish states that dogs and coyotes are natural predators of javelina, and the two can seriously hurt or kill each other. Javelinas mistake dogs for coyotes and respond with defensive charging, teeth clacking, and biting. Keep your dog leashed and turn away from any herd you spot.
Shorten the leash, move away fast, and give the herd a clear exit. Make loud noise. If contact happens, fight back: stay upright, kick and yell, then call 911 and seek medical attention for any bite. Get your dog to a vet the same day.
No. Javelinas are a big-game species, and it is unlawful to injure, kill, or trap them except under strict hunting provisions. Remove attractants instead: fallen fruit, birdseed, garbage, and standing water. For persistent problems, call your local Arizona Game & Fish regional office.
Remove what invites them: fallen fruit, pet food left outside, unsecured garbage, irrigation leaks, and pool access. The department recommends four-foot block or chain-link fencing, or a single electric strand eight to ten inches off the ground around gardens. Haze visitors with a hose or diluted ammonia spray.
Yes, if the training installs a default recall instead of a wish. Chase is a prey-drive pattern that rewards the dog every time it runs. A recall built through Teach, Reinforce, Proof, and Maintain, proofed against real distraction, gives the dog a better-paying default. That is what Foundation Camp installs.
You cannot train the herd. Run the encounter protocol until it is boring, run the attractant checklist this weekend, and put the recall on a real plan. If your dog already chases, start now.
For the same wildlife-awareness approach to rattlesnakes, read our rattlesnake avoidance training guide. That read starts with a PD360 Assessment: a senior trainer at either campus evaluates your dog across nine dimensions and tells you honestly what it will take to install the recall.
Scottsdale: 8642 E Shea Blvd, 85260. Cave Creek: 4640 E Forest Pleasant Pl, 85331. Serving the Phoenix Valley.