A little dog doesn’t have a chance. My neighbor got a video on his critter cam of a coyote carrying his Jack Russell off. One jumped the fence with another dog in its mouth. They never bothered my two Black Mouth Mountain Curs/Ferals, but my little dogs are inside after dark or I’m with them outside.
Little dogs are prey to all types of wild animals, including raccoons. Raccoons flip onto their backs and gut the dog with their feet. They have deadly claws. I have seen them mangle a hunting dog. A groundhog killed my neighbor’s beagle a few years ago. My big Rottweiler/Catahoula Leopard hound mix killed the groundhog a few days later.
Yes ma’am, you are so right, little dogs are at a disadvantage .
We’ve had plenty of dog injuries from raccoons, going for the belly is classic. Worst of all was a beaver attack in a pond on one of our Lab retrievers. Definitely tried to drown her, cut her up pretty badly. But she was a strong swimmer and eventually got out.