There seems to be a lot of lore and speculation getting passed around this thread, and not a lot of experience. I can confirm after hunting coons with hounds for over 25yrs, with certainty, a few things to confirm or dispel some of the legendary aire floating around coons and dogs:
1) Hounds are used every night during legal seasons to track and kill coons around the country. However, they were bred to track and bay up coons, not to kill them. They kill in teams, and developing that technique takes training and collaboration among hounds. Hounds kill by working together to stretch out the coon, one or more dogs hitch onto the hind legs and hold fast, while one dog works to the neck and ends up asphyxiating the coon. Too many hounds on a fight hinders the process, with good hounds, two or at most 3 are as effective as anything. We catch our dogs at the tree and rotate on the fights whenever we hunt with too many hounds at once. Similarly, when most hounds catch a coon on the ground, rather than in a tree, they'll bay up and cut in and out, not committing to the fight - this is a good instinct, as it keeps them safe and healthy, and lets the hunters do their job, which is to put a bullet in the coon to give the hound the advantage.
It's very common for a shot coon to get the best of 2 untrained hounds.
2) Inexperienced hunters let their dogs get torn up. Whether that's by hunting an under trained dog, or putting the dog at a disadvantage. If your dogs don't know how to fight, you have to expect to be in on the action. I've hunted many nights just by myself with one dog. As I described above, the throat dog needs a partner holding the back legs to keep the coon from fending them off of the throat - when hunting alone, when the coon hits the ground, the dog hits first, then the hunter needs to help hold the coon for a quick finish kill. Ears on hounds do get torn up, and often lips, but
if you have dogs getting cut up by coons very often, you either have poor hounds, or you're a poor hunter. None of the dogs pictured below have ever had stitches, but they've killed thousands of coons over the years.
3) Any animal of sufficient weight which can climb in water will drown a dog. Coons and bobcats are just better at it than some other species - badgers, fox, and coyotes can't climb, and opossums often aren't heavy enough to weigh down a hound sized dog. However, despite the popular lore, it's not a matter of intelligence on part of the coon - Any animal finding itself being pulled under water will try to climb on top of anything they find - when that is your dog, the coon ends up on top. My sister nearly drowned me when we were kids, she was struggling in the deep end of the pool, and then when I went to her aid, she climbed onto my shoulders and clung to my head, making it almost impossible to swim. It's an instinctual panic response, not a strategy. I've "gone swimming" in ponds, rivers, and creeks many times rescuing my dogs over the years. Key tip - kick off your muck boots before jumping in, and be sure your phone is waterproof. (Cobra and Motorola walkie-talkies ARE pond diving resistant, FYI).
4) Many Terrier breeds will kill coons outright one on one. We've ran Jack Russel and Patterdale Terriers for many years, they tend to walk with us hunters most of the night, rather than legging it out with the hounds. In the pics below, there's a "red head" b!tch of mine as a puppy - she's now too old to hunt, but still lounging around the farm. Her first kill was the packrat pictured when she was about 4-5ish months old, I was carrying her in my pocket while we hunted, and had let her down to "potty," she ran off to the creek and ran up a ruckus, by the time I found her, she had killed a rat almost her weight. She would go on to kill many coons on her own. The photo of the terriers on the tailgate were all killed by the terriers in the foundation under a barn. The two black/brown Patterdale's pictured weren't as "ballistic" as the redhead and her little black eared sister, as those two fought more like a pair of hounds - they'd work together with the chocolate & white one taking the backleg, and the black with tan legs one going for the throat. The terriers go into holes, and either kill the animal and drag it out, or get it so fighting mad that it chases them out where the hunter can aid in dispatch. The sharper, finer teeth, and proportionately more powerful jaws of the terriers do tear up hides, however, so a guy doesn't want to let a terrier gnaw on a coon for more than a few seconds after it has expired. A guy does have to watch out for his terriers, however, as a white Jack in a wheat field or a dark Patterdale on snow cover are easy targets for owls.
5) Many non-hound breeds are dumb enough to dive on a coon. This is especially true for working and herding breeds, as their "prey drive" has been developed as a part of their breeding process. I saw a Chow mix and a Dobey used in a couple posts above - I've used a Chow in the past, just because we owned them and "Poke" (named after the interaction between Gus and Lori-darling on Lonesome Dove) loved mangling any farm cats who jumped into his pen so we gave him a run. I had a Rottweiler which made quick work of coons as well - we'd take these "kill dogs" along when hunting with the terriers during the day in wood piles and under barns, the little dogs go in, and if anything but a dog comes out, the big dogs pounce and end the fight. The down side - big and powerful dogs like these do a he11 of a lot of damage to hides and bones inside, making it a bit more difficult to skin them for money. They're also not particular about species so they'll go after anything small and furry, and they also tend to be possessive of the quarry, so they'll fight the other dogs.
6) There are LOTS of nasty, nasty things which coons carry. Ticks, fleas, and mange are the least of a guys worries - various worms are very common, even though it is difficult for the dogs to pick them up, unless the hunter irresponsibly lets the dogs chew on or eat parts of the coon afterwards. One of the most disturbing of which is Trichinosis (Trichinella round worm infection), which lives in and around the muscle of the coon - so when you slice around the ankles and wrists to skin, the worms spew out like spaghetti from a ziplock bag. Of course, since the worms are under the skin, it's easier for the hounds to become infected. Coon Dog Paralysis, or Polyradiculoneuritis was a new one on me, but we lost one of our Jack's to it years ago, some sort of nerve disorder which occurs after a coon bite, any time he'd get too excited, like a coon fight, he'd lock up and not be able to walk for a while. His back legs stopped working right shortly after, which is when we took him to the vet - it's suspected to be either a viral or bacterial infection, but as far as I know, there's no confirmed cause other than correlation to coon bites, and no known cure. Our dog died of respiratory arrest, whereas I've heard other dogs will recover after a few days or weeks. Our vet suggested, however, if a dog were diagnosed with it, they shouldn't be hunted any more even after they recover, because they'd be more susceptible to recurrence. Heartworms, tapeworms, hook worms, round worms, whip worms, giardia, coccidia, baylisascaria... Coons can be fat and happy, and riddled with worms, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa which will be detrimental or even deadly for dogs. Never let a dog eat coon feces or carcasses, or chew on a coon carcass for too long after they kill one. There are also plenty of things which humans can contract as well, so watch your own intake.
7) A coon hunter who has been at it very long has seen amazing, and sometimes disturbing things in the creek. He'll also be sure footed and be able to walk any mall-walking soccer mom out of her shoes, even carrying his beer belly.
8) Few things are more exhilarating than dumping the dogs on a hot scent, or hearing a striking hound break the silence of a still night.
Below are several pictures from some of my experiences hunting coons with dogs over the years. My family and group of hunters predominantly hunts with treeing walker hounds, and of course, our Jack & Patterdale terriers. In our hayday when we run 3-4 nights each week, we'd hunt over 200 coon a season with the dogs, on lighter years, we might only go out once a week and bring in 50 or so. My son went on his first trip when he was about 2 1/2 yrs old - which of course, does require staying up far past normal bed time. The picture of hides thawing in the sun was about a month into the season with the hounds, getting ready to go to the furbuyer - if memory serves, there's 43 coons laid out there. Again, the photo taken with the terriers on the tailgate were all killed by the terriers, without bigger kill dogs or hounds in tow. The photo is at night, but the coons were taken during daylight hours under a grainery, finding the coons sleeping in their "den."
So, I just whipped out my SR22 and fed the vultures. The vultures around here love me. 
