Dog Attack

[Golden Rules]

Grab the back legs and pull up and back hard and fast (not just back). If you think you will break the dog's legs you are doing it right. Obviously, some people will not be able to do this and it won't help much if two or more dogs are attacking.

I had to do this less than 2 weeks ago. An SBT attacked my 17 week old puppy.We were happily minding out own business and this SBT just barged up and attacked. Stupid bogan owners ..... anyway the guy put his hands in his dog's mouth to try and pry it off my puppy's neck (he was on his back on the ground squealing) and thank god I kept my wits about me, I lifted the dogs back legs out and then high up and it let go.

Guy got bitten. Hope he gets gangrene and his hand falls off. He kept saying his dog had never done this before (yeah right) and his girlfriend had a go at me about my wee puppy, with his puppy teeth, attacking their dog Their dog apparently attacked another dog on the way out from the grounds the same day.

Thankfully my puppy came out with little injury and his temperament has stood him in good stead with no apparent lasting effects.

But yes, lifting the back legs worked for me so I will vouch for the method!

[Teebs]

I think the biggest thing you need to do if there is a dog fight, is NOT PANIC!

It is horrible sitting there watching, but if it takes a few seconds to work out what is going on, and what you can use to get the dogs apart and not have you be bitten, it is worth it.

Edited - sorry, changed my mind about putting my story up here, would hate the wrong people to read it

Edited December 7, 2010 by Teebs

[GeckoTree]

Since its very rare for me not to carry a knife of some sort, fruit, utility, fishing, pocket. I would put it into the dogs neck if warranted, other than that everything else with all my heart and soul.

[SpotTheDog]

Please note, I have never tried this myself.

I've been told this by someone who, frankly, is mad enough to have tried it. And probably with some degree of success. To break up a dog fight, (and you need to be swift, accurate, and a bit mad): identify the aggressor, lick your thumb, and in one swift move, step in, grab the aggressor by the base of the tail and pop them in the butthole with your lubricated thumb.

...look, okay, I know it's mental, but when you think about it, if someone did that to you would YOU keep biting what you were hanging out of???

[jesomil]

My little Corgi was attacked about 8 years ago by a Rott and an amstaff x. We were happily walking on lead up our street when these dogs who were being walked off lead grabbed her. The attack was very severe and the owner was in shock so didnt move.

It was evident these dogs were very serious.

I went into a calm zone and grabbed the back legs of the worst aggressor and pulled them upwards so it let go. I had to yell at the owner to grab that dog while I did the same to the other dog.

My poor little dog then ran home and I found her under the house.

She sustained very severe injuries that required several surgeries and about 10 days in at the vet. I will never get over that experience.

The next time a dog ran at her I turned into a fierce protector and booted it so hard in the face that it ran off.

[Simply Grand]

Well, anything's worth a try, even a thumb up the butt! To be honest though, I'm actually not sure it would stop a dog in full on fight mode...

I feel very protective of my dog, given that he weighs 5kgs or less and I weigh... much more... so I keep a very close watch for unknown dogs and wouldn't hesitate to avoid the dog or pick Saxon up to protect him.

I know from experience that my first reaction, once a dog is actually on Saxon (either playing too rough or being aggressive) is to stick my hands in its mouth, open it's jaw, then grab Sax away. However, I've recently learned that I won't always be able to open the other dog's jaws... I learned this with a 4 month old puppy trying to play (roughly) with Saxon, even being so young and small, I couldn't actually open his jaws. I had to just hold his collar till he let go then push Sax away - luckily no harm done.

I feel like my reaction, if it got to the point of a full-on attack and I didn't have a weapon, would be to throw my full body down on top of the attacking dog, preferably over its head and just holding it to the ground. I'd then yell for help, if there might be any about, or if need be, press my hands down on its neck to choke it... This would be one occasion when I would appreciate being not a small girl!

God, I hope it never happens, I'd hate to do hurt or kill a dog, but I absolutely would if the need was there.

[Dju]

Dad told me the story about how a Bull Terrier that wormed its way under my dad's fence and attacked his wife's bunny-rabbit temperament GSD (ripped a huge chunk of his ear off actually). Dad ran inside and got his high-powered bow and arrow set out. The bull terrier never made it out of the yard.

If a dog attack happened to my Hugo though, I'm not sure what I'd do. Adrenaline makes you do a whole lot of crazy things, like how my tutor beat up a guy who mugged her because her wallet had her whole month's paycheck in it. My dad told me to grab the dog's front legs really tightly and yank them apart because that would shatter the ribs, or something, but I don't think I have the balls for that. I mean, front legs, that end is the pointy end, dude! I would probably instinctively do a lot of kicking and grabbing though.

[Jeff Jones]

if it's only one person and you're confident enough choke the hell out of the dog latched on, especially if its a larger one grabbing a small dog. I've had to do this before and it stops the big one shaking and chewing.

if there;s more then one person wheelbarrow the offending animals and remove ALL other dogs in the area

if you're by yourself and a dog has yours tie your dogs leash to the nearest object, grab the back legs of the offender and slowly walk backwards until it lets go.

Deoderant sprayed in the eyes and mouth will maybe stop some dogs. Other times just call for help.

I have had to choke dogs out to get them off the bite before. I believe K9 Force has had to do the same thing. The wheelbarrow technique Aidan described works well but sometimes choking the dog off is the only way you will be able to remove the dog.

[Diva]

I feel like my reaction, if it got to the point of a full-on attack and I didn't have a weapon, would be to throw my full body down on top of the attacking dog, preferably over its head and just holding it to the ground. I'd then yell for help, if there might be any about, or if need be, press my hands down on its neck to choke it... This would be one occasion when I would appreciate being not a small girl!

As long as you are aware that you could get very badly bitten doing that to a truly aggressive dog. The dog may well just turn it's attack on you and if you are on the ground your face and neck would be very vulnerable. It makes me cringe to think of it.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Diva

[Simply Grand]

I feel like my reaction, if it got to the point of a full-on attack and I didn't have a weapon, would be to throw my full body down on top of the attacking dog, preferably over its head and just holding it to the ground. I'd then yell for help, if there might be any about, or if need be, press my hands down on its neck to choke it... This would be one occasion when I would appreciate being not a small girl!

As long as you are aware that you could get very badly bitten doing that to a truly aggressive dog. The dog may well just turn it's attack on you and if you are lying down your face and neck would be very vulnerable. It makes me cringe to think of it.

Yes, that's definitely my concern!! I certainly know that an angry animal can have super-strength. I guess I like to think that I would be able to bear down my full weight on the dog and hold it down, if I was in serious fight/protect mode. I just think my full weight would be more effective than kicking. I also would gouge eyes, use my elbows, whatever else I needed to do. Certainly not a perfect solution, but I'm not going to start carrying knives/guns/illegal weapons so would have to go with what I have.

This is really last resort stuff and really hope it would never happen, but I don't think I'd have it in me to not try and save my dog, even at the risk of harm myself.

[Skruffy n Flea]

man, this is truly the stuff of nightmares --- for me, this is akin to not being able to protect my child...

i can only hope that i have the mind to firstly, stay calm, clear the area and lastly, the wherewithall to take hold of an aggressive dog's hind legs!

there really has only been one occasion when i thought bella was in potential trouble; at the dog park and two leggie oddles thrice her height and double her length both intent on crowding her while their lazy handler sat on her ass on the opposite side of the park talking on her frikken phone!

i shadowed them keeping a close eye and when bella made one tiny whimper, i went in with knees and feet to their necks and chest, and nails to their noses...

their handler, no longer on the phone, just sat there, and if she had've been closer i might've slapped her, but at the very least i offered at volume some choice words interjected with colourful yet useful profanities and promptly left the frikken park flipping her a couple birdies as i walked thru the gates and again as i drove away...

i had to stop the car a ways up the road just to calm myself down and to ensure bella wouldn't be further stressed because of my anger AND to make sure we both made it safely home...

edited: grammer

Edited December 7, 2010 by Skruffy n Flea

[CaseyKay]

When my older border collie girl was attacked by a Rottie, I felt so helpless, it was HUGE, no collar, no tail to grab and no response to my kicking it or hitting it. Luckily 5 teenage boys playing basketball across the park came running over and between them managed to get it off it, one of them carried my dog home to my car and another 2 followed the dog home so I knew who owned it, they also rang dog control and gave them the address while I was at the vet. If those boys had not been there I believe she would have been killed. The owner of the dog was not in the park, the dog had gotten out and had already been declared dangerous so was PTS that night, surrendered by the owners who also paid my vet bill and didn't seem like bad people at all. This was three years ago and I am still quite nervous of large unrestrained dogs running at my dogs.

[tdierikx]

My girls have only fought each other - and 3 cops with capsicum spray and batons couldn't separate them the last time they fought. Luckily the fight broke up on it's own as the senior cop was going for his taser. Once the dogs separated, the police had their guns drawn on my Lab as I whisked the Rotti/Pittie cross into the house to assess her wounds and call the vet to let them know I was coming in with 2 badly ripped up dogs...

Needless to say, my girls are kept separate now.

The weirdest thing is that they are both perfectly well behaved in public, and are never aggressive with other dogs - they just don't like each other much at times.

Seeing 2 dogs go into a zone where they have absolutely no other focus than killing each other is definitely VERY sobering!

T.

[Sandra777]

Yes, that's definitely my concern!! I certainly know that an angry animal can have super-strength. I guess I like to think that I would be able to bear down my full weight on the dog and hold it down, if I was in serious fight/protect mode.

Seriously, please do not think this. If the attacking dog was anything more than 15-20kg and was serious you would very likely end up DEAD. No doubt wll bring screams of outrage, but I have tried to hold down 15-16kg dogs in play and even without me being in ''full fight mode'' and them NOT biting, it's pretty difficult, and these are dogs which are't super dominant so will eventually just give up and relax. A dog in full switched on fight mode is a very very scary thing and can bite you three times before you even know it's turned it's head.

[KKDD]

It seems the best advice in this thread is the 'wheelbarrow drag/lift them by the back legs technique, and having used it, it really works even on large dogs.

Im kind of horrified by some of the other suggestions made here, especially given the human propensity for panic-driven decisions. I havnt seen any of the qualified trainers on the thread mentioning anything about weapons, killing, or endangering your own life....so Ill leave those techniques alone thanks.

[Scarlet]

I've had a dog attacked in an off leash park-I managed to grab one of the dogs legs and flung it as far as I could. I think this shocked the dog enough not to come back! The dog was about 20kg.

I have NEVER gone to an off leash park since if any other dogs are there.

If other dogs turn up I go home immediately.

This doesn't help with socialising but that's OK.

I have 2 dogs and they play together.

If I'm walking and an unleashed dog comes up I stand in front of my dogs and growl quite /very deeply at it. So far this has worked but I don't think any of these dogs that I've come across have been agressive.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Scarlet

[Teebs]

If I'm walking and an unleashed dog comes up I stand in front of my dogs and growl quite /very deeply at it. So far this has worked but I don't think any of these dogs that I've come across have been agressive.

I just came back from a walk with Kaos, some lady started talking to me, walking in the same direction. A stray dog ran up to us, i yelled something to it to scare it off, the lady was disgusted in me! Told me that dog could now get hit by a car and it belongs to someone and blah blah blah.

I told her I agree, i dont want anything to happen to the dog, and had I not had kaos, i would have picked it up, but my dog isnt good with others and no way I want a fight, so I did what i had to do, the lady stormed off on me

[rastus_froggy]

It is a terrifying postition to be in, 2 of my large, determined and very strong dogs had a last year. Once one started the other gave it back tenfold. I was on my own, I got the other dog (who was not involved) out of the picture to begin with.

Then tried grabbing legs but they were bloody hard to get hold of, then I tried a whole bunch of stupid shit I grabbed and twisted ears, I somehow stuck my arm in one dogs mouth in a split second that he let go grabbed his leg twisted it and pinned him to the ground - all while the other dog was still going him, I was further bitten on the arm and hands by the dog I had pinned and on the back by the other dog.

Yes it was EXTREMELY stupid. I actually don't remember what happened after that. The neighbours daughter jumped the fence at some point and I was so relieved that I was no longer on my own.

It is the most traumatic thing I have ever experienced and I am shaking and on the verge of throwing up now just writing this.

I ended up in hospital and the doctors desperately wanted to record it as a dog attack but I refused to let them as it was NOT an attack on me, I put myself in there as a last resort and NONE of the aggression shown by the dogs was towards me.

As I said VERY STUPID but I did the best I could at the time, in the mind set I was in and I am pretty bloody sure it would not have have stopped until one of the dogs was dead.

[labsrule]

It seems the best advice in this thread is the 'wheelbarrow drag/lift them by the back legs technique, and having used it, it really works even on large dogs.

Im kind of horrified by some of the other suggestions made here, especially given the human propensity for panic-driven decisions. I havnt seen any of the qualified trainers on the thread mentioning anything about weapons, killing, or endangering your own life....so Ill leave those techniques alone thanks.

The techniques advocated by the trainers are fine and is one I would use myself if ever any of my dogs was attacked by a single dog. However, when your dog is being attacked by multiple dogs like what happened to my boy being attacked by 3 dogs and they have a f*ckwit owner that stands around and DOES NOTHING and has no means by which to control his dogs, you will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to save your dog. I hope you never ever have to experience a situation like this.

I will make sure I carry something with me at all times now that will be effective on another dog(s) if I am unlucky enough to experience another multiple dog attack on any of my dogs. If any of them are attacked by a single dog, then yes the wheelbarrow technique would be the first one I would opt for as this has been posted about many times on DOL over the years, so I knew about. However if this technique didn't work or multiple dogs are attacking and there is no owner around or a f*ckwit irresponsible owner who does nothing to intervene and get his dogs under control, then I will do whatever I need to do even if it means injuring or killing another dog to save my own dog.

[jacqui835]

Unfortunately my beautiful black lab youngster (14mths) was attacked :D a couple of weeks ago at the dog park we go to on a regular basis, by two staffies and a large black shepherd cross all from the same family that I had never seen at this park before. We have always had such a great time at this dogpark as the dogs we have encountered there have been great and so have their owners.

My boy and I were the only ones there at the time this f*ckwit owner arrived with his dogs and he had no leads with him. My boy is extremely friendly and sociable and is not an in your face Labrador at all and never jumps on other dogs, never humps them, is never rude to them and is just extremely good with other dogs, both large and small and just loves to play chaseys with other dogs where they all take turns at chasing one another at great speed.

Anyway these dogs came running straight to my boy and surrounded him and then my boy and these 3 dogs all ran off playing chasey as that is what my boy loves doing the most. My boy was running back towards me and the two staffies were really crowding him and when he wasn't too far away from me the two staffies who were on either side of him started jumping all over him and biting him and as I was going over to them one of the staffies grabbed one of my boy's ears and pulled him down to the ground by his ear with the help of the other staffy who was all over him and biting him and when he was down on the ground, the shepherd cross got in on the act as well and the staffy wouldn't let go of his ear and they had rolled him on his back . The other staffy then grabbed his other ear and both staffies then proceeded to drag my boy along the ground on his back by the ears whilst the shepherd cross was trying to bite his stomach and legs. My boy was yelping and of course the moment the first staffy grabbed his ear I had already rushed over, so by the time my boy was on the ground being attacked by all 3, I was in amongst it screaming at the dogs, booting them, punching their heads, wacking them with the metal clip on the lead trying to poke them in the eyes and grabbing any part of them I could as I attempted to try and get my boy on his feet as he was in such a vunerable position on the ground ;) . I don't know how I managed it, probably sheer adrenalin gave me the strength to help my boy get back on his feet and by this time the two staffies had let go of his ears but all 3 of them were still trying to bite him, so I was swinging everything at them to get them away from my boy and finally their f*ckwit owner comes over and asks so innocently, what happened. :D :D What happened I screamed is your fu*king mongrel dogs attacked my dog and you did fu*king nothing and you and these mongrels should not be allowed in a dog park. :D

Meanwhile I managed to get my boy on the lead and briskly walked him to one of the gates with the 3 mongrels still crowding around us and hassling my boy all the way to the gate. The owner obviously had no way of controlling them as he had no leads with him :D I just wanted to get my boy home safely so that I could check him all over for any physical injuries, particularly the ears and around the neck and stomach as I was sure there would have to be puncture marks in his ears at least. After a thorough going over I could not find anything sign of injuries and he didn't appear to be tender to touch anywhere and there was no blood anywhere and he seemed his happy normal self in the car ride back home and he bounded out of the car when we got home to greet his two mates and seemed happy as Larry and there was absolutely no change in his behaviour.

After I had been home for about 10minutes and thinking about what happened and getting angrier about this idiot and his dogs, I decided I would go back to the dog park, on my own, as it is only about 7-10mins drive from my home as I wanted to get this guy's car rego details. When I got back to the park it was empty as he probably knew he was in the shit and probably took off as soon as I left.

I took my boy out for his daily walk the next day and watched him intently for any sign of anxiety/fear when any other dogs came into his view and he was just his normal silly excited self. On the Monday, I contacted the relevant Council and laid a complaint about the dog attack and I received a letter from them acknowledging my complaint and they rang me a couple of days later to tell me that their ACOs would do some random checks on this dogpark to see if this fu*kwit owner and his dogs are there. I didn't try to get any info from this owner at the time as I just wanted to get my boy out of this park asap and safely away.

During the course of the week on his walks and outings he got to meet a number of dogs, both new dogs and some local dogs he has met before and he was his normall happy self with all of them showing no anxiety/fear, in fact no difference whatsoever in his behaviour . A week later I took him back to the same dog park and when we pulled up to the park he was beside himself with excitement, like he normally is and there was no hesitation from him whatsoever about going into the park and started immediately playing with the lovely dogs there and got to run himself ragged with his favourite chasey games. I took him again on Sunday and same thing, had a great time with the lovely friendly dogs there. During these two visits I warned the other dog owners about this f*ckwit owner and his dogs.

When these dogs started attacking my boy, my strong protective instinct just took over to get in there and help my boy, particularly once they pulled him down to the ground and rolled him. I was too angry and worried about him to be scared of the mongrels attacking him and would do whatever was required to help him. I honestly believed at that time I would have killed one of them to save my boy and I believe my boy's size and build and lack of fightback protected him from any injury as a smaller or slightly built dog could have been seriously injured or killed by these mongrels.

My boy is just so beautifully natured with an awesome temperament and not one dominant bone in his beautiful body and these mongrels were like a gang of thugs and bullies picking on a soft dog who was an easy target ;) I have the Council's animal management after hrs and bus hrs numbers programmed into my mobile now so if I ever see that f*ckwit there again, I will be rining the ACOs straight away.

Since that incident, I have been thinking about what I could arm myself with to help protect my boy if he is unfortuante enough to be attacked again whether it be in a dog park or just out walking and capsicum/pepper spray did cross my mind as I want something I can carry and conceal that is effective on dogs. Can you actually buy capsicum/pepper spray in Australia and if so where can you get it from as I have googled it but cannot find any actual places to purchase it.

I mean no disrespect but is it just me or did anyone else read this particular story and not feel like the staffies and shep intended to seriously injure/kill the puppy? It's just, if 2 staffies and a shep wanted your dog dead or seriously injured, there would at least be some marks on it, and I seriously doubt you would have been able to remove all 3 dogs by yourself. When a fight breaks out with bully type breeds, they latch on pretty quickly, and once they do, they don't let go, and certainly not just from being hit with a lead and screamed at. My understanding at least is that going for the ears is a dominance thing - there's a huge difference between going for the ears and going for the neck etc. I don't deny that this would have been a seriously scary experience, but I don't think these dogs wanted to kill yours, I think they were just extremely dominant, and not under effective control. Additionally, I think you're right that your dog avoided injury by not trying to fight back, and that a more dominant dog could have found itself in trouble, but, I still just don't get the impression death was the goal here. Please don't think I'm trying to say that I think this is acceptable behaviour, but, I do think a distinction should be made between fiercely dominant dogs and dogs who actually want to kill other dogs.

ETA - I think it's important to make this distinction because a dominant dog can be fine in the hands of a competent and dominant handler, but DA dogs potentially pose a threat in anyones hands...

Edited December 7, 2010 by jacqui835