Seperating Dog Fights

[persephone]

Try being the only one there when 2 nearly 30kg dogs decide to go at it to the death... trust me, the wheelbarrow does work to minimise the damage being done by the aggressor... and if you get the back legs up high enough, there is virtually no chance of the dog biting you before you can throw it as far from you as you can....

There is no way on this planet I'm going anywhere near the bitey bits to stop a dog fight - I've gotten used to having 10 fingers that all work properly.

T.

as it's many many years ago, and ended well.... both dogs and I survived with minor injuries ..

A GSD entire male, a Lab entire male .. a gate which I forgot to latch in a kennel run .....

the next little while was most interesting.

Luckily I was strong and fairly fit back in my youth .. as all I could do was grab each by the scruff ..and hold them apart (mostly) as they reared up on their hind legs . I figured 2 legs each on the ground was better than 4 .

After a few minutes of yelling, someone heard me , and came to help - thankfully .......

[aussiecattledog]

Thanks so much everyone for your comments and personal stories, I'll make sure to stay clear off from my local dog park (I have allready encounted an aggressive dog there, although it was small it wouldn't do much serious damage) and I'll make sure that I keep a second leash on me handy - just in case I'm in a situation where I need it. Hopefully I don't get in such a situation where I have to seperate two dogs from a fight. Sorry for all you that had to experience that, hope it all turned out ok

[Alison03]

Try being the only one there when 2 nearly 30kg dogs decide to go at it to the death... trust me, the wheelbarrow does work to minimise the damage being done by the aggressor... and if you get the back legs up high enough, there is virtually no chance of the dog biting you before you can throw it as far from you as you can....

There is no way on this planet I'm going anywhere near the bitey bits to stop a dog fight - I've gotten used to having 10 fingers that all work properly.

T.

as it's many many years ago, and ended well.... both dogs and I survived with minor injuries ..

A GSD entire male, a Lab entire male .. a gate which I forgot to latch in a kennel run .....

the next little while was most interesting.

Luckily I was strong and fairly fit back in my youth .. as all I could do was grab each by the scruff ..and hold them apart (mostly) as they reared up on their hind legs . I figured 2 legs each on the ground was better than 4 .

After a few minutes of yelling, someone heard me , and came to help - thankfully .......

That's what my husband does, he reckons if you get them by the scruff of the neck they can't get their heads around to bite and cuts their air off a bit too, I guess being strong and having big hands helps a lot. I wouldn't attempt this method myself.

[persephone]

Try being the only one there when 2 nearly 30kg dogs decide to go at it to the death... trust me, the wheelbarrow does work to minimise the damage being done by the aggressor... and if you get the back legs up high enough, there is virtually no chance of the dog biting you before you can throw it as far from you as you can....

There is no way on this planet I'm going anywhere near the bitey bits to stop a dog fight - I've gotten used to having 10 fingers that all work properly.

T.

as it's many many years ago, and ended well.... both dogs and I survived with minor injuries ..

A GSD entire male, a Lab entire male .. a gate which I forgot to latch in a kennel run .....

the next little while was most interesting.

Luckily I was strong and fairly fit back in my youth .. as all I could do was grab each by the scruff ..and hold them apart (mostly) as they reared up on their hind legs . I figured 2 legs each on the ground was better than 4 .

After a few minutes of yelling, someone heard me , and came to help - thankfully .......

That's what my husband does, he reckons if you get them by the scruff of the neck they can't get their heads around to bite and cuts their air off a bit too, I guess being strong and having big hands helps a lot. I wouldn't attempt this method myself.

NOT to be recommended at all!!

[D'smum]

When a brawl erupted in my backyard, i bashed the side of the tin shed hard and repeatedly. The noise distracted them for a split second-long enough to grab a collar in each hand without sacrificing a hand. Then i let the dog that wasnt the aggressor go and confined the aggressor until he'd cooled his heels a bit.

[sandgrubber]

Another not recommended tactic that has been known to work is the flying tackle. I did this once in adrenalin drive mode. I was unhurt and it probably saved the life of a smallish dog being attacked by a large staffy X. After the fact I was shocked that I had taken such a risk. However, having a 70 kg human land on its back will stop many dogs. I once mentioned this to a GSD breeder who said she had often used a flying tackle on her own dogs and it was effective.

I once made a fight worse by spraying water on the dogs. Two GR bitches. Turns out the fight started with resource guarding, where the resource was an active lawn sprinkler. For water loving dogs you may need a fire hose for water to have any effect.

[BlackJaq]

I have to admit to also using the flying tackle.... The occasion was my OH's large-ish mutt (far right in sig) going to work on my then 12 week old Weimaraner puppy.... Apparently I sounded like 12 kind of harpies and hit the dog so hard we both got carried a good 3m from where he'd originally pinned the pup. Luckily he'd let go of her when I impacted or she might have been squashed.

In the end I had the dog by the scruff of the throat and was shaking him and making animal noises apparently...

Probably wouldn't do it again if I had time to think about it, but being a bully he did not redirect on me (so I was lucky) and seeing him go hell for leather on my puppy just made me absolutely see red. My OH copped it once I found my people words again, him being the one who let them "play" together after I'd expressly forbidden this because I know his dog......

Overall I also suggest avoiding fights at all costs and attempting to scare off any advancing dogs with your dog behind you. Try to stop your dog from making eye contact with the approaching dog and draw the dog's attention to you, so their eyes don't meet/they don't visually lock on.

Never be embarrassed to tell approaching dogs to pi** off in no uncertain terms, looking like a loon is better than trying to break up a serious fight. I will also advance on approaching dogs and try to intimidate them into buggering off or even kick them if they come into reach.

[persephone]

..an also "NOT recommended" is the Lift & jerk method ..

where the dog you are walking is grabbed and hoisted up to your chest to prevent injury .

ermmm.... then what does one do?

In my case , hugging an adult lab to my ample bosom .I carefully back-tracked away to a safe distance from the very snarly and focussed GSD who was guarding 'his' bit of footpath .

[hankdog]

Yep done that lift and grab. A determined cav was wandering loose and decided it had to say hello to my reactive bulldog. I can get him over my shoulder but then I'm off balance to move so just stood yelling in the street.

I'm practiced at avoiding fights, with mine it's a weekly thing but have no idea how I would cope if it came down to it. I tend to be the hands in the air screaming type so I do hope we never find out.

Edited October 30, 2013 by hankdog

[spyda62]

I don't think anyone really knows exactly how to break up a dog fight as there are so many varying factors involved.

First and foremost it has to be about putting people's safety first.

You need to asess the situation and use the tools that you have on hand at the time.

Some fights can be broken up purely by using your voice. For some dogs a big "Raaaah" is enough to stop them. Others water is enough. The scruffing technique is probably the most successful I have found. I have even had to resort to using a "choking out" technique in the past with good results.

I have seen the "wheelbarrow" technique used and in my opinion it is rubbish. There is just too much room for error. The dog has the entire length of its body to redirect on the handler. ( have seen it happen)

Hitting dogs is never going to work either. Often all that does is incite the dog further.

The biggest key factor I have found is to try to remain as calm as you can and others around you. Nothing worse than trying to deal with dogs fighting and a bunch of hysterical people as well.

[keasarge]

I know I shouldn't but im the one who sticks my hand in between I know I know but in the heat of the moment and dogs snarling and crying...

my dogs arnt fighters though so I know they wont fight back so its normally just pulling off the attacking dog and id rather get bitten than my dogs...

but there have been lots of good suggestions in here I will try and remember

[Maddy]

I actually had a fairly serious dog fight here last week and despite knowing "better" than to stick my hands anywhere in the vicinity of the pointy ends.. well.. I think sometimes, it's hard to do things by other people's books when it's -your- situation.

In my case, it was two girls who got overexcited by the visitors I had. They started fighting behind a gate and it was immediately obvious that it wasn't just a minor spat. I went in with them, speaking to them in the same voice I use for normal interaction. Dog 1 immediately stopped, dog 2 held her grip on dog 1's neck. I walked over, held dog 2 by the collar and told her it was crate time. She let go, I led her in to get crate, popped her in there and went back to check dog 1.

Dog 2 ended up needing several stitches from a bite that happened before I could reach them but it could have been a lot worse.

I've used that same approach in other fights (it's not a thought-out way of doing it, just how I react) and I've broken up some seriously nasty fights that way.

I think the most important thing is to treat the situation with the same sort of attitude as you would any mundane handling- shouting, screaming or rough, unusual behaviour doesn't really help the situation. Be calm and be gentle, they're just as upset as you are, if not more so- avoid making their distress worse than it already is.