dog fights - Page 2

opti nerve good points.  

 

 If possible Try not to brake fight of strange dogs . One thing is important NEVER!!!!   To  EVER instinctually grab the dogs by the collar. DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS ON FIGHTING DOGS FROM THEIR BUT FORWARD. In that case, IF YOU DO,  it is almost 100% that you will get bitten. Tying a dog as described in Learbeg is good but not always an option. The best way is if you have 2 people is to each go the different ( their) dog and grab them by the rare legs or tail and lift them VERTICALLY  up. NEVER try to pull  them apart before they let go. If you do that will cause them to grip harder. If you are alone ( god forbid) then you need to grab the tail or legs alone  and you need to choose the dog who has winning grip.  The problem with this is that  when the winning dog lets go  the losing dog will see it as an opportunity to get upper hand and attack.  That is possible  to avoid if you tie one dog first up to some anchor, but that is not always possible. In that case  as soon as the dog let's go you can swing the dog away or into different room or car or kennel run and close the door. If that is not possible then  step in between them and try to keep them away from each other. That is difficult task. If you have strong leadership position over your dog that may enable you to succeed.

Also  if there is a door around you can drag the fighting dogs to the door and pinch firmly the losing dog in the door, then lift the winning dog by it's feet or tail VERTICALLY up and when the dog lets go you swing him away and push the dog in the doors on the other side of the door. The lift of the legs straight up will diminish the drive and dog will let go. Never pull apart until they let go!!!!!Some breeds like pitbull will not let go and for that you need to use breaking stick. If you have pitbull you should have one handy all the time  and learn how to use it. 

 If you have fight of more then 2 dogs then you are in another trouble try to precede as described above  one dog at a time starting with the winning dog. I was once breaking a dog fight of 16 dogs who got out in a kennel where I worked because new help thought that  they will play and then left .  When  got there   there was ball of 16 dogs in one ball on 10 acres. It was a nightmare.  

Hardest fights to brake are between 2 females. I once got call from a friend for help ,  who had fight going on  for a while .  I was 40 minutes away when I got there the fight was still going on. We then broke the fight by lifting each one dog by tail vertically up.  If that is the situation do not hesitate to call able  friend for help. If you call police they may just shoot the dogs. 

Prager Hans

 

Keep the two dogs separated, since you asked how to break up a fight alone. There is no advantage outing two dogs together that have already had a fight. The young dog is going to do in your old girl.

Separation seems to be the safest route.  Good advice how NOT to break up a fight from Prager. 

If you can't lift vertically (That would be out of the question for me with my larger dog)  then try the bucket of water in the face method.   I've done that and it works instantly.  Be ready to respond as soon as they let go by stepping in there and giving them both a bucket of **** to go with the water and restrain immediately.

Good luck this sounds like a real nightmare.

@ alienor in a facetious way.

OK I get it! How to brake a dog fight. Do not have one. LOL That is like when W C Fields said how to make money in a stock market. "First take all your money and buy some stock . When it goes up - sell it. If it does not go up do not buy it!" Is that the topic? I thought the topic of OP was how to brake a fight if you have one  and you are alone.  

 And let me see how the bucket with water works. The dog are killing each other and thus I look for a bucket where ever it  is and water faucet. Where ever that may be on your hike, park and so on. But let say they are in your shed so you go and retrieve such bucket and  go and start filling the bucket with  water. When the bucket is finally  full - about 1 minute- I then run with this bucket back to the fight and  then commence chase 2 fighting dogs  which sometimes is not easy task with 45 lb+/- bucket of water with hope that I will place the water on them so effectively that they will stop fighting. ( Most dogs will not I assure you. )If I miss I will  have to run back to the faucet and repeat the process with hope that what did not work 1st x will work second time which is a definition of insanity. As far as the weight goes I assure you that it is much easier to lift the rare legs 4 inches above the ground then 45 lb bucket above the dogs heads and poor it on them in their face. 

 I mean  if there is a bucket with water handy, and if it is full of water and if I can chase the dog with it in my feeble had ( remember - I can not lift the dogs rare feet of the ground few inches) and if I can throw it correctly on my dogs  then try it. It may work if thew dogs are not fighting really seriously. If it does not work, then try what I or Learburg suggests. 

Prager Hans 

If the 2 dogs got into a true dog fight not one of those spats where they growl, bite stop, someone wins... A water bucket does not always do the trick (I've heard it works for some but I've never seen it work), I wish it would be that easy!

Separation forever and management is a must since it will happen again and again until someone's severely injured or dead.  If this isn't possible for whatever reason (really no excuse), muzzles and direct supervision always and rules. They will even try to fight with muzzles and eventually will get the muzzles off so 100% control is important. Solid obedience. The only thing that can be taught at this point is that they must tolerate each other but it will never, ever, ever be easy and you shouldn't have them near each other. For example if your inside, ask each one to stay at separate parts of the room. Never let your guard down. Never let them disobey. If obedience isn't that solid then these dogs should never be attempted to be brought together again even with muzzles. 

Leerburg method DOES WORK.

I would also like to hear the answer to:

What triggers the fight? Is it food, jealousy over you? In any case, best to keep them separated. You can get injured badly trying break up a dog fight, plus, the old dog could end up killed in the fight.

All our dogs live in our house and all must listen, they're not free to roam or screw off when loose. No food, no toys, no bones. Each one is trained and played with several times a day and then they're exercised as a group with no toys, food, etc...

 

the water bucket worked all the time and that was with 2 big dogs i had a good few fights with them one fight dogs needed to be stiched but you cant be afraid to step in an d control the dominant dog because he will more than likely go back for seconds . That why u must be top dog

@ Prager yeah I get it! I don't always have a bucket of water handy either! Just so happened I did one time with two dogs on one and it worked instantly. Didn't really think about it I just hurled at them rather than get my hand chewed off.

After that I watched them like a hawk and if I saw one HINT of trouble I kicked ass on ALL of them. (OK don't all go into spasms I didn't really KICK them it is just a figure of speech ) Anyway with that particular pack it did the trick.

However that might not always work or be practical which is why I said sounds like a nightmare. I'd hate to try to manage my two males if they decide to vie for the power position. Just as a side note: If my boys are playing together with the ball or stick (or whatever) no problem. If I get involved it seems to up the ante and they get really worked up fast. After one time of observing that behavior I quit. I only play one on one with them now and so far no problem.
How to deal with fights is a great topic and relevant I'd like to hear experiences from anyone who has had to deal with it.

I would not recommend trying a method written on the internet.  You will get bitten.

Breaking a dog fight safely requires skill, confidence, determination and timeming. Witch can only be achieved through experience.

Try a bucket of cold water or a garden hose as suggested. But never get in between if  youre not confident. 

Good point 175946uAllan1955

You must not be in a panic or nervous about what you're going to do or how you're doing it. Clear thinking and remaining calm is a must. If this isn't possible then it's not safe and it's recommended you keep your dogs separate if you're not 100% confident you can break up a fight without panicking.

When grabbing the back legs or wrapping a sip line around the waist it's important to keep moving or the aggression may just very well be directed towards you. The goal is to get to a tree, truck, etc. and get the first dog tied, the fight will most likely start again until you get a hold of the second dog, I would not attempt to put them near each other for a week or more after this depending on what the cause was.

I have had dog fights and have successfully not gotten bitten using these methods. Water did not work for me and has never worked for me, they just keep going. I have heard instances where it does work and that's great! So whatever works for you......

1. Learn to read your dog's body languarge there are most always signs long before a fight ever errupts.
2. Assess the "signs", learn what you missed and make sure you know better next time
3. Remove the triggers
4. If it's a training / respect issue fix it
5. If it's pure dog aggression / hatred towards each other, keep them seperated forever
6. If it's horomone related they should all be seperated during these times, this is the most common time for dog fights to errupt

 

i got bit up this year, neighbours dogs run loose and one stuck it's head thru my sheep proof fence, large mesh but a dog can not get thru. my 4 dogs got hold it's head and the hight tensile mesh snapped one by one as they dragged it thru and were pulling and thrashing in 4 different directions, the dog was a defenceless lump of meat.

i was not thinking rationally and started beating my dogs off, rather futile as i got one off it just made a space for another one. i got my hands bit by the neighbours dog when i was in the middle of the fight.  eventually threw it over the fence, me and the dog covered in blood.

 

the speed. tenacity  and ferocity of 4 dogs attacking one on their own turf is frikkin scary to be in the middle of.

 

the neighbor just said - "that will learn him to go sticking his head thru fences and picking a fight with 4 dogs", was not phased or concerned in the least.

 

for two of yr own dogs sometimes going towards them when they are squaring before a fight will start the fight, it's like they want to impress you if that is not anthropmorphising too much, i have seen it when people walk away and act interested in something else the dogs don't start, maybe in these cases they were not serious about starting the fight in the first place. i have seen men do the same thing, crowd gathers they fight, no audience, no fight.

i have seen dogs work all day off leash together, drink from the same stream next to each other and get along good, around specific  locations in the home same dogs fight, control those locations and they don't fight, complex.