German Shepherd dog

So I figured I would give my advice should anyone ever get into a dog fight situation.

First thing first; always do whatever you need to do to keep yourself safe. If you choose not to get involved CALL FOR HELP OR 911. When this was all over, I noticed there were at least 12-15 people who had been watching this and no one offered to help, which is understandable but it was unbelievable to me that no one had called for help.

My own opinion on this is if I expect my dog to protect me from an attack from a person, I share that responsibility to my dog in the event they are attacked by another dog. If the dog is loose or a stray, I drop the leash and jump in the fight and we win. Period. I have only had to do this two times in my whole life.

So if you choose to get involved and attempt to break up the fight......

You must stay calm. Dogs of somewhat even size and ability can fight for a very long time without seriously injuring themselves. It is a scary and elevated situation but it is not theend of the world. Unless on dog is really on the other one's throat, they are not going to kill each other. 99% of the time, I see people jump in and start kicking or grabbing. worst thing you can do.

Hopefully you are not by yourself and someone can help you. You should always have you leash(s) so use them. Pick up the leashes and hang the dogs until they separate.

If you are by yourself, and these dogs will not stop, take the leash of one, and somehow anchor the dog. Even if you have to drag both dogs get one to something you can anchor it and choke the other dog off. If there is no possible way to anchor one dog, choke one of them unconcience.

No some may say this is to harsh but I am referring to a MAJOR dog fight with dogs that have consitution to continue fighting for a long period of time. Most dog fights are nothing but theatrical bluffing. However there are those times when you have serious dogs with serious intentions towards one another.

Con't

The best way I know of if there are two people present, is for each person to get to one of the dogs and lift the hind legs in the air.  There is a risk of the dog turning to you at that point but it will break up the fight between the dogs and hopefully you will not be included in the fight.  I have separated dogs that attacked my very strong shepherd import in the past this way,as the other dogs realized they had bitten off more then they could chew and I am very small, but you will need two people for the dogs that are serious about continuing the fight, Barb

Very good point GARD.  Though some folks might not be able to physically choke a dog out.  Though, once when I had to break my two girls up, my adreline up up too, which was what pulled me through that.  And they were also also 60 pounds each whereas I could string them up until they stopped fighting. 

Breaking up any dog fight is risky, even for a tall man armed with a shovel. I guess the most important thing to remember is to never get your head close enough to the ground so that your face or throat can be bitten.

I have only once let a pair of males fight it out, and it was because I could not reach them in time. I was very lucky that neither were seriously injured. These males were brothers and normally were not near each other unless I was present and this was not that type of day. The bully of the pair got his butt kicked that afternoon and from that point forward there was an uneasy truce between them. I never let them near each other again unless I was between them.

The worst one I ever had through was when three (3) bitches suddenly ganged up on another one. The subject of the attack was not injured as severely as I was, as I endured multiple bites to my hands, arms, and legs. GARD, I do agree with choking one stupid if that is what it takes. That afternoon I was grabbing bitches by the rear legs, pulling and tossing them as far as I could. I hated doing that, but I also hate to see a dog injured.

Regards,

Bob-O

You are right about staying calm and trying to get a lead on both dogs.  I would not be grabbing a pit by the hind leg or anything else.    Calling for help (911) might be a good idea especially for an injury but thats gonna take time and a lot can happen while your waiting.    I won't  bash pits but people are so stupid about handling them I dont care how sweet they are.  I would be very wary of them solely because of the damage one can do.   I have seen them break bones and not let go until forced with a breaking stick to let go.   Looking for help from the people watching is a joke most of the time.  People would watch anything and never get involved for the most part.  Thank goodness for that one citizen who steps up, they are real hero's sometimes.

Bad dog fights are better left alone unless you have help or feel capable of handling the dogs.  Most fights dont last that long and dont cause that much damage to the dogs if they are matched in size and weight.   If its a larger dog on a toy then whatever happens is gonna happen fast and I doubt you'll have time to stop it.   Pits can go on for hours tho and can really be dangerous to a non pit dog.  Usually they are not handler agressive and can be separated if you have help.  

I have had my GSD's (females) get into it and I guess I didnt do it right.   After the calm went away I ended up giving them both a good hard kick and kind of looked like a gorilla charge tear assing into both of them.  I dont recommend it.

Best advise,  get help.

I could have used one of those once.  Ding bat dogs would not let go.  I have a scar where one tooth sliced me to the joint on my thumb.  Still bothersome.

Good advice on how to deal with this situation best and hopefully safest.  I hope I remember even a kernel of it if the need ever comes up.  I just hope the need never does again.

i no only cook  i also master of Baxian (Eight-Immortals), sword. cook long time  maybe sweet and sour pitbull on bed of rice with green peppers? chop chop   light the stove 

Now that is a funny name singaporesam.......but on a serious note it was a good thing that you were around GARD never know when someone would have actually decided to help her.

 I haven't had any fights among my OWN dogs, I generally stay pretty on top of them. I get some posturing between my two 2-3 year old males at times but they're never near each other unsupervised and pretty good about listening. I HAVE worked with several clients with dogs that fight each other, and seen my share of dog fights. 

Good that everybody remained calm, I've seen people panic over what would have just been an argument, that then turns into a fight. THere is definitely a difference between an argument and a fight, not quite sure how to explain it. Arguments to me seem a lot more "show". There's noise and maybe even hair flying but no real damage being done. It's when the noise changes that I grow more worried. 

I used to always tell people to grab back legs/or back leg and tail and swing out on the aggressor. The last client I recommended doing that pulled on the leg and tail when her female attacked her male and she ended up with a dog with a broken leg and an animal hospital bill. I now don't tell people how to do it particularly. SHe never blamed me, but I don't risk it. I have used pepper spray type sprays before and on a medium intensity it can help, OR it can tick a dog off and make them more intense. Same with Direct stop citronella spray. Only stops the dogs that weren't sure they wanted to be at it in the first place. Break stick would have been nice:-) have used a hose and even thrown dogs in a pool before. Have used a blanket as well to get over one of the dogs so they can't see so well, it gives you at least a second or two of confusion to get them apart, and helps protect you. Of course, not everyone carries a blanket around. I've used physical barriers before, managed to get one on one side of a fence or door and close between them. And have choked out. I think you just do what it takes and try to avoid getting yourself injured or making the situation worse. There's no "one way" that does it perfectly. 

One thing I TRY to get into my head is once getting a hold of the attacker and pulling off, try good and quick to emergency muzzle (particularly if I have a leash in my hand). May make it worse if the other comes at them, but prevents further injury or injury to handler and gives a better chance to get the other dog off without injury. IF there's time and inclination. 

Good on you for helping that young lady. She must have been panicked and nobody was coming to aid. I'd be a bit wary with the breed and the propensity for the fighting, but wouldn't have been able to resist jumping in to help out either...definitely good on you!

If the litter all go for the same mate at once there is something they know that you dont.

JMO