Breaking up dog fights - Page 1

Had this happen today and thought I would give put it out there and give people some advice.............

I am with my dog at a school. This school is a K-6 and High school on the same grounds. It is huge. I was going to go into the K-6 field and saw a young woman going there with two pit bulls. I have seen this girl walking the neighborhood before but with only one. So I go over to the high school side.

Well about 15 minutes later, I can hear this girl yelling at her dogs. I first thought she had let them loose and they were not comming back. The K-6 school field is sunkin from the HS so I could not see them. This went on for about a minute. I could see a couple people looking through the fence but still dodn't think much of it. Then I could see her arm come up with a leash in it so I knew she was hitting something. So I stand up and then I hear her call for help. I thought, "oh shit, I hope those dogs are not on her."

I was in a pickle because I had my dog, and no where to post her out. So I jumped the fence to the baseball diamond and started running to my truck which was over 600 yards away. A guy is running on the track (bigger than I was) and started waving me down to help the girl. He was giving no indication of being willing to help. I yelled at him and asked if the dogs were on the young lady. He said, "I don't know." So I throw Piston in the back of my truck and ran down to the girl, another 500-600 yards away.

Luckily the dogs were just fighting each other. The girl had been bit and was bleeding from her hand and arm. The dogs were locked pretty good. One had a leash on it, the other did not. So I told the girl to grab the leash of the one dog. I ran my leash under the neck of the other dog and put the clasp end through the handle to make a slip lead. I pulled the dog up and choked it off the other dog. I checked the girls injuries, then the dogs. All were minor. One dog was a 10 year old male (her dog) the other a young female (boyfriends) the female was the aggressor and was getting the better of the old guy. I took control of the female dog and walked the girl back to her home.

Con't

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

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

Last thing, please do not hijack this thread into anti-bull breed rhetoric or cast out oh holier than thou opinion of this young woman. Dogs are dogs. These things happen.

I was amazed at how well this young lady did in the situation. She was no more than 25, 5'4 125 lbs. She remained calm, did her best, and called for help. She had leashes for both dogs. Both dogs showed zero aggression towards either of us, during the fight or after. Both dogs were obviously well taken care of. Her dog was 10, altered, and had a large scar from a surgery, so she obvioulsly loved and cared for her dog. She said, "I should have known better but it was such a nice day and I was home alone, so I figured I would take the dogs out."

She thanked me many times during the walk home and I am sure she learned her lesson. So again, please share any experience you may have but lets not breed bash or bash this young woman. She did a great job considering the circumstances.

Hope this may help someone who finds themselves in a similar situation.

Take care.

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. 

You are right it could have happened to anyone of us. I use to have 2 that would get into it 1 time a year. The female usally just let the jerk have his way but there were times she just had enough of his bullying and would take no more crap from him.

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

Rezkat5,

You are right. The best way to do it to minimize injury to the dogs is to use a break stick. Then you don't have to lift the dog for a long period of time and the dogs don't tear as much flesh. I don't know anyone who carries a break stick. Seen some Bulldog people carry them at a bulldog show I went to once.

I usually carry a 10 inch yawara stick ( I am an impact weapons instructor) but I was in basketball shorts with no pockets so I didn't have it on me.

When it comes to choking a dog out, you do not have to string it up. I should have been more descriptive. I think the best way  is to step around the front of the dogs head, pull slightly up and forward into the other dog. What I did was anchor the dog to the ground by using my knee on her on shoulder blade then pulled up and forward. Dogs feet never left the ground.

In the end though, you just do what you gotta do. Often times that is just leave it be. The dogs more likely than not, work it out themselves or get exhausted enough to make things easier. Most people are not able to do that though.

Again, most of the time (unless you are dealing with bull breeds or very hard dogs) they will work it out and like I said can fight for a long time without seriously hurting themselves. But of course if we can we want to break it up to minimize injury to the animals (and hopefully ourselves)

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.