Breaking up a dog fight
“At the last weekend's trial, her husband [of our mutual acquaintance] came with both hands completely bandaged. He broke up a fight between his Bernese Mountain Dog and a visiting Australian Shepherd. He lost the tip in a finger in the process.” Has any of you been faced with the experience of breaking up a dog fight? Somewhere I’ve read the following description of the proper way to break up a fight. I wonder if anyone else has run across this or has any comments. I don’t know how effective it is but it seems safer than getting into the middle of things. Preferably two people are involved. Each grabs the hind legs of one of the dogs and backs away from the other in a circular manner. I suspect the purpose of the circular maneuver is to prevent the dog from turning on you. Something to think about if you frequent dog parks. |
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| You have to be careful when breaking up a dog fight as both dogs can turn on you, if my dog is involved I will certainly break up the fight as best I can and fortunately up up until now I have come out unharmed. I know of the holding up the back legs, this makes the dog lose their sense of balance so I have been told, and I have used this method a couple of times. Fortunately the sheepies are really peaceful dogs and fights seldom happen.  |
| For dogs who aren't intent on the kill, a load, booming, authorative voice (" KNOCK IT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!") can break it up long enough for owners to swoop in and grab the offenders. It's worth a quick first try.
Whatever you do, no loud, high pitched screaming and so on no matter how upset you are (OK, George, somehow I can't see you getting all girly squeamish, but you know what I mean  - nothing to add fuel to the situation and egg them on) If you are going to have any hope of breaking this up just with your voice, you have to BELIEVE they WILL obey you, or else! Now is not the time to be timid or polite. If you can't speak calmly and authoratively, SHUT UP.
The only time I had to break up a fight was when I was housesitting for some friends for a month many years ago. They had warned me that two of their bitches would get into it every so often and with the change in situation (me instead of their owners), I probably should have noticed the tension building between the two of them, but I didn't. I was sitting around in the kitchen one evening when they exploded into one of those notorious bitch-fights you only read about (you hope!) I was NOT going to stick my hands in there, but I wasn't about to let them tear each other up either, so I got up, grabbed the chair I was sitting on, pushed it between them until they were forced to let go of each other and then continued pushing until I could get to the sliding glass door where I promptly pushed the offending bitch out onto the back porch. The bitch she attacked had a tiny cut on one ear, but that was the extent of it. I let them cool off for about 30 minutes, kept them separated that night, and the remaining two weeks were uneventful. Unfortunately, you don't always have furniture handy, but grab a garbage can or whatever is handy if you can. Kristine |
| I used to work on a farm where two of the dogs used to fight most days. The owner used to throw waterover them and the shock (especially in the winter) used to make them stop.
Not much good though if you are out and about Unless you carry a bucket of water with you!! |
| Violet, OES used to attack China, Aussie often. I never would get in the middle, but it was scarey. I would just give commands to stop! They would always have this altercation under my kitchen table for whatever reason. My hubby tried to jump in and stop them one time and I told him not to. He could get really hurt. Since Zazzee (Asia) has come to live with us, China is no longer afraid of Violet, or is Zazzee...and there have been no new attacks. Violet has changed for the better. She will now play nice with both Aussies. tg.
Please do not put yourself in the middle of it all....make noise, cry, spray water, whatever it takes but please don't get hurt. |
| Leerburg (they breed and trains dog for protection) describes the method you mentioned-
http://leerburg.com/pdf/howtobreakupdogfight.pdf With the amount of damage you've indicated, these dogs were focused on doing serious harm to one another. It was a very dangerous situation that he got in the middle of and I'm so sorry for his injuries. I can totally understand what he did though... you see your dog being harmed and the only thing you can think of is stopping the fight now. Big furniture (I've used this successfully too) or a hose usually aren't an option in most public situations. |
| Thanks Jaci for the link. I'm surprised I remembered the procedure as accurately as I did. Lot of good stuff there on dealing with dominance as well as agression.
Ron this might be a good link to post as a stiky in Behavior - a good resource to solve many of the behavior problems posted. |
| Thanks, I have never thought of how I would have handled a situation like this. Now I know! |
| I always thought I'd have to throw stones to a dog that was hurting my dog (just being honest ...I could never sit there and watch my babies get hurt as they're as passive as can be and wouldn't hurt anyone) but I agree that this is good to know. I'll have to pass it along to my husband. |
| The yank from behind method worked well for us when we needed it. One important part to stress: make sure the pulling apart is somewhat equal so one isn't taking sucker shots at the other. |
| Sad to say we have had a few!
Water was the worst......then you had mad, wet dogs! A blanket sometimes works....break the eye contact! We did have one where one of the dogs was latched on to the others ear and thank goodness there were two of us here. I had one dog, Marty had the other and I pinched mines nose so he had to take a breath and then I grabbed him back! Hope nobody ever needs to use this info but, it can happen. |
| Working with dogs every day unfortunately or fortunately includes dog fights quite often.
Yelling definitely does not work, yelling increases their frustration, which will not stop the fighting but make it worse. Water works on some dogs... So far what works the best for me is to pick up the back legs of the dog - not their feet! - that is attacking. This will make him look back to see what is going on and while he is turning away the other dog can get away. As soon as you have the attacker's attention, grab his collar and give him a time out/put him on leash/kennel/away, etc. |
I have never had this happen thank God. But years ago me, hubby and the kids had been out for the day, really lovely time at the zoo. Came back home and I let my yorkie into our back garden, there was a bl..dy Airedale in the garden. my yorkie went running down the garden barking and it pounced on her. I kicked the dog and screamed enough to wake the dead, the dog dropped my yorkie I grabbed her and turned my back on the Airedale. The dog bit my leg trying to grab the yorkie out of my arms. By this time hubby and the bloke next door had chased the dog back over the gardens! The yorkie was howling I could feel something hot running down my leg and I was sure the yorkie was seriously injured! She wasnt bless her she had weed in her terror. I had teeth marks and the yorkie had a scratch. I reported the incident to the police an the people had to control the dog. We spent a fortune putting up fences, and the people moved a few weeks later.  |
Prof. Boni wrote: So far what works the best for me is to pick up the back legs of the dog - not their feet! - that is attacking. I definitely need to see a video of this. |
Ron wrote: Prof. Boni wrote: So far what works the best for me is to pick up the back legs of the dog - not their feet! - that is attacking. I definitely need to see a video of this. I get my crew and some dogs, get everybody is position and yell: "ACTION!" then "CUT!"
Sounds good? 
Seriously, I tried to find one on youtube but couldn't. |
| When I was a kid I watched my Dad break up a dog fight very easily - he threw handfuls of black pepper into the melee & the dogs began sneezing so much the fight ended! |
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