Is there a good way to break up a dog fight?

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BBP

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I’m lucky in that my little collie generally causes no offence to other dogs and in 2.5 years has barely had a cross word with anyone. Til today. Out walking and met an older lady with two offlead collies ahead of her, one wearing a muzzle. They locked the collie eye onto mine, who was on a long line but reeled in to being at heel. Then muzzled collie launched at mine and tried to get stuck in. Obviously mine on a lead so couldn’t get away tried to defend himself and they were fighting round my partners ankles as I tried to grab hold of the attacker. Second dog also leaping in and out but not really nasty. My partner eventually lifted mine up and me and the lady got hold of muzzled dog. I thought later that I’d been told to grab hind legs of an attacking dog of possible as they are effectively rear wheel drive.

She told us she never usually met anyone on this walk so usually it’s fine having him off lead. She did thank us for not being horrible to her about it, if her dog had actually injured mine I may not have been so cool. I’m very glad she had it muzzled. We met them again at the other end of the loop and thankfully it was on lead this time but it was thrashing away trying to get away from her and go for mine, even at a distance of 30m. I felt for her having such a reactive dog, but given I keep my friendly dog on a long line as his recall isn’t great I was a bit resentful that hers was off lead when it’s clearly pretty bad.
 
It's really hard to know what to do in the heat of the moment.
The grabbing legs thing is fine unless the dog whips round and gets you instead.

My older dog is always on a lead as he is not social and has been attacked multiple times. Really winds me up when others are so inconsiderate.

I usually use voice when they are approaching (you can tell when they aren't coming over to 'say hi'), my body to block him, or if I have anyhing to hand, stick, surplus of lead, I will use it. Not my problem if someone else cannot control their dog.

My trainer always advised making a ligature of something and putting it high around the neck of the aggressor and lifting them up and out of the situation.
He had to do that once when another dog attacked mine, he just lifted it vertical and handed it back to the owner in a very businesslike fashion!!! Thank goodness he was there that day, it's really not pleasant to be in the middle of two dogs when the other owner is miles away and useless.

Always give the dog something to do immediately afterwards. Sit, stand, down, heeling, whatever.

Mind him with others for a while and try and give him a good positive experience soon.
 
CorvusCorax said:
It's really hard to know what to do in the heat of the moment.
The grabbing legs thing is fine unless the dog whips round and gets you instead.

My older dog is always on a lead as he is not social and has been attacked multiple times. Really winds me up when others are so inconsiderate.

I usually use voice when they are approaching (you can tell when they aren't coming over to 'say hi'), my body to block him, or if I have anyhing to hand, stick, surplus of lead, I will use it. Not my problem if someone else cannot control their dog.

My trainer always advised making a ligature of something and putting it high around the neck of the aggressor and lifting them up and out of the situation.
He had to do that once when another dog attacked mine, he just lifted it vertical and handed it back to the owner in a very businesslike fashion!!! Thank goodness he was there that day, it's really not pleasant to be in the middle of two dogs when the other owner is miles away and useless.

Always give the dog something to do immediately afterwards. Sit, stand, down, heeling, whatever.

Mind him with others for a while and try and give him a good positive experience soon.
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Great advice thank you. I did try voice of death as it came towards but nothing in my hands sadly. About 30 secs after the fight we came across another pair of adult collies and a puppy. Whilst we didn’t let them actually meet (all on leads and us social distancing) he did sit and wait nicely a few meters away whilst we chatted (and whilst I told them to watch out for the other collies ahead). And actually when we met the lady for the second time she had the muzzled one on a lead and pulled it well off the track and out of the way, she couldn’t get the other dog to recall, so that one came up to mine and touched noses without any aggression so hopefully mine isn’t too traumatised as he didn’t have a pop at it.
 
There's a woman round here with a dog called RUPERTRUPERTRUPERT (apparently) who lets it run up to other dogs and headbutt them through his muzzle.

The last time I met them I leant down and ROARED at Rupert and he turned tail and fled. As his owner and her mate walked past I said 'maybe you should try that' and she laughed....
 
No- basically! The aggression is very easily misdirected to you :( If yours is Small enough to scoop out of the commotion by its collar or a slip lead at arms length that’s what I’d do, but don’t put your hand down by the action to put it on.
 
I don’t think there is one way that’s easier than another. When your adrenaline is up, you do what you can to protect your dog. Just always remember to protect yourself though, aggression can be redirected to you in the heat of the moment.

If the dogs at home have had a squabble, shouting WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STOP THAT really loudly has usually worked. Outside though, it can be different. The only serious dog on dog attack I’ve had was with an Akita and there was no stopping that bloody thing!! I finished up hitting it with the branch of a tree and then got a gobfull off the owner for hitting his dog.
 
Back legs up and back like a wheelbarrow. Stops you from being bitten. Only works if one dog is attacking and the other trying to escape. If you've 2 going at it the other will just come in for more.
And even in the heat of the moment, do not drag the other dog off - gently up and back with the back legs.
Failing that, feet anywhere you can and a lot of noise from you.
 
Someone (quite rightly, IMO) booted Zak yesterday. His dog was on the lead and the OH put Zak into a sit which he normally holds. For once, he didn’t and went for the on lead dog. The other owner booted him, gave my OH a mouthful and threatened to effing kill Zak next time.

I wish I’d been with him, I normally run interference, headed off a bearded collie today that came galloping over. I’m dreading walking him this week while the OH is on nights. There hasn’t been an incident since a young bulldog ran under him a year ago. We’re very careful but I can’t run like the OH can so I’ll take him into the gated playground if we need to escape.

I don’t want to have to get physically involved. A bloke did that with the Akita x that bit Brig. Dog slashed open his arm, he needed a lot of stitches.

Hope your little one is OK, BBP.
 
i think, as I believe they say in the army, that no plan survives the first shot fired.
I used to have to deal with many a fight when I lived in Oz and unless the dogs have actually locked on to each other I cannot imagine them being quiet and calm enough for you pick one up by its back legs? And if they had locked on it would not have helped, bar maybe ripping the caught dogs skin.
I used to quite happily kick or beat an aggressive dog. And I'm pretty loud.
Our two middle bitches had a set to in the garden yesterday (one found an egg) and a pretty solid 'Oi' Calmed things down immediately.
 
Clodagh said:
i think, as I believe they say in the army, that no plan survives the first shot fired.
I used to have to deal with many a fight when I lived in Oz and unless the dogs have actually locked on to each other I cannot imagine them being quiet and calm enough for you pick one up by its back legs? And if they had locked on it would not have helped, bar maybe ripping the caught dogs skin.
I used to quite happily kick or beat an aggressive dog. And I'm pretty loud.
Our two middle bitches had a set to in the garden yesterday (one found an egg) and a pretty solid 'Oi' Calmed things down immediately.
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I think being pulled up and back by the back legs makes them let go - presumably in an effort to get whatever has hold of their back legs... I don't know but it does actually work from personal experience
 
It depends on the size of the dogs.
My first dog when I was a teenager quite enjoyed a fight, he was not very big and if the other dog was the same sort of size I would get them both by their scruffs and hold them to the floor till they released.
Big dogs I used to wade in kicking them both-not sure that was the wisest course of action but it did seem to work.
One place I worked at they had 2 large dogs that occasionally would go at each other hammer and tongs and we would turn the hose on them- if you could aim the jet at their faces it was particularly sucessful- a watering can is good too, on occasssions the owner would set about the warring dogs with a broom
 
Cinnamontoast said:
Someone (quite rightly, IMO) booted Zak yesterday. His dog was on the lead and the OH put Zak into a sit which he normally holds. For once, he didn’t and went for the on lead dog. The other owner booted him, gave my OH a mouthful and threatened to effing kill Zak next time.
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You won’t be letting Zak off the lead again, will you?
 
Tiddlypom said:
You won’t be letting Zak off the lead again, will you?
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Only if there are no other dogs. We’re lucky in that there aren’t many others around currently. Zak is very high energy, he needs to work. Today, we did search work once the little bull terrier as safely past us. I don’t want to do 2 walks a day, so both are going to the park with me. They’ve locked the playground so I’m keeping away from the field and staying in the rough bit.
 
I saw something on FB at the weekend about a pit bull attacking a beagle. In the end they put a hose on the dog which helped. They were beating it over the head with an iron bar. Apparently its an old wives tale that pit bulls and staffies have jaws that lock. They don't, they have jaws and bone structure as other dogs with no special locking mechanisms or special enzymes.

What makes them this lethal is their psychology, which is why you can not train even the most biddable dogs to hang on a rope. The jaws of a pit bull do not technically lock but pit bulls often grab hold of their target and refuse to let go they have loads of determination and its this trait that can make it seem like they have a locking jaw when they bite down on something and are determined not to release it.

When my dog won't let go of her tennis ball i place my finger on her tongue and gently press down and she lets go then! I am sure if you were able to do that it would work, but trouble is, in a fight the dogs are moving very fast, shaking their heads from side to side, and its practically impossible to intervene.

This is a break stick and is placed between the teeth, here is the description: Break Sticks or parting sticks are used to pry open the jaws of stubborn biters. It is placed behind the molers and rotated to open the dogs jaws without causing injury. If you have a dog aggressive canine (especially Terriers), or if you are a dog trainer, you should have one of these break sticks handy. **The K-9 Center is unconditionally against dog fighting. This item is used to open the jaws of dogs that are biting some person or another animal that is in excruciating pain. *Leather thong is used to hang in a convenient location Do not place thong on wrist, doing so may cause injury if you need to let go.

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Lots of breeds have firm, full, grips and plenty who will hang onto a rope or anything else, my older dog would dangle from a rag with all feet off the floor when he was a tiny baby puppy, it's a prey bite, a canine doesn't kill any sort of prey using it's front set of teeth.

Break sticks are normally used in dog fighting and in a situation where a dog is holding onto a human (in some police forces and armies, tactical dogs are not trained to let go, it has to be done manually), very few dog fights in the park will see a dog latch on like that.

However as you acknowledge it would be extremely foolhardy for a 'civilian' to put your hands anywhere near a dog's mouth when there is a fight ongoing. I put my hands in my dog's mouth if they are being stubborn in letting something go, but they are trained that when my hand goes on something they are holding, or in their mouth, not to put any sort of pressure on. I've done it with other people's dogs and have come away bleeding. In a dog fight I would probably lose a finger or two. The danger is when you go in with hands or a handheld implement on the business end of a strange dog, they will probably redirect onto you.
 
A rope noose catch pole... Like these.

If you can't get the noose around the aggressor's neck, you might get it around his back legs, and the pole keeps it out of biting distance of you and your dog.
 
CorvusCorax said:
Lots of breeds have firm, full, grips and plenty who will hang onto a rope or anything else, my older dog would dangle from a rag with all feet off the floor when he was a tiny baby puppy, it's a prey bite, a canine doesn't kill any sort of prey using it's front set of teeth.

I think what the article was suggesting was that you can train the type of dog I suggested to hang off a rope for minutes at a time, you can't get your average labrador or collie to do the same.
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Nope, it's not what they are for, Labradors/gundogs must have a soft mouth, collies don't have to use their mouths for anything really (apart for darting in and nailing you with the front teeth when your back is turned, only joking lol :p) so it's a moot point.

A lot of the European herding breeds which have pivoted into service roles, lurchers, some of the more athletic bull breeds, anything genetically included to chase, grab and hold, could be trained to do the same, if one was so inclined. Police dogs have to hang on to someone they've detained and wait for their handlers to catch up, etc.

Anyhoo, luckily you're extremely unlikely to have a pitbull attack your dog, very few pet dogs will bite and hold on during a scuffle in the park, it's more of a darting back and forth, trying to get fly bites in here and there, type of situation.
 
My doberman/kelpie that I had in Oz used to hang on for grim death. He never started a fight but if one turned up he was willing to give it his all. He didn't have the jaw musculature of a bull breed but it was still very hard to get him off. I could push his lips over his back teeth and prize, which sometimes worked, or push more of the other dog into his mouth and woggle. He never bit me but I did get the odd pressure cut.
 
I could-but wouldn’t-lift Zak off the floor if he was playing tug. They both retrieve game without damaging it, but getting a ball out of Bear’s mouth can be a challenge. Funny pair. They do have a release word. I can shove my hand in their mouths, take anything from them, but as CC says, I wouldn’t fancy my chances with an unknown dog.
 
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