Hello All,

May you all having a lovely seasonal holiday!

I didn't realized that dog fight could be serious until I saw one last night. I believe it was not the worst that I have seen and now I believe dogs can fight until death. Excuse me.

Now, I am start to worry about my safety and my dog's when we have a walk. If in an event of being involve a fight, what can I do to separate dogs harmlessly and efficiency?
I have read some advises on others which suggest to use, blanket, basket of water, and separation by 2 persons to pull dogs tail/ back legs.
However, is there any other method or product that I can use to protect myself and my dog?

Most pet stores and some outdoor stores sell pepper spray made for dogs (I think its called animal away but not sure). Its safe to use and is supposed to make the dogs stop. Although the best method is prevention. If you noticed two dogs don't seem to like each other, one person should take their dog and leave.

cinnamonbits wrote:

Most pet stores and some outdoor stores sell pepper spray made for dogs (I think its called animal away but not sure). Its safe to use and is supposed to make the dogs stop. Although the best method is prevention. If you noticed two dogs don't seem to like each other, one person should take their dog and leave.

Thank you for your advise, I have check that the place where we are, is illegal to carry pepper spray. So need to look for alternative.

If the fight is going on hard I'm afraid there is not many solutions. Like the previous poster said prevention should be the number one priority. You as an owner should be able to observe and prevent the fight before it even starts to be dangerous. (still/silent stares with the mouth closed are a big red flag)

If you see any red flag you move the dogs to different rooms. The other solution is trying to work with the dogs to get them to accept each other. But this requires very good knowledge of body language and constant supervision. And even with experienced people the worst can happen.

To answer your question, what to do when 2 dogs are fighting. It really deends on the dogs. Some will seperate easily as soon as someone raises their voice. Other dogs like pitbulls can and will fight to the death and will laugh at your Pepper spray.

When worst comes to worst you have to get in there and physically stop it. The best way to do this is to immobilize both dogs head until they let go. That way you prevent them from tearing each other apart. But you need two people to be able to do this properly on large dogs. If you are alone with 2 strong breeds there is sadly little you can do sometimes but get in there and make them stop by any means before they kill each other. An injured dog is better than a dead dog.

If you were expecting a nice trick to seperate two dogs there sadly isn't one. You can't stop 2 dogs from fighting without reasonable risk to your own safety and all you can do at this point is minimize the injuries the dog can do to each other. You will probably get bit during all this. And this is why prevention and puppy socialization so very important.

Rundown wrote:

If the fight is going on hard I'm afraid there is not many solutions. Like the previous poster said prevention should be the number one priority. You as an owner should be able to observe and prevent the fight before it even starts to be dangerous. (still/silent stares with the mouth closed are a big red flag)

If you see any red flag you move the dogs to different rooms. The other solution is trying to work with the dogs to get them to accept each other. But this requires very good knowledge of body language and constant supervision. And even with experienced people the worst can happen.

To answer your question, what to do when 2 dogs are fighting. It really deends on the dogs. Some will seperate easily as soon as someone raises their voice. Other dogs like pitbulls can and will fight to the death and will laugh at your Pepper spray.

When worst comes to worst you have to get in there and physically stop it. The best way to do this is to immobilize both dogs head until they let go. That way you prevent them from tearing each other apart. But you need two people to be able to do this properly on large dogs. If you are alone with 2 strong breeds there is sadly little you can do sometimes but get in there and make them stop by any means before they kill each other. An injured dog is better than a dead dog.

If you were expecting a nice trick to seperate two dogs there sadly isn't one. You can't stop 2 dogs from fighting without reasonable risk to your own safety and all you can do at this point is minimize the injuries the dog can do to each other. You will probably get bit during all this. And this is why prevention and puppy socialization so very important.

Appreciate your advise =)
I can't agree more that prevention is #1 solution.
no matter how well trained our beloved 4 legs friend, it does not mean others' are. Also from time to time, we meet other's dog shoot out from nowhere in the park and that worry me.I have just saw once Pit bull and Setter involves a fight, and It started to make me worried the safety of walk my dog in the park. Touch wood, if it have to be happen one day, it would be more likely that the victim is us, rather than others.

I have three dominate males in my home, so I'm on alert constantly with them and do my best to keep them separated.
Mind you, what I do may not be the safest or the correct way to stop a dog fight, but it works for us.

When they are together and if a fight happens to break out, I straddle one and pull him away from the other dog and my fiancé will usually grab the other one. I keep my distance so I don't get bit, which hasn't happened yet. Thankfully, I've only had two big dog fights and hope to not have anymore! I try my best to avoid things that cause fights to prevent them happening in the first place.

When my Dalmatian and Yorkie were younger, they use to get in bloody battles almost everyday. There were no warnings and nothing that triggered it, the Yorkie is just an ass and still is. Since their size difference was so great, I would just pick the Yorkie up and pull him off.

Most of the time you will be able to do something before it gets to a really bad point. One point that I did not stress in my last post is this. Remain calm and don't anticipate fights left and right.

Two dogs meeting each other can be a very tense affair. If you are tense or worried you could become the catalyst of the fight. Be calm, let things happen and observe. You should know your dog well enough to see if something is about to happen. You often have a few seconds before they go where you can startle them out of the fight with a strong Hey! (NOT a panicked hey!)

All this to say don't be worried as soon as you step out of your house with the dog. It'll just make things worse for everyone. If you are completely relaxed and looking forward to meeting people your dog will be able to do the same. If you are scared at the sight of any dog your dog will simply ''protect'' you.

Rundown wrote:

If the fight is going on hard I'm afraid there is not many solutions. Like the previous poster said prevention should be the number one priority. You as an owner should be able to observe and prevent the fight before it even starts to be dangerous. (still/silent stares with the mouth closed are a big red flag)

If you see any red flag you move the dogs to different rooms. The other solution is trying to work with the dogs to get them to accept each other. But this requires very good knowledge of body language and constant supervision. And even with experienced people the worst can happen.

To answer your question, what to do when 2 dogs are fighting. It really deends on the dogs. Some will seperate easily as soon as someone raises their voice. Other dogs like pitbulls can and will fight to the death and will laugh at your Pepper spray.

When worst comes to worst you have to get in there and physically stop it. The best way to do this is to immobilize both dogs head until they let go. That way you prevent them from tearing each other apart. But you need two people to be able to do this properly on large dogs. If you are alone with 2 strong breeds there is sadly little you can do sometimes but get in there and make them stop by any means before they kill each other. An injured dog is better than a dead dog.

If you were expecting a nice trick to seperate two dogs there sadly isn't one. You can't stop 2 dogs from fighting without reasonable risk to your own safety and all you can do at this point is minimize the injuries the dog can do to each other. You will probably get bit during all this. And this is why prevention and puppy socialization so very important.

I don't want to seem like I am picking on you, but there a few things in your post I do not agree with.

Many people on this forum know I have a VERY bitchy alpha female. She starts fights left and right, and trust me; I watch my dogs. They don't give you 5 minutes of stare down, lip bared before they go at it. And unless you have lived with a dog like mine; it's a lot easier said then done. You CANNOT always prevent fights. If you live in a multi dog household; fights can happen and you cannot rely on prevention to stop them.

I simply do NOT agree with the Pitbull analogy. Obviously you have not met an *actual* well trained Pit. You wanna see two dogs that won't stop with "raised voices"? Come check out my Siberian. I had to beat her and my mutt apart with a shoe; AFTER I had gotten bitten. That analogy just breeds the thoughts that drive BSL.

Do NOT go for a dogs head when they are fighting. That is a one way ticket to get yourself badly bitten. If you have two people, grab their legs and pull them away from each other. If you are by yourself; literally use whatever you have to break them up if they won't stop with you yelling at them. I've really only had ONE bad bitch fight where they both went at it and that was between my Sibe and my mutt. Like I said, I had to break them apart by beating them over the head with a shoe before they let go. It's not always that hard. When Sheba has gone for someone else without the second dog going back at them all I had to do was either pull her away or I have actually had to hit her. *If you haven't read my past posts, do not judge me on this*. Normally it doesn't escalate to that, but when push comes to shove, you do what you have to do. Most fighting situations, unless you have a crazy bitch like I do, don't escalate like the fights in my house have.

Like I said, socialization and prevention don't always "work".

Rundown wrote:

Most of the time you will be able to do something before it gets to a really bad point. One point that I did not stress in my last post is this. Remain calm and don't anticipate fights left and right.

Two dogs meeting each other can be a very tense affair. If you are tense or worried you could become the catalyst of the fight. Be calm, let things happen and observe. You should know your dog well enough to see if something is about to happen. You often have a few seconds before they go where you can startle them out of the fight with a strong Hey! (NOT a panicked hey!)

All this to say don't be worried as soon as you step out of your house with the dog. It'll just make things worse for everyone. If you are completely relaxed and looking forward to meeting people your dog will be able to do the same. If you are scared at the sight of any dog your dog will simply ''protect'' you.

Thank you for your "energy" theory. I go out with my dog confidently, but it would be graceful if I know how to protect my dog from harm.

Sheba&Kennedy wrote:

Rundown wrote:

If the fight is going on hard I'm afraid there is not many solutions. Like the previous poster said prevention should be the number one priority. You as an owner should be able to observe and prevent the fight before it even starts to be dangerous. (still/silent stares with the mouth closed are a big red flag)

If you see any red flag you move the dogs to different rooms. The other solution is trying to work with the dogs to get them to accept each other. But this requires very good knowledge of body language and constant supervision. And even with experienced people the worst can happen.

To answer your question, what to do when 2 dogs are fighting. It really deends on the dogs. Some will seperate easily as soon as someone raises their voice. Other dogs like pitbulls can and will fight to the death and will laugh at your Pepper spray.

When worst comes to worst you have to get in there and physically stop it. The best way to do this is to immobilize both dogs head until they let go. That way you prevent them from tearing each other apart. But you need two people to be able to do this properly on large dogs. If you are alone with 2 strong breeds there is sadly little you can do sometimes but get in there and make them stop by any means before they kill each other. An injured dog is better than a dead dog.

If you were expecting a nice trick to seperate two dogs there sadly isn't one. You can't stop 2 dogs from fighting without reasonable risk to your own safety and all you can do at this point is minimize the injuries the dog can do to each other. You will probably get bit during all this. And this is why prevention and puppy socialization so very important.

I don't want to seem like I am picking on you, but there a few things in your post I do not agree with.

Many people on this forum know I have a VERY bitchy alpha female. She starts fights left and right, and trust me; I watch my dogs. They don't give you 5 minutes of stare down, lip bared before they go at it. And unless you have lived with a dog like mine; it's a lot easier said then done. You CANNOT always prevent fights. If you live in a multi dog household; fights can happen and you cannot rely on prevention to stop them.

I simply do NOT agree with the Pitbull analogy. Obviously you have not met an *actual* well trained Pit. You wanna see two dogs that won't stop with "raised voices"? Come check out my Siberian. I had to beat her and my mutt apart with a shoe; AFTER I had gotten bitten. That analogy just breeds the thoughts that drive BSL.

Do NOT go for a dogs head when they are fighting. That is a one way ticket to get yourself badly bitten. If you have two people, grab their legs and pull them away from each other. If you are by yourself; literally use whatever you have to break them up if they won't stop with you yelling at them. I've really only had ONE bad bitch fight where they both went at it and that was between my Sibe and my mutt. Like I said, I had to break them apart by beating them over the head with a shoe before they let go. It's not always that hard. When Sheba has gone for someone else without the second dog going back at them all I had to do was either pull her away or I have actually had to hit her. *If you haven't read my past posts, do not judge me on this*. Normally it doesn't escalate to that, but when push comes to shove, you do what you have to do. Most fighting situations, unless you have a crazy bitch like I do, don't escalate like the fights in my house have.

Like I said, socialization and prevention don't always "work".

Would you mind to share what works the best for you when you were on your own? It's because I just took whatever seems helpful (I don't have much time to think), I used air spray which could produce very loud noise and I put it fairly close to the head areas. I used umbrella to hit the mouth who grab other's neck, but neither were good. Tried lift the dog's back legs too, but no help.

Sheba&Kennedy wrote:

Rundown wrote:

If the fight is going on hard I'm afraid there is not many solutions. Like the previous poster said prevention should be the number one priority. You as an owner should be able to observe and prevent the fight before it even starts to be dangerous. (still/silent stares with the mouth closed are a big red flag)

If you see any red flag you move the dogs to different rooms. The other solution is trying to work with the dogs to get them to accept each other. But this requires very good knowledge of body language and constant supervision. And even with experienced people the worst can happen.

To answer your question, what to do when 2 dogs are fighting. It really deends on the dogs. Some will seperate easily as soon as someone raises their voice. Other dogs like pitbulls can and will fight to the death and will laugh at your Pepper spray.

When worst comes to worst you have to get in there and physically stop it. The best way to do this is to immobilize both dogs head until they let go. That way you prevent them from tearing each other apart. But you need two people to be able to do this properly on large dogs. If you are alone with 2 strong breeds there is sadly little you can do sometimes but get in there and make them stop by any means before they kill each other. An injured dog is better than a dead dog.

If you were expecting a nice trick to seperate two dogs there sadly isn't one. You can't stop 2 dogs from fighting without reasonable risk to your own safety and all you can do at this point is minimize the injuries the dog can do to each other. You will probably get bit during all this. And this is why prevention and puppy socialization so very important.

I don't want to seem like I am picking on you, but there a few things in your post I do not agree with.

Many people on this forum know I have a VERY bitchy alpha female. She starts fights left and right, and trust me; I watch my dogs. They don't give you 5 minutes of stare down, lip bared before they go at it. And unless you have lived with a dog like mine; it's a lot easier said then done. You CANNOT always prevent fights. If you live in a multi dog household; fights can happen and you cannot rely on prevention to stop them.

I simply do NOT agree with the Pitbull analogy. Obviously you have not met an *actual* well trained Pit. You wanna see two dogs that won't stop with "raised voices"? Come check out my Siberian. I had to beat her and my mutt apart with a shoe; AFTER I had gotten bitten. That analogy just breeds the thoughts that drive BSL.

Do NOT go for a dogs head when they are fighting. That is a one way ticket to get yourself badly bitten. If you have two people, grab their legs and pull them away from each other. If you are by yourself; literally use whatever you have to break them up if they won't stop with you yelling at them. I've really only had ONE bad bitch fight where they both went at it and that was between my Sibe and my mutt. Like I said, I had to break them apart by beating them over the head with a shoe before they let go. It's not always that hard. When Sheba has gone for someone else without the second dog going back at them all I had to do was either pull her away or I have actually had to hit her. *If you haven't read my past posts, do not judge me on this*. Normally it doesn't escalate to that, but when push comes to shove, you do what you have to do. Most fighting situations, unless you have a crazy bitch like I do, don't escalate like the fights in my house have.

Like I said, socialization and prevention don't always "work".

Did you even read my post?

Where did I talk about 5 minutes of teeth baring and staredown? I only said that if you see two dogs that suddenly become silent and stare at each other is a red flag. A red flag in my book means that you must immediately take action to prevent the fight. This can be half a second after the meeting. You are putting words in my mouth.

I supervise a pack of 12-15 dogs on a weekly basis. Only once did I have to separate 2 dogs before they killed each other. And prevention stopped at least 20 fights from even starting. I did not have to beat the dogs. I called for help and what we did was simply get a hold a both dog's necks and stopped them for making the tearing motion until they let go. I did not say go for the face. I said immobilize it. If you have a strong grip on the scruff of the neck you are controlling the mouth and can prevent a bite. Again, you are putting words in my mouth.

You do not agree with my pitbull analogy. And you say that a properly trained pitbull will let go and that your dogs are crazy and will not stop. ANY properly trained dog will let go and even avoid the fight altogether. Pitbull, Siberians, Chihuahuas you name it. All your argument is saying to me is that both of your dogs are poorly trained. And any poorly trained dog will get into fights. Having said that i'd much rather meet an untrained husky that will run when it knows it is at a disadvantage than an untrained pitbull that fights to the death.

Prevention and socialization work when done properly. It's how it's been done for what... centuries? Now if your dog truly has mental problems I can understand that it will not work. But then it raises other questions. If your dog is insane why put other dogs in danger when you know there is going to be a fight. Either work with the illness or if you can't then find someone who can.

And by the way Pulling on the legs will only aggravate the bite and can cause major injuries that can follow the dog for the rest of it's life. I wouldn't advise it.

Rundown wrote:

And by the way Pulling on the legs will only aggravate the bite and can cause major injuries that can follow the dog for the rest of it's life. I wouldn't advise it.

Actually two people pulling the back legs of each dog is one of the most efficient ways of stopping a fight.. in my experience it throws them off balance and you can pull them away from each other safely. I believe Kelsey has good reason to question some of your methods, after actively trying to break up a dog fight I know how INCREDIBLY hard it is just to grab a back leg, much less try to get myself in the middle to grab a scruff, and I'd rather not stick my hand in the middle of a fight, if someone else tried that IMO its a good way to get bit.

And I wouldn't call other peoples dogs "poorly trained", especially when thats laughable since they are working on various training methods on said dog which you know nothing about, because they provide you with personal experience of how your methods wouldn't work for them. I just find it rude IMO, sometimes on the forum words can seem a bit harsher than they're meant though so perhaps you didn't mean it as rudely as it seemed to me.

Husky women hath spoken! LOL! Wasn't there a video posted a few months ago with demonstrations about breaking up dog fights? It covered dogs you know and dogs you don't know how not to get bit and so on. If anyone more savvy than me could find it, it may be of some help.

Rundown wrote:

Did you even read my post?

Where did I talk about 5 minutes of teeth baring and staredown? I only said that if you see two dogs that suddenly become silent and stare at each other is a red flag. A red flag in my book means that you must immediately take action to prevent the fight. This can be half a second after the meeting. You are putting words in my mouth.

I supervise a pack of 12-15 dogs on a weekly basis. Only once did I have to separate 2 dogs before they killed each other. And prevention stopped at least 20 fights from even starting. I did not have to beat the dogs. I called for help and what we did was simply get a hold a both dog's necks and stopped them for making the tearing motion until they let go. I did not say go for the face. I said immobilize it. If you have a strong grip on the scruff of the neck you are controlling the mouth and can prevent a bite. Again, you are putting words in my mouth.

You do not agree with my pitbull analogy. And you say that a properly trained pitbull will let go and that your dogs are crazy and will not stop. ANY properly trained dog will let go and even avoid the fight altogether. Pitbull, Siberians, Chihuahuas you name it. All your argument is saying to me is that both of your dogs are poorly trained. And any poorly trained dog will get into fights. Having said that i'd much rather meet an untrained husky that will run when it knows it is at a disadvantage than an untrained pitbull that fights to the death.

Prevention and socialization work when done properly. It's how it's been done for what... centuries? Now if your dog truly has mental problems I can understand that it will not work. But then it raises other questions. If your dog is insane why put other dogs in danger when you know there is going to be a fight. Either work with the illness or if you can't then find someone who can.

Well, obviously I read it if I replied to it. Seeing that I am STILL not savvy enough to know how the multi quote button works, I'll just have to answer the old fashioned way .

That was a thing called "sarcasm". I know full and well dogs don't stare for 5 full minutes. What I meant by that was that sometimes the signals are so small and so quick, you miss them. I definitely was *not* putting words in your mouth, but if that is how you wish to see it, fine by me.

Okay you said you "called for help". Uh sorry, I don't have help, and a majority of people do not/will not. I simply cannot and will not condone "immobilizing" a dog by the scruff. If they are thrashing around, are you really going to stick your hand in by trying to grab them by the scruff?? Cause I sure as hell won't and I would never suggest that to someone else. You are also making the assumption that a dog instantly thrashes when it grabs on to another dog. They don't. Sheba has grabbed on to Luna's muzzle and just "locked her jaw" for lack of better term. So tell me how grabbing her scruff is going to get her to "let go"? Cause it won't. All I am illistrating is that you are painting all "dog fights" as the same scenario/reaction. They are not and you seem to be missing that.

I'm glad you haven't had any fights; but that doesn't mean anything. I'm glad you don't have an insecure alpha female who has resource guarding issues and I'm glad you don't have a female that lived a majority of her 1st year of life in a kennel and has no idea how to read body language, and I'm glad you don't have bitches who are fighting for their pack order. Must be nice.

You know; it's quiet easy to judge someone from behind a keyboard, isn't it? You know absolutely nothing about me, my life, my dogs, their past, what I do; anything. Yet you feel you have the right to say my dogs are poorly trained. Hah. If you want to think that, that's just fine and dandy. I was about to explain the situation to you, but guess what? I don't have to, and I won't. Go ahead and judge me and my dogs that are "poorly trained". That says more about you then me anyway.

And for the record, I NEVER said prevention and socialization don't "work". I'm saying it's not the end all to dog to dog problems you are saying it is.

Grizzly&Charcoal wrote:

Would you mind to share what works the best for you when you were on your own? It's because I just took whatever seems helpful (I don't have much time to think), I used air spray which could produce very loud noise and I put it fairly close to the head areas. I used umbrella to hit the mouth who grab other's neck, but neither were good. Tried lift the dog's back legs too, but no help.

Most of the time stomping towards them and making a loud noise will break them up; but there have been a few times it doesn't work. Sometimes you do have to use whatever you have available. I have read in some articles that popping them between the eyes will get them to release; but who has that good of aim? I know I don't! So a lot of the time pulling the aggressor away by their legs works; but only if one is aggressing and the other is just kind of taking it, know what I'm trying to say??

On walks, I've have offleash dogs attack me out of no where before I even saw them. What I do then is again; whatever I can. Having three dogs though, what tends to happen is the dog goes for one of the girls, and the other two go after that dog which tends to make the off leash dog back off and then I can grab my girls' leashes and keep them close to me and body block the other dog. I also carry a citronella spray with me on walks that has come in handy. Remember, in the moment, you will do anything you can to protect your dog and that is PERFECTLY fine. I have kicked a dog away from mine. When you really get in the moment, all common sense goes out the window and your momma/papa bear instinct comes out and you do what is necessary to protect your "own". As long as you don't reach in get your arm tore to shit; do what you have to, honestly.

There isn't really a "how to" honestly; there are a lot of things you *can* do, but when the moment comes; you really don't remember anything you learned lol.

My old neighbor always walked with a stick because she was afraid of dogs possibly attacking her and her small children on walks. If you are worried i would adopt a very nice walking stick. They are great for beating the crap out of an attacking dog.

I tend to have off leash dogs come up to me and my dog on walks when she is on a leash, but it's my dog that is the aggressor in basically all situations. Yelling at the off leash dog can make the off leash dog keep distance a little better. In some cases the dog is too stupid to stay away and I will throw gravel. Small dogs tend to be my issue more than large dogs and I can pick Kenzi up and kick a small dog away before a fight breaks out, but large dogs have been an issue too before and when we have had a large dog fight I have had to pin Kenzi and use the heavy loop end on her leash to whip the other dog in the face. It's different though when your dog is the instigator rather than the victim. I've yet to have to deal with Kenzi not having the upper hand in a fight.