How To Break Up A Dog Fight
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Sam Basso
PHOENIX , AZ AREA: (602) 708-4531
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How do you break up a dog fight? Here is my general game plan:
1.) NO SAFE WAY: there is no safe way to break up a fight. A person or dog can get hurt. So, the objective is to minimize risks and damages. If a dog comes at you, feed them something to bite, like a jacket, shirt, purse, etc. If you can’t handle the risk, then don’t get involved. No one can write an article that addresses every precaution and every solution, so you do this at your own peril. One of my students, a nurse, said they see patients on a regular basis that were bitten because they got in the middle of a dog fight. Don’t just impulsively reach in: you can become part of the fight and the dogs can turn on you. I know of someone who lost her fingers by reaching into a dog fight. EVERY dog has the potential to get in a fight with another dog. If you can’t accept that risk, then you should not own a dog. No one, not even the world’s best dog trainer, can make dogs not be dogs. If you get in between dogs that are fighting, or choose not to get in between dogs that are fighting, then that is a risk you have taken on and the consequences are on you. No one can predict the “what if’s” after a fight. You can do all the “right” things and still have a bad outcome. I have a past student that fostered a rescue dog. In a short time, one of their dogs killed that dog. No one could have predicted that. New dogs in the home, changes in lifestyle situations, and a myriad of other factors can take otherwise nice dogs and cause them to cross the threshold into a fight. Sometimes you can see the clues of what is building up, sometimes you can’t. A trigger that caused a past fight might not be the only trigger for future fights. You will typically address the causes of the last fights, but new unknown triggers can develop that you are unprepared for. A dog you own or know can change over time and not respond the way you saw them the last time, even last week. Some dogs don’t mix with some other dogs, and some breeds don’t mix well with other breeds. Changes in maturity, status, rank, health, group size, health, stress and other factors create multifactorial changes that can’t always be tracked. Sometimes the dog that usually starts the fight isn’t the one that will start the next fight. Some dogs will back down from a fight and some won’t. Some dogs can get out of their collars, harnesses and muzzles and still get in a fight. EVERY dog trainer, if they have trained enough dogs of a variety of breeds and situations, over a long period of time, are going to either experience a dog fight or be bitten by a dog. If that is true for dog trainers, then that is going to be a risk to you, as well. If fights and injuries can, and will, happen to trainers, then it can also happen to you and your dog. You get a dog and hire a dog trainer, don’t expect that they can prevent dogs from being dogs.
2.) STAY CALM: you have to take control of your emotions to assess how to get the dogs apart. Getting angry, yelling, getting hysterical will add to the intensity of the fight. A clear head is necessary… and very hard to maintain. Hitting a dog will make some dogs more aggressive. The better you know the dogs, the better you will know how to approach the fight. The less familiar you are with the dogs, the more uncertainty you will have as to how to get involved. If you have to reach in near the neck, choose the dog that is least likely to lash out at you. Some breeds, and some individual dogs, tend to lash out if you grab at them. This is also why you need to assess and reach in carefully.
3.) RESOURCES: look around for resources that you can use to break up the fight so you can take control of the scene. There is no way to anticipate every scene, however. No two incidents will be the same. Experience and judgment matter. Resources include barriers, the type of people you can use to assist, catch pole, water hose, swimming pool, noise makers, leash, collar, etc. You won’t always have such tools around or with you when the unexpected happens. Sometimes it helps to remove the thing they are fighting about… the bone, person, bed, toy, etc. The attempt to removes that thing could also redirect the fight towards you. Again, there is no guaranteed safe way to break up a fight.
4.) NO KIDS: get minors out of the area. Command them to leave, physically remove them if necessary. Give calm instructions to those around you.
5.) REMOVE THE SPECTATORS: If you have help, get any surrounding dogs away from the fight. A crowd adds to the fight. Sometimes the physical layout of where you are will prevent you from doing this.
6.) THREE IDEAS: Three general principles to stop a fight; a.) Startle: sometimes spraying a hose, dropping pans, etc. will cause a brief pause; some dogs can also be intimidated by the demeanor of some owners telling them to stop… some but not all. b.) Physical barrier: sometimes you can insert something between the dogs, such as a baby gate or sheet of plywood or fence; c.) Release: have adults grab each dog by the hind legs, lift the dogs back feet off the ground, and if that isn’t working try flipping them upside down… this sometimes causes the dogs to release their bite; or if a dog is locked on to another dog, the pit fighters would use a large wooden screwdriver to pry the jaws apart. Once apart, lead them away, check for injuries and get them treated professionally.
7.) LOCKED UP: if a dog’s jaws are locked onto a person or animal, if you just pull you’ll cause even more tearing and injuries that won’t heal properly. I watch a fight for a few seconds, which seems illogical unless you are there, to see if there is going to be a pause in the fight so you can separate the dogs. Many fights are dog bites one dog, other dog retaliates, then a pause, then repeat. During a pause you can get them apart. As a last resort, you can choke out a dog to make them pass out, using a leash. Sometimes calming the situation causes a dog to let go, too. A dog that has been trained to release on command is better able to let go, such as a police dog. Few dogs are going to stop a full on fight with a verbal command, however. In extreme cases, if a dog will not let go of a person, you might have to kill the dog to prevent the death of the person.
8.) COOL DOWN: People make the mistake of putting dogs back together too soon after a fight to see if they can make friends again… which never works. There needs to be a cool down, just like after people have fought. Sometimes you can put the dogs back together later, some dogs need to be kept separate until significant control is obtained from all dogs in the home and in public.
9.) TAKE RESPONSIBLITY: if you piss off the other person, then you get a lawsuit. If you act responsibly and remorseful, and offer to pay, that seems to be the best strategy. Obey the law. Get a lawyer if it is going to get into a legal battle.
10.) THERE IS NO GUARANTEED FORMULA FOR SAFETY: The above is my general game plan. It can change depending upon the circumstances, so you can’t set this stuff in stone. Wisdom and experience are the best defenses in unpredictable life situations. No two fights will be the same and no specific solution will work every time. This is why I say you need to stay calm and assess the fight before getting involved. I advise if you are going to an off leash park, to wait about 10 minutes outside the fence. Size up the people and the dogs first. Leave if you see tension, or the people look like low lifes, or the dogs are not getting along happily.
A lot of dog fights are because of stress, bad manners and competition. If you can’t get the dogs to be polite with one another, then you can’t do an introduction or assume that everything is going to remain social and peaceful. Sometimes all of this can’t be fixed, such as if there are 10 dogs living in a home. Crowding intensifies territoriality and competition and bad manners. A territory is where an animal lives and obtains its life resources. In times of famine or over population, wild animals will fight and force the weaker ones off the turf to go find their own territory. But, in a home, they are trapped so they fight and can kill one another. For some dogs, 2 is a crowd. There are other reasons, but this is an example. A good, professional dog behaviorist should be able to advise you more specifically, but don’t expect miracles. Dogs have a say in what happens. I’m truly sorry if this has happened with your dog. No one wants to see a dog get hurt.
Sam Basso is a professional dog trainer and behaviorist, in the Phoenix/ Scottsdale metropolitan area. He’s known for being fun, kind, intelligent, and humane. Sam Basso has a unique personal touch. He has appeared on his own TV show, been a guest radio expert, gives seminars, publishes a dog related blog, does rescue volunteering, and is active in promoting animal welfare and fair dog laws.
