Dogs and Fighting – A Primer Part I

This weekend we walked to an unofficial off-leash dog area in our neighborhood to allow our girl to engage in her favorite pastime – patrolling for squirrels. Apparently, Lady believes it is her mission in life to keep squirrels in their trees. Though she gets along with well mannered dogs, her mission doesn’t leave much room for frolicking with them.

This visit started off like most others. She bounded into the area and made a quick scan for squirrels on the ground. Not seeing any, she deigned to greet a couple of new dogs, and was about to move on to more serious squirrel scouting when she was attacked by two other dogs.

Though we managed to get the dogs off her quickly and she escaped with a minor scrape on her head, it made me think of several things I would have liked to teach the owner of the two instigators. However, they beat a hasty retreat while my husband and I were still examining Lady for injury.

Here is what I would have told them. First and foremost, everyone who owns a dog and unleashes it around other dogs should know how to break up a dog fight safely. That is the topic of this article.

After five years of daily trips to dog parks, I know two things for sure. One person can not break-up a dog fight alone and if one person tries, he risks as much or more injury to him as to the dogs involved. The injury might even be due to a bite from his dog.

The most common mistake I see is a person reaching to grab the collar of one of the fighting dogs. When dogs are fighting, they are hyper aroused and any sudden motion from a new direction may well be perceived as another attacker. In the chaos of flashing teeth and lunging dogs, sometimes a human reaching for a collar just puts their hand in the wrong place.

The best way to break up a dog fight is for two people (preferably the dog’s owners) to each grab their dog by the hind quarters. Quickly lift the back legs off the ground and begin dragging the dogs backward away from each other. Done properly, this can very quickly get the two dogs out of reach, and allow the necessary breather to regain control and calm. It has the advantage that neither dog handler need to get too close to flashing teeth, and it effectively prevents the dog from spinning around to attack the handler.

As soon as you are sure that your dog is under control and the other dog is safely controlled, grab for that collar and snap the leash on. Because of their aroused state, it is best to keep these two dogs separated and one or both should probably leave the area for that day. Often it may seem that the fight is over, but one (or both) of the dogs is just waiting for an opening to start it up again.

If your dog is not involved in the fracas, the best thing you can do is stay out of the way and keep you own dog under control. A problem I see is too many people trying to intervene at once – despite having no knowledge of either dog. It is always best to allow the dog owners to handle the problem. I can remember being quite irate when another dog owner and I had just safely separated our dogs only to have a do-gooder rush up and dump coffee all over the dogs and us. You would have to ask him what he was thinking.

The flip side of this is that if you are not confident to control your own dog – maybe he is too big for you or you are simply too fearful – speak up right away and ask for help. There are usually some experienced dog owners at any gathering.

If your dog is not involved and you know what you are doing, do be ready to jump in if asked. Quickly find someone else to mind your dog and get close to the action so you can help if needed. However, for your safety, and the safety of the owners and the dogs, do not jump in unless asked, or unless it becomes clear that the owner is not going to take action.

Next time, how to recognize the signs of an impending dog fight and diffuse the situation.