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Dog Fights: What Do You Do?
You've done everything you should. You've taken your dog to obedience school, socialized him with other dogs, and taught him
acceptable behavior, but somehow it happens — he gets into a dog fight. Of course it was the other dog that started it (Isn't it
always?) and your dog just went along with the flow, but before you know it, it's "dog eat dog." What do you do?
Never yell at the dogs to break it up; they might think of this as encouragement and go at it even harder. If there's a hose nearby,
you can try spraying them down, but don't aim the water at their heads. Aim for their legs and feet since they react more strongly
to stimuli on their extremities than elsewhere. If this doesn't work, you'll have to pull them apart.
Never grab the dogs by their collars or the scruffs of their necks while they are fighting or there is a good chance that you will get
bitten. Hopefully, the other dog's owner will be present at this terrifying event. Each person can grab their dog's tail and then lift
its hind legs off the ground. This naturally startles the dogs by throwing them off balance and makes it easy to pull them apart. If
you are alone with the dogs, grab the tail of the aggressor, lift his hind legs, and pull him away from the other dog.
Once they are apart, keep them apart and make it very clear to your dog that he was engaged in an unacceptable activity. One
sharp jerk on his training collar (if he's wearing one) accompanied by a short verbal scolding in a low, forceful tone of voice
should do the trick.
Hopefully, you'll never need to use this information. However, it's always good to be prepared because you'll never know what
might provoke your dog or another dog into fighting.
– Moe Schober |
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