How would you break up a dog fight?

I had to separate two terriers scrapping earlier this week.

One went out of his way to start on the other, and latched onto the nose and wouldn't let go.

I ended up having to stick my foot under his tackle and lift his rear end up until he basically fell off.

No pain involved.

That then started a discussion on how to separate fighting dogs - some good suggestions but others that you'd have to be drunk to do.

So I was wondering how the folk here do it - I'm talking two dogs in a scrap, not just having a growl.

there number ways.

cold water
anti-fight spray (but it can make some dog fight more)
someone said sticking your finger in the bums(but I'm not sure if i will be trying that one )

Number 3 doesn't sound good to me! Ergh! I've always heard to spray water but I've never had two together.

i deffo will never try the finger up the bum
but tbh i've only ever stopped Marley, and he gets hand bagged by his harness and marched away

Some great suggestions on the info sheet below. You could also try lifting the back legs up slightly, they do wonder what is going on then and tend to let go too. Water spray gun great too:

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t20526-how-to-break-up-a-dog-fight

Lol at sticking a finger in the deep south.

Have heard about sticking finger up bum as well...would stop me in my tracks for sure but not sure how practicle it would be. From what ive read it takes two people grabbing back legs and lifting up and pulling backwards keeping both dogs and people safe. But from exeperiance its a whole diff battle feild. I focus on my dog, to focus on the other is joining in. On lead i pull back and push to floor then stand over him and if possible spin him around so only * is showing to other dog which is submissive and defuses situations quickly. Whatever the method its an extreamly risky thing to get into and you must understand that your loyal loving dog may bite you by mistake...its called fog of war.

We usuallly carry a water gun but this isn't a big concern over here as dogs are always on leads in public except at dog parks.

Had to do it once, and thankfully Moo wasn't involved and even though she was onlead with me I dropped it and split the dogs up, one was a pup and it was a very unfortunate situation. Opened my eyes up tbh.

Haha unfortunately I'm always in this situation with bulley being dog aggressive he seems to attract a fight wouldn't try the bum thing however a gentle tap in the Crown Jewels does work. But I always grab his rear legs lift and slowly spin

the 'wheelbarrow' thing doesn't always work and neither does spraying a dog with things, neither work for Chance.

When he and rotty whos DA got into a fight the only thing that worked was to twist collars tightly so they let go and separate.

ella wrote:the 'wheelbarrow' thing doesn't always work and neither does spraying a dog with things, neither work for Chance.

When he and rotty whos DA got into a fight the only thing that worked was to twist collars tightly so they let go and separate.

if you are confident to do it twisting the coller is the best way to break a fight (NEVER HAD TO DO IT WITH MEMPHIS BUT DID A FEW TIMES WITH MY OLD JRT S )if a bit unsure can be a bit risky

bigwazza wrote:

ella wrote:the 'wheelbarrow' thing doesn't always work and neither does spraying a dog with things, neither work for Chance.

When he and rotty whos DA got into a fight the only thing that worked was to twist collars tightly so they let go and separate.

if you are confident to do it twisting the coller is the best way to break a fight (NEVER HAD TO DO IT WITH MEMPHIS BUT DID A FEW TIMES WITH MY OLD JRT S )if a bit unsure can be a bit risky

I did that once. Ended up with 2broken fingers never again lol.

bullsmommy1 wrote:

bigwazza wrote:

ella wrote:the 'wheelbarrow' thing doesn't always work and neither does spraying a dog with things, neither work for Chance.

When he and rotty whos DA got into a fight the only thing that worked was to twist collars tightly so they let go and separate.

if you are confident to do it twisting the coller is the best way to break a fight (NEVER HAD TO DO IT WITH MEMPHIS BUT DID A FEW TIMES WITH MY OLD JRT S )if a bit unsure can be a bit risky

I did that once. Ended up with 2broken fingers never again lol.

Yes but when you have a dog (chance) who knows how to fight you do anything to split it up and the rottie still had to go to the emergency vets.

Firstly..........remain calm. Secondly be very careful no matter what action one chooses. Ideally, get to know body language and step in before the situation escalates into a full on fight.

I'd do the same as Ella, in fact I have done. Mind you, it only really works if there are two of you. I've never had to break up a fight on my own & hope I never have to.

Breaking up a fight between 2 staffs or 2 da dogs is a tricky affair because once you get one to release the other is likely to get a hold! Always best to have a person holding each dog so that they can be turned away from each other as soon as they release.

Totally agree, but i was on my own so just did what came to me at the time which was to just get my dog away I soon invested in a muzzle after lol so now it's only 1dog to deal with if it ever occurs again

The wheelbarrow thing will only work if your dog will let go. Many staffords, once they're in the red zone, don't care if their back legs are on the ground or not.

Yeah he did let go after 5 mins or so of pulling hence why I now muzzle him he's a nasty little so n so

i have a muzzle for Chance but he isn't DA, he won't back down though.

Agree with Caryll most dogs when in a fight will not let go and so the wheelbarrow just doesn't work

another little tip i know works after you separate the dogs and turn them away hold there coller and stroke there iner back leg as it calms them straight down

Only had to break up one fight hopefully never again wasnt prepared to be honest but remembered reading about the choke and I was desperate and on my own thought I was going to kill him to be honest was very scarey .
Came about from a off lead dog pushing his luck and picked on the wrong dog that day he went off like a bat out of hell tail between his legs good job I had hold of the lead otherwise could of kicked off again

This happened to me recently. My 8 month Staff pup was on the lead in a park and a guy with a twice-as-big mongrel approached (off the lead). Mongrel jumped onto Kuchar and tried to bite his neck. Kuchar squirmed away and mongrel pounced again, right on top of him and was biting at Kuchar's neck again. Mongrel's "boss" just said "he's telling him off" - for what - being on a lead??? My poor pup was just lying down, submitting. I said "he's submitting, that's enough" and pulled mongrel off by his collar and walked quickly away. If I encounter that particular dog again I shall pick my pup up in my arms. Fortunately, he was not harmed and still doesn't seem frightened or more importantly, aggresive, towards other dogs. Kuchar hasn't an aggresive bone in his body and loves everyone and I want him to stay that way but honestly what can you do when "other people" allow their aggressive dogs off-lead? And no, sticking my finger up the mongrel's bum was not an option! nor was relying on mongrel's "master" to do anything about it.

It's a really difficult situation & one that you probably can't answer fully until you're in the situation! And it'll be different every time.

I so often hear of people talking about breaksticks being the only way to end a fight, but they are seriously difficult to use when you have two spinning, snarling dogs & you could get very seriously bitten. Can you imagine, on your own, getting two fighting dogs to stand still long enough for you to insert a piece of wood into the mouth of the one that has a hold? And what if they both have a hold? It happens; one will have a leg & the other may have a shoulder or thigh - you release the grip of one & then have to go for the 2nd one, meantime the first one gets a grip again!

To stop a really serious fight you need two people or a lot of luck.

I have to agree with Caryll until it happens, you deal with it there and then in whatever way you can. I have never been in this situation, and hope I dont. Lucky for me as Pixee is on a harness, I most likely would grap her harness to pull her out the way but as said, who knows till it happens what you really can do.

Staffy lover wrote: I most likely would grap her harness to pull her out the way but as said, who knows till it happens what you really can do.

I used to think that would be the best way, but if you pull, whichever dog has a hold will do tremendous tearing damage to the other dog.

Caryll wrote:

Staffy lover wrote: I most likely would grap her harness to pull her out the way but as said, who knows till it happens what you really can do.

I used to think that would be the best way, but if you pull, whichever dog has a hold will do tremendous tearing damage to the other dog.

Oooooh that is true. You just dont know till it happens really just what to do sadly.

I just think you should be aware of the ways you can break up a fight & then go with your instincts.

Caryll wrote:I just think you should be aware of the ways you can break up a fight & then go with your instincts.

Totally agree.

only had to break up one dog that attacked spike on his first walk after his jabs, spike, on his leader, some woman walked up with two mongrel terrier things, 1 on the leader one off the leader, the one off the leader went straight for spike, who was sitting down on his leader. most people dont agree but i just punched the thing in the head, needless to say it didnt come back.

mac82 wrote: most people dont agree but i just punched the thing in the head, needless to say it didnt come back.

You do what you can at the time!

When a dobe came out of nowhere & latched on to Dempsey's head & ear my oh couldn't get close enough to grab the dobe's collar (spinning dogs aren't easy to grab!) so he gave the dobe a left hook to the head - sent him spinning & staggering away. As my oh used to box a bit I would imagine the dobe was seeing double for a while. But what else can you do?

I've found a bucket of cold water to be the most effective thing to initially shock, and then if you're quick enough to get in and turn them away (or in one incidence the bucket ended up on the dogs head so he couldn't see what he was doing anyway!!) but you may only have a split second. I've had a staffy held under a freezing cold hose tap trying to get her to let go of another dog to no avail though, once they've gone past a certain stage it's pretty difficult to bring them back and you've gotta have speed and confidence on your side.

One case we had we tried water, break sticks, collar twists, wheel barrowing, even a broom handle up the bum!! Someone tried punching the dog in the head, but it just made him grip on harder, unless you've got a pretty hefty hook behind you (enough the make the dog dizzy) you're probably just gonna make the dog more riled up, why do you think people use pain when training dogs to fight... Break sticks are okay if you're willing to get your hands that close to the dogs mouth when he's thrashing about and twisting and turning.. with a dog on human attack that I had to separate a break stick was my saviour, stopped him from getting her face anyway, but unfortunately when I tried to twist his collar.. the collar snapped in half!

Thought it was going to go off today during walkies with my new foster.
Five people were walking a staffy across the other side of the road, off lead.

It charged across the road and into my lad's face. He just sat there, looking perplexed, while the other dog's walkers went bananas - even throwing their dog's lead at their own dog.

WTF.

Luckily the other dog just wanted to say hello, even if it didn't look like it at the time.

Wow that's insane, lucky that the dog was nice, but also that he didn't get ran over

Had a similar incident a few weeks ago when walking Biscuit, bloke with a golden retriever off lead on a busy road, walked straight out into the middle of the road and no matter what the bloke did he wouldn't come back to him, Bis started barking and he had the cheek to tell me to keep my dog under control It's a strange world we live in!

Rachel33 wrote:Had a similar incident a few weeks ago when walking Biscuit, bloke with a golden retriever off lead on a busy road, walked straight out into the middle of the road and no matter what the bloke did he wouldn't come back to him, Bis started barking and he had the cheek to tell me to keep my dog under control It's a strange world we live in!

Unbelievable.

I'm dreading this type of thing, we have only had one close call which was earlier. We rounded a corner and a woman was walking past (dogless) and saw Dexter and looking scared ( ) did a weird skip jump skittish thing away from Dex but into my line of sight and totally got in the way of another dog walker (with a big boxer dog) so Dex and I ended up nose to nose with the boxer who was looking pretty annoyed and reared up growling. Luckily he was on lead and his owner moved him sharpish, I said "oops we didn't see you" and the other owner said "its alright you couldn't with that daft woman jumping about like that!" and we both laughed. I think I will go with instinct if anything kicks off, Dexter goes quite submissive when he sees other dogs but some look at him like they would have a pop at him given half the chance.

Rachel33 wrote:Wow that's insane, lucky that the dog was nice, but also that he didn't get ran over

I will never understand having a dog off-lead beside a main road.
Even the most obedient dog can get spooked and run into the road.

When I had my first dog (Border Collie) I trained her to within an inch of her life! Yes, I used to walk her off lead along the main road, but at the time I didn't see anything wrong with that - youthful arrogance I suppose.

Now, I wouldn't dream of it!

The only thing that would make my old staff let go was if you grabbed his nose and squeezed then he had to let go cos he couldn't breath! Someone pulled him backwards once to try to get him off and it ripped the other dogs ear, it was their dog who was off lead and started it, but my chico didn't have a scratch on him thank god and I didn't have to pay their vet bill as it wernt his fault! Since that day though he would go for anything bigger than him if it got near, which was most dogs as he was only a little staff.

Had to get my Zac off a couple of times over the years, ONLY way when they are scrappers is collar twist and push the head into the bite .. and be ready to pull them clear once they let go .. horrible thing when it happens

I also had to handbag Zac when a staffy bitch (with a death wish ) piled into him from nowhere through an open gate .. , she managed to cut his lower eye lid before I could lift him clear ... that was a bl00dy difficult few minuites I can tell ya, two DA staffy's hell bent on killin each other