Dog fights are incredibly scary and dangerous - it is extremely important that as a responsible dog owner, you know how to prevent an altercation as well as how to effectively and SAFELY break up a fight if one happens.
There is a lot of misinformation out there about how to break up a dog fight - everything from screaming and hitting, to spraying with water or putting a finger up their...you know. The truth is that none of these are effective or safe methods, so let's get into it.
BREAKING UP A FIGHT
PREVENTION, SAFETY PRECAUTIONS, RISKS & TIPS
Scuffle vs Fight
A scuffle could be described as a "spirited disagreement"
Avoid high traffic areas where people are known to let their dogs free roam.
If you know that one hiking trail you like is always littered with off leash and sometimes aggressive or rude dogs, the simple answer is to find a safer hiking trail. Avoid putting your dog, and yourself, in that position entirely. This can also be said about uncontrolled off leash dog parks.
Advocate for your dog.
This is truly one of the most important aspects of being a responsible dog owner. Don't be afraid to advocate for your dog... if you don't, who will? If you see a dog off leash up ahead, ask the person to leash their dog and/or give your dog some space as you cross paths. This is especially important if your dog is known to struggle with reactivity. Even if your dog doesn't struggle with reactivity, it's best to avoid high stress confrontations with off leash dogs. Pack walks are a good way for dogs to interreact with "stranger dogs" in a low stress environment rather than meeting face to face on a trail.
Carry something to deter a fight from happening - air horn, dog spray, citronella spray, etc.
At the end of the day, scaring an aggressive dog with an air horn or spraying them with dog or citronella spray is better than the alternative - a scary fight that could end up in serious injury to one or more parties. These are best to be used before an incident occurs - as the aggressive dog is approaching (or if yours is the aggressive one, the stranger dog approaching uncontrolled in an area that has a leash law). These things are particularly important for small dog owners as the risk of injury to their dog if a fight happens is much greater.
What can we do to prevent a fight?
Keep your dog leashed, always - especially in public areas.
Keeping physical control of your dog at all times can absolutely prevent a serious incident from occurring. It gives you the ability to physically remove or distance your dog from another if required. If you dog is absolutely solid off leash with recall and check in's then this may not apply to you, but in that case you should keep a "grab tab" on your dog so you can quickly grab them if needed. For long leash adventure walks, you can get 50ft biothane leads so you can always keep a hold of your dog.
Avoid high traffic areas where people are known to let their dogs free roam.
If you know that one hiking trail you like is always littered with off leash and sometimes aggressive or rude dogs, the simple answer is to find a safer hiking trail. Avoid putting your dog, and yourself, in that position entirely. This can also be said about uncontrolled off leash dog parks.
Advocate for your dog.
This is truly one of the most important aspects of being a responsible dog owner. Don't be afraid to advocate for your dog... if you don't, who will? If you see a dog off leash up ahead, ask the person to leash their dog and/or give your dog some space as you cross paths. This is especially important if your dog is known to struggle with reactivity. Even if your dog doesn't struggle with reactivity, it's best to avoid high stress confrontations with off leash dogs. Pack walks are a good way for dogs to interreact with "stranger dogs" in a low stress environment rather than meeting face to face on a trail.
Carry something to deter a fight from happening - air horn, dog spray, citronella spray, etc.
At the end of the day, scaring an aggressive dog with an air horn or spraying them with dog or citronella spray is better than the alternative - a scary fight that could end up in serious injury to one or more parties. These are best to be used before an incident occurs - as the aggressive dog is approaching (or if yours is the aggressive one, the stranger dog approaching uncontrolled in an area that has a leash law). These things are particularly important for small dog owners as the risk of injury to their dog if a fight happens is much greater.
Safety tools that are important to keep on hand?
Collar
There should ALWAYS be a collar on your dog. Preferably a martingale style, but anything properly fitted aside from a prong collar will work. Properly fitted means a snug fit, not draped around the dog's neck. A prong collar is the only collar that will not choke your dog. If you choose to walk with a prong, make sure you always have a flat or martingale collar underneath that is attached to the prong by a steel carabiner or something similar.
Leashes
If you choose to have your dog off leash in a public area for whatever reason, you should always keep a leash AND a spare leash on your person at all times. If you have a leash & collar but an aggressor dog does not, you can throw your spare leash to the other owner to control their dog.
Break Stick
There is a lot of misinformation out there about these, but at the end of the day this is absolutely the quickest way to remove one dog from another dog. Anyone that owns a strong breed should have one of these, however, not always necessary as most times dog fights are more like scuffles - where there is a lot of noise and thrashing but not a lot of biting and holding.
Pocket Knife
This is an absolute, last ditch, emergency stop to a one sided dog fight or attack on a human that is unrelenting. For small dog owners, again, this is more important as your dog is at a very high risk of injury causing death if attacked by a much larger dog. Do your own research to become familiar with how to quickly and efficiently dispatch an animal if required - I will not post much about it here as it's an extremely touchy, horrible subject, and I truly hope that none of my followers, friends, or anyone has to reach this point with a dog attack. It is imperative that if you carry one that you know how to use it properly, so proper education and etiquette is an absolute must to avoid suffering or injuring others in the process.
How do we break up a dog fight safely & effectively?
It should be noted that Human safety is NUMBER ONE priority, and no dog fight is ever the exact same. The point of this page is to give you tools and information to help you make the right call in the heat of the moment, not follow each step like a textbook. Location, number of dogs, size of dogs, level of altercation/desire, number of humans, history of redirection onto humans, etc. all plays a roll in how a fight can most effectively be broken up.
STAY CALM.
This is much easier than it sounds, but freaking out and screaming isn't going to do anything other than possibly escalate the fight as it will increase the dogs' arousal. Take a second to evaluate the situation, take a deep breath, and figure out a quick game plan. Quickly assess what gear is currently on the dogs - does everyone have properly fitted collars, or is one of them quite loose and easy to slip out of? If so, make sure that dog gets a noosed leash instead of relying on the collar that they will likely slip out of. If there are others there not being helpful, tell them to quit screaming and explain what you are going to do as you are doing it. For example: "Grab that dog's leash and hold him there while I will get this dog." Time is of the essence, but another 4 seconds for you to get the lay of the land first will only positively impact the outcome of the situation by being more efficient and lowering your risk of being injured in the process.
DO NOT put your hands in there!
Dogs can inflict serious damage to human hands in a fight scenario, and we need our hands to effectively break up a fight! Don't shove your hands near the mouths of dogs fighting. Be cautious and deliberate about what risk you take by placing your hands where you are. If you need a stark reminder about not shoving your hands in dog fights, visit Leerburg's page which shows some pretty gory photos from owners mishandling dogs trying to break up fights or just a result of an unfortunate accident. Trigger warning - it's nasty stuff.
Get physical control of the dogs.
Remember the break stick I mentioned earlier? That will help you release a bite but it isn't very affective if you don't have control of the dog and it just bites the other dog again, or if the other dog isn't controlled and comes back after the aggressor. Get physical control of the dogs involved - ideally there will be an owner to each dog, but that's not always the case. If it is one person with two dogs for example, make a decision on who the aggressor is and get control of that one. This can be done by holding a leash (either one that is already attached or attaching your extra we talked about), or by holding the collar (neck scruff is also an option but not preferred and much riskier). Be sure that whatever method you do, you have a firm grip. If you are alone and both dogs are going at it, find something to tether one of the dogs to - a tree, a post, etc. with that extra leash we talked about.
DO NOT Pull the dogs apart if they are holding each other!
This is a huge knee-jerk mistake and causes considerably worse damage. By physically trying to pull/rip the dogs apart, you force them to tear the skin which can cause massive damage. It seems counter productive, but the safest thing is to actually hold the dogs as close together as possible if they are holding onto each other. For example, if a dog is holding onto another dog's leg - instead of trying to rip the leg out of the dog's mouth, push the leg INTO the dog's face. When the aggressor shakes, this will prevent tearing and ripping, thus minimizing the actual damage.
Choke the aggressor off.
No, not a chokehold where your face is next to them. Noose that spare leash we were talking about around the aggressor's neck, or if they have a martingale/flat collar you can use that as well, though noosing a leash is usually the most efficient & safest method as dogs cant slip out of it. Tighten it right behind the ears of the aggressor and pull up, lifting the front legs off the ground by a couple inches. You can reinforce the choke by putting pressure on the collar/leash at the back of the neck, though not always necessary this is ideal. The aggressor will release within a couple seconds - be prepared for this! Wait for it, and as soon as the release happens you want to immediately turn the aggressor's head away from the other dog and then remove the dog from the situation. You don't need to throw the dog multiple feet away - they can only bite with their mouth and they will begin thrashing for air rather than a bite so you will have a couple seconds to promptly face the dog away from the other.
Remove the dogs.
Once you get them to release, promptly remove the aggressor from the situation and make sure they cannot break free from their restraints - the worst thing you can do is break up a fight and then allow them to go back at it again. This is also true for the victim dog - even if they didn't want any part of it at the beginning, arousal makes dogs do silly things and it's very possible they will come back after the aggressor if not restrained. It is EXTREMELY important that all dogs involved are restrained appropriately.
What risks are there to breaking up a fight?
Even if you do things perfectly you may still be at immense risk of injury even if you know the dogs in the fight. Some dogs are genuinely mentally unstable and will redirect onto anything within their reach out of frustration, while others may lash out from fear when being handled by a human while also being attacked. Sometimes it's a genuine accident where someone places a hand in an angry dog's mouth or bodily risk of injury from falling, becoming tangled, etc is also a possibility. Assuming that the dogs are similar sized, dog fights tend to be riskier to the humans involved rather than the dogs.
Redirection.
This is by far the most high risk thing to be aware of in these situations - redirection means instead of being mad at the other dog, the dog gets mad at you, usually out of frustration from being restrained. This is why it's important to take a couple seconds at the beginning of the fight to figure out your game plan. Each fight is different - in a perfect world, you would only handle the dog you know, however, you may not be able to rely on others to help you efficiently with getting the aggressor off your dog. In this situation, it's best to quickly break the stranger dog off and then very quickly hand the dog off to their owner OR tie the dog to a sturdy object (fence post, tree, etc) so that you are not stuck holding onto a pissed off stranger dog for a long time. Always be hypervigilant about this possibility and be prepared for it. Be prepared for worst case scenarios.
Okay, it's broken up...now what?
Make sure all dogs are restrained properly.
Notice how I'm really beating this idea home? This is so important! Double and triple check that all dogs are appropriately restrained before breathing a sigh of relief. Relying on a poorly fitted, loose flat collar could start the whole process over again if the dog slips it's collar.
Assess the damage.
Are any humans injured? Are any dogs seriously injured? Adrenaline is running through everyone like crazy right now, so humans and dogs alike may not let on to how bad it really is. Make sure any serious bleeding has pressure applied to control it. If a human has been bitten, they will need to go to the hospital.
Exchange information with the other owner.
In the heat of the moment this sometimes gets missed and then you see a big angry Facebook post about it a few days later. Even if both dogs seem fine and no humans are injured, it's best to quickly exchange names & phone numbers in case something is found at home and you guys need to be in contact for vet bills or anything.
Call your vet.
Dog fights are crazy and even just a couple minor bites can cause serious infection and discomfort. Best to get your pup in ASAP for wound cleaning, antibiotics and some pain meds even if the injuries are minor.
Document the incident and injuries.
Even if the other owner seemed understanding at the time, PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR DOG. Whether they try lying to officials about the story, slapping you with their vet bill if they were at fault, or just running your name through the mud online...make sure you have documented proof of everything. Take photos of the scene, the other dog & owner, the injuries sustained, and take a quick voice memo of yourself replaying the exact story and how it happened so that you don't mix anything up. If there was any witnesses, make sure you get their name & contact info as well just in case authorities need it.
For instance if a human gets seriously bit in the scuffle the at fault dog may be at risk of being deemed dangerous which could put them at risk of having higher annual licensing fees, mandatory muzzling outside of the home, or could even be as serious as a court ordered euthanasia. Documenting everything is *especially* important if a human was injured.
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