How to handle fighting dogs

EraseAndRewind

Hi just looking for some pointers

Was out walking the dog last night -alone-and was set upon by 5 dogs

I literly froze for a second and then tried to pull my dog away

The owner of the dogs whistled and they all ran back across the road to him(no apologie or anything from him:mad:)Had he not whistled and called them back i dread to think what would have happened

Thing is my mind went blank i didnt know what to do-and would like some advice as to what to do if it happens again

Do i keep hold of the lead or drop it ?Do i drag my dog away(would be pretty impossible as he is very very strong)? Do i shout and attempt to fend off the attacking dog myself

Sorry if this is a stupid question

IvySlayer

If he was a small dog then picking him up and defending him with your feet would be an option. But only if they were aggressive.

I don't know what I would've done in that situation.

**Vai**

You're never supposed to pick the dog up, obviously there are cases where u would but its supposed to be like coddling your child. Stand in front or beside your dog and calmly tell the other dogs to go away. Its more about body language than what u say but If you're not nervous they will pick up that this is your pack and will back off.

mymo

Never put your hand down into a fight, and be very careful of even using your foot, aim for the rear end of the attacking dog, shout and try to scare the dog off.

I had a similar attack happen a couple of weeks ago, just one dog attacked though. I had my two on the lead and a roaming dog came running out of nowhere and attacked one of mine(my fella hadn't even seen him coming), I shouted and tried to push him off with my foot, ended up kicking him several times, he moved away and returned 3 times and was eventually kicked hard by a man passing by and he left. My dog fought back, but stopped the minute the dog moved away, he was shaking badly and the little dog was howling and squealing all the time(she's young and nervous as it is). Thankfully mine wasn't hurt, the attacking dog was a cocker spaniel, off the lead no tags or collar, just a bit of chain round its neck. All this happened in front of my daughter and her friends, they were pretty shaken up.
If it had been more than one dog I don't know what I'd have done, I called the local guarda station and was told if the dog had no ID and I didn't know who it belonged to they couldn't really do much, but would take a look, they suggested I report to the dog warden.

I'd like to hear what others have to say though, any advice?

EraseAndRewind

my dog is a samoyed and there isnt a hope i could lift him up :pac:

**Vai**

Not trying to be funny but it could be that your shouting and generally feeling nervous is why the dog kept coming back. It most likely saw that as weakness. Can definitely understand why u were though, specially with the kids there. Weird behaviour for a spaniel!

mymo

No wasn't nervous, I hadn't even seen him coming, and thought at first it was just a snarl and snap type attack and he'd back off when my boy didn't react, tried calm and getting my dog behind me(my fella has never been in a fight before and is happy to see another dog), but this dog was very aggressive, After it ran off it attack 2 more dogs, one was a St bernard belonging to a friend of mine, the other the owner had a large stick and hit it to get it off his dog.
I would also say, never pick up a dog, far to dangerous. I would normally try to avoid a situation like this.

The dogs behaviour was very strange, he was running in circles snarling and growling at nothing.

Galway K9

**Vai** wrote: »

You're never supposed to pick the dog up, obviously there are cases where u would but its supposed to be like coddling your child. Stand in front or beside your dog and calmly tell the other dogs to go away. Its more about body language than what u say but If you're not nervous they will pick up that this is your pack and will back off.

Very good! One the Nail advice. Couldnt be more correct!

Also dont move back wards or forwards!

andreac

Its a tough situation to weigh up alright. But if i saw another dog coming towards me that didnt looks too friendly i would just try and scare it away and shout at it. If they are anyway nervous they will back off.

I stupidly tried to kick a dog off my own dog years ago that attacked her. I ended up getting a bite, not serious, just punctured the skin and my dog ended up with not even a scratch so i came out the worst, lol.

The fighting stopped eventually when the owner came and called her dog off mine but it sounded and looked a lot worse than it was.

**Vai**

mymo wrote: »

No wasn't nervous, I hadn't even seen him coming, and thought at first it was just a snarl and snap type attack and he'd back off when my boy didn't react, tried calm and getting my dog behind me(my fella has never been in a fight before and is happy to see another dog), but this dog was very aggressive, After it ran off it attack 2 more dogs, one was a St bernard belonging to a friend of mine, the other the owner had a large stick and hit it to get it off his dog.
I would also say, never pick up a dog, far to dangerous. I would normally try to avoid a situation like this.

The dogs behaviour was very strange, he was running in circles snarling and growling at nothing.

That is one pissed off spaniel.

crotalus667

**Vai** wrote: »

Weird behaviour for a spaniel!

the breed hat nothing to do with it:rolleyes:

**Vai**

Yeah I know, its about the animal, not the breed but still spaniels are the breed I'd least expect it from.

helimachoptor

A few years ago i had to seperate my GSD and a pit bull, the pitbull had a collar on so i lifted him and threw him back a bit but the came back and got a couple of heavy boots to the face before his owner started screaming "what the f**k are you doing to my dog" Only for the fact he was well into his 60's i would have seriously kicked his ass.

I mean what if it had been a young girl with one of those mini dogs or one that wasnt as able to defend its self, both dog and owner could have been seriously injured.

But in general i would put you between the other dogs and yours but this isnt always easy and as said above appear dominant and confident.

crotalus667

**Vai** wrote: »

Yeah I know, its about the animal, not the breed but still spaniels are the breed I'd least expect it from.

spaniels can have a genitic prob reffered to as "spaniel madness" (some thing to do with a brain defect ) iirc it mainly affects springers

**Vai**

Learn something new everyday!

Im blaming spaniel madness for everything from now on. Cant go to work today, spaniel madness.

Dinner tonight? No sorry, can feel a bout of the old spaniel madness coming on.

Dyr

Any simple answers to this question or use of words like "never" should be treated with extreme skepticism imo.

DBCyc

From my experience if you spot the potential for a fight, you may be able to use your body language to warn off a dog that may attack. A couple of times another dog has approached mine in an aggressive manner and I just put myself ahead of her, stood tall and shouted "Oi!" which has worked.

If there is actually a fight in progress I hear that the best thing to do (if you can) is throw water over the dogs. Otherwise if you can, grab the hind legs of one of the dogs and pull up until they break free. Never put a hand near the heads/collars of two dogs in a fight.

**Vai**

Pulling the hind legs is not a good idea. It will just help them tear the skin that they are holding on to.

DBCyc

**Vai** wrote: »

Pulling the hind legs is not a good idea. It will just help them tear the skin that they are holding on to.

Pulling their legs up vertically is supposed to throw off the dogs balance so that they will let go. I was not suggesting pulling the dogs legs away so that they are playing 'tug-of-war' with the other dogs skin.

IvySlayer

**Vai** wrote: »

You're never supposed to pick the dog up, obviously there are cases where u would but its supposed to be like coddling your child. Stand in front or beside your dog and calmly tell the other dogs to go away. Its more about body language than what u say but If you're not nervous they will pick up that this is your pack and will back off.

I would, but only if there's any aggression. Not snarling, growling, but actual intent to bite. I have to show the attacking dog I will defend my pet. Off course, before picking my dog up I'll always put myself between the 2 dogs and be loud and show I am not fearful.

**Vai**

DBCyc wrote: »

Pulling their legs up vertically is supposed to throw off the dogs balance so that they will let go. I was not suggesting pulling the dogs legs away so that they are playing 'tug-of-war' with the other dogs skin.

Apologies, my fault for scanning.

wetdogsmell

water won't bother an aggressave dog, plus if your walking your dog in a park there is'nt normally a bucket of water handy,
as for grabing a dog by the back leg, the dog would just bite your hand, i'd rather grab the dog by the scruff of the neck, but i'm not recomending this if your a bit unsure

**Vai**

IvySlayer wrote: »

I would, but only if there's any aggression. Not snarling, growling, but actual intent to bite. I have to show the attacking dog I will defend my pet. Off course, before picking my dog up I'll always put myself between the 2 dogs and be loud and show I am not fearful.

I would just be worried that my dog would get the message that he cant defend himself and if anything ever happened when I wasnt there he would only know how to be picked up and protected, not how to protect himself. Not saying I never would but it would be an absolute last resort. Wouldnt be loud either, it just shows fear and nervousness to dogs. Better to be calm and thats impossible when you're shouting.

DBCyc

wetdogsmell wrote: »

water won't bother an aggressave dog, plus if your walking your dog in a park there is'nt normally a bucket of water handy,
as for grabing a dog by the back leg, the dog would just bite your hand, i'd rather grab the dog by the scruff of the neck, but i'm not recomending this if your a bit unsure

Fair enough. I have only just heard the advice given regarding the water and hind legs, I haven't had the opportunity to try it luckily! I realise the water advice would only be an option at home etc.

I would assume that you would want to be very very confident and experienced as well as strong and fast to separate two big dogs by pulling at the scruff of the neck.

wetdogsmell

DBCyc wrote: »

Fair enough. I have only just heard the advice given regarding the water and hind legs, I haven't had the opportunity to try it luckily! I realise the water advice would only be an option at home etc.

I would assume that you would want to be very very confident and experienced as well as strong and fast to separate two big dogs by pulling at the scruff of the neck.

sorry mate i should have been a bit clearer, i think it would be nearly impossible to separate to dogs by the scruff of the neck on your own, if one has a lead on it tie it to a wall or tree and grab the loss dog by the scruff, this would only work with 2 dogs

IvySlayer

**Vai** wrote: »

I would just be worried that my dog would get the message that he cant defend himself and if anything ever happened when I wasnt there he would only know how to be picked up and protected, not how to protect himself. Not saying I never would but it would be an absolute last resort. Wouldnt be loud either, it just shows fear and nervousness to dogs. Better to be calm and thats impossible when you're shouting.

Well maybe it's because I have 6 month old pup :pac: He loves playing with other dogs.

ppink

wetdogsmell wrote: »

sorry mate i should have been a bit clearer, i think it would be nearly impossible to separate to dogs by the scruff of the neck on your own, if one has a lead on it tie it to a wall or tree and grab the loss dog by the scruff, this would only work with 2 dogs

i tried this scruff with my GSD, the result was I had her by the scruff and she had our other dog by the scruff :eek:
I did hear if you had water...for ours it would have to be a hose on the face, no other water would bother them, or an aerosol to spray on their body like deodorent, just to give them a fright to stop the grip. Then stand tall, low voice not screaming.
In the park or out on a walk I suppose the only option is to try and keep between the dogs to keep them apart. i would not let mine off the lead and i would probably kick like mad also to try to deter.
the one thing I do know from the fights we have had at home among our own dogs is no amount of screaming will work, it appears to heighten the frenzy.

Gunnerkid

thankfully for me I have 2 german shepards and a doberman pinscher so any dog stupid enough to come running over for a attack is going to get eaten

ISDW

Gunnerkid wrote: »

thankfully for me I have 2 german shepards and a doberman pinscher so any dog stupid enough to come running over for a attack is going to get eaten

Why, are these breeds vicious?:rolleyes: Anyway, obviously they wouldn't, because they'll be wearing muzzles as they are on the RB list.

Why do people have to keep perpetuating this stuff? This is why there is an RB list and responsible owners of breeds on it have to have these restrictions on them.

lrushe

I know this wouldn't be the 'done thing' but I know if my dogs were in a fight I would instinctively get in the middle of it, my body would react before common sense would kick in :rolleyes:

toadfly

Ah this is so annoying when a stray dog attacks when our walking. There is a dog in our estate that went nuts when I was walking my two (the one evening I had the two out by myself:rolleyes:). I just put myself in front of them and shouted at the dog until he pissed off. Have seen him around the last few days again just walking around so when I figure out what house he is from they are getting a visit!