How to stop dogs fighting

Most of the people who have non aggressive dog think, that they will never need to use skills how to safely break up a dog fight. You never know what can happen every day at any time while walking your dog outside. Even the most friendly, socialized and trained dogs might initiate dangerous fight when provoked.

Worst reaction, which is the most common, is to try to grab the dog by the collar reaching into the middle of the fight. This reaction wouldn’t get any good result, but also is very very dangerous. The probability of you being really badly injured is very high. Dogs are usually in survival mode while fighting, so they just bite.
We all love our buddies and no matter what, we try to help them. But how to do it safely?

• Firstly, always stay focused on your dog while walking off the leash. If there is a dog coming in front of you, the best is to call your dog and observe the other dog. Mostly there is a possibility to stop the bad behavior by observing dog’s body language.
• If the fight already begun, stay calm and observe who or which of the two dogs is at a higher level of intensity. That’s the dog I would focus on. Then you need to step in to give that dog the right touch – this means the ribcage area. The reason is that this forces the dog to open his mouth and let go of his hold on the other dog during the dog fight. It’s about timing too, so look for the right moment and then act quickly.
• Another way is to grab the back legs of the fighting dogs, then lift them up into the air. With the dogs’ legs up, pull them apart from each other. Do this by circling behind one dog, grab its back legs, and then raise them up. Just hold feet or legs continually, that way it won’t be able to reach around or bite. Try to hold the dog until it calms down. Turn him to other side so he doesn’t see the other dog, and try to change his state of mind using distraction.

How to split up a Dog Fight while alone

Don’t underestimate the danger of situation. However, if the situation asks for it, get a leash or a rope. Try to approach the aggressor dog and when you get close enough, loop the leash around the dog’s belly (in front of his back legs) and pull it tight. Immediately back away till you get to something you can fasten the dog, such as fence, tree or post.
If free of leash dog attacks the one which is fasten now, use the same method of grabbing the back lags and wait for the help.

However, before trying to get into the fight, first thing I would suggest to do, is to use some distractions as making loud noise to get their attention or pour over the water. Be ready to catch the dog at that sudden moment if the dogs got separated. Sometimes it works, unfortunately not always.

Panic or hysteric scream might agitate the fight further. So try to stay as calm as possible.

Hope you’ll never need to use these skills.