The dogs I broke up where big. And yep, it seems to be the ‘WTF’ factor. I really, really yelled at them. Scared everyone, not just the dogs. YMMV. I don’t know if I would ever do it again.
We have see a few bears where I live. And I hope and pray that our dog never chases one.
So far, it has been effective to shoot a gun to scare the bears away. The noise startles them.
Perhaps it’s simply cos of the audacity? The dogs had no idea what to make of this headlong charge.
That particular pack was eventually shot, one by one, as they were menacing the farms around here, and they came to recognise guns. The lady who was trapped in her house took to carrying a stick and holding it as if it were a shotgun, and they would scatter.
It is a shame they all ended up being shot, as they were originally pets, but many of the people back here just allow their dogs to roam and breed like crazy, and we end up with a pack gone wild every once in a while. And every year after hunting season there are always dogs what get left behind when their owners head back to the city or the coast.
All four of my dogs were accumulated from strays this way, the Doots being culled from a pack, and the two current puppies (they are still pups although over 7 st each) were found wandering in the woods – not starving yet, but clearly weak from hunger. I know the owner of the pups’ father, and asked him why on earth he won’t have his dog fixed. He says he doesn’t want to interfer with the dog’s masculinity. Crikey, nip his bits and get him a big screen tele; he’ll be fine. But that’s a whole other rant, shan’t go there.
I think you’re right. Sort of like getting a bucket of water dumped on them.
If you go in making enough noise, they can’t ignore you. You are the new threat. Hopefully, they will be so stunned that they will back down and forget about the other dog. But they may go for you instead. I was protecting my own dog so I really didn’t care.
Grabbing the rear legs sounds like a good idea too. If you can. Dog fights are fast. I have only seen two (and I’m 43). And I managed to break both of them up.
My Wife used to work for animal control and she runs with our dog all the time. When encountered by another dog she tells it to go home. Loudly if she has to. dogs seem to respect the athority figure.
Jeez.
“Grab the back legs”? I saw some idiot do this once; utterly ineffective. There is NO (let me emphasize that) NO connection between a dog’s jaws and his hind legs; he may be surprised into letting go, and he can be effectively dragged away if denied the traction, but a determined dog will hold on no matter what you do, unless you physically pry his jaws apart. If you really want to play tug-of-war using an injured dog as a rope, please do it when I’m not watching.
Huh, that’s funny. Back-tying one of the dogs and lifting the other up high by the hind legs, then dragging it away and tying it is really the only effective way of separating two determined fighting dogs, as far as I am aware–having come by this information via several large communities of working-dog folk. And we’re talking large, very dominant breeds. Serious dogs doing their damndest to kill each other, not your average scrapping pooches. The other suggested methods are back-tying dog 1 and choking dog 2 by twisting the collar until it has to let go to breathe, and/or carrying a breaking stick at all times. But you’ve still gotta be able to tie one dog up or they’ll just be at it the instant they get their footing back.
In other words, there really is no good way to break up a real fight between two serious dogs if you’re the only one present. If it’s just a noisy scrap you’ll probably be fine with shouting and kicking at the aggressor, but if the two dogs mean it you’re likely in big trouble without a couple of leashes and a breaking stick*. Most of the time, a hose to the face means nothing.
I’m a member of quite a few working dog communities, both online and “in real life”–where breaking up dog fights is a common topic of discussion. Not because people are purposely fighting their dogs, but because if you have more than one dog of the same sex, of a large, dominant breed (ie GSDs, malinois, rotties, various molossers, American Bulldogs, any of the pit-type breeds, etc) a fight is going to happen at some point, no matter how cautious you are or how well the dogs get along 99.9% of the time. Plus, as someone mentioned above, loose dogs always want to attack large dogs with dominant-type body language. The ArmadilloPup is only six months old, and already almost every male dog we meet wants to pick a fight with him, despite the fact that he considers the world his friend. I hope to god I never have to break up a real dog fight, but I think I’m prepared to do so if I have to. A lot of people carry a breaking stick at all times. I’m not quite that paranoid about it, but YMMV and all that.
A piece of very hard wood, sometimes made out of an ax handle, with a flatish sort of hook at one end, for prying a dog’s jaws open.