When Dogs Fight: What to do and what NOT to do

My dog, Beau, is my pride and joy. I have two other dogs, Chicken Wing and Cheeto (and of course I love them, too!) but Beau was here first and he was a special project. I got him when he was about 2 years old, so he's around 6 now. He'd never been in a house, never been on a leash, and didn't really know what toys were. When I went through my hands-on portion of dog training school in order to gain my certification, Beau was my sidekick in class. We learned it all together. We're STILL learning together.

Beau is one of the happiest dogs I've ever met. To be perfectly honest, sometimes it's a little obnoxious. When I started studying more to focus on aggression, I figured Beau was the last guy who was going to be any help. He loves every person he's ever met, and now he's rock-solid on our walks. Other dogs can bark and lunge and act the fool, and Beau walks calmly and confidently past each and every one of them. Granted, that wasn't built in (it's a natural instinct for dogs to react in some fashion); it took a LOT of work but we got there. We got there together.

Learning what aggression is (or isn't) is incredibly complex, and there's certainly no single answer to any given question. I've been studying it for years and I still learn something new about it on a fairly regular basis.

Clients call me all the time to tell me, “My dog is aggressive.” Well, probably not all the time. Surely he relaxes at some point. Even if he reacts to other dogs or unfamiliar people, hopefully he's all right at least 95% of the time. If your dog is non-stop “aggressive” 24/7 you've got a hell of a problem that I won't be able to fix. As a matter of fact, aggression isn't really a thing that CAN be “fixed.” It can be managed and even significantly decreased in some circumstances, but it's never 100% gone. Every thinking, feeling being on this planet has an aggression threshold. You have one, I have one, our dogs have one. Beau has one too.

I could talk about the word “dominance” and how it's mostly incorrect and grossly overused (if scientists who get paid every day to study it can't figure out the definition, you probably haven't either); same thing with the word “alpha.” Unless your dog is in a linear, genetic position in an actual pack of wolves, it's not an “alpha.” Just because you want to be the boss and the bringer of the food doesn't make you an “alpha” either. That's not how it works. I don't care if you done seent it on the tee-vee; lots of people say lots of things on television that simply aren't true. Moving on.

A lot of aggression is based in fear. It can be caused by a slew of medical issues. It can be because of highly valued resources such as food or a comfy place on the couch. Trust me when I say the list could go on for daaaaaays, and none of us have time for all of it right now. Today, I'm going to talk about territorial aggression and what to do (and what NOT to do) in a dog fight.

Almost every dog is territorial. “This house is mine! This person is mine! This yard is mine! Woe be unto thee who dares to enter here!” If your dog barks at a knock on the door, it's territorial. If your dog barks out the window at people walking down the street, it's territorial. If your dog barks at someone coming up your alley, it's probably territorial. That last thing could also be out of boredom but we're not going to veer into that right now.

Some trainers have desensitized their dogs to the point where they couldn't care less if someone knocks on their door or rings the bell. I'm not one of those trainers; my neighborhood is a tad more sketchy than it was 19 years ago when I moved here. I appreciate it that my dogs bark when someone is in my yard! I want to know, and I actually thank them when they do it. My dogs don't bark for nothing. When they do, I get up, see what's going on, if everything is cool, I'll say, “Thanks, boys, you did a good job. Look, they're going away now. It's okay to settle down now,” and they do. When a stranger is knocking at my door, their barks are a different pitch. It's more urgent. When I answer the door to someone I don't know, Beau stands on top of his crate with his head over my shoulder. I hold his collar, and we both look out the door together. “May I help you?” We don't have to deal with many salesmen for very long.

Sometimes the dogs bark in the back yard when they see a person or another dog coming too close to the fence. There's an old, crotchety German Shepherd who lives behind us (my neighborhood doesn't have alleys – there's just chain link between us) and he occasionally ruffles some feathers. I'll walk out and tell them, “That old man isn't bothering anybody, leave him alone, come back over here and finish your business,” and they do. They really don't pay him much mind anymore. At this point, I'm almost convinced the old man barks at them out of loneliness and boredom than anything else. He's never tried to get into our yard and isn't really a threat.

I spent most of yesterday in Tucumcari working three cases where the courts had deemed the dogs dangerous and they needed me to come do evaluations. What I think of those cases is neither here nor there; I was exhausted by the time I got home and my back wasn't doing me any favors. I've been trying to recover from a back injury from two years ago stemming from another dog fight where I fell on some concrete. I just can't drive or bend or lift things like I used to. I got old faster than I should have.

I usually scan my back yard to make sure everything is safe when I let my boys outside. Mainly to make sure nobody has tampered with my gate or left it open. Last night the gate seemed fine, so I let them out. It was already dark, and I didn't see the black dog who had gotten into my yard. I had already turned my back to come inside when I heard the barking and commotion. I ran back out because I knew something was horribly wrong. I didn't see how it started and it didn't matter. Beau had the other dog by the neck and it was SERIOUS. I had to do something, or somebody was going to die.

Would I call Beau an aggressive dog? NO. At this moment in time was he acting aggressively? YES.

There are several “standard” ways to break up a dog fight. When I have clients with aggression issues, I like to leave them with as many tools as possible, because in a state of panic, you're likely to forget most of them. The number one rule is always, “DON'T STICK YOUR HAND WHERE THE TEETH ARE!”

If it's a minor, snarly situation, I've had clients stick a cookie sheet between the dogs to break off eye contact. It can work. Another thing that can and has worked for me is grabbing the dog by the base of its tail (as close to the body as possible) and pulling straight out. (On a long tailed dog, you don't want to grab and pull the end of it because you can break it.) Another possibility is grabbing the dog by its back leg pits (up towards the genitals – NOT the feet) and lifting them up off the ground; they're likely to let go to turn around and see what's happening. It's worked for me with some pit bulls and even boxers. For a small dog, if you can pick the dog up, pick the dog up. With tiny jaws (think Chihuahua or Yorkie or whatever) in a grip, you can stick your thumb and middle finger at the back back of their jaw (like, where human wisdom teeth would be) and pinch around the muzzle. That usually works. Sometimes squirting a dog in the face with a water hose works. When their nose is full of water, they open their mouth to breathe. I've heard citronella spray works too, although I haven't tried it myself yet. Another tip in dog world lore is to stick your finger in the dog's anus. I can only imagine the shock it would induce but this is another one I haven't personally tried yet and just can't bring myself to do because I rarely carry rubber gloves in my pocket. Not that I'm a stranger to dog poop, but just... EW. Another person whose seminar I recently watched said that if it's a dog you aren't familiar with, punch it in the face, kick it in the gut - go full on Fight Club - do whatever you have to do to get it off your dog. I'm sure it's effective, but it's not going to be my first choice.

Beau had what could have easily been described as a death grip on this dog's neck, and my two smaller dogs were trying to “help.” Occasionally the little ones would get pummeled, roll away yelping, then come back into the fray. I would never recommend dealing with four dogs as a singular person but at this point there was zero time to call for help.

There were teeth happening everywhere. “Don't stick your hands where the teeth are!” Yeah, check. I didn't have a cookie sheet in my sweatpants but it wouldn't have worked anyway. I grabbed Beau by the base of his tail and started pulling with everything I had in me. I wasn't just pulling Beau, I was pulling Beau and the dog connected to his face, along with my two smaller dogs who were latched onto the intruder dog's back legs. Nobody was letting go of anything and I was falling out of my slippers. I kicked them off, and now had only my socks for traction. I kept pulling and kept pulling, for at least 50 feet (my back yard is pretty big), until I could reach the water hose. Holding Beau's tail with one hand, I managed to turn the faucet on and grab the hose with the other hand. I sprayed him in the face. Nothing happened. It was wound up on the wall and got kinked. I let go to get more hose unraveled. Beau's tail was wet now and there was no gripping it. I sprayed and sprayed. Nothing. My socks were soaked and muddy, my pants were sopping wet, it was literally freezing outside, my back was giving out, I could barely breathe from the combination of screaming and adrenaline... I was quickly running out of energy and options.

Punching and kicking my own dog was absolutely out of the question. He loves me, he trusts me, he's protecting me and his “brothers”; I'm not about to break that trust by breaking his ribs. The fight had now meandered back across the yard and around my garage into the dark. Luckily, the water situation had caused my smaller dogs to decide they no longer wanted any part of these shenanigans. At least it was down to two dogs now. I tried grabbing Beau's leg pits but not only are we the same size, I didn't have enough energy for it to make any difference. I did the only thing I had left that I could think of to do. I grabbed Beau's collar, making a fist and twisted it, pulling up, to cut off his air supply. It took a few seconds but it worked. He finally let go. Thank God I didn't. As the other injured dog jumped back over my fence to run away, Beau was still trying to go after him. With the last air I had left in my lungs I screamed, “Beau, PLEASE STOP!!” Now that the other dog was out of sight, he was able to tune back into me. He turned around and looked at me as if to say, “Oh, hey, mom! What's up? Did I do a good job!?” That's the only part where I might have wanted to punch him in the face a little, but my main concern was getting everybody back into the house and safe.

The other guy put up a hell of a fight, I'll give him that. 

Then again, so did I.

My boyfriend left work to come give Beau a bath and get his wounds cleaned. I couldn't feel my legs for nearly two hours and I'm still having coughing fits today. It sucked. Hard. But we're all mostly okay. 

That wasn't where our night ended – there wound up being another dog in the yard later but this time Beau was on a leash, I had four cop cars, a neighbor, and animal control in my driveway – but that's where I'll end the story.

Of course, I'd rather prevent a dog fight before it happens but that's not always how life works. So, in my personal and professional opinion, if you have to break up a dog fight, reach for the back of the dog's collar (away from the teeth), twist and pull. If that doesn't work, good luck on the rest of it.