The Best Way To Break Up A Dog Fight

As humans, breaking up a dog fight is something we hope to never have to do. Being a good pet owner, you may have the best behaved and trained pooch around, however not all dogs get along – even the good ones. Instinct is a very powerful thing in animals, so simply telling your dog to ‘stop’ or ‘come here’ nine times out of ten is not going to work. They no longer hear you as their loving loyal owner, but instead their only focus in that very moment is to attack – no matter who it might be at. 

It cannot be stressed enough that you should never, ever reach into the chaos and grab your dog away. This manoeuvre is rather going to leave you injured than breaking up the clash. Instead, there are a two effective techniques that will ensure everyone involved walks away serious-injury free. 

Technique 1: Two-person breakup

This technique will be effective if you have two people who are able to break the fight up together.

1. At the same time each grab a dog’s back legs
2. Raise them up, similar to how you would lift a wheelbarrow
3. Back both dogs away slowly, continuing to hold their legs in the air (this will prevent them from reaching around and biting you)
4. Once the dogs are safely separated, try hold them securely until they are calm and face them away from the other dog if possible

Technique 2: One-person breakup

This technique can be used if you are alone, however proceed with caution. 

1. Grab a free leash or a piece of rope
2. Slowly approach the more aggressive dog
3. Once you are close enough, loop the leash around their middle section, you want to catch them just in front of their back legs
4. Slip the free end of the leash through its looped handle and pull tight
5. Once fastened, slowly pull the dog backward until you find something to fasten them to, such as a telephone pole or fence post
6. Now shift your focus to the second dog and grab them from behind using the “wheelbarrow” technique described above
7. Again, pull them away at least 5 metres and restrain until the dogs are calm or help arrives

Whether it’s big dogs or small dogs, these techniques will work the same. Try not to scream or yell unless it’s calling for help, and most importantly, be quick, stay mindfully aware, and remain calm and assertive.

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