stopping a dog from fighting back-good or bad

[eeyore]

was walking the dogs early this morning and we met up with one of their doggy friends a gsd cross called scooby, molly went up to his ball and he had a go at her, they had a bit of a tussle and both the owner and i shouted at them to stop molly stopped but scooby had a couple more lunges before he stopped.

i am not to bothered as dogs will be dogs and do have their disagreements and after this they were friends again.

but it did get me thinking this has happened before with my friends dogs which are jrts they have gone for molly and jasper before for no reason as they are very unpredictable and not undercontrol (so i dont walk with them anymore) where i shout at my dogs to stop but the other dog doesnt, it has been ok so far as the owner has stopped their dog by either grabbing it or shouting a few times. but they have got a few bites in before stopping.

what if i was to shout to stop mine and the other dog carries on will mine just stand there and be attacked. have i taught them something that will cause them to be harmed.

its just a natural reaction to tell them to stop and they are very good and do stop.

[dobetaztic]

it is natural to try and stop dogs from fighting so to reduce injury and believe it is correct to do so if your dog stops get it out of there and if it was me that would mean i would stop the other dog by what ever method i had too especially if the owner didnt intervene, you just never know how bad a fight or tussle could go and some dogs just wont stop. i would even cover my dog with me even if that ment i got bitten but i cannot speek for others but i rather get the injury rather than my dogs.

[kelpie]

i have been bitten trying to stop a serious dog fight between my own dogs who usually sort it out but this one didnt stop and i thought my little one was gonna be killed and it wasnt nice. it was scary. i thought it was the dogs blood over me but it was mine. i had to have tetnus shots and antibiotics cos dog bites can turn gang green. everyone told me how dumb i was to try and stop it but i did what i thought i had to do. then they said if it happens again throw water on the dogs which sometimes helps but i think if they are full on they are not going to notice the water. you could carry a water bottle with u in case but personally i dont think it works especially if the dog is in attack mode. it s hard to know how to react i think.:confused:

[Monsterpuppy]

Just my opinion, but I believe it is much better to teach your dog to stop fighting. That way, at least one half the fight has a chance of being under control. It's a chance to slow or avoid escalation of the fight. Also, you don't want a dog that is accustomed to violently defending themselves when they are frightened or intimidated. It can lead to it being dangerous or impossible to provide vet care when they are injured. Even if they are just accustomed to defending themselves against other dogs, a dog that is quick to resort to aggressive behaviour will tip things toward a fight when that wasn't the way it was headed. The dogs that I am around and that are on my flyball team who are inclined toward striking out or defending themselves get injured much more often and much more seriously than the dogs that are taught to back down, avoid, and flee.

I taught both mine not to fight back, or to stop and come to me when I call, and I reinforce fleeing. I also get in between the aggressive dogs and my wimpy dogs and, yes, get bitten. I made them vunerable, so it's my responsibility to protect them. Even if I hadn't taught them not to fight back, they're still my dogs and it's my responsiblity to protect them.

I've seen Citronella spray be surprisingly effective, which surprised me because I had no faith in it. I imagine water could be, to. In vet offices, I've seen tarps used (thow it over one of the dogs).

Again, just my opinions, of course.