Getting Bit in a Dog Fight

dog bite

Dog Fights are dangerous business -

trying to break up a dog fight is one of the most common ways people get bit by their dogs

This is nothing to follow around with.

Hi Ed

I just found your website - thanks. Its terrific! I'm finding most of my answers but could use your help. I have some specific questions that I can't find the answers to. Reading about your experience, you might be able to guide me.

A little background: I own two dogs: one is a 65 pound husky/lab mix 10+ years old (Snorkel). He was paralyzed six years ago when I threw a frisbee for him, which dislodged a blood clot that strangled his spinal cord. After lots of tlc he walks with a decided limp in the hind quarters. He's coming down with arthritis.The other dog is a 75 pound Rott/shep mix (Atti). We got her when she was one or so and replaced both acl's in her back legs the year after we got her. She now has a herniated disc, hip dysplasia and arthritis. In spite of all this they are happy campers, get along great and mind me well. We have them on an electric fence. Each only broke free once early on in their training. I still do not leave them out unattended. I MUST WALK these dogs to keep them mobile.

Because of the breed mix, I took Atti to basic obedience and "Feisty Fido" classes (I hear that groan all the way here). I've learned from your website I was taught mostly all the wrong things. They told me to take away the prong collar and put her on the gentle leader as she was getting jumpy whenever she saw certain dogs on our walks. They told me this was the best I could expect - that dogs are dogs. Keep praising her, build her confidence and avoid problems. Gee thanks.

A few years later when she was about 6, a neighbor that she knows tried to give her a hug (she's always acted like a mush). She snapped - didn't bite. I got to her and corrected her then put her in her bed where she moped and stayed. I take her to the vet next morning because this was so unusual and they find she had an elevated white count. Another six months pass and she does it again to a little neighbor girl. This time no physical excuse. I get the little girl to come over every Sunday and run through obedience training with her and things go back to normal. I figured this would change their relationship. I still don't trust her or the neighbor child though. I made a new rule: my dogs are never allowed to be with others unless I'm there. Period.

Next year a little poodle gets into our yard, goes after Atti, it becomes mutual and the poodle makes a getaway. No injuries. Atti shaken. Snorkel just stood back and barked.

Last week I was walking both dogs and a little Maltese got out of his yard and attacked Atti's legs while we were in the middle of the street avoiding it. I yelled at the dog to "go home", which usually works, but it circled around and came back and bit her nose. It didn't get away fast enough and that was the end of the little dog. Snorkel sat through the whole thing. I did all the wrong things trying to break this up - I tried to pull her (broke the clasp on the gentle leader), then did a body slam on top of her, grabbed her jowls and got her to release. I ended up with only one puncture ~ lucky. Animal control and police are called - everyone in agreement it is not Attis fault. Owners knew dog had these problems but did nothing. Atti mopes for a day or so (probably sore).

I'm feeling terrible, so I keep searching and find your website. Today (give me a break -not even a week later) as we were walking, we get charged again ~ only by a sheltie! I get Atti behind me, then go ballistic towards it ~ but it only moved back about 6 feet and kept barking. Again it was going for Atti. This dog lives next door and is not on any kind of fencing or restraint. This WILL happen again - probably in my yard.

So my questions....

About Atti:

Is Atti a "soft" dog?

I don't think she fits in any of your dominant or aggressive categories, but I could be wrong. What do I need to read here? Had she become aggressive at 6 years old? She ignores big dogs.
I bought your prong collar and dominant dog collar as back up and ditched the gentle leader. Will this work when Atti becomes so engrossed in her defense that she doesn't pay attention? Am I expecting too much?

Will your basic obedience tape be too basic for us or do I need the other aggressive dog one? I don't know which problem I have - if any.

About attacks:

Is it possible to assume alpha status with these other dogs while I'm on a walk?
Why do these little dogs go after my dogs? Is it because they are old/lame? Because I'm walking two?

When we are coming under fire - what do I do? Some tell me screaming is going to make it worse.
How would you fight stupidity in neighbors? There are more in this area. Should I always keep Atti muzzled - just in case? Will this hurt her? I think it will put her in a terrible position not to be able to defend herself, and panic her more. Or am I being naive?

Will pepper spray makes these dogs go away or will it just buy me time to clobber them or run?
One more bonus question:

What do you give your dogs when they become old and arthritic? Rimadyl?
I know this is long but I'm really at my wits end with this. I love both dogs dearly. Not walking them is not preferable as they need it, but we'll find something else if you think it hopeless.

Thanks for your guidance!

Terrie

How to Break Up a Dog Fight

eBook

How are you doing Ed? Been awhile since I got up with you. Guess you know by now 3/325 has been retired.

I have some dumb pictures of me stopping 2 dogs fighting. Pit and Shepard pit mix both females. Wish I would have read your stuff about the best way to break up a fight. But I reacted and did not think. Almost got killed. Left upper inner part of the arm was bit to the muscle any further it would have hit the artery. Took 12 stitches. Normally they would not have stitched them as you had said but the bites where deep and torn so they opted to loose stitch to allow for drainage. Have to say special thanks to Womack Army Hospital. After I was used as a chew toy, I had to walk about 1/2 mile to the vehicle. Btw these where not my dog or dogs. My grandchildren where a few feet away when this happened. My dog Scooter was retrieving at Mott lake Bragg. Long story. If you want use these pictures to enforce Of Not What To Do !. Do so. Might save some grief for another person. Guess I fell on my head to many times. Guess you know us Airborne troopers ain't wapped to tight! Just kidding. Give my best to Jeff. Meet a few troopers from his old unit.

dog bite

I find the information on your website very useful. Thank you very much for making it available.
I have a 4-year old female golden retriever (spayed). We like to take long hikes along the river trail just outside of town. This a no-leash ordinance area, as long as you have voice control over your dog. We've hiked this trail for several years without incident, until recently. We encountered a dog without an owner (the dog had a collar and tags and probably belongs to someone in the area although there are very few homes along the trail ??). I immediately put my dog on leash while trying to assess the situation. My dog started growling. The other dog wanted to approach and made several circling attempts, head down, staring intently at my dog. Fortunately, there happened to be someone walking along with me at the time and they attempted to chase the dog off several times but it kept coming back, circling around again to get closer to my dog. I didn't notice if this was a male or female dog, it wasn't growling, it's tail was not wagging. I was just very struck by how deliberate and intent this dog was trying to get to my dog and I was not sure how to interpret its behavior. I don't know how things would have worked out or what I would have done had this person not been there to help me.

I have been in the middle of one dog fight before (my dog was attacked) and I was badly bitten while trying to break it up just like your website cautions against)! I am very nervous now when dogs do their meet and greet behaviors but are showing signs of aggression (or what I interpret as possible aggression). My dog is usually very friendly but she is "top dog" and she won't hesitate to stand up to a challenge. The river trail is our favorite area. I have no intentions of staying away because of this one dog. How should I handle this situation in the future? What should I do with my dog, the other dog, and most importantly perhaps myself so that I don't make things worse? Someone suggested pepper spray, another said that would only anger the other dog further and to use a sturdy heeling stick instead, if necessary. Another person suggested a stun gun, another a police officer's night stick. I just want to be safe. What do you recommend?

Preventing Dog Bites in Children

eBook

Can we allow our dog to continue sleeping on the bed with us if we do EVERYTHING else you say? Is it ever okay for a dog to sleep on the bed? Perhaps if there are no behavioral problems to begin with, or if they have been corrected and established for some length of time? Please, there HAS to be a way! We are very attached to sleeping with our dog as he has never not slept with us except if our daughter wants him, or when he gets too hot under the covers or needs more room, then he chooses to go to the couch in the front room (maybe we're more attached to the set up than he is). I'm sure that last sentence will land this in the "Dumb and Dumber" category, but I have to be honest.

Thanks for all your hard work in this field that has allowed you to provide us with all the information, experience, products, and resources that you offer thru this website! I really do respect and trust your guidance.

PS: Also, I very recently sustained a dog bite thru the calf of my leg when I felt obligated to stop a fight between my mothers two Great Danes as I was house sitting by myself for her. It was between a mother (5yrs) and daughter (2 % yrs). As awful and unfortunate as it was that the mother did not survive, Ion the other hand was very lucky and fortunate that I did. It was a nightmare that I am still dealing with today and probably always will. My need for information and support are what led me to your site. I wish I had this information beforehand! As for my mother, I haven't heard from her since the day I left her house even though I have attempted to contact her in more ways than one. Go figure that one! I think the answer to that is on the narcissists website. Thanks again.

Dealing with
Dominant & Aggressive Dogs

Wow, thank you for your quick response! I didn't expect I would hear back from you so soon! Well, I am crushed to hear that we should change our sleeping arrangements. I do admit my dog has some bad manners, but in general I would find that hard to accept as necessary if there were no behavioral problems in a dog. However, I have no such "dream dog", and I trust your knowledge. Can you suggest a way for all of us to gradually wean apart from each other during what has always been our most favoritest special bonding and loving time? As I mentioned our dog has slept with us since we got him at 4 months old and he will soon be 4 yrs. old in May. If nothing else, can we keep him in the bedroom if he sleeps in a crate or something? I think it would be very traumatic to our dog to abruptly banish him to another location by himself with no one in sight. I know I must appear very silly (for lack of a better word) in your eyes, but I am just so crazy attached to him! Even though my feelings are what they are, I do look at my dog as an animal first which in my book ultimately makes them unpredictable, and I am never naive enough to say that "I know my dog". When I hear others say that, it makes me mad! I think it's unsafe to have that mentality and to feel that comfortable around any animal because I think that causes a person to lose caution when caution should always be exercised and kept in mind! Well back to the bed issue, I guess it would be nice to have more room for myself on the bed since our dog Nino is a big and tall 100 lb. Doberman.

About the dog fight details, I will explain further. Basically, I had brought the daughter back into the house after she was in a kennel for one hour as I was at the grocery store. The mother was already in the house. When I brought the daughter back in on leash, she was so excited to be back in the house that she became very rambunctious and escaped my grip. I called out her name as she went near her mother because I knew they had a history of fighting, and I didn't want the mother to become upset by her daughter's behavior. My mother told me they were okay around each other now, but it turned out they were not. The mother went to enforce a correction towards the daughter with a growl and a bite, and the daughter not being a puppy anymore fought back. It started in the kitchen, traveled thru the family room and ended in the master bedroom. During this time I tried any distraction methods I could think of (not really knowing any) that would keep me out of danger.

The first thing that came to mind was the ever popular hose idea, but we were in the house with no convenience of a hose. I looked around and saw the 5 gallon water bottles I had just filled up at the store and decided to pour that on them. I don't think they even noticed. I had no idea what to do as I continued other stupid methods such as throwing treats at them and hitting them with other things. As I helplessly observed this my internal dialog became "I am responsible for things here while my mother is gone, and I can't have her coming home to dead dogs!" The mother dog was getting it bad from her daughter, and I wanted to save her. At that point I decided there was nothing else I could do but try to pull them apart (as if). Now we're in the family room and I decide to stand VERY behind the mother and try to pull her away by the collar from the daughter. This travels towards the master bedroom and the dogs are on opposite sides of a doorway: the daughter within the bedroom and the mother with me on the other side in the family room. I closed the door between them as much as I could and thought at one point I was finally going to be able to separate them if only they would let go of each others necks. I held the door with one hand and continued to try and pull the mother away from the daughter. The daughters grip was locked and strongly pulling when I could hear and feel the mother's neck begin to tear. I could no longer hold the door half way shut between them as the daughters strength pulled us in the room. Still, I foolishly continued to try and pull one dog away from the other as I stood some distance behind. I think I may have had one foot forward for leverage when I felt the mother bite deeply thru the calf of my leg, and I instantly fell to the floor. She did not release me right away, and shook my leg like a toy in her mouth. I could feel the calf start to tear and was afraid that it would rip completely open, so I used my hands and arms to help lift myself off the floor allowing me to travel along with the dog fight (since the daughter was still attacking the mother) to prevent any resistance that would cause the leg to tear open. Although I'm sure it happened very quickly, it went on long enough for me to make
the conscious decision to scream as loudly as I could so that maybe the neighbors could here me and call for help since I was by myself and didn't know what the outcome would be. I believe the mother thought she had a hold of the other dog at first because she did not turn on me perse. I think she just grabbed hold of the nearest object to her. I don't blame her whatever the reason. By the grace of God and the dog, she released me and I quickly crawled out of the room and shut the door behind me. I got to the phone and called 911.

As I waited on the kitchen floor for assistance, I could hear the fight continue behind the door. By the time assistance came, I heard nothing. I was sure one of them had been killed by the other. Animal control came and dealt with the situation as I left in the ambulance to the hospital. At the hospital I learned that both dogs were still living, and that they were able to get the mother to the vet, but they were not able to get control of the daughter and left her in the room at the house. By the time I was released from the hospital my mother had returned from out of town. She stopped by the vets first, then picked me up from the hospital, and then we went back to her house together where she was able to evaluate and treat the daughter dog. Somewhat surprisingly, the daughter was okay, and didn't require a trip to the vet. What a mess the house was! I don't know the extent of all the injuries the mother sustained, but my mother said the jugular was punctured, and that she would require a couple of surgeries, and would be in much pain for a while. The dog was kept alive until the next morning when my mother decided to put her down after considering her condition and the way she bit me. The "way" being that she held on and shook me. My mother took very good care of me for a couple days until my husband could come and get me as we live three hours apart from my mother (and his car broke down on the first attempt). I have not been able to make contact with her since the day I left almost 2 months ago. I was concerned about her and hoped nothing more happened as a result from this whole ordeal. I thought maybe animal control might come and take the daughter from her. Not knowing what was going on or understanding why mother hadn't called to check on my injury, I decided to have one of her friends check on her, and I was told that she still has the daughter, but is still very upset about losing the mother and the whole thing that she can't talk to me right now.

On the way home from the hospital, I apologized profusely to my mother, and she did say to me that they are just dogs and she was glad I was okay. I know it is a traumatic experience for everyone involved, but it's going on two months now, and I have not heard from my mother. I just don't understand it. She has no idea that my wounds did not close for several weeks and became infected at which point the doctors were considering scooping the punctures out so they could have a fresh start at healing. All in all, I took four bottles of antibiotics throughout my recovery, and luckily did not require any surgery. I do have blood clots in some veins that are not dissolving and were being monitored to determine if they should be removed. Fortunately, they determined the clots are not in a dangerous position and decided to leave them alone. Overall, it could have been the worst kind of worse anything could possibly be, so I am immeasurably grateful that it wasn't! I think of those other situations I have heard about on the news from time to time, and just thank my lucky stars. I can't and don't want to imagine the less fortunate outcomes that others have experienced! Every situation may not manageable, but I will feel better if I am prepared to the best of my ability.Thanks again for sharing your time, knowledge and teachings!

Audio Book Download

HOW to Break Up

A DOG FIGHT

51 MN Long

Unfortunately, I read your article too late. Our two huge, male dogs have had about four fights in the last year and each time I break them up, knowing I'm lucky to come out unscathed. Well, this last one was a terrible brawl. Thank goodness, my husband was home and heard me screaming. As your article states NOT to do, I was pulling one by the collar as the other, bigger one wascontinuing to attack. My husband ran up to them a snapped a towel at them and they finally stopped not before I got a fairly deep scratch on my left. I had to go to the doctor and get a Tetanus shot. At that point, I decided to do some research. NOW, I see your article! Thanks. You have given some good suggestions. Oh, and like other dogs, my two were licking each others' faces an hour later.

Audio Book on CD

HOW to Break Up

A DOG FIGHT

71 MN Long CD

I pulled up your web site after doing a search on aggressive behavior of dogs. I would appreciate any advice you may be willing to offer. I adopted a mixed golden lab 3 month old puppy three years ago. In August of 2003, Goldie, my mix breed dog, grabbed the back of my small female dogs' neck and was flinging her around on the ground. I tried to separate them, she had never done this before, and ended up in the hospital having to get stitches in one finger. Goldie was 1 1/2 at the time and was in heat. She was checked out by the vet and was cleared of rabies or any other disease. The little dog did not have a scratch on her. She was very frightened and hid for a couple of days. Last night, 1 and a half years later, Goldie grabbed Jinjin again by the back of the neck and I had to separate them. It took about 5 minutes to do so. Goldie is just beginning to go into her heat cycle. Jinjin was understandably frightened and I was up all night watching both of them. I left Goldie in my fenced in back yard while I came to work. Jinjin stayed in the house. Please help me to resolve this problem. Thank you,

Leerburg® Dog Training eBooks

Leerburg

Dog Training Podcasts

When purchasing any product from Leerburg Enterprises, Inc. it is understood that any and all products sold by Leerburg Enterprises, Inc. are sold in Dunn County Wisconsin, USA. Any and all legal action taken against Leerburg Enterprises, Inc. concerning the purchase or use of these products must take place in Dunn County, Wisconsin. If customers do not agree with this policy they should not purchase Leerburg Ent. Inc. products.

Dog Training is never without risk of injury. Do not use any of the products sold by Leerburg Enterprises, Inc. without consulting a local professional. The training methods shown in the Leerburg Ent. Inc. DVD’s are meant to be used with a local instructor or trainer. Leerburg Enterprises, Inc. cannot be held responsible for accidents or injuries to humans and/or animals.

Copyright 2008 Leerburg® Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. US Copyright Link. By accessing any information within Leerburg.com, you agree to abide by the Leerburg.com Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.



Raising Puppies	Training DVDs	Training Equipment	New Products