What to do if your dog is attacked?

bagginslover

I always put myself between my dog and any approaching dogs, if one ofthose dogs went for him, thet'd probably get me first,and so bypass the self-inflicted thing for breaking up a fight. I'd far rather I was bitten than my dog, I'm better equipped to get over the pyscological impact than he is.

If another dog did get hold of him though, I wouldn't hesitate to punch and kick away the aggressor. My FIL broke his hand punching a dog that attacked his, and hisdog escaped unscathed. A swift kick under the chest or belly will wind a dog sufficiently to make it choke and let go.

Caroline_a

estelle123 wrote: »

When my Standard Poodle got attacked we were lucky he was only a pup as he just wriggled around and the Pit could not get a hold on him.He was after my Mini Poodle but he was to fast and just ran off.The owner was the other side of the park with his other pit and just called him back and walked on.My hubby,who is a very big man kicked it and it was like kicking a solid brick wall.This dog is still walking around off the lead with his drug dealing owner.Says a lot for the laws in this country.

I presume you mean Pit Bull. Drug dealer or not, that is an illegal breed in this country, BUT... there are a lot of large Staffies and Staffie crosses that look quite similar to American Pit Bulls. I have to say that had a Pit Bull wanted to attack your poodle, he would have done, and no puppy wriggling would have made a difference. You said that the owner called him back, and I presume from your post that the dog returned. Often people mistake dog play for attacks - when my two play it looks like World War 3 with lots of noise.... all the noise comes from the little one. If my very large German Shep wanted to hurt him, he could kill him with one bite, but there is no aggression, just lots of teeth showing - neither dog even gets slobber on them, they are just wrestling as dogs do.

Very often people assume that large dogs/staffie types are vicious and will attack and interpret any motion from the dog that is anywhere near a person or another dog to be an aggressive one. I've had lots of similar reactions to my Shep - the worst he would ever do to a person or a dog is trip them over as he trots past, big clumsy thing that he is....

Caroline_a

NB The safest way to break up a dog fight is to grab the attacking dog by the back legs and lift up and back away. If you kick the other dog you could get hurt yourself as the attacking dog could turn on you, or take the additional pain out on the dog it's attacking.

bagginslover

Caroline_a wrote: »

NB The safest way to break up a dog fight is to grab the attacking dog by the back legs and lift up and back away. If you kick the other dog you could get hurt yourself as the attacking dog could turn on you, or take the additional pain out on the dog it's attacking.

I know this is the method most recommended, unfortunatly up until 5 weeks ago I had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and so no strength in my hands and wrists, there is no way I could have lifted anything bigger than a mini poodle by its back legs I have now had surgery to correct it, but I still have no strength, and now pain from the healing incisions, so kicking is really my only option :A

Caroline_a

Sorry to hear about your Carpel Tunnel, but you need to remember that kicking a dog could result in it turning on you, or alternatively damaging the dog so that the (irresponsible) owner sues you for vet fees. Yes we know that that is just wrong, but unfortunately that's how the law works. I understand that you want to protect your dog at all costs, I would just say to be careful. You might be better if you fear that your dog is at fear of an attack to carry a personal alarm - sudden noise like that could stop an attacking dog in its tracks - and stop an attack on your dog.

hareng

"take the attackers back legs and raise the back end of the dog in the air"

Better be very very quick with mine if that were the case, he would soon have your hand or arm legs off ground or not. Let go and he would come back to punish you more, so dont provoke.
Best is grab hold of the collar choking it.

Have had similar happen 4 times in 2 years, the larger mut bounds over and bites in to the other dogs neck. May be a play or dominant type of thing, the time to worry is when the other dogs shaking your dog by the neck!

twinklie

This is my biggest fear. My baby is nearly 18 months and I'm assuming hasn't been attacked (yet) due to her size...we have plenty of dumb owners round here. Unfortunately, my (not so) little one is a very slobbery breed and slobbers constantly so when we do approach other dogs and the owner agrees it's ok for them to interact I always have to give a warning about the slobber. I learnt this was an important thing to do when she was much smaller (still big) because a lady got hysterical saying my dog had bitten hers and made it bleed because of the matted looking wet fur. I made a point of getting some of the slime off and showing her it's just slobber which is why her dog was still so keen to play with mine.

Also I feel sorry for those with long coats - if they interact, she WILL slime them, there is just no getting away from it!! Not to mention her bloomin' feet are far more likely to cause damage - she's got a bad habit of kicking with her front paws!!

Despite her size and menace though, if a dog attacked her I'm not sure she'd know what to do. She's the softest dog ever.

Caroline_a

hareng wrote: »

"take the attackers back legs and raise the back end of the dog in the air"

Better be very very quick with mine if that were the case, he would soon have your hand or arm legs off ground or not. Let go and he would come back to punish you more, so dont provoke.
Best is grab hold of the collar choking it.

Have had similar happen 4 times in 2 years, the larger mut bounds over and bites in to the other dogs neck. May be a play or dominant type of thing, the time to worry is when the other dogs shaking your dog by the neck!

Yes if you stay in the same place. But a dog with only its front legs on the ground whilst being pulled backwards is far too busy trying to keep its balance. Also to choke a large dog, particularly one with long hair takes a lot of strength.

bagginslover

Caroline_a wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your Carpel Tunnel, but you need to remember that kicking a dog could result in it turning on you, or alternatively damaging the dog so that the (irresponsible) owner sues you for vet fees. Yes we know that that is just wrong, but unfortunately that's how the law works. I understand that you want to protect your dog at all costs, I would just say to be careful. You might be better if you fear that your dog is at fear of an attack to carry a personal alarm - sudden noise like that could stop an attacking dog in its tracks - and stop an attack on your dog.

As I said before,I'drather a dog bit me than my dog, psycological scars aside, the NHS is free,vets arent!!;) If someone wants to sue me for kicking their agressive dog to protect mine, they can try, I can't see them getting to far with that to be honest- a few kicks, especially from feeble me will cause far less damage than theirdog hanging off mine by its teeth :eek:

The personal alarm is a good idea though, I'd not thought of that. I have a feeling it'd terrify my sensitive boy, but I'd rather him scared than scarred . Thanks

Raggs_2

My boy is about 40kg, and has had a couple of run ins with another largeish (I'd guess 30kg+) dog. As long as the owner is nearby (he always is), I wait for him to be closing in, and get stuck in myself, I grab the dogs by the scruffs of the neck/collars (they usually stand on their hind legs and go for the face), and pull them apart holding them in the air (on their hind legs) until the other owner grabs his dog. I'm able to do this because I'm an adult male, and couldn't recommend it to most folks (as per the previous poster, I'd rather get bitten than my dog).

I think it also depends on the situation, if both dogs are fighting, then you need 2 people in 90% of circumstances to sort it out. If one is attacking and the other screaming and trying to run, then I'd probably go for the kicking and shouting and waving my arms option (appear large, strong and aggressive, scare the other dog), but still not be surprised if I got a bite in the process.

I think any time you try and interfere with a dog fight, you have to accept the potential of getting bitten, just as if you interfere with a human fight, there's the potential of getting hit.

Incidentally, when my dog and another had a slight scuffle (not a fight, just two males posturing more than anything), a stranger (no relation to either dog) kicked at my dog as I was taking him away, I accepted he was stupid, maybe slightly drunk, and that he obviously didn't understand dogs, and made nothing of it (he didn't hit the dog seriously at all).

Of course the second kick towards my dogs face, after the two dogs were seperate, elicited a much greater response from me.