[QUOTE=Riley0522;7524318]
Usually breaking up a fight between two dogs is easier with a second person, sometimes that’s not always an option. I don’t know many people who would try to choke a dog with their bare hands, I was referencing to using a collar or a rope/leash of some sort…also accounts for the gripping issue you have brought up. I don’t consider the neck of the dog I’m choking close to it’s mouth since it’s behind the mouth and impossible for that dog to reach and I’m not quite sure why you assume dogs automatically go for each other’s necks? I’ve never had neck wounds from a dog fight. Armpits/legs/faces, yes…never necks.
?You do know that the trachea is in the front of the neck? You used the word “choke”, which naturally implies impeding the airway. I didn’t say dogs “automatically go for the neck”. Although, they tend to have thicker, tougher, looser skin around the neck and many have a “ruff” of protective hair for a very good reason. It’s less likely to see wounds in this area for that reason. The body parts you list all have thinner, more easily injured skin and are common places for bite wounds in fighting dogs. Those also happen to be body parts near the neck, which dogs protect at all costs.
Are you suggesting soaking a dog wet makes anything easier? Because I’ve never seen it work. I had a family member that tried to break up a fight with all methods but choking (a Lab and Shep mix btw, no Pits involved) and ended up with an ambulance ride, and a massive amount of stitches. The fight ended up being broken up by an adult male neighbor who heard the commotion and beat the dogs off of each other with a metal rod.
Where did I say anything about soaking dogs or using water at all? If your family member had attempted to “hand choke” (even somehow using a collar) a Lab and a GSD, they likely would have suffered even further injury. Some fights require a physical wedge (stick, chair, metal rod, baseball bat…) be placed between dogs. Choking is an invitation to serious injury. If the dogs have slip leads or easily accessible collars on, fights rarely are able to escalate beyond a certain point b/c the dogs can be pulled apart. But once the battle is on, it’s too dangerous to reach in and try to twist collars or something to try to choke a dog.
Lastly, intervening in a fight in any method could be consider attacking the dog by the dog’s standards. I’m not sure how you intervene and don’t “attack” the dog. When I’m breaking up a fight, I’m not really concerned about the dogs’ feelings. I’ve never personally had a dog redirect on me.
Oh for Pete’s sake, I didn’t say anything about the dog’s feelings. There are many ways to break up fights without putting yourself in harm’s way. If you’re breaking fights up often with your choking method, you’re inviting redirection, so it seems as if luck is on your side. That’s great!
What would be your preferred methods for breaking up a fight? I am asking honestly as I’m always interested in learning new things, so would be open to other ideas.
See above. Physical wedge with inanimate object that keeps my soft and squishy parts well out of the battle zone.
I personally do not own dogs I don’t feel comfortable handling on my own. I have had fosters that I felt if they fought with my dogs I would not be strong enough to break up on my own, so they’re only out with my dogs when my boyfriend is around (who is strong enough), and we did not add those dogs to our pack permanently because I choose not to live like that. The few fights I have physically intervened in were between a foster dog and my own and a family member’s dog and my own. Any “fight” I’ve ever had between my own dogs has been stopped by yelling at them and no physical intervention, so thus far I have been lucky in that respect. That includes living with 3 rescued Pit Bulls for 5 years without incident (we lost one of our girls to idiopathic renal failure at Christmas so now we are down to 2).[/QUOTE]
.
