What to do if your dog is attacked?

[Crawling]

DP was walking our dog the other night when a pitbul x shot out of a garden and attacked our Labrador. Our labrador didnt fight back but was crying and trying to get away.

No owners came to help and dp found it difficult to stop them and was very concerned about the other dog causing severe harm to our dog so he is ashamed to admit he kicked it back into the garden and shut the gate (sorry please dont flame). He said he didnt hurt it but he had to stop it attacking our dog or our dog was going to get badly injured.

Now we know his actions were not the best way to deal, but in a moment of panic at protecting our dog he did it. So I have come on here to find a better way to deal with this should it happen again.

Our dog is ok BTW, dp stopped things before our dog got injured, but even after our dog showed submission the dog continued to try to attack him. What should he have done?

I'm not exactly sure what you should do tbh. When my Stafford puppy was attacked by another Stafford I grabbed the other dogs collar and twisted it because it was the first thing that popped into my head. It did leave go, pretty quick, but that could have been luck.

I then rollocked it's 12 yo walker who walked off crying hysterically whilst I was yelling about going to the police if I ever saw her out alone with dog again

at 'pitbull cross'....

Very difficult if the other owner was not there. One way to seperate fighting dogs is to (preferably gloved) lift each dog up and out by the base of the tail, but obviously that isn't an option when the owner isn't there.

I think I would probably be (stupidly!) inclined to put myself between the other dog and my dog, but I wouldn't suggest anyone else do that. It would have to be really very serious though (lots of blood everywhere!) for me to resort to kicking another dog.

Dog 'fights' can sound much more serious than they actually are. Two of my dogs play noisily and it sounds like they are trying to kill each other. Not that I am suggesting the other dog was only playing, but really, had it wanted to harm your dog it would have done.

I think you'd be very unlucky to encounter another similar incident tbh. Perhaps your DH could pop by (without your dog!) to mention it to the owner?

Good god!! how awful :( tbh i dont see what else he could have done, where the fuck was this dogs owner? .

Usually if you lift the attacking dog by its back legs it will let go, but however you do it there is no safe way, your DH is very lucky the dog didnt attack him too :(.

Do you know if the dog lives at the house if came out from, i would certainly find out and report them to the dog warden.

Hope both your doggy and DH are ok and not to traumatised.

The owner was there in my case, but she sat down and cried

Screaming at her was not the right thing to do. It was not her fault, nor the other dogs fault. It was the adults involved (or rather not involved) that I should have pissed off with.

I too was a bit at pitbull x.

My two play noisily. DH is convinced they do actually want to kill each other.

why are we at pitbull cross?

Although i know pitbull is not a breed (well other then the banned american type one) but there are lots of dogs around here that are very pitbull "type" looking IYSWIM, im not saying that they are all dog and child eaters , but the are totally pitbull type looking dogs usually they boxer mastive crosses, or mastive stafford crosses.

DP did try putting himself in the middle but the dog kept going around, DP tried dragging our dog but it wouldnt come. We dont walk that way now so that incident is unlikely to happen again. The only reason I mentioned the breed was to show that the dog could have hurt our dog not because of sterotypes. I will send him round to have a word with the owners thanks and suggest next time he grabs the collar. As I said we both know it was wrong to kick the dog. DP grew up with dogs and often tells me the dogs are not fighting but playing so I do trust his judgement as I know the type of noisy play unsettles me but not dp.

I dont know why all the I have many posts and I am not a troll.

Because normally pitbull = Stafford or Stafford x. They are a banned breed now and there really aren't that many about.

Courts spend thousands on breed experts to identify them, as it's not an easy task, even to vets and experts, but MNetters seem to be very good at identifying them

I did identify one properly once [proud], but he was in Turkey where they are not banned. DH thought it was a labrador (it was actually a lab/pitbull x)

I've heard to pull on back legs of the dog attacking too, as this distracts them. Not sure how you would manage that.
I've also heard that pulling dogs apart can actually when the worst damage is done - a wound that would have just been a puncture can become a tear, but not sure how you'd avoid that though.
I'd definately be contacting the dog warden though.

Do not suggest your DH grabd the collar unless he wants to get bitten. Putting your hand near to a dog's teeh during a dog fight is not the most sensible thing to do.

The was because as Doin has said, Pitbulls are not that easily identifiable, nor are there many of them around, calling a dog a 'pitbull cross' is simply being over dramatci and scaremongering. Another labrador could have caused more damage to your dog, especially seeing as apparently no damage was done.

Having witnessed actual dog fights, I am not altogether sure kicking would have stopped them anyway, tbh.

ahhh i see say no more

Have to say tho that i find it a crying shame what has happened to the Staffie, tis rare (well where i live it tis) to see a prime example of the original breed, they seem to have been so poorly bread over recent years that it is rare you see the small smiley stocky sort anymore :(.

I have done the collar thing. But, like midori, am a bit sceptical about how serious this attack was, given that no harm was done.

We rehomed a dog from a rescue centre to keep our (fairly elderly) bitch company when her (even more elderly) companion died. They were fine together for several months, but then the new dog (also a bitch) started to attack the old one. Within a very short time this escalated, and one day the new dog attacked the old one to the point where I really thought she was going to kill her (possibly over-dramatic, I know, but I was so scared at the time I wasn't thinking straight and it still makes me shake now - about 5 years on). The old dog was being totally submissive, crouching down, looking away, licking her lips... but the new one didn't back off. She had her by the neck and was picking her up, trying to shake her (difficult as they were nearly the same size) and banging her down on the kitchen floor. At that point, I did grab the new dog's collar and just twist until she couldn't breathe and had to let go. It took all my strength to do it (and I am a big strong lass!) and it was literally only when she couldn't breathe that she finally released her jaws. Hitting and kicking really wouldn't have done anything at all. It didn't occur to me that I might get bitten at the time - I just knew I needed to do something to save the old dog.

Old dog was OK in the end, though very shaken. Vet treated the wound but it didn't need stitches. New dog was returned to the rescue centre and they promised to try to find her a home where she'd be the only pet.

Sorry... not sure why I've told this whole story. OP - I'm sorry you had such a scary experience. I think you're right to talk to the owners, who may not even be aware that their dog can get out of the garden.

Dp previous dog was a staff when he was younger it lives with his sister now, she is a lovely thing but very old, he would have known a staff or a staff cross.

He said normally he would have thrown water over them but that was not possible, also if you look on the last thread about someone kicking a dog I also said she was wrong. Which is why I came so I could get a better alternative I was aware I was using my real name and would get a flameing but I just wanted a answer so it wouldnt happen again.

Wow! Your DH is so amazing that even though experts struggle, he can identify a Pitbull cross over every single Staff cross there may be...

Again, having experience of 'proper' dog fights, water wouldn't do much either. A loud noise seems to be the best tactic for distracting them, but unless you have a way to control them once they are seperated, they are simply likely to start up again.

I am glad your dog is OK. Hopefully, so is the other dog. Aftr all, it's not the dog's fault.

Crawling I dont think you have been flamed tbh. Yes midori said that she wouldnt have kicked the dog, but that just her opinion. In the same situation i think i would have done the same, i know for a fact that would have very stupidly waded in.

We had an almost identical situation a few years ago (same dog breeds as well!) dp banged on door of house and got a load of abuse from dog owner, I seem to think it was our fault for walking our dog, on a lead, past his house. We had to take dog to vet and simply took the bill around next day ( she's insured but why the heck should our insurance pay when it was his fault) he paid up.

I've done the collar/scruff thing to separate dogs when they were really stuck in and one had the other pinned to the ground.

Tbh, in my experience of dog fighs, not much damage usually occurs in the scary, rearing up, snarling, tooth-clashing stage, it's once one has the other down and goes for the neck that you can be in trouble.

You do have to be quick and very decisive though, or you're extremely likely to get bitten. Grab, twist, lift. Be prepared for the dog that was on the ground to fly at the dog you've just removed, and have a foot out to block it if necessary.

IMO, nothing wrong with trying to kick at the dog that is attacking yours. We had situation a couple of years ago where our timid dog was attacked by another dog. I had DS in buggy at the time, other dog had slipped its harness and teenage 'walker' completely useless. I kicked at other dog to get it away and shouted at it, it stopped long enough for teenager to get harness back on.

Was very wary of walking dog with DS for a good while after, as he (and I) had got a real fright, dog fine btw.

I don't think your DH did anything wrong. It would be easy to say he should have adopted a different tactic, but in the heat of the moment he must have done whatever he thought necessary to protect your dog. The only ones at fault are the owners who didn't make sure their dog was safely confined to the garden.

I probaby would have done the same as your DP and kicked the dog .

The OP's DH didn't 'just' kick the dog though, did he, he 'kicked it into the garden'.

I have to say when a grown dog was attacking ur puppy and the owner couldnt stop it, DP picked him up by the collar and also used his foot too. If he hadnt Im pretty sure the puppy would have been dead.

Your poor dog

You DH sounds like he did a brave thing. Don't worry, I've kicked a turkey in mid-air which flew up to attack me... and I was as an RSPCA centre at the time and they understood!

I've heard of a range of things to stop fights tailored to different breeds (bizarrely enough if GSD's are fighting there was advice to shove a stick in their arses???! )
But another useful one was to throw your coat over them to disorientate them enough to stop fighting, then grab collars.

I have no idea if this is sensible advice but one of our doggie-ladies will be along soon to advise I'm sure!

The thing is if he managed to kick this big pitbull type dog into a garden it can't have been attacking in the severe way it appeared.
A dog that is hell bent on attacking another would not be deterred by a foot!!

My lab was attacked in the park by a staffie/boxer cross last summer. It was awful. The other dog just appeared from nowhere and attacked. It was attached to my labs neck, she did not fight back but lay down limp and screamed!

The owner was shouting at her dog but it was fixated on mine. The owner was trying to pull it off. I struck it hard several times on the head with my ball lancher thing and I mean REALLY hard. The dog was dazed and let go and owner grabbed it.

If my dog had been a puppy or a small dog it would have killed it, fortunately she had injuries that she recovered from.

It goes against everything I believe to hit an animal but I did what I had to to protect my dog.

This dog has gone on to attack a westie, a collie and severely injure a spaniel puppy. It has been reported to the dog warden who has just advised the owner to muzzle it. She does not do this!

I was so frightened at the time and still worry about this dog now. I met it again recently and the owner yelled at me to 'keep away' as her dog was 'unsure' of other dogs.

Actually I do believe that a well placed kick could deter the dog if it sent him backwards long enough to slam the gate?

My Border Terrier was attacked in the park by a mahoosive staffie or staff/pitt X can't be sure (not against staffies, have met many lovely, friendly ones btw- but this was one one of the real status types, with a head far bigger than his body). Both dogs off the lead, started playing nicely it seemed, when without warning the Staff type attack and just tore in to my dog who was on the floor on his back yelping, so quite similar to OP.

The hoodied owner (cliche I know but this was SW London) didn't do much at first but his female companion was screaming at him to do something and so he kicked his dog, and it actually stopped. Not before my poor pooch got a puncture wound in his chest.

Anyway, not staffie bashing, but pointing out that I have seen a boot to the dog work. I think the OP was polite and nicely put, and not really sure why she's getting so many 's - I know we can all get defensive of our dogs but this is what happened to her and she'd like some help.