*If your dogs just got in a fight please do the appropriate medical checks and make sure everyone is safe before reading this.
Ok, let’s get right into it. This is not a post on how to fix dogs who fight within the household. You will need professional help for that. This post is to help you and your dog’s stay safe in the interim.
First let me say, if you are having this issue, my heart goes out to you. This is one of the hardest things a person with multiple dogs can go through, and while it can seem impossible, there are things you can do to make everyone’s lives better immediately.
1. Separation
After a dog fight is broken up, it is imperative to separate the dogs. Put them in different rooms or kennels.
This is for everyone’s safety. Some dogs can fight and be fine and others need a cooling off period. Please don’t hope for the first and end up with the second.
2. Go through what happened
- Was there food out?
- A toy?
- Were you giving one or multiple dogs attention?
- Did they just stare at each other for a second?
Try to remember every detail. This can help you figure out how to manage the environment in the future and if you choose to hire a professional dog trainer they will thank you.
3. Have an honest conversation with your household
You need to think about these questions as rationally as possible, so if you need a minute to calm down please take it.
- Do you feel safe around these dogs?
- Separately? Together?
- How can you prevent this from happening again?
- Remember their health and the health of whoever gets involved is at stake every time they fight.
- Is this the best situation for the household?
- Are you willing to put in the work to fix or manage this?
- Some dogs can not live together peacefully, that is a reality you need to be aware of.
4. Make a decision
This is the hard part but I’m here to tell you the truth.
Fixing in house fighting is very difficult, sometimes impossible, even with a good trainer and it takes a ton of work on the part of the owner.
A lot of people who live with dogs who fight keep them separate at all times, or only have them together while supervised. There are lots of ways to do this, but it can be stressful for you and you have to be vigilant always.
Whether you choose to keep them separate, hire a trainer, or rehome a dog, this is your decision.
5. Make a plan
Remember, the first goal here is safety. Safety of the dogs as well as the safety of people in the household. Even if you decide to rehome, it’s likely you’ll have to manage the dogs until you find one suitable placement.
Make sure everyone in the household is on the same page.
If you’ve opted for separation, you need to decide if you’re going to crate and rotate or house separation and how it will work.
Come up with contingency plans. Think of everything that can go wrong and plan for it.
Learn how to safety break up a dog fight should it happen. I like the leash around the hips method, and there are many other ways to break up a fight safely.
If you choose to call a trainer, make sure they have experience in this and beware of guarantees or promises that they can fix it.
Finally, if you’ve opted to rehome a dog make sure the new owner/rescue group is aware of the issues you are having so they can get the dog appropriate help.
Last but not least, please be careful. No matter what you decide to do, it is your decision to make.
If you need help, feel free to Contact Us