[vekiuytyh]

Sharing experiences on here on situations that people sometimes face, is a way to not only learn from it, but also to help others learn from your experiences, and also to vent a little. Not everyone knows as much as they think they know, and every one can stand to learn a little something new from time to time.


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Being a totally inexperienced owner, I found this posting very educational. I hadn't read about locking legs around the dogs before. That sounds like a useful technique. I hope never to have to use it. I also find it to be a great reminder when folks share real-life experiences as they occur -- that I should never forget that it could happen.

^^^^This post.... this one right here^^^^^ THIS is why we are here, this is why this forum exists.... People come here to LEARN!! It's people like PoohsGramma, that are why people like us are dedicated, every day that we wake up, to come to this form, to help others learn, to educate, and sometimes, to learn ourselves. This forum is as successful as it is for one reason and one reason only... we are dedicated on teaching. If someone can come on here and post about an experience they had, and share how they handled it, and people respond with either, "you handled that correctly" or "maybe next time try this" or "you totally screwed up the way you handled that situation", then everyone walks away with a little more knowledge.

Theoretical instructions are great, but every situation is different and real life is messy and disorganized especially when you are scared and have to act quickly. i would love to never have to break up a dog fight again (I used to work at a doggie daycare and broke up all kinds of fights until I got fed up with such a dangerous scenario) but I also know that owning a "pit bull" i may need to again someday as much as I hope that will never happen. I appreciate every bit of real real life info from real people i can get, I would always rather be over prepared with a head full of anecdotes i'll never need than the other way around.

Exactly... I couldn't agree more. I like to say, "Be like the Boy Scouts: Be prepared!" Better to have the knowledge and never need it, than to need it and not have it.

One dog families, usually don't have to deal with breaking up a fight, but it's always better to know how to break one up, than to waste time and energy, standing there screaming at the dogs to stop.

Oh, and for the member that was wanting to order a break stick and to learn how to use them correctly.... here's Pit Bull Rescue Central's link to their break sticks. I ordered mine from them and couldn't be happier. Not only do they tell you how to use one correctly, but they also tell you not to use it on any breed other than a bully breed.... not everyone knows that, which is evident by this thread.

http://www.pbrc.net/breaksticks.html

Oh, and one other thing... 4Paws.... she wants you to break a window and get into her house if you hear dogs fighting .... I'm taking that to mean she leaves them all loose together during the day?? Hopefully, you have gotten through to her, and thank God you were there to help her when the dogs got into a fight, otherwise, she could be burying one of her dogs tonight, or spending $$$$ in vet bills for repairs to one or more of her dogs. The fact that the Shar Pei was turning around and snapping at her.. that alone, would be reason enough for me to not let all of them out together to potty again. I'm sure she learned her lesson, and I'm sure she is more than happy you were there. I'd have a class with her and the son, to show them hands on, how to correctly use a break stick. A fight can be a stressful time as it is, and a lot of times, everything that you know vanishes for those few seconds. Knowing how to properly use a break stick, will prove to be very valuable to them in the future. Hopefully, she won't have any more incidents with the dogs, but if so, she should be "armed", both mentally and physically, with the knowledge on what to do. The best thing anyone can do during a dog fight, is to stay calm. You will break up a fight a lot faster if you remain calm and think. Kicking and screaming at the dog only does two things: it wears you out a heck of a lot faster, and for no reason; and it can always just piss the dogs off even more. They are already fighting, and now they have a human kicking and screaming at them. Staying calm, and doing what needs to be done, usually results in a much shorter fight... at least in my opinion.


***my replies are in.... well, this color! ***