Seger Park Dog Owners Association

Ok, so you’re at the park and you see two dogs about to face off. Or worse yet, a full fledge fight is underway.
What do you do? How can you minimize injuries? How can you keep the peace?

“All of a Sudden”
It’s rare for dogs to instantaneously fight. In 99% of most altercations have several ‘warm up’ arguments prior to an actual fight.
Look for repeated humping or “lean overs” - one dog placing it’s chin over another dog’s back repeatedly. As arousal levels increase, dogs that appear to be “boxing” with the back feet on the ground and the front feet off the ground, are often approaching the tipping point.

Easy Targets
Adolescent males are the dogs that are most likely to fight. Intact or not, adolescent males have more testosterone at the age of 10 months than at any other time in their life. So, older males may bully or target them. Similarly, young or sensitive dogs that are showing all the “right” calming signals (showing their belly, getting low to the ground, slinking) may also be overly corrected or ganged up on by insecure dogs.

FIGHT!
You’re chatting with your dog park folks and there’s a fight.
What to do.

1. If your dog isn’t fighting, restrain your own dog and grab his collar. This is to prevent secondary fights, which are often worse.
2. Yell, “HEY!” A loud yell can often be enough to break up a fight.
3. If Yelling doesn’t work- toss or throw objects- kick mulch, pea gravel, throw a trash can lid, a water bottle, etc.
4. If you have to intervene to separate the dogs, try to pull them apart by pulling their back end. If a dog is attached and shaking another dog, pulling them will increase the damage, pour water on the dogs, squirt bitter apple in the dog’s mouth, or Direct Stop canned citronella spray. Grabbing a dog’s genitals – in a moment of desperation- has also been known to interrupt the aggression.

The Dogs are separated, now what?
Your dog is aroused and just rehearsed being aggressive. After a fight breaks out, there is NO TRAINING OPPORUNITY. You should go into damage control mode. That means, the best thing to do is pull the dog out of play and giving the dog a break, pack it up and go home At this point, you want to DECREASE arousal,

Pinning is about the worst thing you can do. What you are essentially doing is putting your already aroused, adrenaline charge dog in a vulnerable position, while other dogs prance around off leash. And if you think pinning is a good “correction”- get over it! Your dog ALREADY REHEARSED being aggressive, to your dog; the “fun” has already been had. “Correcting”, sadly, often has the opposite affect- and can often cause a dog that is known to be questionable around dogs to develop full-blown aggression, with more intense, damage causing fights

Fighting (over and over and over)
Once a dog has fought, their cortisol levels (stress hormones) are higher for the next THREE days. What does that mean to you? Once a dog has a fight that are much more likely to fight for up to 72 hours. If you had a fight- take some time off the dog park. And if your dog just fought, it’s common courtesy to leave the park.

Dogs Bite, Dogs Fight
Fighting is normal dog behavior. To expect our dogs to go through life without fighting is to expect you to live on this planet for 100 years and never get in an argument- it happens. That being said, most fights are just lots of noise, teeth flashing and no bleeding. If your dog is regularly fighting and doing damage, this is a dog that is either begun to be less tolerant or is on their way of “aging” out of the park.

Please remember that your dog’s behavior affects the behavior of the other dogs in the park. Be responsible and play safe.