Try to avoid the fight

If you have two dogs at home who don’t get along, there are some things you can do to minimize their “issues.” Dogs often fight over territory, food, toys, and jealousy. They could fight over things like their favorite sleeping spot, for example. Or if you have intact dogs, then a girl in season can cause fights. Sometimes dogs fight over their owner’s attention.

If your dogs are fighting over food at mealtime, you can separate them when they eat. Feed them in separate rooms or in crates. This can prevent fights and you can make sure that both dogs are eating their own food instead of growling at each other. If your dogs are fighting over a particular toy, remove the toy. If the dogs are fighting over your attention, try to make special time for each dog to receive some attention.

In these cases it helps if the dogs learn some obedience training. Not only will this training give you some good bonding time with each dog, but it will reinforce your role as the one in charge. Obedience training also increases the chances that your dogs will listen to you if they begin to posture and glare at each other.

If your dogs do start to show signs that they might be headed for a fight it often helps to distract them with something they like. Get out a ball or toy and call them for a game in the yard. Get their minds off each other. Keep things cheerful. Or you can separate them, if you can do so safely, and put them in separate rooms or separate crates, until they cool off.

Breaking up a Dog Fight at Home

As a last resort, if your dogs are actually fighting, there are several things you can do to break up a fight. One thing that I have found effective if the dogs are outside is turning a hose on them. The shock of the cold water will usually make them stop fighting, at least long enough for you to move the aggressor indoors and stop the fight.

If the dogs are indoors you can fill up a pitcher or pot with cold water and pour it on them to achieve the same effect. They should stop fighting long enough for you to move one of the dogs to a separate room or crate.

You can also throw a blanket over the dogs to stop a fight. This makes it harder for them to see and hinders them enough to slow down the fight. You can grab one of the dogs and separate them.

Warning

Whenever you are trying to break up a dog fight you should proceed with extreme care. People are bitten all the time when trying to interfere between two dogs. It’s not because the dogs are trying to bite you. Dogs in a dog fight are more or less in a fighting frenzy, with jaws snapping in every direction. If your hand or arm, or even leg gets in the way, it will get bitten. (One of my earliest memories is hearing about my aunt being bitten while trying to break up a dog fight.) Dogs in this situation are not necessarily vicious but the adrenaline is pumping and they are in a serious fight. You can get hurt.

Stay away from the head, mouth, and front of the dogs. Don’t try to reach for the dog’s collar, at least not until he is well clear of the other dog. It’s best to try to handle the dog from the ribs back to lessen your chance of being bitten accidentally. If you can throw a blanket on the dog and handle him through the blanket, that’s better.

It’s not easy when you have two dogs in your household that don’t get alone. In most cases one of the dogs will eventually assert his dominance and the other dog will accept a secondary position, but there may still be dust-ups occasionally. You might want to consider re-homing one of the dogs if the fights continue.

Breaking up Dog Fights Outside the Home

There are also times when your dog may be accosted outside the home. You could be minding your own business, walking your dog, and another dog attacks him. Or, things could get out of hand in a dog park. In some cases, it might be your dog that attacks another dog, no matter how loving and sweet he is with you. Here’s some help about how to break up a dog fight outside the home.

Avoiding a fight

There are some things that people recommend to help avoid a dog fight:

• Carry an umbrella
• Carry pepper spray if it’s legal in your area
• Carry an air horn

You get the idea. All of these things can be used to defend yourself and your dog if another dog attacks you.

Another thing you can do is learn to read a dog’s body language. The sooner you recognize that another dog is approaching you with hostile intentions, the better. This allows you time to decide what to do. If you have a small dog you can pick him up. If you have a large dog you can tell him to heel and then turn to leave.

In most cases it’s best to turn and walk away slowly. Don’t yell, don’t run, don’t act scared. Just walk away with your dog. Do NOT stand and make eye contact with the other dog.

Breaking up a fight

If your dog is attacked by another dog outside the home, the first thing you need to do is drop your leash. Holding your dog back with the leash puts him at a disadvantage and he could be seriously injured. Allow him to defend himself.

Next, stay calm. It’s a dog fight and that’s bad but it will be over quickly. You can stop the fight. In most cases the attacker will be on top of the other dog so you need to wait and watch until you have a clear opportunity to grab the dog on top by his tail and/or rear legs and pull him off. Even if he’s a large dog and you’re a small person, you can do this. Grab his tail at the base and pull him off, keeping him off balance. Then start moving him in a circle to keep him off balance. This will look like you’re rolling a wheelbarrow. This should allow the other dog to get up and, we hope, move away. If there is another person nearby they can grab the other dog. If you have a leash with you, you can snap the leash on the dog you are moving in a circle so you can get him away from the scene. If he’s not wearing a collar, then tie the leash around his neck and move him away. If you have no leash, slowly circle him away from the scene. Improvise if you have to.

If there is more than one person with you, you can both grab the dogs and pull them apart by the tail and rear legs. Get leashes on them if possible. Remember that when you pull them apart by the tail and rear legs you need to keep moving them in circles so they are off balance. They will have to work on keeping their balance and won’t be able to worry about the fight.

When you separate dogs this way, you may not end up holding your own dog. Don’t be surprised if the dog’s owner is not happy with you or blames you or yells at you. So be it. It doesn’t matter. Stopping the fight is what’s important, especially if you can stop it without getting bitten. Everyone is upset when there’s a dog fight and people are defensive about their dogs. They might say things they regret later. Don’t worry about it. Just take your dog and check him out.

With any luck you have stopped the fight quickly and the dogs are not seriously hurt and no people have been bitten.

Fights with more than two dogs

If your dog is attacked by more than one dog it’s a bad situation and you really need help to break up the fight. If you have anything with you, such as an air horn, this would be a good time to use it. Try to call for nearby help as quickly as possible. It will probably take more than one person to remove the attacking dogs.

If possible, the best thing to do is try to avoid multiple loose dogs when you seem them approaching you and your dog. If the owners of the dogs are with them, they should try to help get the dogs to stop.

Dog fights can be dangerous not just for your dog but also for you. Remember to be careful and don’t put your hand or any part of your body near your dog’s face or head when trying to break up a dog fight. In most cases you can break up a fight, even in public, if you use the “wheelbarrow” approach and grab the top dog by the tail and rear legs, then keep him off balance by moving in circles. Good luck and stay safe.

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Safe Human Foods for Dogs

Meats
Biologically, dogs are carnivores, so it’s fine to give your dog meat protein from good animal sources. That means you can give your dog some chicken, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, or meat from other kinds of animals. If you’re cooking these meats for yourself, it’s okay to set aside a portion for your dog. Most dogs prefer their meat plain, so leave off the seasoning and sauces. Your dog may turn up his nose if you cover a piece of steak in steak sauce, especially spicy sauces. If you have a small dog, it’s a good idea to cut the meat into small pieces first. Many dogs will wolf down meat when it’s offered (pun intended), so cutting it into smaller pieces reduces the chance that they’ll choke.

Vegetables
Wolves and dogs in the wild don’t necessarily eat a lot of vegetables, but many pet dogs like them, and most are perfectly safe to give to your dog. Wolves and feral dogs do consume vegetable matter when they eat the stomach and intestinal contents of their prey, so it does form part of their diet in the wild. Many dogs like broccoli, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, zucchini, squash, and other veggies. It’s fine to give small pieces of these vegetables as treats – they are crunchy, and lots of dogs like them raw. However, if you want your dog to get any nutrition from them, they need to be pureed or broken down. Putting them in a food processor for a minute and/or cooking them for a few minutes will allow your dog to get more nutrition. Just remember that dogs should not eat onions and should only have garlic in small amounts.

Eggs and Dairy
When it comes to what human foods dogs can have, eggs are great! Many dog foods include eggs in their ingredients. Dogs can easily digest eggs and get lots of protein from them. While egg whites contain enzyme inhibitors and a substance called avidin (a Biotin inhibitor), Biotin deficiencies are very rare. Your dog would have to eat a large amount of egg whites to have a Biotin deficiency. Additionally, egg yolks are rich in Biotin, so feeding the whole egg balances it out. As long as you cook the eggs, these inhibitors will be neutralized. It’s perfectly fine to give your dog some scrambled eggs or eggs cooked in other ways a couple of times per week.

You can also give your dog other dairy products. Some dogs are lactose intolerant, so it’s usually not a good idea to give your dog milk, but there are still plenty of other dairy products that are safe. For example, you can add a little yogurt to your dog’s diet. A cup of low-fat yogurt has half the lactose of a cup of whole milk, and most dogs have no issues with yogurt. It’s also a good probiotic that aids digestion. A half-cup of cottage cheese has even less lactose. You can also give your dog American cheese, Swiss cheese, or Cheddar cheese as they contain very little lactose.

Peanut Butter and Nuts
Peanut butter is often mistakenly thought of as being made from a nut, but peanuts are actually legumes. It grows from a plant. Peanut butter is a great favorite with dogs, and it’s perfectly safe to give your dog peanut butter, peanut butter cookies, and peanut butter dog treats.

Many nuts are also safe for your dog, but some are not. Almonds are fine, and you’ll find many dog food treats made from almond flour. However, macadamia nuts are NOT safe for dogs as they contain a toxin that is dangerous to dogs. While some walnuts are toxic to horses, there is no evidence that they are toxic to dogs. However, dogs can choke on large nuts in the yard, though this is not the same as toxicity.

There are other foods you could give your dog, but they probably aren’t very healthy. For example, it won’t hurt your dog to eat pasta or bread, but these foods aren’t great for his waistline.

You may wonder if you should cook these human foods or give them to your dog raw. That’s really up to you. Those who prefer a raw diet claim that cooking food can reduce some of its nutritional value, and that’s true. However, raw foods also carry more risks associated with Salmonella – mainly for you, rather than your dog. Dogs have strong stomach acids and are usually capable of coping with Salmonella, but people who handle raw food can spread bacteria to other foods and people. So, cooking food is generally safer when humans are involved in its preparation.

No matter how you choose to prepare your dog’s food, there are plenty of human foods that you can safely share with your dog.

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How to Train Your Puppy

So, how do you go about training a puppy? The same way you would train a child—encourage good behavior while stopping bad behavior before it happens. Dogs and children learn in similar ways, and some of the best-behaved children are raised in households with well-mannered dogs. Parents use the same principles on their kids as they do on the four-legged members of the family.

Obedience classes, including puppy kindergarten, are the first step in raising a well-rounded dog. They teach you how to get your puppy’s attention, how to train the basics, and how to look after his physical well-being. For the puppy, it’s all about fun and socializing. Puppies don’t realize it’s actually school—they’re just having a good time, all the while learning important skills.

After puppy class comes the first level of obedience training. More and more trainers are incorporating the kindergarten model into these classes—play sessions, training sessions, and learning sessions all within an hour-long class. Each trainer has their own approach. Some use treats as rewards, while others avoid them, arguing that the dog will only perform for food. There are also trainers who believe in negative reinforcement—harsh commands and tugging on the leash to correct behavior. However, positive reinforcement teaches the dog what appropriate behavior is and, in most cases, offers better long-term results. If you were constantly told “no” without being shown what you were allowed to do or when you did something right, don’t you think you’d become frustrated? Dogs operate on similar logic, so encouraging good behavior while stopping bad behavior is far superior to relying solely on negative reinforcement.

How far you take your dog in obedience training is up to you. Some people enjoy the process, while others prefer to transition to a less strict, more enjoyable form of training that still strengthens the bond between them and their pet. Examples include agility training, flyball, hunt trials for sporting dogs, earth trials for terriers, lure coursing for sight hounds, and tracking (which most breeds can do to some degree). Even a trick class can keep the learning process going, and having a few tricks up your dog’s proverbial sleeve is always a crowd-pleaser.

Manners at Home

Training manners at home or away from class is a bit more challenging, as there’s no one around to tell you when you’re doing something right or wrong. Again, constantly saying “no” only frustrates your dog (and you). So, when your dog is doing something good, let them know! Once they know a few commands, praise them by saying “good sit” when they’re sitting nicely or “good down” when they’re lying down instead of begging at the table. What if they’re chewing something they shouldn’t? Simply tell them “no,” take the item away, and immediately give them something they’re allowed to chew on, praising them with “good ball” or “good chew,” depending on the item.

Table or counter-surfing is one of the worst habits a dog can develop. Once they get away with it once, they’ll always be on the lookout for an opportunity to strike again. The best advice for this behavior is prevention—don’t leave food on low tables or at the edge of counters. If you see a nose sneaking up to sniff the counter, immediately say “no,” make them get out of the kitchen, and lay down (no need for a “stay”—you’re just reinforcing appropriate kitchen behavior). The kitchen should be considered a sacred space for dogs—a place where they behave, are well-mannered, and listen to what you say. Never let them romp or play in the food preparation area. There are too many temptations, and it’s far too dangerous for a dog to think they can help themselves. For larger dogs, like Great Danes, make the entire kitchen an off-limits or “by invitation only” area.

Most household manners can be taught in a similar fashion. As long as you and your family are consistent with the rules, your dog will quickly learn what’s acceptable and what’s not. Simple, effective training methods will turn your unruly pup into a well-mannered and well-trained dog!

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