Dogs that have severe fighting problems with other dogs are the ones that cause their owners the most worry. Dealing with dog fights is not easy. It is this vice that many owners hope a psychiatrist will be able to probe and cure.
Psychiatry would not help
But since this is the process of investigating into the past of a dog’s mind, which cannot be probed because the dog cannot answer questions, no progress can be made with psychiatry.
That does not mean we cannot understand a dog’s present state of mind.
Although past events might have had disastrous effects on the dog and might have affected his mind and emotional makeup, it would have to be the owner who is psychoanalyzed to find the answer to the dog’s problems.
However, few owners would have the nerve or sense to go to a human doctor to find out why their dogs fight. I think we can leave out this subject too.
Why dogs fight?
A dog fights for several reasons.
Usually it is the right to survive. This could be the right to eat and live peaceably. The dog simply wants to live whereby he has no enemies or neighbors that will irritate him.
We do not know which motive fits each individual case. What we do know is that dogs often pretend to fight in play. They maul each other in a rough and tumble which nobody minds.
Puppies have mock fights all the time to strengthen their limbs and develop their jaws. They also need to wear off their superabundance of energy.
Resulting problems
But the subject we are looking at here is serious dog fighting. These type of fights is dangerous for dogs and humans. It could even end in death for the smaller and weaker dog.
Even if the fight is not so bad as to end in death, it can cause the owner of a dog to have a heart attack from fear. Also, people can suffer from dog bites too. It is most unpleasant and terrifying, to say the least.
Dealing with dog fights
Most people don’t realize it takes only a minute for two dogs to get really to grips. Before that they are playing for a hold.
Therefore, when you go to separate a dogfight, there is no need to rush in. You may put yourself at risk of dog bites. It is far safer to watch at close range until you can safely get a hold of a collar or of the loose skin between the eyes of the dog.
Once a dog has got a hold on another dog, it is unlikely that he will turn around and bite you. To do so, he would have to release the other dog.
You are reasonably safe, when it has got a hold, in slipping a lead on or grabbing the choke chain or scruff.
It is generally useless beating the dogs in a dogfight. They would be mentally unaware of pain at that moment. And unless you knocked either dog out, you would not separate them once either had a real hold.
