I don't visit dog parks anymore (after my own spicy experience pre-animal welfare), but I would treat the fight the same as a shelter dog fight. I carry pet corrector when I'm out in the world with my personal dogs, and would bring a bite/break stick as well for a dog park. I actually have a mentee who brought all her PG tools to the dog park (spray bottle, shake can, pet corrector, bite/break stick), but she's been to several mentorships and is a fairly confident handler - also a saint for teaching an impromptu dog sociability class at the dog park 😂
If a short puff or two of pet corrector wasn't enough to disperse the fighting dogs, I would get a hold of the primary aggressor. I imagine dogs wouldn't have leashes on at a dog park. So I would touch aggressor's rear end briefly, to gauge if they might redirect their aggression on me. If not, I would grab them by their haunches (where rear legs meet the torso) to have good control and avoid injury by grabbing further down on their legs. Then I would lift them off balance, some would call this "wheelbarrowing". This prevents the aggressor from driving forward into the victim.
If the aggressor, or both dogs are actually latched onto each other, and pet corrector wasn't effective, nor wheelbarrowing, I would progress to feeding the bite. It'd be best to have a secondary handler at this point to help stabilize one of the dogs. Before feeding the bite, we get aggressor in between our legs to stabilize them. Once dogs have released, the second handler also helps ensure their dog doesn't immediately reaccess yours. I'm intentionally not digging into feeding the bite techniques, as there are a couple free resources below to cover that piece more in depth.
My employer hosts a free webinar, regarding shelter dog playgroups, every 3 months. The last section "how" goes over how to actually break up scuffles, and what to do when aversive tools (shake can, pet corrector) don't work. It also digs into a lot of tips for keeping humans safe, avoiding defensive mouths, and minimizing damage to dogs. https://dogsplayingforlife.com/webinars/
Additionally, Dr. Segurson just hosted a really informative webinar with Laurie Lawless and Trish McMillan on Breaking up a Dog Fight. Their tips aligned very nicely with our protocols, and I can tell Laurie has handled her fair share of spicy dog interactions =) https://forum.maddiesfund.org/discussion/breaking-up-a-dog-fight-webcast-thurs-feb-26-w-trish-mcmillan-and-laurie-lawless-maddies-monthly-behavior-connection
Regarding recovery for the dog(s), my employer recommends CPR - Continued Play Recovery for the victim dog immediately. If it's not safe to do so at the park, I would get the victim in a controlled setting (yard, friend/family member's yard) with a known social dog. Expect for the victim to be more edgy/defensive/shaken up than normal. It'd be wise to have a leash dragging from each dog's collar, should you feel the need to separate the dogs. Ideally the victim is around a very well-socialized dog who can read the room and accommodate the victim. If social dog isn't the most savvy, having a squirt bottle or shake can to help back the friendly dog away, can help support the victim until they're feeling more stable. In terms of shelter playgroup, we balance our yard (remove all dogs except well-mannered social/helper dogs) and give the victim 5-10 minutes to recover. Should the dog not bounce back, they would continue to CPR each playgroup session until their sociability builds back up. To be perfectly honest, I would CPR my aggressor as well, but I've done a lot of behavior modification with quirky dogs with bite histories, etc. "CPR" for an aggressor would often look like two helper/perfectly social resilient dogs in the yard. Aggressor muzzled, often because of damage they caused, latching on, or uninterruptible drive (not giving up the fight). If the dog park aggressor dog engaged in a significant enough fight, I'd recommend consulting with a skilled dog/dog trainer in the area to review their history and assess them around stable dogs if appropriate.
I hope you find this comment helpful! Dog fights are scary, but often times the louder the fight the less damage done to the doggies, as they're often sorting out their disagreement with growls/barks/teeth flashing/grabbing and releasing scruff. Latched on fights are obviously where more damage is done, and where I've done more CPR with dogs afterwards to build their sociability back up.
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Melody Perry
Shelter Programming Coordinator
Dogs Playing for Life
NM
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-13-2026 11:56 AM
From: Jerika Caraballo
Subject: Breaking up a dog fight
Curious, what if you are in a situation where you are at a dog park or watching 2 dogs and a fight breaks out, what if you get hold of one dog but the other dog continues while you are holding one dog.
Also, after when breaking up a dog fight, when would be best to socialize both dogs again and how to go about it if in the past they didn't get along. What's the wait time typically?
#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
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Jerika Caraballo
student
independent
MA
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