In order to understand the risks of breaking up two or more dogs fighting, owners must learn more about the risks of dealing with redirected attention. What is exactly redirected attention? And how does it happen?

Imagine this common scenario that takes place quite often in households with multiple dogs. A dog is passing by a fence, on the other side of the fence a dog starts ferociously barking at this dog. Soon another dog joins in and they are both madly barking at this dog on the other side of the fence. As the aggression gets pent up, in a matter of seconds, both dogs that were previously barking will be fighting aggressively against each other. Why is that?

Basically, one or both dogs were in what Cesar Milan likes to call the ''red zone''. Basically they were really focused on this stranger dog passing by. They were so over charged by the presence of this dog that frustrated, they took their anger and frustration against each other.

Something similar may take place when owners with good intent try to break up a fight. The dogs suddenly interrupted, may attack anything that gets in between them. This is not intentional, it is almost an automated response from being in a fight and flight situation, without realizing they are actually attacking their master!

So what to do to break up a dog fight correctly without running the risk of getting injured? There are various methods to resort to.

-Loud Noise

Yelling often does not help, as the dogs may think you are simply joining in the fight or are too concentrated on fighting to even hear you. Banging two pot lids together or banging on a garbage can may be more effective.

-Water hose

If you have a water hose handy, open it and spray it in the direction of the dogs. This should startle them and extinguish their anger. However, with strong, persistent, red zone dogs this may not be enough. A fire extinguisher may be in this case, much more effective.

-Blanket

If a blanket is available toss it over the fighting dogs. Confused and disoriented, dogs may finally break off the fight.

-Pepper Spray

In case of serious fights a pepper spray can may be a good choice if there are no other ways to split out the fight.

-Rear leg method

If you are like most people, you will not have a blanket nor a water hose or pepper can spray available right away. Try instead to grab the back legs of one of the fighting dogs and have a helper grab onto the rear legs of the other fighting dog. Unbalanced, both dogs should let go and should be dragged away from the scene into a safe place far out of reach of each other.

Sometimes, if you really do not feel you have what it takes to separate two dogs fighting or if you fear getting bit, it is best to not intervene rather than risking. Dog fights can be very serious issues and the many serious dog bites derived from human intervention are a testimony to that.

Disclaimer: the above tips may be helpful but they cannot be guaranteed to work. If your dogs get into a fight it is your responsibility to make decisions and take resonsability for your actions. In some cases, be cautioned that no matter what, dogs can still turn to their owners or get back to the other dog. Use extreme caution.