Tips For Dog Fights
For those sitters who have had dogs in their care get into a fight, what has worked for you?
I've had this happen in 3 homes in the past 2 years. Both homes where I had been doing overnights for YEARS without incident, and the third more recent home was a client I picked up last summer and sit for regularly. She said it's only happened once before and I went over my plan moving forward so there is no chance of reoccurrence of the same trigger. Triggers have been different in all three homes.
I have a dog walking fanny pack now with an air horn and citronella dog deterrence spray (although the latter is more for if a dog runs up off leash during a walk and mace isn't necessary which I also carry). After this last incident, I have added ear plugs because laying on an ear horn is difficult when you feel like you are busting an ear drum.
The 2 of the 3 homes the dogs weren't wearing collars. In all 3 homes there were not injuries, dogs were biting but not breaking the skin thankfully. It's been a matter of breaking them from the state they are in enough to be able to separate without getting bit.
Y'all, I've been doing this work for 18 years (although 8 full time) and until a year and a half ago, nothing like this has happened. I feel like I'm learning as I go here on how to stop a fight, and that is a DANGEROUS way to learn. What I've read to do hasn't worked in my situations. I am worried the next time there could be blood and I need a stronger plan. I stay calm in an emergency, and think fast to strategize, I just need some different strategies and hope someone here had some new ones to offer. I am sick thinking of what COULD have happened or COULD happen. Clients have praised me for how I've handled each situation, but I don't feel good about it at all as a sitter.