Preferably without doing permanent harm to said dogs and while reducing the risks the dogs might do permanent harm to me in the process. LOL.

My two girls (a black lab and some sort of mutant, feisty sooner) tangled the other day on the front lawn. They've always gotten along fine. And thus far they have gotten along just fine since. But on that day, they did their best to kill each other. They fought until they were simply too exhausted to continue. Nothing I tried to do to get them to stop worked. I yelled, I screamed, I sprayed them with the garden hose. Hell, I even fired off a couple of blasts into the air with a 12 gauge in my best Joe Biden style, hoping that might phase them. Nothing had any effect. And I'll be damned if I'm going to physically lay hands on two pissed off, highly agitated dags while they are doing battle.

I'm thinking maybe one of those big cans of pepper spray might be a potential solution? It seems the stuff works even better on animals than it does people. And it works pretty damn well on people most of the time. I was lucky this time, in that neither dog is really what I'd consider "fighting breeds" well skilled in the art of ripping other dogs to shreds. So the injuries were incredibly minimal given the length of the fight. But both possess a warrior spirit, as neither would quit until they simply got so tired they couldn't continue. If that happens again, I doubt I'll be as lucky. I'd rather buy some OC pepper spray now than to pay a big vet bill to treat lacerations and puncture wounds in the future. But will the pepper be enough to give a couple of pissed off and rather stubborn dogs the pause I need to get them away from each other?

If this becomes a regular problem, I'll probably just have to get rid of one of the dogs. But for now, I'm open to other alternatives.

They were trying to establish the dominance thing. It is over and will not happen again.

Toss a cat ontop their heads.....cat must have claws....even better if it's a feral tomcat

In before the peanut butter game....

If its possible trowing water on them will break them up pretty quick

"That's a strange place to put peanut butter..."

Throw a bucket of water on them.

This

Hell, then the dogs would really get serious wounds! My cat is the meanest sumbitch of them all. He's a big, tough, mean bastard that has simply dominated all kitty challengers. And he's already left a gash across the top of the sooner's head and nose that drew considerably more blood than all the black lab's bites combined. She learned not to mess with that cat quite fast.

 
Id think the bucket could potentially injure the dog, probably don't want to do that

My dogs did it several times. Both females. Was always nasty. Gun fire was the only thing that would work for them. Water hose didn't phase them.

Sorry to disagree, but it could happen again.  When I had two female dogs, they would fight every so often.  The alpha would fight over my affection, the pit-mix would fight over possessions.  When they fought, it was a bloody "To the death" fight.  The pit-mix is in my avatar.  She is smaller, but never gives up.  

I tried the pepper spray once, and found it didn't work very well.  Had two blind dogs biting at everything.

Not sure what I'd do in your place OP.  I had to store the two females separately when I was away from the house.  

Dunno.  I has a female rott and a black lab female that were fine together until a big rumble one day.  I gad to give the lab to my daughter as it was on everytime they saw each other.  No bveing over and not happening again there.



 

Taser?

You can buy pepper spray specifically formulated for animals.  Not sure how effective it is.  I used to carry it when walking my dog in town.  I wasnt worried about my dog sustaining life threatening injuries as he was a large Rott and could handle himself in that situation.  I just didnt want to have to take him to the vet to get stitched up.  He was in a few fights that i had a hard time breaking up.  Of course after I carried the spray I never had another situation that I needed to use it.

BTW- I dont think your rumble is over unless you clearly saw one submit to the other.  I think they just took a break until they are in a bad mood again someday.

My parent's dogs did that once after someone brought over a dog who upset their balance


They fought several times but none required vet care although there was a lot of blood




They run around as best of friends other than that




Ones a big husky and the other looks like a dane shepard mix


 

.45>garden hose........

Out of curiosity, what was the other breed? My two I mentioned were a small (35lb) runt of the litter pit and a 85lb German. Pit would start it, German would try to kill her. Both are pretty well trained dogs, both are complete sweethearts. But boy, like you said, it was a nasty fight. Separate them long enough though, the one not in a crate would go lay by the other one and whine. Damnedest thing.

Honestly, if you are the only person on hand, it's best to let them fight. Very dangerous to try and break up a dog fight by yourself.

If you absolutely have to, wait until they're both latched on, and grab their throat, right at the base of the lower jaw, and just start squeezing.

Once you get them apart, you really gotta watch yourself, because they're probably going to want to go back at eachother, but now that you're in the mix, could very well re direct at you.

If you have another person to help you, each person grab a dog's back legs, and just start backing up. Eventually they will need to go for a regrip, or just let go, and then you can drag them away from eachother.

I Googles Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer and I doubt his advice would work in your situation.  Something about picking the dog with the most fight, aggression and touching it in the rib cage area...........

Cattle prod.

When I was a kid, my great uncle would break up the fights between their GSD and their St. Bernard with broom sticks and the cuddly traits of a WW2 US Army combat engineer that saw North Africa, Sicily, France, and Germany.  Every damn broom stick in the house was held together with hose clamps...

I had a mutt and my GSD get into a couple fights. Mutt was the neighbors, and she was cute so I let them come over one too many times ....

Anyhow, I broke up 3 fights. My best tip, be LOUD, FAST and VIOLENT. Make them realize its not each other they have to worry about pissing off, its YOU. You guys probably are going to call me dumb, but i went in and grabbed each dog by the neck and pinned both to the ground. My GSD listens incredibly well even while getting bit, so he didn't put up any fight once I started yelling but the other guy was a bit more stubborn. Once they were on the ground I just stayed there for a minute or two until they submit.  I did get bit once It was the other dog, and I haven't let him near the house since

If they have each other by the side of the necks, let it play out. If one of them ends up on their back, stop it asap. Kick the shit out of the one you like the least.

If this is the first time it has happened, they'll figure it out among themselves soon enough.

http://leerburg.com/dogfight.htm

Here's a good article from a guy with a lot of experience.

I used a shovel last time. Apply as needed against the more aggressive dog.

Now I wouldn't recommend this as a "best way" at all, but I've broken up two dog fights (GSD vs Pit and Lab vs Lab/Rot mix) and in both cases I got physically involved. Tackled the Lab/Rot (aggressor) and immobilized it's head from the back with my arms and it's lower body with my legs, and held her there until she cooled down, and pinned the Pit to the ground with one hand on her collar and pulled the GSD off with my other hand on her collar. In neither case was I injured, but I could have been if their attention had turned to me, and would not generally recommend this as a solution.

Good luck , OP.

Field goal kick to the ribs of the aggressor.  
Worked fine for me when I had to go to bat for my whippet when an asshole dog down the street attacked her while she was walking with me.  Yes, she was leashed.

Probably not good to do if you like both dogs though.

We've used leashes/extension cords as lassos to break up my pup and his dad trying to kill each other. No way I'm putting my hands in tgere


Pup pic:



His dad is bigger

Big can of Bear Mace. Works on 2-legged problems too. The larger UDAP canisters are awesome.

Just be aware that if the wind blows even a bit back into your face... Poof! You are now 100% blind, choking, and down for a bit. This really sucks when you've just dumped an entire canister into a PITA large black bear that now less than 20 feet from you.

Call the cops on Michael Vick?

Shotgun is effective.

Good luck picking up a feral tomcat. The ones I often see out on our farm are missing ears and have huge wounds from fighting with other cats, dogs or .22LR. Nothing I would want to mess with.



 

We have a pug that is very patient but when pushed too far, he will fight with our chihuahua, who is old and snaps at him for even the most minor infractions. No one ever gets hurt when they have these fights, it's just a lot of noise. Still, it sounds terrible and freaks my wife out. The first time I tried to break up the fight, our pug accidentally nipped me because I got my hands in there, and I recoiled and yelped because I was startled. Both dogs immediately stopped fighting and looked very sheepishly at me. And that's when I figured it out.

Now any time they start scrapping, I get close to them and grasp my hand and yelp like I've been bitten. It's game over when I do that, they both immediately go to their corners. So far it has worked every time. But there have only been four or five scraps in the six years we've had them. Usually they are best buddies, they even insist on sleeping in the same bed.

I had a collie and lab that I dove in and pulled apart and put both their necks in the ground until I had help to separate them permanently.

Then I went to the ER for a dog bite to my knee.

If cattle prod not present - foot >>> hands.  Just stating the obvious, I'm sure, but I'd stick a boot-covered foot into the mix any day before putting a hand in.....

I was taught this from my trainer - have yourself and another person approach the rears of each dog, grab the tail, and pull them apart. It's worked for me with no problems several times with my GSD and a husky mix that my old room mate had (his was not well trained and food/dog aggressive). Eventually they worked it out and made friends and never fought again. We made sure to separate them when feeding.

ETA: Just want to add that it's not a good idea to get anywhere near the head/neck of a dog in a fight. Even if the dog is people friendly and would never harm a human. The dog is in fight-mode and may not realize it's you and bite as an automatic reaction without thinking.

The Alpha was a Heeler / Catahoula mix.  She overpowered the pit-mix, but lacked stamina as she got older.  After each fight I would get them together within a few minutes and both were best friends again.

My females fight occassionally, and have been for a decade.  I place a large Rubbermaid lid between the faces as they fight.  Once they lose eye contact, they stop fast.

Fire is the only thing I found 100% effective. A can of WD40 and lighter. you dont burn the dags just let them see & feel the heat.

 



After my aunt passed away, I helped my dad bring her two neurotic dogs back to his house.






The pair were fighting hard, and not stopping. My dad wanted to get them seperated ASAP, but (wisely) wasn't about to stick his hands in the middle of the fray.






He looked to me, pleading for an idea on how to get them apart: I pulled a pair of large crowbars off of his nearby tool box, and handed him one.


















... "no Dad, use the hook end to reach in and pull a dog out of the fight, while I get the other one"




 

Simple cocksuckers, put ur index finger at the pivot point of fighting dogs jaw that is yours, this will disengage and let I take the upper hand with other dog.

I had two small dogs (now only have one after my divorce) but when they would get in a brawl I would usually just stick my boot in between them and lightly kick them apart. I usually had on carhartt work pants and heavy boots.

I didn't kick them hard, mainly just stuck my boot in between them to break them up.

I don't know how well this would work with bigger dogs though.....

a barrier between works sometimes, we had gates in the house for the doors to keep them out, they started up, slide gate between them with hand outta the way and they stopped and stared at each other.  this was after they kinda had the same fight yours had. they were brothers and we had to keep them separated after that, the smaller one always tried to start shit.

In my experience, which is limited, it takes two people.  Each grabs a set of legs and pulls, etc.  I tried to break up one as one person once and got nowhere.  I would pull one out and it would either swing around to get back in or the other would keep coming.
 

When they happen there usually isn't a garden hose, cattle prod or can of mace nearby.

Kick whichever you can in the rear end.  Rib shots could equal a vet bill but whatever.  Don't reach down and use your hands, that can end badly in a furball Honestly, just kick the shit out of whatever and hope for the best and that they figured it out before you jumped in.  But you never know, I basically punted one dog across the room for fighting and she still went after the other dog later

Tried that with pitbulls. Their legs in the air and they dont let go.

I posted about this a while back. My dogs got into it. I jumped into it and choked the larger of the two out in till he let go. Not sure I'll do that again.

Many years ago my then girlfriend were living at my moms saving for a house, my wife to be didn't grow up with dogs and cats so was unused to the amount of blood and savagery two dogs fighting can produce. I was in the kitchen doing something my mom's two dogs a mutt and a Dalmatian decided it was time to settle up and figure out who was the boss. My mom has been bit before trying to break up dogs and knows better, but she dove in and tried to separate them. She got a finger laid open pretty bad. The fight happened in the hall right in front of our bedroom. My wife heard the barking and growls and my mom screaming and assumed the world was imploding, I reached in and grabbed the Dalmatian by her scruff and literally threw her into my naked wife's arms as she opened the bedroom door. mind you I wasn't looking and was just trying to separate them. I told her to keep them separated and left her to handle a pair of blood covered dogs while I rushed my mom to the ER which ended up in a few stiches.
    I got home and my wife was laying in bed with the Dalmatian who hated ALL women but my mom and now her. The other dog was chilling the in the living room on the couch. She had cleaned up both dogs and mopped all the blood up and cleaned the blood off the walls and ceiling.
She asked me int he future how to break up a dog fight, I told her if it matters be willing to get bit as you kick both their asses or use a chair.

I spent alot of summers training police dogs with my dad when I was growing up and learned alot of tricks to break them up but the best one is the ' I am more savage than you " trick. Dogs are smart and will only push so far until they back down especially if you know you will kick both their asses for fighting, and by kick their asses I mean get in there and scream and yell as you break and pin the aggressor. Not physically hit the dog. You have to act as a pack leader and demonstrate you are meaner and crazier than the rest of the pack and they will behave. Dogs don't break up from loud noises or water if they are really fighting. They break up when an Alpha makes them break up or one capitulates.

Use a catch-pole.

Remote shock collars.