How To Discipline A Dog After Fighting? Many of you know that dogs will fight sometimes. You may even believe that punishment is mandatory after the fight. But, this is the last thing your dog needs and the last you need to do.
A big question is how to discipline a dog after fighting? The answer is simple and complicated at the same time. We will provide you this below.
How To Discipline A Dog After Fighting
Use Order and Strict Obedience
Flies will be attracted more to dogs that are dirty and have bad odors. If you don’t trim your pet and bathing isn’t an option, he will suffer from flies far more. As such, you need to bathe your pet at least 2-3 times per month during the summer months. Trim him as often as he needs.
When bathing your pet, make sure the areas around his anus and the rear are, in general, 100% clean. Bad odors usually come from these areas, so they can attract flies like nothing else. You also need to focus attention on the teeth, ears, and paws. Better said, your dog needs to smell great and be 100% clean.
Here we can see one other thing that can help you. You should train your dog to go to the bathroom in just one area. Cleaning is much easier, and you can maintain that area and also treat it with various solutions that will keep flies away.
The goal here is to boost the hygiene of your pet and make sure he is as clean as possible. For this, you will need to train your dog, and for some breeds, this can take a long period of time. Just stay calm and patient. The benefits of this step are impressive.
Playing or Fighting
For some owners it is difficult to tell a difference are the dogs fighting or playing. The easiest method to tell is that a serious fight is to look at the body language. If the back hair is up, the ears are pushed backward and the mouth are closed.
The upper lip is moved up, and there are growling sounds. In addition, one dog will be submissive and will try to escape from the other.
If dogs are playing, they will have bouncing movements, an open mouth, and no elevated hair on the back. They will also fall down, run together, and play for a long period of time. This is important and can be considered the main thing to look for.
Being able to tell the difference between two actions is mandatory. You need to act only if they are fighting. If dogs are playing, there is no need to act. They need fun, and it is the best way to get massive amounts of physical activity. But fighting is something you must prevent at all costs.
Things You Should Do After The Fight
The first thing to do is to stay calm and forget about the fight. These things happen, and all dogs will do them at some point. Being stressed about this won’t help you much.
The next thing you need to do is check for injuries. As you already know, the smallest dog will be injured the most. If both are injured, check for injuries on both pets and make sure there are no major issues.
If one dog is bleeding, use a cloth to stop the bleeding. It is possible that both dogs are bleeding, and you should do the same. If there are more severe injuries, help from a veterinarian is mandatory. Don’t wait for days.
Separate your dogs now. They must be in separate areas or rooms for at least 48 hoursms for at least 48 hours. Yes, they are like humans, and they will need the time to cool down. Once this time has passed, you can start thinking about reintroducing the dogs. This is a separate thing you will need to do, and there are a lot of things to know.
Reintroducing Your Pets
Yes, reintroducing your dogs is mandatory, and you need to follow the steps we will give you below. These are all important and all mandatory. Do not skip a step!
- Use a neutral ground that is ideal for walking. You should walk one dog while your friend walks the second dog. You start first, and a friend should walk behind you. Gradually decrease the difference. If dogs behave badly, increase the distance.
- Now, you friend should make a big distance. Rotate and start walking in the opposite direction. Move to pass the second dog and do not stop. Repeat this step a couple of times. The ideal count is 3–4 times.
- When you arrive home, you can let go of both dogs in the backyard. But you must keep your eyes on them at all times. The dogs can play, but there must be no growling or anything similar. Make sure you are present so you can stop any fight that may occur. This is a very sensitive time frame.
- Once you are 100% certain that the two dogs will play without any issues, you are done with this process. It may take a few days or a few weeks, and there is no effective method to speed things up. Until you are satisfied, keep the dogs in separate rooms or areas.
Keep in mind that both dogs can live together. You need to look after them and prevent any possible fights that may occur. The most important thing is to look after the dogs and don’t let them have a second fight. Frequent fights can be dangerous, especially if one dog is much smaller than the other.
The Final Word
How do you discipline a dog after fighting, and can you actually do this? The answer is yes, and there are no complications here. But you must follow all the things we have explained above. These techniques are recommended by experts, and they have been proven in countless examples and situations. As always, stay calm and remember that you will need a lot of time to achieve the desired goal.