Had the worst last 5 days for a long long time..
My two dogs .. both speyed females, got into a fight to the death on Saturday afternoon.
Awful. A bone was the ostensible cause, but it was really about dominance.
Between them they weigh about 80+ kgs.
I weigh closer to 20 kgs lighter.
I knew I had to break them apart, else end up with at least one dog I'd have to put down.
I tried my best. It had been raining lightly, and it was slippery, and they were covered in slobber and blood. I shouted, commanded and had a go at them with a rake. Nope. After about 5 - 8 mins I had a hold of one ear, and they broke apart, but I couldn't keep my hold and fell.. and it was straight back at it.!!
I tried water from a hose (they normally run away from hoses) Nope. I poured a wheelbarrows worth of collected rain water on them. Nope. I got a blanket and wrapped their heads (worked for me before with another pair) Nope. Meanwhile shouting and scrambling to get their attention.
I finally got the wheelbarrow and kept charging them with it, straight at their heads, and kept doing it .. they finally broke.. and I covered my older dog with it while shooing off the other.
It was a pretty shocking experience.. and I have ended up with a rather nasty wound on my hand. Don't remember it happening, but it is the worst injury I have gotten in many years of dog ownership. Both of them are sorely wounded as well, and it has cost me bulk dollars, just for my older dog. The other one, a young wolfhoundX (bred to be a pigdog) has recovered better, but nevertheless has some very deep punctures.
So I have a badly swollen and infected hand, bandaged and requiring ongoing medical care, and they are both sore and sorry, requiring twice daily medication, and application of potions (as do I) and not out in the clear yet.
What an experience.
It is hard to describe the sheer ferocity and mindlessness fighting dogs are capable of, and it was , and is, a profound message to me.
I blame myself for my unthinking behaviour in failing to recognise the signs, and my complacency in thinking they were going to reach an equilibrium. I have tried to support my older dog in the game of who is the next after me, but my younger dog has been growing more in confidence and 'entitlement'.
It is, REALLY, a dog eat dog world.