The most obvious sign of a serious dog fight is if either or both animals are biting each other. This is an extremely dangerous situation, as an animal can be seriously hurt if they're not separated in time. Dogs fight each other. If you see your dogs engaging in this behavior, it's essential to act quickly and calmly.
In a real fight, the dogs will target the stomach, throat, and front legs and the victim of the attack will often retaliate by grabbing a hold of the other dog's neck. If your dog is involved in such a fight and receives severe injuries, take him to the vet immediately.
If your pet is breathing heavily, or faster than 40 breaths per minute, or if their gums are pale/blue/purple you should seek emergency veterinary care immediately. If your dog is limping or unable to walk, they need to see an emergency veterinarian. Dogs can be stoic and hide their pain very well.
Signs of dog aggression include raised hackles, stiffness, snapping, or lunging. If either dog shows aggression, separate them immediately. But be careful: Never get between two fighting dogs.
Can dogs live together after fighting? The answer is, most of the time, YES. There are times when dogs may be like an incompatible couple and need to divorce, but in general, there are things you can do to help combative pups get along.
Don't Let the Dogs “Work It Out”
Years ago, people used to believe in letting dogs fight to work it out between them. This is dangerous for both dogs and for nearby people. Also, the dogs may never get along after such a fight.
Forgiveness brings stress relief.
Both tended to spend more time together after the conflict regardless of if they had an existing relationship. While it seems dogs do forgive after a fight, there's still a lot more to learn about reconciliation in dogs. In some multi-dog households, it doesn't always work out.
Punishment should be avoided. The dog-dog relationship will not be improved if you scold, punish or hold down a dog as punishment; in fact you may make it worse by punishing the dog for signaling and communicating their aggressive intentions.
If your dog has been in a fight with another animal, take him to your veterinarian for an examination as soon as possible. If you can see obvious bite wounds, you should seek immediate veterinary attention.
Dogs in the same household can become aggressive toward each other for a variety of different reasons. Aggression may be dominance-related, territorial, possessive, or caused by fear/anxiety. Some dogs have “alliance aggression”.
There are a variety of reasons dogs may show sudden aggression towards each other. Some of the most common causes of conflict between familiar dogs include frustration, illness, and resource guarding. You'll need to clearly identify the root of the problem to restore household harmony.
Break the fight up quickly and calmly, redirect the dog's attention, take them for a walk together, and don't worry that it's going to happen again. They may or may not fight again, but if worry over it does not become your obsession, you will not be feeding them negative energy that will lead to another fight.
Dogs fight over territory, to protect their perceived pack, and because of overstimulation. Despite how it may seem to humans, dogs do not fight for no reason at all. Dogs can do serious harm to each other during a fight or attack. In some cases, the injuries can even lead to death.
In short, the answer is yes, a dog can be traumatised after a dog attack. Alongside the physical scars of the wounds they have gained, the dog may be emotionally scarred from the traumatic event, and you will need to be on the lookout for behaviour that might indicate your dog has been affected in this way.
If your dog attacks other dogs, or just really doesn't like other dogs, the good news is that new dog training techniques are being developed that can help you change your dog's association and aggressive response to other dogs.
Some have recommended that the dogs not be anywhere near one another for at least 48 hours following the fight, even if they live in the same household, while others recommend that getting a positive interaction between the two animals as soon as possible is the best course of action -- at the end of the day, however, ...
One of the common ways your dog will try to say sorry is by making “puppy eyes” or tucking its tail between its legs. Avoiding eye contact and lowering their ears are also common ways for dogs to apologize.
"Dogs often fight over access to a resource that is perceived to be valuable." Some dogs fight when moving through or contained within a tight space or during rough play. This aggression may be excitement-related or related to frustration or fear.
If you are fighting with someone and you are upset, angry, and agitated, your dog will feel similar emotions as well. Therefore, it is safe to say that as long as dogs have been connected to humans in such a deep way, dogs have been able to sense when fights were happening and if their humans were angry and upset.