You were walking your dog when suddenly another dog charges and takes her down.
At first, you may think that the pups are engaging in rough play.
However, within no time, the play graduates to a real fight.
Without human intervention, your doggie or the one she’s fighting may lose their life or get badly injured.
Canine fights are frightening and scary. When your lovely pup is caught in the middle of a nasty fight with another dog, things can get out of hand fast.
What to do?
You have to think fast and break the fight with whatever means necessary.
You might be tempted to go in with your hand and separate both dogs.
Bad idea.
In the heat of the moment, even your own friendly doggie may not recognize your best efforts.
You are lucky if you walk away with some part of your arm after this.
What now?
How about sticking your finger in one of the dog’s bums?
Does this method work?
The Origin Of The Idea
The technique of sticking a finger on a dog’s anus came to light in 2014 when a brave Aussie woman named Ann Bendouli was forced to use it.
Ann was out walking her Jack Russel Terrier, Lexy, along Hampton Beach in Melbourne when a Staffordshire attacked her pooch.
Due to the size differences between both dogs, Lexy was on the losing end and was being pulled and thrown around like a ragdoll.
Both dog owners tried to separate the dogs to no avail.
The Staffy’s owner Barbora Williams actually suffered a nasty bite that caused the loss of part of her toe.
“I had to do something or I would lose Lexy”. Ann told Daily Motion. “I lifted up the Staffordshire’s tail and stuck my finger up her butt, all the way to the second knuckle. Luckily I had filed my nails and thus didn’t hurt the dog. The staffy acted so surprised and let go of Lexy.”
Although she got some injuries that she was treated for, Lexy left the fight with her life.
The ordeal made headlines and became a viral sensation on the internet back then.
So, Does It Work?
Just because sticking her finger up a dog’s bum worked for Ann Bendouli doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for all cases.
Perhaps her situation was a selected incident.
The idea behind the finger trick is that it startles a dog into surrender.
It makes sense when you think about it. Imagine having someone stick their finger up your butt when you are in a fight of sorts.
It is unexpected and deeply uncomfortable.
For a dog, it catches him by surprise and throws him into a confused state.
The confusion and discomfort is enough to get him to release his hold on another dog.
We scoured the internet for the scoop on it being a hack or hoax.
Reddit users wrote about their experiences with the finger trick to separate a dog’s fight.
A majority of them have employed it and come up successful.
Max Allstadt who resides in New York claims that the technique has worked for him twice.
In one instance, he managed to get a pitbull mix from attacking his dog by sticking his finger up his butt.
The second time, he broke off a fight between two stranger dogs in a dog park.
Max says that in both accounts, he stuck his finger way in and shook it well to have the dog release his hold on the other one.
Vanno Johnson also deterred a 60kg bull mastiff from attacking his rescue dog via the finger technique.
This was after he and two other people had tried in vain to get the mastiff to let go of the rescue dog.
After sticking his finger on the attacking dog’s butt, Vanno claims that the mutt jumped up fast knocking one of the rescuers in his wake.
These are just a few of the positive stories.
There are a few more on the Reddit platform.
Equally, a few owners don’t believe in the finger trick, claiming a dog will bite you in the process.
Others say that the trick requires a lot of logistics. Grabbing the tail of an aggressive dog, pulling it up, and sticking your finger is not as easy as it sounds.
On the negative side, the finger trick may not work after all.
According to the National Dog Breeders Council, sticking your finger up a dog’s butt is simply a myth.
Separating an aggressive dog from a fight is harder than this.
In an angry and excited state, such a petty discomfort may not deter a dog in any way. Plus, it is likely to harm you in the process.
The AKC still maintains that the only safe ways to separate a dog fight include distracting the dogs (through blowing a horn, spraying the dogs with water or a specific spray, and throwing a jacket or blanket over the dogs), using an object to break the dogs apart, or physically separating the dogs as the last technique.
Once the dogs are separated, you can grab each by the back legs and walk the dogs away from each other.
You may also want to check: How to Reintroduce Dogs after a Fight
Th Verdict
From the information above, it is clear that using the finger method to break up a canine fight may or may not work.
There’s no scientific proof that it works.
No reputable dog body or institution has come out to support the technique.
So far, it is only reports of dog owners that back up the method with positive experiences of their own.
Try it at your own risk.
Related: Why Do Dogs Lick Each Other After Fighting?
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