water only works on certain breeds it would be no good with mine,they dunk their heads in buckets so a bit of water on them is nothing.
i think the best way if poss is to distract them but doing it at the moment in time would be hard.
fiona don't you let them off lead at all?
like your self with ours they need to be off some of the time but most dogs will not challenge them anyway due to size its only the odd one.
tob is fine with other size/sex etc and when dogs have had a go he doesn't react to it. but if a dog continues to try it on he will give a warning in the form of a grumble thats the time to move on.
how old is storm? tob is just over 2 now and maturing up in the mental dept.
how does he react when a dog is coming towards him any signs that lead you to believe there would be a problem?
he needs to be allowed to mix even though hes a big lad i know i have been there with tob.maybe he is trying to be protective and if you start to panic he will pick it up,the fact you have turned him away to get more distance between them will tell him hes not allowed to mix with others but he will crave it more as he matures.
it is hard work with the big lads but you need to remember he is a dog as well even if your hearts in your mouth.
if i can handle tob around all the others in a ring of equal size i'm sure you can too.
i don't mean that in a nasty way honest just that you need to relax more and allow him to mix on/off lead its the only way hes gonna learn how to mix with others.
tob will play with any dog but if a dog tried it on he would warn a bit first if they kept pushing him then he would stand his ground as most big dogs would, i don't know if it would go to a fight because i would move him before it got that far.
it would be impossible for me to break them up by force he is over 10 stone now so i don't allow it to happen.
hope it makes sense and helps i know what you mean as i own giants too.

When two dogs are truly fighting, not just posturing or playing, the very last thing you should do is intervene, and especially not grab the collar. When they're in high fight drive they get a kind of 'red mist' effect and will lash out at anything and everything in striking distance. They may not mean to snap at you, but they will in the heat of the moment, not realising it's you they've bitten. It's a kind of defence mechanism for the dog - if they stopped to assess everything they were biting, they'd be in serious trouble.

The 'wheelbarrow method' is one I've heard from a number of sources, but apparently works best if slowly turn the wheelbarrow-dog in gentle circles as you're backing away from the other one - the circling means the dog has to focus more on where he's placing his front legs than biting you or the other dog.

Another method I've heard of from a large breed owner is to invest in a starting pistol or cap gun and fire it in the air - the sudden sound should at least distract them.

Becs

Hi Leo , yes i let Storm and Akira off lead but only in a secure fenced off area as Pyreneans are well known for having very selective hearing when you call them back they come when they want to not when you think they should lol. They do not run with the pack either so if they decide to bolt theres nothing you can do.

You seem to think i am stressed when i take Storm out sorry if i have given you that impression , when i took Storm on as a rescue about 6 weeks ago i was told he has toy/food/dog agression , he had no manners and hardly any basic training so the first thing i did was enrole him in local training classes as i know with the size of him (33 inches at the shoulder and 12 Stone) he has to be socialized I have him walking lovely on a lead with no pulling and he likes other dogs he is just desperate to say hello to them so his barking and lunging on the lead was not agression at all just his way of getting excited and wanting to say hello , plus i had an idiot with two Akitas shouting at me which set him off one night as the guy stopped right outside my house as i was coming home and started shouting how his dogs didnt like other dogs and were fighting dogs etc i was furious and Storm went nuts barking and lunging trying to get to the guy not his dogs that did not even bark when Storm kicked off i had to turn him around and walk away , and i do this if he kicks off .

Akira has been well socialized and she will sit nicely when another dog comes to say hello Storm is slowly learning that if he behaves well and stays calm and quiet he can say hello too but theres no way i will allow him to bark and lunge at other dogs on lead or off . After that night with the guy shouting the first thing i did was take Storm to the retail park and stop people in the street to speak to them as Storm had to learn that it was ok for people to speak to me and that i did not need him going into protection mode , which he did after that night anybody that spoke to me even through the day was treated to his barking and lunging as soon as he starts that i turn him away so he knows that is not acceptable and the minute he is quiet again he gets treats and told he is a good boy then i try again with people and dogs if they have not ran away as he is very big and very loud , if he barks at people i ask them just to ignore him until he is quiet and it is working with him he is much better now , he has no problem with dogs inside and outside he is ok unless it is an off lead dog that invades his space then he does the lunging barking , no i don't think it he is agressive at all but he is not getting away with behaving like that , he has to learn that when he is quiet and calm he will get to say hello .

He is a fabulous dog that just needs loads of tlc and training he will allow other dogs to approach him and have a sniff but i have to make sure he is calm first as theres not many people i know that would understand that this huge dog barking and rearing up on his back legs only wants to say hello , he stands around 6 foot tall on his back legs and if i did'nt know him i would be a bit wary if he did that to me

I have put lots of work into him as he is such a lovely dog , the last six weeks have been hard work but he is responding well to training he is going for the kennel club bronze award on Tueday which i am really pleased about i really hope he gets it .

I have started taking both dogs out together over the last week and i am able to manage both of them even when Storm decides he would quite like to bark and lunge , turning them both around works and i will stick with doing that for now as i am sure if i allowed him to get himself too worked up i would struggle to keep hold of him never mind the two of them , it is all just training and learning basic manners for him at the moment . I don't mean if i see another dog coming i march him away i only turn him and walk away if he kicks off and he is not doing it nearly as much as he was so he does seem to be getting the message , i am no expert on dogs and their behaviour but i do know the breed and they are very sensitive as well as being stubborn and think for them selves and yes it is a challenge to train a Pry and more of a challenge to take on a fully grown male and turn his behaviour around i think his previous owner totally misread his body language and i would say if he has barked at other dogs with them he has been pulled away , maybe they were wary and that went down the lead? i dont really know i can only judge his behaviour from what i see and how he reacts with me . He is as far as i know about 2 and a half so hopefully i have got him young enough to make a difference with his behaviour and he is coming on in lkeaps and bounds literally sometimes lol .

Hope this gives you a clearer picture Leo as he is a real sweetheart who has been totally misunderstood and i dread to think what could have happened to him in the wrong hands . He was terrified when he first came here , he was not allowed in the livingroom in his old house ( i refuse to call it a home ) and he was really worried the first few days here in case he got into trouble he would just stand around with his lovely head hung low and watch to see what was happening around him , he was too scared to even play with Akira at first and would just stand and look at me to see my reaction when she tried to play with him , he was the same wen he plucked up the courage to have a sniff around one eye was allways on me i was told if i did not want a mess on the floor to keep him in a small space at night No wonder the poor guy reversed everywhere for the first few days , the first morning i came downstairs he had had a pee on the floor i didnt comment i just went outside to bring in the mop and bucket and the poor boy ran cowering in the hall , he was shaking so much he then pooed himself with fright . It nearly broke my heart to see the state he got into but thankfully within a couple of days he relaxed and realized he was not going to be hit or shuted at and he was fully housetrained with in days and he soon started playing with Akira and it is great to see him so relaxed and a much happier dog .

I knew he would be hard work but he is nowhere near as bad as he was made out to be theres not an agressive bone in his body and he has made friends with a lot of dogs and he was even asked to be the stooge dog for the puppy class at training last week and it was lovely to see all these puppies bouncing and jumping on him while he stood there quite calmly just looking down at them then looking up at me as if to say "what are they doing mum? "

As the op was about breaking up fights i dread to think i would ever have to be in that position but i think Storm would be ok as long as another dog did not keep challenging him , Pyr's are dominant by nature but they don't make a big thing of it it is just the way they are and if a dog is brave enough to have a go at Storm i hope they realize what they would be taking on and back down before it got to a real fight .

Fiona xx

sounds like tob.............. maybe i read it wrong.
it is hard work but well worth it in the end i don't regret having big dogs like yourself leo can switch off if they don't see the point.
i wonder if its the pyr in them??? at least he is with you know who know what to do and how to get him over the issues.
at 2 1/2 you should be able to bring him round he's still a babe really deep down.
some don't understand the role of owning such dogs and the poor dog gets the blunt of it most of the time.
keep up the good work!!!!

Ty everyone for your advice, i have not let ebony off the lead yet, and don't think i will for a few more weeks yet, but at least now when i am out and about with her on her lead i will be armed with a bit more knowledge, thank you.

mandie

Since the big fight between my poppy and candy on sunday, candy has been licking poppys sore ear all the time.I think it was the heat getting to them, hope so anyway cos they usually get on soo well

Aw bless, well the heat gets a lot of us ratty, but we have not got big fur coats to contend with so i guess it must be ten times worse for them, a few scraps are to be expected.

mandie

I have a thing called Dog Stop from The Company of Animals. It doubles up as a personal alarm and my plan is to use it my 2 get involved in a fight. So far its never left my pocket on walks.

It is really loud and when I tested it my 2 ran and hid under the bed

What a great idea, and i have seen those, they are not that expensive are they?

mandie

about £4 I think