What I've been told is it's always better to 'stick your foot in' in a minor scuffle. Sticking your hand in never goes well apparently! (Although when I was younger I did shout at a guy cos I thought he'd kicked my dog when he was in a fight wth another dog, even though Jet wasn't the aggressor).
I think in a serious situation, rare though they are, doing that probably shouldn't be attempted unless you have very large boots =] Water seems like a good idea.

I don't know where you are in Norfolk but I live in Norwich and a puppy at our training class got attacked by a Staffy recently-it was in the local paper. Also my friend's Scottie got bitten by a bull terrier. My bitch got attacked by a Rottweiller on the Heath and had a large hole bitten out of her side. You can't assume that everyone else's dog is fine unfortunately! There are some nuggets about (owners I mean) who don't really care about other people's dogs. We also see a lady with a Staffy that she has to keep leashed because it got attacked as a puppy and is sadly not good with other dogs as a result.

Sorry if I sound a bit "doom and gloom"-most people's dogs are sociable and fine but I think it is best to be prepared in case you do have to protect your dog.

I carry a "Pet corrector" spray and a "Dog stop" alarm. The pet corrector just makes a hissy noise which dogs don't like and if that fails the dog stop emits a piercing shriek which you could use to get the dog to leave yours alone. Both of these you can buy in "Pets at Home" or online.

I think that is shocking advice! I once witnessed a man kicking a male dog repeatedly in the groin to break up a fight, (he was kicking the other owners dog who was on a lead, whilst it was HIS offlead spaniel that had run up into it's face) now I don't care, if any person kicked my dog like that I would be sending my dog for a full check over and forwarding the bill to him! Shoving the dog on the flank maybe? but not in anywhere so sensitive..

I got mad and threatened him with a pink hunter welly up his bum, I don't recommend shouting at people like that though

I carry Pet corrector spray out with me, a squirt of that sends dogs down on all fours. I have used it with success just once on a little offlead terrier who took a major dislike to my dogs face

There is no harm in it, but it has worked for me.

Be wary of other dogs, meet and greet first where possible, don't just let your dog run up to others.

As a pup ours got attacked, and she still never forgets these particular dogs in our village 2 years later!

When we are out on the lead it is obviously a controlled meeting. I take alfie to the woods everyday where he is off lead. He never strays far from me and his recall is pretty good when there are no other dogs present but I have to admit, when he sees another dog, he's gone before I can grab him. I tend to walk away and he will follow if the other dog/dogs arent interested in playing. If the dogs are playful it takes a little longer for him to come but 9/10 times he will come after a few moments. WE are going to our first puppy class on Sunday so hopefully I can be taught maybe better methods of recall ectc

I have used this method sucessfully - walking backwards in an arc so as to 'turn' the dog away from the other.

A Police dog handler once told me to grab the dog as near the base of the tail as possible and lift the back legs off the ground and pull it away, it removes the power from the dog. I had to try this once with my own dogs years ago and it did actually work although once I'd got the aggressor to let go the other one decided to launch it's own attack!

thats a very good point, i think when the adrenaline is pumping it can just go down to instinct. some people can keep a cool head in such situations where they can think clearly, but i am sadly not one of those people.

my uncle used to have two dogs who fought a lot, and he would just shout and grab the scruff of the neck.

I tend to grab behind the neck and the back end at the same time, it gives me a bit of control in both areas, a quick pull and lift normally does the trick,

its handy if the other owner does the same thing,

ETA: this method needs a bit of strength/speed and confidence if used on bigger dogs.

How to breaking up a dog fight really depends on the individual situation. I have in the past been badly bitten on my hands splitting up two dogs, I needed hospital treatment and stitches. It was my fault not the dogs.

What would I do now, if possible I would throw something like a jumper/coat over the dogs eyes to provide and element of surprise/confusion then in that split second grab hold of the dogs back legs wheelbarrow fashion and walk backwards as described by some other members calling to the other owner to do the same.

If the other owner is not present the situation is much more difficult and I would do my best to separate the dogs as previously described then try to keep the eye contact between the dogs broken putting myself and hopefully some distance between them.

When my mums 2 were younger they had a couple of fights where they were totally oblivious to you shouting at them. I throw a jug of water over them and that was enougth to startle them and they let go (and then went of and fell asleep together ) I appreciate if you were out walking you wouldnt have a jug of water with you, but maybe a squirt of water to the face from a water bottle may help to distract, i guess it depends on how intense it is.