First of all, if your dog does get aggressive towards another dog always stay calm. Dogs can sense the mood of their owner, and if you behave in an anxious manner this will only make your dog more aggressive. On the other hand, if you stay calm it is likely your dog will find it easier to relax.

If the dogs are still being aggressive towards one another and a fight does beak out never get between the dogs to try and break it up. In the heat of the moment the dogs may bite you as they are already in an aggressive frame of mind. Instead, try to distract your dog. Again it is important to stay calm as becoming outwardly anxious will only make things worse. Most dog fights don’t end up with any serious injuries, and you should never risk your own health to try and break it up.

If your dog has been aggressive towards another, remember not to pet or praise it to try and comfort. Dogs don’t think like humans and will assume that they are being praised for their aggression. Accidental positive reinforcement is one of the most common mistakes dog owners make when trying to prevent their dog being aggressive.

Above all, training your dog in the basic commands such as “sit”, “stay” and “come” can avoid almost all confrontations between dogs. Just remember to train your dog to respond to these commands even with distractions.

Dogs are pack animals, so there is always the chance of confrontation between them. While you can’t always stop aggressive behaviour, you can look out for the signs and prevent a situation escalating by taking the right actions.

One of the big mistakes dog owners make when they think their dog is becoming aggressive it to get anxious and panicky. The dog will be looking to the owner for a lead, and will only feel it more necessary to defend itself if the owner seems scared. Stay calm in these situations and it may help to relax your dog and stop a potentially dangerous situation.

Another mistake is to try and comfort your dog through petting or even giving a treat. While with humans this might seem a reasonable thing to do, it may be accidentally reinforcing the aggressive behaviour by leading the dog to think it is being rewarded. Act normally when your dog becomes aggressive and don’t give it any encouragement.

Basic obedience training can go a long way to helping with aggression problems.

If a fight does occur, never try to break it up yourself by coming between the dogs. You may end up getting hurt as the dogs are in an aggressive state of mind. Instead, the best way is to try and distract the dogs. A well trained dog should respond to the come command, but in a fight situation training may be forgotten or temporarily ignored, which is why you may need to distract the dogs before using a return command. Don’t risk your own health to break up a dog fight in any situation.