A little traumatized...

there is nothing scarier than watching a fight... I've seen too many - so I can easily sympathize.

You may want to have your volunteer coordinator/behaviorist/kennel supervisor look at ways to help avoid these issues. Obviously - the dog escaping could not have been stopped. Maybe look at putting up gates to the entrances of all runs to contain escapees? (not sure how your kennels are set up, just going off of others that I've seen). Other options would be to restrict dogs from walking too close to kennels, as much as possible. We would basically hold the dogs to us at the neck area to not allow them access to try and cage fight as they'd walk through the kennels. We did this with ALL breeds, not just the pits. No food bowls were places at the front of the kennel, trying to avoid things that dogs could get possessive over. Maybe an 'all clear' check before entering a kennel run area, to check for overly excited dogs that may cause a rise in other dogs?

We also kept spare metal trash can lids all over, that noise was often enough to startle the dogs so that they would release their grip. Another tool we invested in was bite sticks. While still not ideal, MUCH better than allowing anyone to put their hands in a aggressing dogs mouth. Hoses were easily accessible. Remember - direct spray in to the aggressing dogs face/mouth goes much farther.

Fights are going to happen. It's unfortunate, scary - but with a little volunteer education, maybe they can be better avoided.

I don't volunteer myself but I spend a lot of time at the shelter I got Gretschen, my cat, from.  Do your individual dog kennels have the little door at the back for the dog to go into an outside part of it?  The volunteers here take the dogs to and from their kennels by that outside door.  Hopefully, that makes sense I don't know the exact words for that little door. 

Dog fights and confrontations can be so nerve wracking. . .Wilows had a few herself.

Erica & Lori have good suggestions.  The only thing *I* can say is you are *human*.  Your heart responds when you hear a cry of pain ... and when you're hot, tired, and already have the sounds echoing in your mind (that you'll hear in your nightmares) from a prior incident, to hear it happen *again* is just a bit too much. 

**hugs**

Listen, I've been shaken up when my hooligans get in to it.  Thankfully, it was short lived...somebuddy trying to work their way up the totem pole.  Scary.  I can't imagine how scary that must have been in a shelter situation.  The sound of the screaming was enough to get you shaken up and then to see the innocent puppy get mauled is just awful.

I'm so sorry you experienced it...sounds like a terrible day.  I hope the dogs will be ok.

Thanks for the ideas.  I think a training on how to deal with dog fights is definitely in order.  During both fights at least one other employee was with me, but wasn't sure what to do.  I'm glad I was there to deal with the situation, but people really should be better equipped and know just what to do.  I understand that when it happens you can loseyour head, but pulling it back together quickly is what is important.  I think I will suggest to our behaviorist that we have a session on what to do when there is a fight so everyone is more equipped in the future. 

Unfortunately there is only one way in and out of the kennel for dog walkers and they do try to keep them in the center of the aisles, but I guess this dog just found her way over to the cage and grabbed the paw.

More training is definitely in need and I hope it happens soon.  I have been there since October and have not seen anything like this happen before, and for there to be two in one day is just unreal.

Has your shelter considered implementing a shelter enrichment and safety program, or Open Paw?  Lowering the general stress level can help.  Also, I know there are shelters that use panels or barriers to shield the fronts of kennels - dogs aren't as tempted to go after what they aren't seeing.  The training should emphasize prevention and response, and people should be aware of the dangers of using their hands to try to deal with this stuff, and about redirected aggression.  Perhaps staff should be walking the dogs that are questionable and volunteers walk puppies and non-DA breeds. 

 What about a mandatory bucket muzzle for the dogs that are being taken out for a walk? You never know what can happen in the street too

Basket muzzles can prevent a bite but won't really address the stress level or why the dogs have access to each other.  Also they can be very difficult to fit.  Nikon had to wear one for a medical problem (to prevent chewing) and we went through six of them before we found one that fit and it happened to be a $200 one (borrowed, thankfully).

Some things the shelter I volunteered at implemented:

• One-way system - we could only go in one door to the kennel area and out another so dogs never met face-to-face.  Of course if more than one dog was going in or out you just used common sense and kept some distance.
• Dog aggressive dogs were kept in a certain area that minimized having to walk past other dogs/kennels.
• If a dog got loose, you had to scream "loose dog!" so everyone could quickly put their dogs away.
  

Of coarse this happened on my day off...  I just noticed this post.  Georgeanne I am right with you on how you feel about this and how frustrating our shelter can be. I got the e-mail the next day and in a way wasn't too surprised this happened, sad to say. 

So everyone understands, our shelter is not perfect and I have to be honest as can be, our facility is way outdated for what we use it for.  The building itself is 60 years old and the kennels are still set up the way it was back then. We are still up to code but it's difficult. Only one door to go in/out of the kennel and a lot of blind spots.  Even with excellent training of staff/volunteers we can not avoid situations like this that are just freak accidents.  Sometimes we are mistaken as a "kill shelter" we are not, we are an "open door shelter" so we do not turn any animal away for any reason, meaning we do euthanize for behavior and health.  There is no time limit for animals who are deemed adoptable which I think sets us apart from other shelters.  Many of the animals we do take where turned away somewhere else so we do get a lot of problem cases and do whatever the responsible thing is to do. So yes we do euthanize but only within reason and because of this fact we generally don't get as much donations as a "no-kill" shelter. Instead, we get the rift-raft no only else wants to deal with.  Our staff is smaller, our facility is outdated and our training is weak but we do the best with what we have.  Hopefully in a few years we can get it together and get a new facility but right now this is what we got. 

We are still trying to start a behavior department, right now the kennel staff fills in for that part. We did have "Open Paw" at one time but that dissapeard and with no department to oversee it, there is no one to run it.  Beleave me, I'm pushing for something like that but we have so many other priorities right now that it is only a thought.  It is so fustraing working like this but we also have a lot of good going on as well.

We do have a lot of good going on right now and hopefully in the future we can have better services for the dogs and people.  Hopefully we will soon have an entrance and an exit, so that should help at least a little bit.  I would love it if each dog run had access to the outside.  That would be great for the dogs, but our building just isn't made for that.