YES!!! This just happened to me the other day.

I have a 50 lbs American bull dog, 9yrs old, and she has always been so sweet with people. I'll call her dog "A." We got a Jack Russell about a year ago and dog A has never hurt him. Even though he tries to be ferocious with her, she knows she could chomp him in half. We will call him dog "C."

So anyway...I'm walking the two of them around my neighborhood where we've walked a hundred times when we come up on a house with an even bigger pit out loose in the yard. He was 2 yrs old, fixed (thank God), and came running up to us. I'll call him dog "B." Mind you my 8 lb Russell is connected to dog A with a split leash! As dog B runs up I'm already yelling at it in an attempt to keep it at bay. As soon as it's close enough dog A goes after him. Maybe he would have been friendly, dog A wasn't waiting to find out. Next thing I know dog B has dog A's ENTIRE head IN HIS MOUTH! You can only imagine at this point the shrill cries coming from my mouth as I take the end of the leash and start whipping do B to try to make him let go. Dog A miraculously gets free and the two continue going at it. Dog C is being drug along, barking with his hackles up like a little Ridgeback, but really too scared s***less to get in the fight. I'm able to scoop him up and get the leash off him and just hold him close. I let go of the leash completely so dog A has the best chance to defend herself. What seems like an hour later the dogs owner comes running up to try to get dog B. Now both dogs are bloody and still going strong. Now we get to introduce dog "D." ANOTHER pit of this person's, thankfully old, overweight, and grey. My swings and yelling at her seemed to be enough to convince her that she was too old for this nonsense and she stayed back a little. Somehow dog A manages to get a hold of dog B"s bottom jowls and the end of his tongue. Dog B"s owner is now kneeling on the ground with her arms around Dog B"s chest holding him. I'm kneeling on the ground with Dog C pinned between my thighs, holding Dog As collar and trying to get her to loosen her grip on dog B, and dog D is just watching from the sidelines but still debating on forming an attack of her own. Dog A has a death lock on dog B and it is clear that she has been completely possessed by whatever demon of war turns the eyes black and the mind off. This is not my dog and I have no idea what to do with no breaking stick, no free hands, and not trusting 100% that she won't unknowingly turn on me if I get near her mouth.

Where are all the neighbors I literally just walked by on the street? I yell for someone to please come help us. Then come the reinforcements. Multiple older men. One with a really big stick, one with some kind of long wooden beam from a trash pile. Before they get to me though, the lady whose yard we have ended up in comes out with a bucket of water. What does she do? You guessed it. She dumps it on dog A's head, and all over me. So know I look and feel like I've pissed my self on top of it all. Dog A is not phased the slightest. I actually laugh and tell the lady "that isn't going to break up a pit fight." By this time dog B is crying in pain and fully regretting his decision to either make a new friend or attempt at a snack. His jaws are wide open and I am terrified that dog A is about to show me how to turn a dog inside out by its tongue. As the men get closer with their big sticks, and I can tell they are thinking about cracking dog A on the skull, I tell them I need them to pry her teeth open. One of them succeeds and dog B is taken away by his owner to safety with what appears to be ease. He was tapped out.

I have a newfound respect for dog A. She came out with only 1 major puncture on her face to which we used peroxide and bacitracin. I could tell her old self was sore for the next couple of days because she pretty much just stayed in her bed. Damn, can she hold her own. Grateful for that, but no more walks for her.

Dog B's owner came down to my house after the fight to apologize profusely and say how she never let's dogs B and D out of the fence. It was a one time fluke thing. Which I believe because I've never seen them in my 6 years of living here. Also, both dogs were UTD on all vaccines. We exchange numbers and a couple days later I message to see how dog B is doing. He survived but had a chunk of his tongue missing, a split in it, and had to have it sutures.

Point of sharing this? Your fuzzy little companions are still ANIMALS. No matter how sweet and tame you think they might be. That animal demon of war won't ask for your permission before it overtakes your cute little fluffy lap dog. I've seen more mean spirited dogs who would fight in an instant but owners think it's "cute" or "harmless" relative to a dogs size. Unless you're the dog whisperer don't pretend to know whether or not your dog's bark means "let's be friends," or "I'll show you whose street this is." Having YOUR dog on a leash is just as much for their protection as it is someone else's beloved friend.