eight times? Uhg! I have broken my own dogs up, and dogs I was caring for on a semi-permanent basis and have a couple of bites to show for it, but so far they have only gotten me one time per episode where I did get bit.
It is very easy to slip up and let another get out when one is out. It happened to me this morning. I let Tori out as she was inside my room for the night, turned and must not have closed Jenna's crate properly last night. Luckily, Tori cam right in with Jenna on her heels and I was able to divert Tori into her crate and Divert Jenna away while I shut the crate door. Neither was trying to fight, but leaving a two year old and three year old out together is a big question mark.
You can advise grabbing the tail all day, but if it is only one person, that doesn't do a whole lot of good. What usually works for me is to pull them by the tail or whatever until I have a gate between the fighting dogs. I am on one side, and I force the gate more and more closed everytime the dogs pull back to get a better grip. I pull back on the one i am with, closing the gate between them. I will use my leather covered foot to help if necessary.
Bitch fights are the worst and getting them apart with the least amount of injuries to you and the dogs trumps using extreme force. They do not care, and they remember nothing but that they HATE the other bitch. I cannot imagine trying to separate other people's bitches.
I hope you are feeling better soon. It is amazing how much power those little bitches pack.