# Dog and puppy playing rough - intervene or not?



## Emraa (Jun 4, 2009)

Bella is 2 1/2 years old and Roxy is 11 weeks old. They love to play but often it appears to get a very rough, should I intervene? Bella has a small wound on her thigh I presume caused by pin sharp puppy teeth and Roxy is uninjured (so far!). They are always under supervision when playing and someone told me to let them 'get on with it' as they could be trying to establish 'top dog' status.

What do you think??:001_huh:


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## critter (Sep 14, 2010)

Hi, Perhaps it might help someone offer advice if you could post what breeds the dog and the pup are?, I know that Bull Breeds eg Staffies etc play rough, but, intervention is rarely needed. wayne.


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## Emraa (Jun 4, 2009)

critter said:


> Hi, Perhaps it might help someone offer advice if you could post what breeds the dog and the pup are?, I know that Bull Breeds eg Staffies etc play rough, but, intervention is rarely needed. wayne.


Sorry, they are both mixed breed dogs, pretty sure there is Lab in the puppy and Collie in the older dog. That's about as much as I can tell you!

Here is a pic of them together, Bella, 2 1/2 years (at the back) and Roxy 11 weeks


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## NicoleW (Aug 28, 2010)

Unless there is blood coming out everywhere I would say leave them to it 

Which one normally initiates the play?


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## NicoleW (Aug 28, 2010)

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-training-behaviour/177218-aloff-role-play-behavior.html

Check this out.


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## Emraa (Jun 4, 2009)

NicoleW said:


> Unless there is blood coming out everywhere I would say leave them to it
> 
> Which one normally initiates the play?


I would say it's 50/50 most of the time. Bella is very sound sensitive (sounds better than wimp!  ) so often ends up hiding behind someone or something if Roxy makes a loud noise and then she won't play anymore!  This when Roxy will try and 'bully' Bella into playing again, should it be time out at this point??


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## NicoleW (Aug 28, 2010)

Personally, that is what I would do - but I'm not an expert and last thing I want to do is give you advice that isn't 'correct'. Hopefully some dog-nut will come along and help


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

If two toddlers are playing happily does anyone suggest that they are trying to establish who is going to be the leader? What utter BS.

They are playing, pure and simple. What you do have to be very, very careful of is that the older dog knows when to back off and doesn't jump on the puppy or put his full weight on him. This could damage his joints whilst he is growing, no matter what the breed.

Apart from that, let them play.


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## NicoleW (Aug 28, 2010)

We had to intervene last night, as Duke lay ontop of Bailey and looks like he was trying to smother him.


I notice you said "If two toddlers are playing happily does anyone suggest that they are trying to establish who is going to be the leader? What utter BS."

And while I agree with the whole establishing leader thing, I also think people humanise dogs too much. Dogs aren't children and I don't think that they should be compared to as children all the time, they aren't and they don't have the same mental thinking as humans.

But saying that, two toddlers playing, one steals a brick from another and won't give it back. They are, in their own terms telling each other who is the 'boss' by not giving this back and testing to see what the other child will do in terms of reactions. If he does nothing, then it confirms to this other child that they are the boss because they weren't made to give this brick back.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

NicoleW said:


> We had to intervene last night, as Duke lay ontop of Bailey and looks like he was trying to smother him.
> 
> I notice you said "If two toddlers are playing happily does anyone suggest that they are trying to establish who is going to be the leader? What utter BS."
> 
> ...


I know they are dogs not children, it was just an analogy. There is too much emphasis put on the got to establish a leader rubbish with dogs when all they are doing is playing.

When Ferdie was a puppy and I stopped him from running too much, being a giant breed, some woman said: don't be silly. Think of toddlers. I told her that toddlers do not reach two thirds of their adult size by the time they are eight months old.

That, to my mind, is a silly analogy.


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## Petloversdigest (Dec 10, 2010)

When I was preparing to get my latest rescue dog, I noticed a really good set of videos on YouTube on when to intervene during play - I thought they were really useful! Can't remember the link now but I think I searched 'understanding dog body language' or something very similar. The clips are done by a professional dog training company rather than an individual. Hope you can find them too, apologies for not including the direct link!


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