two sheepies playing aggressive
Well....my 9 year old daughter was feeling left out without her own "PONY"...so on Christmas Eve we brought ROSIE home. She is 16 weeks and a doll!! So sweet and lovable with the kids...(a little nippy as all puppies are) She is so easy with the housebreaking! Not a poop in the house and a very rare piddle. NOTHING in her room or on her papers. She waits to go out. Anyway...the two LOVE each other. They romp and roll and play for what seems to be forever. My concern is...she looks so aggressive with Max. Is this true play??? Neither is growling or yipping. Do I need to be concerned about her becoming aggressive with the kids? She hasn't done anything to make me think so but I never had two "puppies" before. It's actually very nice because they wear each other out and than they can't get into any trouble. Any "advise" for handling two together? Max is out of his crate 24/7 now. He only is crated when company comes over. He is trained to only stay on the first floor and not go upstairs or down in the basement. He basically lays at my feet all day...(good foot warmer) |
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Welcome to the forum 
Rough play is normal for a puppy, she will settle, and if they get out of hand, you can crate one or both of them to give them a break from each other. They are not "ponies" though, and children really should not be allowed to sit on them, it can cause a lot of damage and pain, even if the dog doesn't show it. I would also hate to see your child attempt to sit on a puppy, because it would probably kill it. Dogs and children raised together must learn mutual respect for one another. |
| The little guy would never attempt to sit on the puppy. He's old enough to know better. Besides....She doesn't sit long enough! LOL. And Besides...he doesn't go near her...she keeps bitting HIS little butt. Max is protective of my son though...he gets between the puppy and my son and nudges her away. I think he's telling her....."he's mine". Max however has a way of "picking on my daughter". He nips her rear...and nudges her all the time. I think she will be happy to have a "girl" in her camp. (our female cat doesn't count) |
| I agree with Willowsprite - don't let them sit on either dog - OES are very prone to hip dysplasia and they could be causing damage in the future. |
| OK...ok...no one actually RIDES the dog......
The original question....will this rough "play" actually create "aggressive" behavior in the puppy? or the Male? They are NON-STOP with wrestling....they move furniture around.... She gets HIM down on his back and jumps on him. He doesn't have an aggressive mean bone in his body. They don't rest until they are separated. I only let them play for a few minutes and then they are separated again. It does seem to tire them out. |
| Sorry if you got offended with the previous responses - but if you've been through dealing with a dog with hip dysplasia you'd understand our concerns.
Playing with the Puppy - will not cause Max to become aggressive. I would let them play - they will work out their "order" in the pack and try not to interfere too much. You will need to be careful that your children don't become more like their littermates and they start to become rough with them - or get caught up in their play (dogs use their mouths to communicate and even biting/nipping out of play could hurt one of them). I would be concerned with a few things you said - i.e. Max becoming protective of your son - that could develop into a problem where he had territorial / protective type aggression. The nipping/biting of their bums would concern me as well - this is often a "herding trait" but it can also be a sign of dominance and could lead to problems if not nipped in the bud (no pun intended). Kristen |
| How do I "NIP IT IN THE BUD" with Max? Any ideas? The nudging and nipping seems more aimed at my 9 yr. old daughter. She is physically almost as tall as an adult...she's not little like Zach. Max knows she's a member of "OUR PACK" but SHE always belonged to the "dreaded" cat....wonder if he associates her more with the "cat". (He's not a cat fan) I have been letting her feed him....thought maybe he would "appreciate" her more. He's never shown an ounce of aggression to her..never even a growl. Not even while playing. Zach is just his "love buddy". |
| She needs to assert her "alpha" role over him. Feeding him is a good start. She should also be involved in his training (and the puppies training). Have her learn commands such as SIT, Stay, etc. and she should work with them at times (so should your son).
If he nips her - she should shout OUCH loudly and he should be ignored for this behavior (no more playing with anyone) - kind of like a time out. Avoid having her play any tug of war type games with the dogs - it's fine that they play together - but unless she is going to always WIN - avoid this type of play. I'm sure he won't hurt her purposely - but sometimes playing they will nip (that's there communication) and I know from experience that can hurt (Presley decided to bite my neck last night after playing with Sydney - OUCH!  )
Good Luck! I would suggest enrolling the puppy in obedience class (positive reinforcement). Kristen |
| I am owned by two sheepies also - Baxter, 2 1/2 years old and Cassiopia, 17 months old. And they LOVE to play. Like yours, they romp around, if inside the furniture gets rearranged (and we learned to move quickly out of the way) if outside - well, we don't worry too much about the trees.
Anyway - we haven't seen any sign of aggression with either of them. The play just gets them tired. I have to admit though that both of them have been to obedience class and and we do insist that they behave appropriately with us. Jennifer, Baxter, Cassiopia & Sharkey |
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