Aggressive Playing Nipping Puppy Stuff
My two OES's love to romp and wrestle a lot. Max is 2yrs. and Rosie is 1yr. When playing - Rosie frequently gets Max down on his back and tends to "dominate" Max. A few times now in playing - Rosie gets mad/aggressive and barks & nips Max or what looks like trying to bite him. She has not ever broken the skin but this looks very nasty and it bothers me. Max just tries to get away and doesn't nip back but he barks back. Kinda like "get away from me". I worry because it just looks so nasty and this morning my little boy happened to be on the floor playing when this started. I quickly grabbed the two dogs and pulled them apart and told them NO firmly and separated them. I didn't want my boy to get "in the middle" of anything. Rosie has NEVER growled at any people (only at Max). She is a very loving a passive dog with the kids and even the cat (when Max isn't watching). She even curled up with the cat when Max was "out at the groomer" one day. She can be outside with all the kids when they are playing and just lay in the grass and watch. Max can not do this. Max goes crazy when the kids are playing and has to be inside. Is this normal behavior and how "involved" should I get? I don't want anyone getting hurt and I don't want this behavior to develop into aggressiveness. |
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| My two are the same ages as yours, basically. Beaureguard just turned one and Genevieve recently turned two. Their play can get pretty rough sometimes. They do bark and nip at each other when they play. Sometimes it sounds like they're really about to tear each other up...but it's just play. Neither of them have ever come away with any injuries. So, I don't intervene. I just let them play. Most of the time their play is benign...just wrestling or playing tug of war or playing soccer. I wouldn't worry about it if it's just the two of them playing in the yard. I do not allow that kind of play in the house or around the kids, though. Just to be safe. |
| I have an OES puppy and another 2 yr old Puggle..They do the same things..I really get worried when they are playing because it sounds like they really are attacking each other. I talked to a trainer about this and he said to let them play...if neither dog has ever been aggressive before they are more then likely fighting for dominance. .neither one wants to be at the bottom of the pack. As far as your children that’s another story. When your children are around I would only have one dog out at time unless they are preoccupied with a bone or toy. Good Luck. |
| Thanks. They are always out together and the play is 99% of the time total "Puppy romping". Max grabs a bone in his mouth and Rosie grabs the other end and they run around together growling and pulling. They both just came back from the groomer and the groomer put these cute little "EAGLES" bandannas on them. Well Rosie tries to pull Max around and he doesn't like it. (Max's bandannas has since been removed) He won't move (he's about 85lbs. and she's only about 55). He must really make her mad and she gets snappy and nasty with him. That's what I don't like.
They have NEVER as much as growled at the kids and when I hollar NO! They break it up pretty fast. Sometimes they will snap at each other when getting treats and the one goes after the others. Can't blame them though.....I get mad when someone trys to take my food too! But after I hollar NO NO at Rosie and tell her to go to her room she will then come out and lick Max like she's saying "I'm sorry". Sort-of like a time-out. Max has some weird behaviors...but nothing remotely mean or aggressive.....he's just goofy. Anyone see a dog go crazy when you shuffle a deck of cards?? HE DOES!  |
| Same rough play here. They look like they will kill each other any minute and there will be lots of fur flying in your living room. As long as the growling does not sound too aggresive and they are not both baring their front teeth in a menacing maner, everything is OK, they are just playing and establishing their social status.
We also tell them NO! and it stops right there, wich is very important because they can harm a person or a child if they are close by... Don't try to break their play or they'll think you want to play and their teeth are sharp, just tell them NO! and they should listen and obey. You should see the faces from friends and family when they want to play and they are there  It's hard to explain the are just playing. Ahhh... the joy of owning large dogs...  |
| It's really only Rosie that shows teeth and growls.....Max only ever growled once at my husband...and it kinda freaked my hubby out. Max
was sleeping on the floor....the fireplace was on and Max woke up and saw the reflection of the fire was in my husbands glasses and it FREAKED Max out! Max jumped up and started GROWLING at him and I had to turn on all the lights and then once my hubby said "it's ok Max....it's only me" he was fine.....I guess that was a protective instinct??? As far as guests visiting.....You should see my elderly father when he visits from FL. Every day....He just laughs his head off at the dogs! Pure entertainment! AND SPEAKING OF HAVING GUESTS: Rosie will eventually settle down and go lay down when someone's over - but Max is just a PEST. He won't leave them alone. He paws, and jumps and is just plain obnoxious! I tried giving him a chewy and he'll go lay down and chew on that for a little bit....but it doesn't last long and he's back. I don't want to give him more than one I always just get frustrated and end up putting him in his crate......any suggestions with that? |
MAX&ROSIE'S MOM wrote: Rosie will eventually settle down and go lay down when someone's over - but Max is just a PEST. He won't leave them alone. He paws, and jumps and is just plain obnoxious!
You may want to give your guests a plastic cover so they don't end up all covered in fur... hahahaha We have the same problem, and the plastic covers were not welcome by our guests Usually asking your guests to say NO! and stop petting them does the trick, they get bored and look for another activity. It's really difficult to keep the dogs in place with guests, specially because they want to play and people not used to big dogs do exactly the opposite things to calm them down, like lifting their arms, shoo them with noise and being histerical like we have two wild beasts on the hunt for guests.... Sheepies love to play! ... sigh. Now we visit more people's houses instead. |
| OH MAN.....you've must have been here!! That is exactly what they do!!!
My daughters friends come over and they are afraid of the dogs. So I alway have to hold them by their collars while they come in and either go upstairs to my daughters room or downstairs to the basement to play (we have a playroom downstairs). The dogs are not allowed up or down --they MUST ALWAYS stay on the main floor. Well....everytime....I hold the dogs when the girls come in...and the girls RUN SCREAMING thru the house and EVERYTIME I have to yell at the girls "DON'T RUN!". The dogs almost pull me down because they just want to chase and play. The little boy next door was so scared of Max last summer but he got tired of "being afraid" (I guess his will to play was stronger then his fear) and now when Max greets him at the door...he just looks at him and tells him to get down and go lay down. MAX LISTENS! He is able to sit on the floor and play with my son. And the dog just lays next to them. GO FIGURE.... |
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