Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

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natel24
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Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by natel24 » Tue May 06, 2014 4:09 pm

My 12 week old puppy and 6 year old gsp have been getting along great. the only problem I'm starting to have is they like to rough house with each other, nipping ears and wrestling around. The puppy hasn't been aggressive just puppy play I guess. He doesn't rough house with myself of my wife and kids. Should I let them play together or put an end to it.

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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by shags » Tue May 06, 2014 5:21 pm

I let my puppies play with the older dogs. When they get too obnoxious, the older dogs put them in their place. There's usually a snarl and a snap followed by a yelp, but it's over in seconds. I think it's good for the pup to learn to respect the big guys' boundaries.
That being said, the big dogs are fairly patient and don't have any aggression issues. Don't know if I'd let a pup push an intolerant nastier dog.

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Sharon
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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by Sharon » Tue May 06, 2014 8:06 pm

That's a problem in my house. The six year old puts the JRT in his place but the JRT abuses the 13 year old female setter. I'm on his case a lot. I think I'm going to use an e collar to stop that behaviour as commands , grabbing him up, etc . aren't working. He grabs the old girl's leg or tail and knocks her down.

OP Play is fine but in my situation it is abuse.

edit: Solved the problem without knowing it. Put an anti bark collar on the JRT ( 1yearold) to keep him from annoying the neighbors , but it has curtailed harassing the old girl as he barks and growls when he goes after her so now ............:) I take it off for a couple hours a day so pup can wrestle/play with the young setter.
Last edited by Sharon on Wed May 07, 2014 12:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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DonF
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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by DonF » Tue May 06, 2014 9:44 pm

When Squirt and Bodie get tired of Stormy they send him to his corner crying like a baby. Soon as he's over it he goes looking for revenge! They get it worked out!

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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by JKP » Wed May 07, 2014 6:21 am

I think injuries can be a problem, depending how sensible the older dog is. I have very physical older dogs that could have easily injured a puppy. Would be my only concern.

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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by Ms. Cage » Wed May 07, 2014 12:52 pm

We allow the pups to play with the older dogs. Your pups been playing with older dog since 4 weeks. We discourage growling, snarling and yapping. Nate, here's a picture of tug on his first point today.
013.JPG
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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by RichK » Wed May 07, 2014 12:57 pm

Ms. Cage wrote:We allow the pups to play with the older dogs. Your pups been playing with older dog since 4 weeks. We discourage growling, snarling and yapping. Nate, here's a picture of tug on his first point today.
013.JPG
Awesome pups, I'm so happy I was able to get it on this litter.

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NLsetter
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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by NLsetter » Wed May 07, 2014 6:48 pm

Sharon wrote:That's a problem in my house. The six year old puts the JRT in his place but the JRT abuses the 13 year old female setter. I'm on his case a lot. I think I'm going to use an e collar to stop that behaviour as commands , grabbing him up, etc . aren't working. He grabs the old girl's leg or tail and knocks her down.

OP Play is fine but in my situation it is abuse.

edit: Solved the problem without knowing it. Put an anti bark collar on the JRT ( 1yearold) to keep him from annoying the neighbors , but it has curtailed harassing the old girl as he barks and growls when he goes after her so now ............:) I take it off for a couple hours a day so pup can wrestle/play with the young setter.

caution here as the bark collar like a e-collar nick around other dogs could cause issues. My irish has been owned so many times by my 11 year old crippled female gordon he takes the long way around when he walks past her. She certainly is a strong female alpha even in her old age.

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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by Sharon » Wed May 07, 2014 7:23 pm

Working great so far. :) Thanks for the tip though, I'll keep an eye out for it becoming a problem.

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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by Firelight » Thu May 08, 2014 7:29 am

We let pups play and hang out with adult dogs. Obviously if/when play gets too rough we intervene and separate them for a bit. But overall, only dogs can teach other dogs proper pack behavior. We find it results in dogs that are better mannered around other peoples dogs, something that is important to us when we visit or hunt with friends.

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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by deke » Fri May 09, 2014 11:03 am

My train of thought is that they will figure it out. And removing the pup from the situation, removes the older dogs chance to set boundaries for the pup. My dogs would constantly fight it out when we first brought our pup home, the older dog tolerated it for a while, and then set the pup straight. The old dog would let the pup climb all over him, chewing on ears and his face, until he was tired of it, then you would see the little black pup flying across the living room like a Frisbee. 3 years later and they are best buds, they have two dog beds but only use one, the young one will round up all the toys in the house and bring them over to the old guys bed ( even though he would rather just sleep)

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Sharon
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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by Sharon » Fri May 09, 2014 3:19 pm

deke wrote:My train of thought is that they will figure it out. And removing the pup from the situation, removes the older dogs chance to set boundaries for the pup. My dogs would constantly fight it out when we first brought our pup home, the older dog tolerated it for a while, and then set the pup straight. The old dog would let the pup climb all over him, chewing on ears and his face, until he was tired of it, then you would see the little black pup flying across the living room like a Frisbee. 3 years later and they are best buds, they have two dog beds but only use one, the young one will round up all the toys in the house and bring them over to the old guys bed ( even though he would rather just sleep)
.....................

(Bold is mine.)

Very true normally, but in the situation I mentioned the 13 tear old is unwell( arthritis, heart murmur), and can' t fight( put up boundaries), for herself. I feel then that it is my job to so .

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Brazosvalleyvizslas
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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by Brazosvalleyvizslas » Fri May 09, 2014 3:53 pm

All of my dogs are strong Alpha males. If I let them "teach each other" my Vet bills would go through the roof. I set ALL of my dogs boundaries. Playing is OK but not rough housing.

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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by Cicada » Fri May 09, 2014 6:28 pm

Image

I have posted this before but it shows how a pup can hold his own with a dog 3 times his weight they do this for about 10 min. each night then lights out until 7AM.

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deke
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Re: Puppy "rough housing" with the older dog

Post by deke » Mon May 12, 2014 10:12 am

Sharon wrote:
deke wrote:My train of thought is that they will figure it out. And removing the pup from the situation, removes the older dogs chance to set boundaries for the pup. My dogs would constantly fight it out when we first brought our pup home, the older dog tolerated it for a while, and then set the pup straight. The old dog would let the pup climb all over him, chewing on ears and his face, until he was tired of it, then you would see the little black pup flying across the living room like a Frisbee. 3 years later and they are best buds, they have two dog beds but only use one, the young one will round up all the toys in the house and bring them over to the old guys bed ( even though he would rather just sleep)
.....................

(Bold is mine.)

Very true normally, but in the situation I mentioned the 13 tear old is unwell( arthritis, heart murmur), and can' t fight( put up boundaries), for herself. I feel then that it is my job to so .

Sharon, I was responding to the OP. There are definitely boundaries if one dog has medical issues, and can't fend for itself. Sorry for confusion.

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