When to stop play in puppies ???

So Nella met her "cousins" (Toffee the welsh terrier 1yr and Fudge the Irish 5 months ish) yesterday and made a new best friend in the Yorkie next door.

They were all keen to play and had a great time. I stepped in a few times when i thought the play was getting out of hand (one dog getting overly bratty) and just seperated them all with a bit of an "Ep Ep" and i removed Nella for a nap too when i thought she had had enough.

My sister very much lets Toffee and Fudge get on with it and doesn't intervene at all.

I am sure there will be varying thoughts on this but thought it would make for an interesting discussion

 

All that play is just rehearsal for fights, it also makes dogs far more interested in other dogs than owners, so you get the dogs that pull. lunge and bark on the lead in frustration because they cannot access other dogs and the cry from owners that "my dog comes back except when he sees another dog"

So I do not allow my dogs to play with other puppies and any socialising they do is with older, specially selected dogs who can teach them some manners.

 

Thats interesting. Most of Nellas regular walking mates will be older dogs and they are definately excellent role models and a mix of shapes and sizes.

 

I don't let dogs, especially puppies physically play together, ie wrestling,but I do allow chase games, tussles and tugs over toys - although not usually with puppies because I want them to learn to like their owners best. And as long as there aren't any dogs who get too overworked - GSDs for instance we don't let get involved in chase games, and I've heard Border Collies shouldn't, but I won't take on BCs to our service unless the owner does dog sports and of course that sort of owner doesnt usually need a dog walker or daycare provider! So I can't say if I would or wouldn't.

Older dogs will naturally put in 'breaks' in their play, so they might break off and roll, eat grass, sniff around etc, then go back - I've got some good videos of dogs doing this if you'd like to see. They are calming themselves down so things don't go from play to aggression - which can also happen in children, I grew up watching my older brothers playfighting, which tipped over into a real punch up more times than I care to remember!

Puppies don't do this, and sometimes my terriers at home get over-excited, usually when in a 3 way tug so I have to break things up.

I don't know what kind of play your dogs are doing, but with terriers involved I'd really only allow a couple of minutes before a break and calm down - so the bratty one doesn't get a chance to practice.

I'd still recommend you don't let your pup play with them more than she/he plays with you though!

Terriers shouting and running about - YouTube

The brown dog is my Fred - he's only running for less than a minute then stands still to calm down. The pug who interferes with his break is a puppy, who hasn't yet learned about pauses! Fred tried again to pause a few seconds later, and gets bothered by a Pug again. I only let this kind of play go on for 2 or 3 mins then we're back to walking! I took this video as there are 4 terriers in it, and I like to use it to show potential terrier owners what they could be letting themselves in for!

 

Strange how my puppies always played with other puppies, had a great time, but still manage to be well behaved when out. Both Ferdie and Diva will follow me when I call them, despite all that playing with other puppies.

They never fight with other dogs, either. They would rather walk away that have a confrontation.

I think the main thing you need to be careful about is that your puppy is a lot bigger than them others! She will need to be monitored obviously in case it gets too rough for the smaller ones, but she will never learn how interact with smaller dogs otherwise.

Ferdie is exceptionally good with small dogs, Diva is only just learning because her previous experience has been with full grown newfoundlands. She knows now not to barge at them like she does Ferdie, but it has taken a few months to teach her that.

I have a video of Ferdie at four months chasing a very small terrier of the same age around my garden. Obviously he had to be stopped a few times, but mostly he was never going to keep up with the terrier so they both had a great time.

How is Oscar getting on with her?

What I really want to know is: Where is my invite to puppy visit?

 

Most of the time spent will be on walks once Nella (my bernese) has her immunity it was just they were in the house and garden yesterday so not so many natural moments to interrupt by walking on etc.

I know what you mean about the breaks, my cocker does this .

My sisters 2 are :crazy: I think she was lulled into a false sense of security as the 1st one has been really sweet and easy up until just before they collected the new pup, now she has a bratty teenager and a bonkers pup :crazy:

Oscar is still being a grumpy bugger. Not looking to be aggressive but wont let her near him It is very slowly improving and i am desperate to get them out and about together as i think this will help massively. They are currently sleeping about a foot apart. Nella does like an army belly crawl up to me to try and get closer bless her but "stealth" is pretty hard to pull off at her size

You are welcome anytime, dont leave it long though she is growing every day When the kids have gone back to school i am going to start taking her out and about (carrying) but cant go far with her because she is so heavy. I could come over to the heath if the cafe is near the carpark ???

 

Cafe is right next door to the car park. PM me and we will sort something out. Or I could come up to you if you like. When is she having her next injection?

 

A good thread, I'm never sure what to let Indie do. She plays with all ages and sizes but I tend to stop her and walk away if it gets a bit over the top. It's difficult because she is bouncy and playful but she has grown so much bigger and stronger that I worry about the other dogs. We have a lot a pups about her age at the park but she is the biggest and heaviest.

 

I think watching body language is really important. You can see when play ends and tantrums are building by the facial expressions, body positions and types of play. I do think dogs should be interuppted if one is unhappy with the play or one is getting over the top.

Redirection with a toy is a good move so it is "worth" your puppy coming away.

I think with a dog like a GSD it is so important they learn "good" play when they are puppies.

Gorgeous pup by the way

 

Thank you, I think she's gorgeous but then I am very biased
Distracting her is really hard but hopefully we're getting there! One dog we meet is a working springer, totally mad and really over the top, I think he's about 2 years old, I only allow a few mins play if we bump into them as he is so over the top I don't want Indie copying or thinking that being so rough is ok. The owner doesn't see it as a problem which makes it difficult.

 

LOL i think every park has a loony over the stop spaniel with an owner lagging behind who has no idea

If you are Cambridgeshire side of herts you might be close enough to meet up for a walk at some point

 

South West Herts so quite a distance. Would be possible when I'm off work, shame my half term has just finished, back to school tomorrow

 

shame. i was going to see about a new year forum walk once nella is jabbed up so maybe then

 

You'll have to explain this one to me.

Why don't you allow GSDs to get involved with chase games?
Why shouldn't border collies get involved in chase games?
What are the reasons for not taking on BCs that are not involved in dog sports? I have two that don't do agility, fly ball, deck dog or any organised dog sport yet they are the easiest things to walk.

Tussles are wrestling, tug-o-war is wrestling, the chase is probably to get something off of the other or is the result of a tussle and a bit of teasing. My three wrestle and mouth each other pretty much every day and it usually ends with the long dog licking the two collies for a bit of beauty therapy or something. I can take mine out and apart from the long dog (long story too) they aren't fussed about other dogs all that much and are very responsive to me rather than what each of them is doing instead. I am just lost in your comments as I have worked with multiple GSDs and have resident colleis and they love chasing each other and I'ver never had a negative effect from it.

A collie is the best chasing breed there is as it can chase as much as you like, it can control its chase and it can take on instructions at the same time better than any other breed in the world which is what makes them the best herders. Not giving an outlet for collies to chase be it a toy or to join in the games with other dogs makes having one pointless to me and you might as well get a fish or a a snail as it won't be being cruel to supressing something else's natural instincts which in turn can cause further issues as the energy and frustration built up from that will be redirected onto another activity that can be a lot worse.