# Puppy Play



## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Does she ever correct him?


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## LadyLucy (Jan 8, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Does she ever correct him?


Yes she does! I watched them playing in the snow and she just layed there and let him chew on her. She has always been a shy submissive girl, I just don’t want him being too hard on her.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

As long as she corrects him appropriately, I’d be inclined to let them work it out. I’d also start rewarding for calm behaviour.

But I don’t have a multi-dog household. Hopefully someone else will chime in with their experience. @lily cd re has two spoos and a GSD. @cowpony also has a lot of experience managing a two-spoo household.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

I had a similar situation with my puppy Galen and my senior boy Pogo. Fortunately Pogo had spent a lot of time playing with other dogs, so I completely trusted his social skills. Some things I watched for:

Pogo breaking off play and doing a reset. Often he would signal this pause by sneezing or snorting.
Pogo keeping his lips over his teeth in what I call the "round mouth" expression. This expression meant that, whatever biting and snarling was going on, Pogo considered it play.
Pogo delivering rebukes. Pogo very rarely growled at Galen, and I think I only saw him deliver a few serious corrections. However, Pogo definitely signaled when he felt Galen was out of line. Usually he would curl his lip, move his head as though he was going to strike out, and then stop the strike. Galen would pause for a split second and then start playing again. The whole rebuke and resume play would happen within about 2 seconds. If I saw Pogo deliver another rebuke within the next few seconds I would separate them.


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## LadyLucy (Jan 8, 2021)

Thank You. This is the body language advice I was looking for. She will instigate if the pup is tired, but I know he will be bigger than her and she is my girl. I just want to keep it manageable, and keep control of it. Lady was so easy to train, he is more head strong.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Here are two pictures of Pogo making his "round mouth" expression. He's playfully exaggerating his fearsomeness by opening his mouth extra wide, yet he's keeping his lips down over all his molars. There is almost no lip wrinkling or curling. 


















And here is Pogo delivering a rebuke. It's hard to see, because his face needed a trim, but he is curling his lip with the threat of a snarl. Before this picture the puppy had been leaping at his face. Pogo turned his head to rebuff the leap, moved his head back to its original position, curled his lip, and then stared into the distance to signal he didn't want to play. The whole rebuke took less than a second.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Something I forgot to mention -- well socialized adult dogs usually tolerate a lot of puppy rough housing. This toleration usually wears thin when the puppy starts entering puberty, around 6 months give or take. At that point the rebukes will come more often and will be more severe. 
The end of the puppy passport can come as quite a shock to a young dog. Years ago one of our mutt pups, not understanding she was no longer cute, ran up to a strange older dog in the park. He used her momentum to basically judo throw her and then pinned her to get his point across. She was astounded.


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## Jbean (Feb 18, 2019)

We had three spoos. They played every day until nearly the ends of their lives, had the occasional tiff (all noise, no damage), and were absolutely crazy about one another. There play was pretty, um, vigorous but never resulted in more than a couple of minor injuries. People who didn't know them assumed that they were fighting sometimes but they weren't.

If the less assertive dog keeps coming back for more, you can assume that they're having fun.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Does she ever correct him?





LadyLucy said:


> Yes she does! I watched them playing in the snow and she just layed there and let him chew on her. She has always been a shy submissive girl, I just don’t want him being too hard on her.


There is no social correction being offered by the female in this scenario. Since she tolerates the behavior it doesn't sound like she really doesn't want to engage it, but since it sounds like she doesn't tell the youngster off every now and again I would keep an eye on it. My poodles play daily and it gets vigorous, but neither of them would allow themselves to be chewed on like a toy.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

I agree with Lily. It is hard to tell over the internet, but from your description, I'm not convinced your Lucy is enjoying these games. If you could upload a video to youtube, that would be helpful (but I understand the privacy concerns if you don't). I would intervene (it's good practice for both dogs anyway) and see how she reacts. If she restarts the game, then you can be more confident that she's having fun. But if she doesn't, then I would redirect him towards some other play. Also, I've seen submissive dogs look to their owner when being chomped on by a puppy, with the clear hope that the human will fix this problem for them. So be on the lookout for that behavior as well.

When I had a multi-dog household, it was pretty clear when they were both enjoying the games, and when one of them wasn't. If in doubt, I would trust that instinct and break it up for a while.


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## LadyLucy (Jan 8, 2021)

Thank You one and all for the great advice. This is very helpful.


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## LadyLucy (Jan 8, 2021)

cowpony said:


> Here are two pictures of Pogo making his "round mouth" expression. He's playfully exaggerating his fearsomeness by opening his mouth extra wide, yet he's keeping his lips down over all his molars. There is almost no lip wrinkling or curling.
> 
> View attachment 472914
> 
> ...


These are great examples and are exactly what Lady does to Brodie. Thank You


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