Lance and Tucker were playing today and did well together. At one point during a different play session, Tucker grabbed a hold of Lances scruff, on the side of his neck, and would not let go..and I mean not let go, it looked as if Lance was pinned down and didnt seem comfortable, so I made Tucker stop. Afterwards, Tucker and Lance were standing by each other and I was near them and Tucker starts barking non stop in Lances ear!!! Lance just stood there not knowing what he should do, and then after all the barking, Tucker went for his ear, as to say, lets play?
The barking in another dogs ear, what would that mean? Is it rude behavior, or just trying to get him to play?
The other question I have is about when Lance is rolling on his back, back and forth and then Tucker gets a surge of energy and goes bolting towards Lance wanting to play, would that be considered rude or normal play? Tucker is usually in another room when he hears Lance rolling and comes running at him.
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To me it sounds like they may be figuring out how to play???? If it works and no one gets upset then that's a good thing! Some of my dogs will grab each other by the neck while playing. Did Lance yelp? I would be near to intervene but I am hoping this is a start to them having fun! Don't have a clue with the barking except Livvy always has to bark when running and playing...so Tucker may be more like her (a loudmouth). I actually had 2 dogs years ago that the bigger dog would almost pick up the smaller dog by the collar when they played...it wasn't mean it was just how they played.
As for the rolling...if Tucker comes running and Lance is ready to play I would not consider it rude. If lance is enjoying the rolling and not wanting to play then Tucker should find a better time to play. Hope this makes some type of sense!
Lance was actually on his back and seemed to be able not to get up, he did not yelp but I was thinking maybe he couldnt because of the position he was in?
Yeah the barking was acutally kinda of funny, especially since Lance is usually the loud mouth, and he didnt react at all to the barking!!! He just stood there...lol.
Thanks for your responses, I appreciate it.
1) Remember, play-fighting is ALWAYS a play version of real fighting. Dogs will do most things they do in a real fight. Some will try to come up underneath and knock another dog down by taking out a leg, some will go for the throat, some will grab scruffs. It's each dog's job to let the other dog know if he/she has had enough. I usually let mine go and if it gets too rough, one will let out a very loud yelp and the other should then stop. Only if the attacker would not stop when the other dog cried "uncle" would I intervene. Remember, this is how dogs continue to practice things like bite suppression and impulse control.
2) Madde barks in Jack's ear regularly to get him to play. It can be very noisy. If I look over what I usually see is both dogs lying down, Maddie going "Harf! Harf! Harf! Harf!" at which point they start tooth-fencing. Sometimes Jack gets very excited and starts a full-speed frap around the coffee table, rolling his eyes and making ferocious "Grrr grrr grrr" sounds at which point Maddie just watches him like "You're a loony."
3) Jack often considers Maddie's rolling on her back to be an invitation to play. Sometimes it will start a play session, other times she gets up and walks away and ignores him. Again, unless one dog clearly ignores another dog's "I've had enough" signals, I generally let it go.
Thanks Beth, I think with everyones advice I will learn not to be so nervous, I appreciate everyone making me feel better. Once I get to learn how Tucker and Lance play I wont be such nervous nelly.
They had some more play sessions after I posted this question and I definately felt better about their play. Its funny how energetic Tucker is compared to Lance.
I just don't want to be saying to myself if I knew then what I know now things would be different, so I suppose I rather ask specific questions about play sitations and learn. Thanks for everyone's patience and helpfulness.
My one yr old Carly whose 24 lb female, plays like this with frankie who is 15 weeks, 17 lbs... sounds just like them, Frankie is the one barking in her ear and they both get each others scruff of the neck. I often separate because hes still a puppy, im thinking she is getting enough and he may get hurt, because she mad...does that make sense? She is a tough girl but im not sure im doing the right thing. I would be so upset if a ear was torn or a lip, so far ive only seen him limp..this past week , they were in the garagre and i heard a yelp!! He could have ran into something running while she was chasing him, since i didnt see it... Hes going to get bigger for sure and shell have to take her punches at that time, im hoping by then they will have it all worked out?? im learning every day...
Yelps are usually ok. Yelps are one dog's way of saying "Hey, hey, that's too much!". If one of mine yelps I just watch for a minute to see if anyone looks hurt. If they go right back to playing I ignore it. If one walks away I might give a quick once-over to make sure no one got hurt. Usually it's just that someone pinched a little too hard biting.
My general rule is that if one says "back off" and the other backs off, I let it go. If one says "back off" more than two or three times and the other keeps coming, I step in. If there is a huge size difference, I'll step in immediately if the bigger dog doesn't seem to get that he's got a large weight advantage. I've had my dogs on both ends of that; Maddie was stalked by a Great Dane who kept trying to hump her, and then once I had to pull Jack off a Shih Tzu who he had managed to knock onto its side in the mud. It was even wearing a sweater. :-( I felt really bad. It happened very quickly. Worst part was the owner missed it, the little guy (Domino) stood up and started yapping at Jack, and the owners said "Aw, Domino, be nice!".
Poor Domino.
I had lots of questions too when we first brought Maddie home. Now I've had two for over a year and a half and I've learned to relax. There are very rare incidents, but mostly everyone gets along. Just about a week ago I heard Jack hollering very loudly and I asked my husband what happened. Shawn walked away from them while they were eating, and after ages of them eating around the kitchen peninsula from each other without incident, Maddie decided to help herself to Jack's breakfast while he was still eating it. :-) He was NOT at all impressed with that and told her in no uncertain terms.
Anyway, the difference between play yodeling and real annoyance was obvious enough that even though I was upstairs and asleep, I instantly knew there was trouble.
Generally speaking, if you are asking "Is this serious?" it's not because when it is, you know. Of course if there is a huge size difference, that's different because the smaller dog can get hurt. If one is a puppy and the older one is bullying I might step in; I hauled Jack off a beagle pup he was humping the other day because the pup would never think to say "stop, please." And if there are more than two dogs you have to watch for two ganging up on one. But with two dogs of similar size, usually play stays as play and if one really yelps the other will stop. You'll also see where one might just stop playing and hop up on furniture or trot away.
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