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Comment by Jim & Wendy Bates on August 14, 2009 at 1:26pm

Wow, such great comments and so fast... If Abbi (pup) is the indicator, she is the one instigating most of this and always coming back for more. the nose poking to get her to run was a little unnerving but all had that Corgi smile and tongue wagging going on with no teeth baring... Although I think some of our humans would bare out teeth as Abbi crosses the heel nipping and sock tugging line a little too often. I am going to post a video clip tonight of one burst from the hiding space - catch and roll ... but from these postings I also think I have to butt out a bit. We intervened too much with Lola and Koda when she was a puppy. He never got to teach her her place from the sound of this. Abbi is spending time on her back but just as much time as a dive bombing butt-nipper

Comment by Cassie and Jaunty on August 14, 2009 at 12:37pm

Oh you brought back memories of my house just 4 months ago. I have a 5 year old Ibizan hound and brought in a 10 week old Cardigan. My macho Beezen immediately let Jaunty know who's house it was! I knew I had to leave them alone, but it was frightening at times. Thank God puppies instinctively are submissive. Jaunty spent his first week here rolled over on his back. I have trained and shown dogs for 35 years, and must admit that I was on the phone with my best friend, in tears on the second day. There was growling, teeth, snapping, and an occasional puppy scream. But my Beezer never laid a tooth on Jaunty and once he became secure in the pack order, they became best friends and are now inseparable. I think you should supervise, but if you step in too much, the pack order will never get straightened out, and then there can be problems. And if your puppy cries or yelps, she is the one to be reprimanded, because she was the one that did something to cross the line with your other two. You are the pack leader and as difficult as it seems, your puppy is the last in the pack order. As my friend told me "Don't worry, they'll work it out", and they DID!

Comment by Derek on August 14, 2009 at 9:53am

My pup is about 5 months and my rule of thumb was to watch his behavior not the older dogs. He lets me know when the playing to too rough when he lets out his high pitch yelp or he is trying to run to me, like I am home base and the other dogs are playing tag (best analogy I can think of). Basically it is normal for the dogs to make noises and even snap at eachother (NOT BITE) because they are telling the baby when he is biting too hard, that he is annoying, or that he is invading their space. Miranda did it to Morgan at first and now they get along great. The first month or so was a bit odd, because he would climb on the couch and dive bomb her while she slept but he learned to respect her space. If you are not sure consult a pet trainer near you. I did that with my dogs and he was really informative. They watch the dogs interact and can give advice!

Comment by Beth on August 14, 2009 at 8:15am

The breeder where we got Jack did mention that sometimes puppies, because of their size and funny movements, can sometimes bring out the prey drive in an adult dog, so I would also watch from that aspect that the adults are not getting too excited in play.

Comment by Jane Christensen on August 14, 2009 at 8:09am

I think if you're there to supervise they shoud be fine you can stop them if things get too rough....my only concern when I had a pup with my others was that they could accidently get hurt or rolled to hard...bella's pups went out with the big dogs once they got to be this age and all was fine but I was there making sure they weren't running like a pack of wild dogs as they sometimes do while playing.
I know that my big Weimereiner mix would growl and not let a pup near him until they were a little older but I believe that was because he was afraid to hurt the pup so he kept his distance.

Cute pup...congratulations!

Comment by Beth on August 14, 2009 at 7:18am

What a cute puppy! And what a good question.

I do know that rolling is one way adult dogs show puppies their place, but I don't know how far is too far. Does puppy seem hurt or scared when this happens? No pulling back lips is usually a sign that growls are just play; a dog growling a warning will pull back the lips and show some teeth.