girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

We just got a 2nd puppy and him and my other dog love to play fight. I've never had dogs before so the play fighting to me looks vicious and I want to break it up all the time. How do I know when I should be breaking them up? My only comfort is that my older dog is able to jump on the couch and my little dog isn't so I figured if she really wanted to stop fighting she'd just jump on the couch to get away from the little one.

My other question is - when the puppy does something good I want to give him a treat so he knows he did something good. However, I feel bad not giving my other dog anything. I don't want to spoil the older dog with treats because she has a bad stomach but I feel bad when I give the little guy treats and not her.

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

Congrats on the pup!

I had the same question back then. My vet and the breeder told me leave them alone, don't get in the middle. My dogs play so rough it seems like they are hurting each other, but they are not. They will work it all out. I mean, unless you think your older dog is truly absolutely vicious towards the pup (I doubt)....my pup would even bite my male dog's back, he was all bit up, with scabby bites. We had to take him to the vet to get antibiotics to prevent infection due to the little bites. Puppy teeth are sharp! But even now years later they play so rough they seem as though they are killing each other but they are not.

As for the treats, that's hard. I would try to have something for both.

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

The only thing I can tell you is to train your ear to it so you can differentiate between play fighting and if it turns serious. Over the first month we had our second dog home, there were a few "spats" where play turned serious. You can DEFINITELY tell the difference if you're listening. When that happened, I didn't get in the middle but in my big bad mommy voice I said TIME OUT!! That snaps them out of it.

With 2 dogs that are as large as ours, I do have to stop them from playing bitey-face sometimes - for OUR safety. They seem to like exhibiting for us. I always use the "time out" command. If they're extra rambunctious, we go outside so they can run around and burn off energy.

By the way, your other dog may not be jumping on the couch to get away - he may be doing it to show dominance. A dog in a higher position looking down on another is natural dominance.

As far as the training goes, if our other dog happens to be there, he gets treated as well. We only use the treats that the dog with the weakest stomach can handle, so we don't have issues. Be sure to cut back their meals by the amounts of treats you're giving them too.

When you do structured training, keep your dog that's already trained in a separate area so there's no distraction. Then you don't have to worry about treats for both, and still get your training in.

Congratulations on your new addition! Where are the PICS????

Message edited 7/13/2010 10:15:04 AM.

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

Congratulations on the puppy!!

I totally agree with the pp about training your ear. You will definatley be able to tell when it's gone too far.

Also, I look to see if the hackles are raised (the line of fur from the neck down the middle of the back). Not sure what kind of dogs but on my greyhounds, I can easily see if their hackles are raised and that's when I know it's serious. I will never physically get in the middle but I will yell and they stop. Sometimes I have to bribe them to come inside with a cookie and that will get their minds off of the fight too.

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

thank you all so much! I'll post some pics of Pickles.

eta: I took a video of them playing, maybe you girls can tell me what you think? It scares me that the little guy keeps biting on Ollie's face. I'm scared he'll hurt her. Ironic that I'm more scared of the older dog getting hurt.

video link:

video

Message edited 7/13/2010 7:43:30 PM.

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

Oh My Goodness they are so cute. You have NOTHING to worry about. That is the gentlest play/fight I've ever seen. My two go crazy when they wrestle.

& I agree about the training. If they are both in the room they both get a treat.

Thanks for sharing & good luck !

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

I made a comparison for you. This is a daily occurrence in our house, and it's completely safe. Five months of this and not a scratch on them...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhcgC8Qysbs

Your dog is teaching that puppy valuable lessons on how to play, boundaries, dominance... It's a wonderful thing for a puppy to have, a big brother to show them the way!

They are adorable!

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

Posted by greenfreak

I made a comparison for you. This is a daily occurrence in our house, and it's completely safe. Five months of this and not a scratch on them...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhcgC8Qysbs

Your dog is teaching that puppy valuable lessons on how to play, boundaries, dominance... It's a wonderful thing for a puppy to have, a big brother to show them the way!

They are adorable!

Re: girls that have 2 dogs - I have a question.

i have a pit mix and a pug. the pit is 8 months old and pug is 9. i can't let them play fight at all! the pit is 66lbs and will crush my little pug.
use your judgment. if it seems like its getting out of hand, seperate them. we have certain toys in our house that make them more crazed then others.

and as for the treats, my pug just stands there and looks so sad. so I went out and got these tiny little training treats for him. I give the puppy the normal treat and the pug at least gets something.

you can also make sure to put treats in your pocket when you are working on something "training" related so that the other dog won't see or hear you getting the treats. that might help