I would have edited this if I knew how, but here’s a look at Kai “exercising” Fergie. 😉 Fergie tolerates what he’s doing at the end of this video better outside in big spaces than when he does this indoors. This is what I wish/hope he will grow out of?? She has attacked my other pug on a couple of occasions after he’s been harassing her this way, which I guess I should have made him stop before it got to that point. If anyone has any advice or comments, please share. I know he’s playing but he sometimes gets too rough and relentless. And no what he’s doing in the video isn’t very rough, but you get the idea. He also goes around like an alligator popping his jaws at her and us too sometimes. LOL. I like when she’s chasing him because then I know she’s having fun too.
I’m sure Julie or Carole would be the best source for advice. I had this happen w/both Libby and Ziva when they play w/smaller dogs. I just kind of read the body language of the small dog to see if they were still having fun or being bullied and then stepped in for a “time out” to let the “bully” settle down. I keep a 2′ short leash on so I can easily grab the bully. I teach them that enough means to stop and it comes in handy once they learn it for barking, chasing the kitty or just getting to rough when playing together. As Libby got older she became better w/smaller dogs, and Ziva (5 months) is starting to get the hint.
Thanks, Lisa. I have been trying to use “enough”. I had seen it mentioned on here I think about barking. Like going to check out why they are barking but then saying enough…maybe that was you(?)
I think I’m getting better with the body language and have pointed out to my kids that she’s not yelping, he’s not hurting her, he just wants to play. He is playing pretty nicely with her here plus running at her speed 😉
For the most part looks like they are having a blast and GSDs do play rough and do alot of mouthing (which worries some people) but as long as they are having fun it’s great . Towards the very end it did look like the pug might be saying I have had enough and would like to leave so maybe you should call them out and give a break. Actually that is great recall work to be able to call your dog out of play so if it ever looks like things got a bit too exciting and might cross the line you will be able to call them out of play. Love your fence!
Thank you!
We didn’t fence our whole back yard and I was telling Randy today I kind of wish we had but he does not like having to do all the weed eating required by the fence. I asked him what he thought about these rubber mulch strip things you can buy, like rounding up the grass in the strip under the fence and putting those in. He looked at me like I was crazy. Haha
I agree with Lisa and Tawnyhill. I like your fence too.
What’s been said is very true. Especially when the playmate is a little dog, end the session before it becomes too rough or tiring for the little one.
My rule for training class is no playtime between dogs. They are here for socialization, not a party. However, just to torment Zorya a tad, toward the end of class I let Zorya & Kai play together. My goal was to see if I then could get Zorya to do a down stay next to Kai after the play session. Kai is 4-5 weeks older than Zorya and much more settled.
What shocked me the most was that the two played very nicely together. Yeah, they played follow the leader (or chase the puppy) but nothing that resembled rough and tumble. No teeth were used! I mention that because when Kayla was Zorya’s age, her favorite game was to grab her “victim” by the neck and drag it around—didn’t matter if it was Tina The Terror or GSD Howie—they both allowed it.
After the play session both kids managed to do their stays while being side-by-side. Good kids!
Apart from a little playing with Fenris, that’s really the only time he’s got to play and chase and run with another GSD. I loved it for him! And they were very nice to each other, on their best behavior like a first date.