sharkie Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 Whenever I let my 8wk bc play with my 7mo 50lb lab they always "play aggressively". My lab Skye won't leave clover alone and always licks and mouths her. She even likes to roll right on top of the little puppy as a back scratcher! Little Clover, then starts to bite back hard anywhere she can. Skye isn't really biting her but she's just constantly annoying clover. And to make the matter worse Clover seems to get more aggressive and even likes going outside to give Skye a good bite of her puppy teeth. I was hoping that letting them play it out will give them some order as Skye is obviously much stronger...but on the other hand I don't want clover to become so aggressive. How do yall make your older dogs get along with the puppies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 From what I'm reading, you don't have "an older dog" but rather a very young Border Collie pup and an adolescent Lab. If Skye (the Lab) is "constantly annoying Clover", it sounds to me like YOU need to stop that. It appears that Skye is playing roughly like she would with a pup her size, and Clover's reaction to that is to play very hard herself. Normally when pups play and one gets too rough, the other will let the first know with a yelp or teeth or other "communication", and the first should back off a bit. However, with these two pups being very unequally matched, it doesn't sound like normal communication is working and resulting in a more compatible play style for either. Raising a pup takes a lot of your input but raising two youngsters at one time can be more than doubly challenging. One thing you need to make sure is that you are spending sufficient time one-on-one with each youngster, and making sure that they aren't either bonding more closely with each other than with you, or developing a competitive dislike of each other (that could lead to issues in the future). I hope that someone here with experience with a pair of youngsters like yours will contribute better comments than I can and help you with this issue. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4pack Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 I'm definitely agreeing with the above. If there is exceedingly rough play it is 'your' job to play hall monitor. Pups do play rough,as long as no one is getting hurt,( blood,serious yelps), you can oversee and manage...but if there is any escalation...time to STOP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4pack Posted March 25, 2007 Report Share Posted March 25, 2007 BTW,you can use time outs / teach them a 'settle' etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkie Posted March 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 thx for the tips! I've been watching closely over them when they play and have been spending individual times w ea. If I break them up too often how will they establish between themselves whos the dominant dog? Or is such structure not necessary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 They will sort things out but right now they are very unevenly matched and it is obvious who will be "top dog" (unless the Lab was particularly hesitant or submissive) and they are both very immature. Normally, if the Lab was truly an "older dog" (adult), the pup would be able to play with a great deal of "puppy license" or tolerance from the older dog because the pup is a young pup. Also, the pup would respect the older dog's "knock it off" behavior when the older dog had had enough. However, you've seen this isn't happening as the Lab is too rough and the pup just gets more wound up. You don't have an "older dog" - you have an adolescent Lab. It's like having an young adolescent along with a toddler, in human terms, and neither will act like an adult should act. My opinion, which is only worth what you are paying for it (which is nothing), is that you need to be the adult, allowing reasonable play and breaking it up when it is going to get out of hand. Remember, you are in charge, not the Lab, and not the pup. You set the ground rules and enforce them fairly. Let them have some playtime but make sure it's something that won't escalate - no toys to fight over or compete for, etc. When it appears that things are revving up too much, separate them and give them some quiet time, and something to occupy themselves if need be. There are many members of this board with multiple dog households and I would expect that their advice would be that the humans need to be clearly in charge (and I don't mean through harsh physical ways). You wouldn't leave human children to sort it out by themselves without your supervision and input, and you need to do the same for your dogs. Their relationships will be growing as they grow and your supervision will help that to be a positive thing. It would not hurt to have both youngster and pup enrolled in good quality family dog/pup classes to learn basic manners and socialize with other people and dogs, if that is an option for you. The pup could use the chance to interact with pups of the same age (hopefully, Clover won't be too rough) which is a hallmark of a good puppy class, and the Lab and pup to learn to pay attention to you when other dogs/pups are around. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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