My dog loves to play with other dogs but she tends to be a bit rough. Her
best buddy always ends up squealing at least once or twice during play time.
She does alot of growling and nipping, but her pal nips too. The thing is,
she's alot bigger so I'm always worried she'll end up hurting him. Should I
try to alter this behavior (and if so what do I do), or just let them work
it out. Some days she plays rougher than others. The other dog's owner says
she picks a day a week to pms. My dog is a German shepherd and her pal is a
English Springer spaniel. When she plays with young pups or older dogs, you
can see she takes precautions to play much gentler. It almost seems like she
gets so worked up playing with the spaniel that she gets 'over excited'.
Maybe a time out to settle down would help....what do you think?


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"Pam" wrote:
My dog loves to play with other dogs but she tends to be a bit rough. Her
best buddy always ends up squealing at least once or twice during play time.
She does alot of growling and nipping, but her pal nips too. The thing is,
she's alot bigger so I'm always worried she'll end up hurting him. Should I
try to alter this behavior (and if so what do I do), or just let them work
it out. Some days she plays rougher than others. The other dog's owner says
she picks a day a week to pms. My dog is a German shepherd and her pal is a
English Springer spaniel. When she plays with young pups or older dogs, you
can see she takes precautions to play much gentler. It almost seems like she
gets so worked up playing with the spaniel that she gets 'over excited'.
Maybe a time out to settle down would help....what do you think?

I think that's a great idea. Sounds like the spaniel is her favorite playmate.
And being a GSD (read "drama queen"), when she gets worked up playing with the
dog she feels the most comfortable with (i.e., the least inhibited), she starts
to go overboard.

So yep, watch to determine what the signs are that she's getting too worked up.
Get to where you can interrupt her before she starts to show those signs, and
give her a few moments to unwind before letting her go play again. Remember
that you are taking her away from something that's a lot of fun, so make sure
your distraction is also fun (like sit for a treat).

Normally a well-socialized rough player will learn to be gentle with smaller
and more delicate dogs. And it sounds like she has learned this, under most
circumstances. But if she hasn't been getting gentler with the spaniel in
spite of his yelps, then I would suggest a little preventive maintenance to
protect the poor guy from getting belted around by his girlfriend. :}

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On 2004-12-05 14:27:51 -0500, "Pam" said:

It almost seems like she
gets so worked up playing with the spaniel that she gets 'over excited'.

When we see the signs that our younger dog is getting too worked up, we
tell her to "knock it off". This serves as a distraction and interrupts
her behavior. She stops for about a second & then plays more gently.
I'm not sure the dog would associate what a "time out" means. That
wouldn't work for Bella, where "knock it off" works like a charm. Your
results may vary. The tone of voice for "knock it off" has worked with
every dog we've ever had who need a behavioral interruption. If you
think about it, that second or two is a time out.

I'd also suggest that when dogs squeal during play, as ours sometimes
do, they also tend to tone it down a bit all by themselves. They aren't
allowed to rough-house inside and when they're outside, they're capable
of running away from the offender. Our dogs have always enjoyed playing
rough. They have never hurt each other during play although we've heard
a lot of interesting noises from them. I very rarely say anything to
them and it's usually only when they're getting on my nerves . I have
never seen them draw blood in play and I have never been afraid they
would. I know that some of the body checks have been painful to older
dogs who snapped and growled and told the offender (in dog) to knock it
off.

Leah wrote:

Normally a well-socialized rough player will learn to be gentle with smaller
and more delicate dogs. And it sounds like she has learned this, under most
circumstances.

There is a young Husky mix at the dog park who is like that. Some days,
she's just so wound up that she ends up being too rough on her
playmates. We've just taught her to redirect her energies towards Khan.
He can match her in her rough play, communicate effectively to her
when she has stepped over the line, and wear her out so her other social
interactions are more polite. Seems to be working, and she's much
getting more responsive to her playmates' cues.

Major bonus is that playing with the puppies is keeping Khan young.

Suja