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Rough Housing Puppy



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 2nd 05, 03:19 AM
buzzsaw
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Default Rough Housing Puppy

Boy ... this guy is a handful (4 month old Shepherd / Rotti rescue).

Is it OK to roughhouse with him? He seems not to be interested in the fetch
and drop and chase type of play.

He always has one of his toys in his mouth and then he comes to me with it.
I grab it and pull it out, he wants it back and he clubs at me. We end up
wrestling around with eachother over it and what not. Is this ok to play
like this ?


  #2  
Old February 2nd 05, 03:36 AM
culprit
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"buzzsaw" wrote in message
...
Boy ... this guy is a handful (4 month old Shepherd / Rotti rescue).

Is it OK to roughhouse with him? He seems not to be interested in the
fetch
and drop and chase type of play.

He always has one of his toys in his mouth and then he comes to me with
it.
I grab it and pull it out, he wants it back and he clubs at me. We end up
wrestling around with eachother over it and what not. Is this ok to play
like this ?


here's what i've found. if you play rough at that age, it'll be really hard
to teach him not to play rough when he's bigger and stronger. even though
it's fun, it's better to teach them the limits of socially acceptable play
when they're pups.

one of my pit bulls was taught not to roughhouse as a young pup. the other
(Manu) we got at 8 months old and he already had bad play habits. now that
they're 2.5 years old, you can really tell the difference. Manu just likes
to play rough, and he easily forgets his manners if we let him. Lola always
backs down, because she knows the rules better. it's important that dogs
with breeds like ours be taught how to play well when young so they don't
get into trouble as adults.

i do know how hard it is *not* to play hard with them, believe me. :-)


-kelly


  #3  
Old February 2nd 05, 04:24 AM
Mali More
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"culprit" wrote in message
...

"buzzsaw" wrote in message
...
Boy ... this guy is a handful (4 month old Shepherd / Rotti rescue).

Is it OK to roughhouse with him? He seems not to be interested in the
fetch
and drop and chase type of play.

He always has one of his toys in his mouth and then he comes to me with
it.
I grab it and pull it out, he wants it back and he clubs at me. We end

up
wrestling around with eachother over it and what not. Is this ok to

play
like this ?


here's what i've found. if you play rough at that age, it'll be really

hard
to teach him not to play rough when he's bigger and stronger. even though
it's fun, it's better to teach them the limits of socially acceptable play
when they're pups.

one of my pit bulls was taught not to roughhouse as a young pup. the

other
(Manu) we got at 8 months old and he already had bad play habits. now

that
they're 2.5 years old, you can really tell the difference. Manu just

likes
to play rough, and he easily forgets his manners if we let him. Lola

always
backs down, because she knows the rules better. it's important that dogs
with breeds like ours be taught how to play well when young so they don't
get into trouble as adults.

i do know how hard it is *not* to play hard with them, believe me. :-)


-kelly

I've found the same is true with Boxers. I've met Boxers that play really
rough, and don't know when to stop. My boxers were taught as puppies...We
played rough, but they were never allowed to really put teeth on us. They
also knew what "enough" meant and would settle down immediately.

It's hard to make the call on it. You have to set limits...of course "yes,
you can play rough" or "no, you can't play rough" is much easier....but the
dogs enjoy rough play (and so do I, as long as it doesn't get out of
control), so I let mine play, but I also could tell them when it was
"enough."

I don't know about Rotties, but many Pit Bull people have told me that a PB
should never be allowed to play rough.

Would tug-a-war be considered rough play? I know the PBs could pull someone
off their feet pretty quick, but at least the dog could get some of its
"rough play" and not be latching onto the person's skin.

Interesting topic.

Mali


  #4  
Old February 2nd 05, 04:41 AM
culprit
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"Mali More" wrote in message
. com...

I don't know about Rotties, but many Pit Bull people have told me that a
PB
should never be allowed to play rough.


i don't think they're different than any other strong dog when it comes to
rough play with people.


Would tug-a-war be considered rough play? I know the PBs could pull
someone
off their feet pretty quick, but at least the dog could get some of its
"rough play" and not be latching onto the person's skin.


i think that's up to the owner. i don't consider tug to be rough play,
unless my dog starts shaking his head hard enough to dislocate my arm.
that's a no-no. i also play a game with my female where i try to tap her on
the side of the head with my hands, and she jumps around and makes biting
motions at my hands. some people might think this is rough, but she knows
she can't bite me, so in my book it's ok. it's pretty fun too. we play an
alternate version where i try to hit her head with socks. and no, neither
one of us gets hurt. sometimes i'll wrestle with her too. i won't play
these games with my male, because he doesn't understand the difference
between good play and over the top play. i also think he just doesn't
realize how big and strong he is. i know Lola is as strong as he is,
because i watch them play tug together. but the way she interacts with
people, you'd never guess that she's that strong. because we taught her so
young to be gentle.

in my world, acceptable play means the dog can play with a child, and
there's no way the child will get hurt. the dog should understand that the
level of roughness is up to the person, not up to the dog.

-kelly


  #6  
Old February 2nd 05, 05:46 AM
Mali More
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Default


"Leah" wrote:
Yes, this would be my suggestion. Not only does the pup get to play

physically
hard, but it also helps teach bite inhibition. If he misses the tug toy

and
gets skin or clothes, you drop the toy and the game ends.


Knew there was a technical term for it "bite inhibition"...that's it!
That's what you teach, then you can have rough play and no one gets hurt.
Everyone is happy

Mali


  #7  
Old February 2nd 05, 03:48 PM
shelly
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on 2005-02-01 at 21:19 wrote:

Boy ... this guy is a handful (4 month old Shepherd / Rotti
rescue).


of course he is! i expect he's a smart, creative,
high-octane boy who wants to be doing something at all times.

Is it OK to roughhouse with him? He seems not to be
interested in the fetch and drop and chase type of play.


some dogs never do learn to enjoy playing fetch.

He always has one of his toys in his mouth and then he comes
to me with it. I grab it and pull it out, he wants it back
and he clubs at me. We end up wrestling around with
eachother over it and what not. Is this ok to play like this
?


that depends. do you enjoy rough housing with him? how good
are you at teaching limits and setting down ground rules? if
you aren't good at it, avoiding rough play might be a good
idea. if you *are* good at it, and you enjoy that sort of
play, this can be an opportunity to teach your dog that such
play is only appropriate when *you* initiate it and that it
ends when you say so. you can do this by having special
"rough play" toys. teach your pup that when *you* get out
those toys, that means it's time to rough house. when you put
them away, crazy time is over.

the same goes for playing tug. although tug has been
criticized by many people because they feel it causes
"dominance" problems, my experience has been the opposite.
plus, i've found that it is a wonderful way for my dogs to
relieve stress. again, teaching basic rules is important.
we play tug when *i* decide it's time to play and we quit when
i decide to quit. i also occasionally stop and tell my dogs
to "give" or "out" the tug toy, just to keep the command
fresh.

--
shelly
http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette
http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ (updated dailyish, apparently)
  #8  
Old February 2nd 05, 03:56 PM
shelly
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on 2005-02-02 at 04:46 wrote:

Knew there was a technical term for it "bite
inhibition"...that's it! That's what you teach, then you can
have rough play and no one gets hurt. Everyone is happy


i actually play bitey games with one of my dogs (elliott is
nearly phobic about touching his teeth to human skin, so i
don't play it with him). harriet and i play a silly wrestling
game where she makes snarly sea cucumber faces (something only
a Boxer can do!) and i play "bitey hands" (like bitey face,
only with hands) with her. it's *lots* of fun and IMO it
helps teach and reinforce her bite inhibition. and, as
always, that those sorts of games are only played when *i* say
so.

--
shelly
http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette
http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ (updated dailyish, apparently)
  #9  
Old February 2nd 05, 04:37 PM
ceb
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shelly wrote in
arble.net:

i actually play bitey games with one of my dogs


Me too. I allow some gentle mouthing during play, and I yelp and stop
playing if it's too much, which it usually isn't.

I like to refer to Zoe as "Cotton Mouther" -- get it???

--Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow, "I mouth therefore I am"
& Queenie the goldenshep, "wanta play? wanta play? wanta play???? well, do
ya??????"
  #10  
Old February 2nd 05, 05:14 PM
shelly
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on 2005-02-02 at 15:37 wrote:

Me too. I allow some gentle mouthing during play, and I yelp
and stop playing if it's too much, which it usually isn't.


exactly. harriet's very good with her mouth control. i don't
know whether that's because i play bitey games with her or
because she's just naturally gentle. judging by how rough she
is when playing with elliott, though, i expect she's just
learned to mind her teeth with humans.

I like to refer to Zoe as "Cotton Mouther" -- get it???


ha! and, in harriet's case, it's true. her mouth is
unbelievably dry.

--
shelly
http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette
http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ (updated dailyish, apparently)
 




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