is it more....

Background for those that don't remember:

Bagel was 8-10 and we lost him in September. He was a newf mix. he
was neutered but I don't know when. I got him around age 2

he and Hannah quietly ignored each other but she did hump him every
time he came down the steps (even though he was bigger than her and
almost double her weight) he just stood there and took it. it lasted
abbot 10 seconds every time he came down the steps. it was the only
time she humped him. it was the only time she humped anything. it
was weird. (at least to me)

Hannah at age 6.5 is a Baltimore Pitador (lab pit mix) and except for
being excitable she's a pretty good dog. housebroken, basic commands,
never snarky to humans... pulls a bit on the leash but that's my
fault. she also is a cuddle bug and very attached to all her humans.
she was very upset when Bagel left us. she cried, she stopped eating,
she velcroed herself to my husband which was odd as she was my Velcro
dog before that...

enter HARLEY.

now about 11 months old....he's a rescue having lived in an outdoor
pen with his brother (and litter mate) for his whole life before us.
we've had him nearly 2 weeks. he's shy and skittish but doing very
very very well with all aspects of being a house dog.

now that we are getting into a routine and I'm encouraging interaction
with them, I wonder how much of this clashing (in the backyard) is
play and how much I should stop

Hannah tends to get out from under Harley trying to hump her but if
she can't escape I pull him off and tell him no (and he takes that
very well)

they clash and run together... he bites her ears and rolls her and
mouths her shoulder
he pins her under a play bow
she escapes and goes after him mostly at his face, his mouth and his
ears
she rears up and whacks him with her front paws
he rears up and they look like two bucks crashing into each other.
they chase each other in the yard and he rolls her,
she tries to roll him
they stop
they drink out of the same bowl (sometimes at the same time)
then they go again.

Hannah tends to roll belly up legs wide and let Harley sniff and lick
her... she sometimes has her entire hackle up past the base of her
tail (makes her tail crooked) sometimes just past her shoulders

they did this for 45 minutes this morning.
we occasionally have some barks
we do not have crying
we do not have blood
we do not have either one shrinking from the other

I personally don't see a problem with their interaction but if I"m
missing something I should be stopping I'd be ever so grateful if you
would point it out to me.

Best Wishes,

Nessa
----
Dog Mom to:
Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks
Harley age 10 months Landseer Newfoundland
(Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5

"Nessa" wrote in message:

I personally don't see a problem with their interaction but if I"m
missing something I should be stopping I'd be ever so grateful if you
would point it out to me.

Sounds like play to me. That's the kind Khan likes to engage in. I only
step in if there is any yelping (and the other dog doesn't back off), or one
of the dogs' body language suggests that they're either scared or getting
overly aggressive.

Suja

"Nessa" wrote in message:

I personally don't see a problem with their interaction but if I"m
missing something I should be stopping I'd be ever so grateful if you
would point it out to me.

Can you stop it? I want our dogs to play together and I want them to
listen to me, too.

It's sort of like recall in that stop it shouldn't always be the end of
fun, but play can escalate or be inappropriate at times, so you need a
stop.

"Nessa" wrote in message
...
is it more....

Background for those that don't remember:

Bagel was 8-10 and we lost him in September. He was a newf mix. he
was neutered but I don't know when. I got him around age 2

he and Hannah quietly ignored each other but she did hump him every
time he came down the steps (even though he was bigger than her and
almost double her weight) he just stood there and took it. it lasted
abbot 10 seconds every time he came down the steps. it was the only
time she humped him. it was the only time she humped anything. it
was weird. (at least to me)

Hannah at age 6.5 is a Baltimore Pitador (lab pit mix) and except for
being excitable she's a pretty good dog. housebroken, basic commands,
never snarky to humans... pulls a bit on the leash but that's my
fault. she also is a cuddle bug and very attached to all her humans.
she was very upset when Bagel left us. she cried, she stopped eating,
she velcroed herself to my husband which was odd as she was my Velcro
dog before that...

enter HARLEY.

now about 11 months old....he's a rescue having lived in an outdoor
pen with his brother (and litter mate) for his whole life before us.
we've had him nearly 2 weeks. he's shy and skittish but doing very
very very well with all aspects of being a house dog.

now that we are getting into a routine and I'm encouraging interaction
with them, I wonder how much of this clashing (in the backyard) is
play and how much I should stop

Hannah tends to get out from under Harley trying to hump her but if
she can't escape I pull him off and tell him no (and he takes that
very well)

they clash and run together... he bites her ears and rolls her and
mouths her shoulder
he pins her under a play bow
she escapes and goes after him mostly at his face, his mouth and his
ears
she rears up and whacks him with her front paws
he rears up and they look like two bucks crashing into each other.
they chase each other in the yard and he rolls her,
she tries to roll him
they stop
they drink out of the same bowl (sometimes at the same time)
then they go again.

Hannah tends to roll belly up legs wide and let Harley sniff and lick
her... she sometimes has her entire hackle up past the base of her
tail (makes her tail crooked) sometimes just past her shoulders

they did this for 45 minutes this morning.
we occasionally have some barks
we do not have crying
we do not have blood
we do not have either one shrinking from the other

I personally don't see a problem with their interaction but if I"m
missing something I should be stopping I'd be ever so grateful if you
would point it out to me.

Best Wishes,

Nessa
----
Dog Mom to:
Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks
Harley age 10 months Landseer Newfoundland
(Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5

We're a multiple dog house (three) and a kitten.

Depending on the dog, it's either Sugar and Bodie or Bodie and Truman that
"go at each other". They snarl, bark, play tug of war, get up on their back
legs and box. They also do the run to water dish, drink together and make
peace.

On occasion when we have had parties and I've let the dogs out to meet the
guests, for some reason that triggers a fight and I've had to break it up.

Right now I'm trying to teach Bodie that when he plays with Cosmo the cat he
can't pull him across the floor by his head. Cosmo fires him up though if
it gets too rough then goes and hides.

I think as along as it does escalate - and you know your dogs better than
anyone - you are probably okay.

Hth

Kind regards,
(the)duckster

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:28:11 -0400, montana wildhack
wrote:

"Nessa" wrote in message:

I personally don't see a problem with their interaction but if I"m
missing something I should be stopping I'd be ever so grateful if you
would point it out to me.

Can you stop it? I want our dogs to play together and I want them to
listen to me, too.

oh yes. I can stop it either verbally (dogs stop) and they stop (they
start back up again if I don't physically stop them) or I can
physically stop them and sit them. and have them 'calm down"

ok... guess I'm just being a worried dog mommy again.
Best Wishes,

Nessa
----
Dog Mom to:
Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks
Harley age 10 months Landseer Newfoundland
(Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:28:11 -0400, montana wildhack wrote:

"Nessa" wrote in message:

I personally don't see a problem with their interaction but if I"m
missing something I should be stopping I'd be ever so grateful if you
would point it out to me.

Can you stop it? I want our dogs to play together and I want them to
listen to me, too.

It's sort of like recall in that stop it shouldn't always be the end of
fun, but play can escalate or be inappropriate at times, so you need a
stop.

Jezebel and Yoda used to play about like that. I could stop Yoda with a
command, but since we had Jezebel for such a short time she would just
charge right back at him which would make the chaos continue. I always
worried about their size difference, but she was always instigating it
and Yoda always made sure that if she yelped he would back off and
wouldn't get that rough again during that session.

Nick

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:49:23 -0500, elegy
wrote:

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:05:15 -0400, Nessa
wrote:

I personally don't see a problem with their interaction but if I"m
missing something I should be stopping I'd be ever so grateful if you
would point it out to me.

sounds like life in my house. heh.

i figure, with my two, as long as bodies and expressions are not hard
and stiff, as long as play goes back and forth, and as long as they do
stay responsive to me, it's all good. i monitor them closely to make
sure they don't tip over the top into real fighting, but they're
pretty good about breaking things off themselves and going to sniff or
having a good sneeze together when things start to get too intense.


what a relief to know I have normal dogs.

Bagel was never one to play.... this is so nice.

thanks everyone for letting me know they are ok!
Best Wishes,

Nessa
----
Dog Mom to:
Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks
Harley age 10 months Landseer Newfoundland
(Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5

On 2008-10-27 18:34:25 -0400, Nessa said:

thanks everyone for letting me know they are ok!

Probably just soggy.

Ours seem to enjoy quiet games of "how far can I stick my snout down
your throat". It's more of an indoor game.

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:45:06 -0400, montana wildhack
wrote:


Ours seem to enjoy quiet games of "how far can I stick my snout down
your throat". It's more of an indoor game.


ROFL!

I spewed coffee all over my laptop! thanks!
Best Wishes,

Nessa
----
Dog Mom to:
Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks
Harley age 10 months Landseer Newfoundland
(Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5

Nessa said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Bagel was never one to play.... this is so nice.

Friday plays with two dogs;/ though he sees them rarely, he's
ready to dive back into funtime.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.