Rough Play

[woodbyne]

My two dogs play very rough together both as bad as one another. Does anyone have any solutions for this they are locked in individual runs when we are at work as we only have farm fencing not that they have ever tried jumping it but rather play it safe.

They don't hurt each other and its definately play if one walks away the other wants more and that role is continually swapping. If i call them they stop immediately but will go back again and do it until they are both buggered. Is it a problem? I would really like to get a smaller breed to show sometime next year and am worried they will rough house a pup. I would be able to keep the pup seperate i want it to be more an inside dog whic leads to my next post

[persephone]

What training/excercise do they get each day?

Rough play is probably just a way to get rid of the frustration of being alone all day ...and a way to shake the cobwebs off

[woodbyne]

They have an acre house paddock to run free in and each moring they are taken for a 30 min walk we lie on 80 acres so they run off lead then when we go to work they arein their runs out of harms way then out as soon as we get home they play in the morning while we are eating breakkie ang getting ready for work and also in the night till they get tea at about 9:30pm. The attended obedience on saturday and wed nights and agility on friday nights so i don't think they are under stimulated?? On weekends they are out of their runs all the time but i am wary of snakes this time of the year so if i'm not close by ie out in the paddocks with the horses etc i will often put them back in their runs for their own safety

[raineth]

my two play really rough together and I like it. Its excellent exercise and has helped build their friendship.

But I can see you might be worried about a smaller dog or pup being mowed down by two large dogs playing roughly.

I would be inclined to either put the smaller dog/pup away at such times, or teach it to stay away. I think it would be a bit of a shame to stop your large dogs playing together.

As for them playing too roughly with the smaller dog. Well one of my dogs won't at all play with any other dog. And my other dog will play more gently with smaller dogs, she adjusts her style to the other dog. So maybe that's what your dogs would do too.

[persephone]

Sounds as if they are just happy with each other's company

[Scarlet]

I've had some pretty rough and tumble dogs over they years and I certainly wouldn't worry about their play if both dogs are happy and one is not hurting the other.

In my experience most dogs adjust their play to the level of the other one so my rough dogs have played very gently with smaller dogs, pups and cats.

Of course they need supervision, especially in the early days.

[piperspal]

I have 4 dogs that play together all the time, they range in size from 45kgs down to 3kgs, I have found it is often the little dogs that initiate the play. The big dogs tailor thier level of play to the size of the dog. The only thing I have found to be a bit of a worry is when the little dogs get accidently stood on, but that doesn't happen much and seres as a reminder for the little dogs to get out of the way and the big dogs to be careful where they put thier feet.

[W Sibs]

Emmy loves playing rough with some of her doggie friends. She is good at matching her energy and physically strength to match the other dogs to play. The big dogs she plays with, are good with her too.

She sometimes plays rough with Charlie but usually when Charlie starts it.

[tikira]

As I said in the other thread, my Jack Russell gives as much or more than he gets, and he is fast too.

I now have and even smaller dog living here, and he is very gentle, but the Border Collie and the little dog gang up on the Jack Russell and play HARD. But Tip knows that to stop the play- all he needs to do is roll on his back- that's it, game over

The Border Collie is rough with Tip, but with Rollie (the little dog) she is incredibly gentle, it nearly makes me cry to see how nicely she plays with him.

Jack Russell's are unbelievably tough, you will likely find you need to worry more about him/her rough housing the big dogs. You should see Tip take Kira down by pulling her hind leg out from under her, and then jumping on her head

Di

[Rottigirl]

agree about the JRT's...look what this one did to my rotti

Edited November 25, 2010 by Rottigirl

[halfthewords]

Are they of a similar size? And what breeds?

Most dogs will adjust their strength and volume of play when it is with smaller dogs. My two boys (a Bichon and a staffy/terrier mix) sound like they're starting world war III when they play! The growling and 'talking' sounds like it's a fight but they are just so busy rough and tumbling they don't notice much else. Or care about who hears. Having said that, Carl (terrier x) also plays with my best friend's Chihuahua and my own very delicate Min Pin girl, and he is extremely gentle. He modifies play depending who is on the other end. And that is on top of the daily 1 or 2 hours of exercise he gets.

[corvus]

I have seen my boys kamikaze each other before. I heard the clunk as they made impact and it looked like it hurt both of them. I worry that one or both are going to get seriously hurt one day, but they are dogs and they love it so I let them love it and hope they have a better sense of what their bodies can withstand than I do. At least it keeps them fit!

I was concerned my older and bigger dog would be too rough with my puppy when I got him. I was assured if anything I would have to tell the little Vallhund to take it easy and that has been the case. He plays like he's the size of a GSD and is known to fling himself bodily at the other dog and drag him to the ground in the middle of a gallop. They are both very nice with smaller dogs, although little dogs tend to find them too intimidating to play with. They have a couple of small friends that are up for it. They are most rough with dogs they know very well. It's not polite as far as they are concerned to get physical with dogs they don't know. The most obnoxious things they do to each other.