Hi everyone. I am new here. I have been reading posts and replies on here for a while and they are super helpful! My 9 week old female lab is such an angel. Sleeps alot, doesnt chew (yet) eats well and doesnt get over excited. My mum has an 11 week old female pug and we would love them to be friends. Over the past few days we have been letting them play for 10 mins per day. My lab however is so rough with the little pug, she chases her, bites (doesnt make pug cry) jumps on top of her, growls, barks. My lab is wagging her tail she doesnt seem aggressive and my mums pug seems to want to continue the play, I have tried distraction, with treats and toys, I have tried picking my lab up to calm down, all this seems to do is make her more hyped up. It's so odd to me as Bonnie my lab is so calm but when she is with Millie the pug she goes crazy. I dont want her to continue with this rough play as the size and strength difference is massive. I am thinking training classes may help. But then I'm nervous I will attend one and my bonnie will be just barking and growling at the other pups. Any advise would be great xxx
Why do you feel like her play is too rough? If the other dog is having fun and no one is getting injured then it sounds like healthy puppy play. If the other dog is trying to disengage then the best thing you can do is help that happen by separating them when the pug indicates she does not want to engage anymore. That will help your puppy learn naturally what is too rough with each dog she plays with... "If I'm too rough they won't want to play with me, so if I want to play I have to not cross that line." Dogs provide this feedback for each other naturally if given the chance. Going to puppy classes is a great idea, but be prepared that your pup will most likely play rough and that's ok. If she's given the chance she'll learn to tailor her play to her playmates so that everyone is having fun. Dogs who aren't allowed these learning opportunities early will tend to struggle to read signals from other dogs long-term. The instructors will help you learn to watch for real indicators that the dogs need a break or redirection while not getting alarmed at what is actually happy canine play. Puppies play with their whole bodies, teeth included. They make noises, bear their teeth, roll each other around, smack with paws, pin each other, and bite. It tends to look unpleasant and overwhelming to us, but that doesn't mean it's bad for them. Having that appropriate physical outlet can actually make a puppy less likely to be bity and chewy with humans and our things.
Puppies are horrible This is what puppies do. You should see a litter of 8 week old Labradors terrorising each other! I would be concerned with the size difference though as the smaller pup could get hurt.
That's amazing advise thanks so much I will break it up when it gets too much!! You have really helped x
