My Sadie June is a beautiful and very playful chocolate lab. When she was younger my Maltese could somewhat defend himself but now that Sadie is getting larger I believe she is getting a little two rough for the Maltese. She will sorta nibble on his back and legs and I am comfortable with that. What makes me nervous is when the Maltese lays on his back to play. When he does this Sadie uses her weight to pin him down and nibbles at his throat area and pulls on him. I am afraid the roughness is going to hurt the Maltese some day. I know she is playing but it does get a little rough sometimes. When they start getting rough I separate them for a cool down period but feel like a heel when both of them are on each side of the gate whimpering. Any suggestions on how to help with the roughness would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome to the forum I’d let your Maltese be the judge. What is his body language telling you? Is he happy and coming back for more? Is his mouth open and sort of laughing looking, with bright eyes? Are they taking turns in doing the biting? Are they play bowing? Do the dogs voluntarily have breaks in play (a good thing) or does it keep escalating and escalating?
