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Need some advice

wolfspirit

Active Member
Hi bailey my mastiff cross is 7 months and my other dog buddy is a golden/lab cross. Well when we are in the house and they are playing i find that bailey gets really excited and she starts bitting buddys legs and face all the time. I have tried a water bottle when she gets out of hand, but that only worked for so long. Now it doesnt bother her. I cant figure out how to stop her from playing so rough. They get along really well, but she just gets out of hand when they play and i have to keep stopping her from doing it. Any advice here would really be appreciated.........thanks in advance.........
 

lynnturner65

Well-Known Member
I have an EM and when my dog was about 1 yr old, my daughter got a mutt puppy that started out really small, now he is about 55 pounds, but the whole time he was growing up, the 2 dogs played together very rough, the puppy would hang off of her face and my dog would put her huge paws on top of the puppy. At first we tried to "make" them play more gentle with each other, but we soon realized that they each took turns being the aggressor and as long as no one got completely out of hand we just let them go at it. Now my dog is 155 pounds and the other is 55 pounds, they each take turns tackling and pulling on the other and neither seems unhappy about their play time. Eventually they tire themselves out and lay down but their play is super rough. They do not play that way with other dogs, they just seem to trust that neither one will go too far.
 

wolfspirit

Active Member
so there shouldnt be anything to worry about then?..........she grabs hold of his face and he will whimper but then he pins her to the ground and lays on her, till she gets out and then it starts again........funny sometimes, but i just got a little worried, cause i know she will be bigger then him, eventually he is only 75lbs at 3 years old, she is 45lbs at 7 months..........
 

motolyn

Well-Known Member
I have that issue right now with an EM puppy (11 weeks) and a Weimaraner (2 years old). Brutus the EM will bite the Weim's ears and bite and hang off Maus' jowls as well. It leaves Maus the weim with scabs and bloody spots. But Maus will let him do that, and when she's had enough she gets up and paws him and walks away. Sometimes if they play to rought in the house I yell out "HEY" and they will stop for a few minutes and start again at which I will walk towards them and my weim knows when I walk towards her after telling her to stop that they are in trouble. At this point I figure I let outside to play and run off their energy. If it does get out hand I'll stop them.
 

Dakota Kid

Well-Known Member
I would say let them have at it and they will regulate it themselves. When they are hurt, they will let the other one know. My EM plays rough only with one other dog (a great dane) and they will YIIP when it hurts. They would pause for two seconds, then start back in. It is non stop ankle biting, throat grabbing, teeth clashing fun. If they growl or snarl, then we clap really loudly and they stop. it snaps them out of what they are doing. But they only growl when there is a high value bone or if one doesn't want to play. Like what LynnTurner was saying, watch them to see if they take turns being the "aggressor".
 

wolfspirit

Active Member
LOL actually they do take turns........my golden is so layed back and such a big suck, that when i got bailey and they started playing like that and i seen how he could be the aggressor i was a little shocked cause i have never seen him play like that.........but i guess its ok then. Thanks for everyone's input i feel better now knowing it is just play for them.........(first time i have had two dogs at the same time) and i dont really have anything to worry about........:)
 

Smokeycat

Well-Known Member
I've noticed with my two that if they become over stimulated by something they tend to play rougher than normal and they normally play rough. Jiggers (70lbs) is always the problem. There is no way that he can physically make Kryten (160lbs) do anything by using his body so he started to use his teeth to move Kryten. I was tired of their being wounds on Kryten's face, head and ears so I started to end play time whenever I noticed Jiggers grab on. He learnt fairly quickly that biting his brother was bad if he wanted to keep playing so he started to sit on him instead.
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Smart_Family

Dog Food Guru
Our old shepherd always plays rough. It's always nipping at the legs and face for her. But our dogs are used to playing that rough and take it all in stride.
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
Our only rule is if you want to play - take it outside!

We do supervise, but as long as play is "balanced" and everyone gets a chance to be "top dog" - it's all good. When you watch them, you can start to see when the energy escalates into something else - if one or both start getting frantic or anxious, then you should step in. But if they take turns and stop to catch their breath every once and a while, I'd let them go at it and wear themselves out! OH, and take some video! :)
 

wolfspirit

Active Member
lol dennasmom i will take a video and upload it. As soon as they start again, they were playing again and poor bailey hit her nose off the wall. Now she has a bump on the top of her nose. She seems ok, still spunky and doesnt seem to have a problem breathing, so i put a cool cloth on her nose hoping the bump will go away..........but i will post one soon
 

tahleast

Member
I have 4 dogs. A 12 year old Border Collie Cross, a 5 year old Chihuahua, a 19 month old Rotti/lab cross and now a 4.5 month old Neapolitan mastiff/English mastiff cross. The mastiff and the rotti/lab play very rough. Before she came home the Chihuahua and Rotti/lab did the same thing....they try to do a 3 way rough house, but it doesn't work and I worry that the Chihuahua will be trampled. I realized a long time ago that I can't stop it. It's play. they don't do it with any other dogs, but rather keep it in the pack. When a mean growl is heard, which is rare, the game is over.
 

wolfspirit

Active Member
[video]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152760122085711&set=vb.854795710&typ e=2&theater[/video]

here is a video of them somewhat playing...........lol...........their eyes freaked me out a bit.........lol
 

STEVSH

Well-Known Member
My two are constantly playing rough. I have a catahoula mix (9yrs - Blue) and a EM/Weimaraner (2yrs - Topaz) and they will go and go until Blue has had enough or her arthritis acts up. She will then give out a few hard core barks at Topaz and that will be that. Topaz knows to stop. We have had trouble with them fighting before (over bones and attention while at our friends' house), but amazingly they play very well together. And 9 times out of 10, Blue (our older dog) is the one who initiates it.

So we let them have at it. It gets some energy out of them and they both really seem to enjoy it. I just make sure my six year old is up on the couch with me when they go at it. Blue has been known to chase after Topaz like a banshee sometimes and they don't pay attention to where they are going. And yes, Topaz has scars all over her. The vet is always like "What are you doing to this dog?". LOL