Rough Housing with other dog?
 

Well, so far so good with our new pup. He is just over 9 weeks and doing well.

My question is this...

We have a 5 year old male Boston Terrier that is starting to warm up to the pup. They get to going at each other in a playful manner. The Boston definitely dictates when it is time to play and when he doesn't feel like it. If the pup comes up to initiate play with a little bite, the Boston will snap at him let him know now is not the time. The pup gets it and usually lays down and stares at him or goes and finds another toy to play with.

When the Boston wants to play, they go round and round biting playfully. They also like to play tug of war with a rope toy they have. There is a point though when the pup will start growling a little, getting more competitive with the tug and wrestling.

Is this ok or should I draw a line when I think it is getting too rough? It won't be long and the pup will be much more powerful than the Boston (even though the Boston thinks he is 100 lbs and bullet proof:D).

The pup has working line blood but is strictly a companion/family dog. I don't want these rough play/biting/tugging sessions to turn him into an aggressive dog.

I have noticed that since they started their sessions that he does not target me or the wife/kids with bites as much as he did when we first brought him home.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is our first GSD and I want to take all of the right steps to make him a good citizen and socially accepted dog.

I would like to get some advice on this also. My 7 week GS puppy likes to rough house with my smaller older dogs. The GS is pinning them down and biting at the neck. Is it play or should I stop this now.

I would intervene when it gets to be too much. My females were good with my male puppy and he wasn't a big brat, so didn't need much corrections from them.
Always supervise interactions.
I wouldn't let the pup pin the smaller breeds, that is not fair, especially with those pin needle puppy teeth. He was use to playing with littermates(GSD play is always rough) but the smaller breed dogs surely won't be as enthusiastic.

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Correction!
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When observing my 4 dogs in the past, the leader dog would tolerate a certain level of rough housing among his subordinates. If it got too wild he would "step in" (literally). That's all he needed to do as he was such a great Alpha dog in the true sense of the word. He saved me tons of work with the fosters and new pups. So I practiced this principle also when he was the one rough housing too much; just stepping into the middle of the chaos was enough. Observing that dog has taught me so much bout pack dynamics. Without him now, I am the one having to do all that work.

My pug took Grim as 'her puppy' from day 1. She's a tough little thing, and can dish it out as well as take it. Grim is now MUCH bigger than she is, but if he's being too rough, she lets him know. She's the one who initiates play 99% of the time, though. She's only about a year older, so she was still a pup when I brought him home. Some small dogs need a human to step in, others can work it all out themselves. It depends on the dogs involved. I don't think rough housing within a pack means your dog will become aggressive.

Rough Housing with other dog?
 

My two puppies are 10 months and 5 months. Sometimes when they play is gets rough, they sound worse than it us. Actually they don't bite each other hard. Lots of running and jumping all over...if I feel it's getting to rough I stop them for a minute, usually they tier out and stop in their own.



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I just wanted to update on this. Since posting and leaving the dogs alone to play. Dexter has gotten much better with his bite inhibition on the smaller dogs. He growls alot and shows alot of teeth but his bite is very careful now. Thank goodness because now at 13 weeks he can fit my older dogs' heads in his mouth.