I've had my dogs together for 5 months now and they do the exact same thing. You can tell they are obviously playing but when it gets too rough momma breaks it up! I give a firm *Hey* and they simmer down.
New Puppy Help
Hey guys! Just looking to see if anyone has some suggestions or if they could tell me if this behavior is normal. Thanks. We have a male 1 1/2 year old GS and we currently just got a female GS about 16 weeks old. They are adjusting to each other pretty well, you can tell our little man is a little mad shes around, but we dont show favoritism. However Allie, the pup, has alot more energy then Batista, our older dog. They run around like crazy and do the playing thing however lately it seems like Allie is just getting a little carried away, she attacks his legs and ears she even gave him a big scratch/gash in his foreheard today either with a tooth or claw. Other times he gets carried away and clamps his mouth around her neck. Its all pretty new as we've only had her about 3 weeks or so and our little guy was never as hyper as she is...do you guys think we should just hang in there and they will both just calm down and adjust completley eventually? Does anyone have a estimated time frame of how long it may take. Also, when my daughter or I are watching the dogs, they are really good. We stress calmness in the house and are very big on disciplining. We even take them out seperatly most of the time because they tend to get carried away. However if we go out and my husband watches them its like all **** has broke loose lol. They are his babies and he lets them get away with everything, and Im pretty sure theres probably no discipline at all when we are not around. I think we should all be on the same page as far as discipline, dont you? It might calm things down sooner. If anyone with more then 1 dog could help me with some suggestions or just tell me their stories it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone!
Nicole
Nicole
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Yeah I'd like to not jump right into giving her a new home elsewhere, but I was really upset when I saw the scratch on my little mans head. It wasnt really her fault, it was lack of being supervised. Maybe I'll give the husband away instead of the dog, hehe
Some puppies will play non-stop, so that is normal. Older dogs will give pups a lot of latitude and let them rough house without correcting them. So if your older dog is enjoying the rough housing, I woudn't worry about it. If it gets annoying for you, don't hesitate to separate them for your own sanity and to help them calm down. If your older dog looks like he is annoyed and tired of the pup, don't let the pup harass him - though at 1 1/2 year old he is still such a pup, he probably loves having a playmate.
GSDs do play rough, scratches and nicks are common - if the pup is getting really crazy, I would step in and break it up and calm her down. You can teach her proper play by discouraging really crazy play. Though a certain amount of wild crazyness is normal - a lot of people would thing that my two are fighting when they play, there is so much growling and snarling and throat grabbing going on, but it is only noisy play.
I would continue to take them out seperately, they still need a lot of one-on-one time with people to bond to people. Especially with the pup - letting her play with your boy all the time can get her to bond to him more than to you, which will make future training very hard. I know you don't want to play favorites, and your boy was there first, but the puppy will need more opportunities to burn off energy and to spend fun time with people so she can bond to people over other dogs. It isn't favoritism, it is meeting the pup's needs and setting her up for future success and harmonious integration into your family. So for the first year at least, I would put in the extra time and extra work to get her socialized and trained - a lot of it apart from your older dog - before considering them more 'equal' time-wise. Instead of thinking of it as favoritism, you can think of it as temporary measures until she is more mature.
For now, I would limit their time together in the house also - use crate rotation, and baby-gates to give each dog their own space and time with the humans in the house.
GSDs do play rough, scratches and nicks are common - if the pup is getting really crazy, I would step in and break it up and calm her down. You can teach her proper play by discouraging really crazy play. Though a certain amount of wild crazyness is normal - a lot of people would thing that my two are fighting when they play, there is so much growling and snarling and throat grabbing going on, but it is only noisy play.
I would continue to take them out seperately, they still need a lot of one-on-one time with people to bond to people. Especially with the pup - letting her play with your boy all the time can get her to bond to him more than to you, which will make future training very hard. I know you don't want to play favorites, and your boy was there first, but the puppy will need more opportunities to burn off energy and to spend fun time with people so she can bond to people over other dogs. It isn't favoritism, it is meeting the pup's needs and setting her up for future success and harmonious integration into your family. So for the first year at least, I would put in the extra time and extra work to get her socialized and trained - a lot of it apart from your older dog - before considering them more 'equal' time-wise. Instead of thinking of it as favoritism, you can think of it as temporary measures until she is more mature.
For now, I would limit their time together in the house also - use crate rotation, and baby-gates to give each dog their own space and time with the humans in the house.
Thank you very much Lucia =)
I do the same thing. Some play is normal and I want it. But if it's getting out of hand, they need to stop. Usually a 'hey' works for me too, or I get up the stand between, or I'll just take the puppy away from the situation and crate for a bit.I've had my dogs together for 5 months now and they do the exact same thing. You can tell they are obviously playing but when it gets too rough momma breaks it up! I give a firm *Hey* and they simmer down.
That said, if I'm spending alot of the day doing this, it means I'm NOT exercising the dogs enough. So I have to up the amount of time and distance that I exercise. Hiking is best, OFF leash for an hour or so.
On leash exercise is pretty much useless to wear out my dogs unless I'm also in a very crowded area so it's a socialization and mental stimulation to help wear them out.
I could not have said it better myself!Some puppies will play non-stop, so that is normal. Older dogs will give pups a lot of latitude and let them rough house without correcting them. So if your older dog is enjoying the rough housing, I woudn't worry about it. If it gets annoying for you, don't hesitate to separate them for your own sanity and to help them calm down. If your older dog looks like he is annoyed and tired of the pup, don't let the pup harass him - though at 1 1/2 year old he is still such a pup, he probably loves having a playmate.
GSDs do play rough, scratches and nicks are common - if the pup is getting really crazy, I would step in and break it up and calm her down. You can teach her proper play by discouraging really crazy play. Though a certain amount of wild crazyness is normal - a lot of people would thing that my two are fighting when they play, there is so much growling and snarling and throat grabbing going on, but it is only noisy play.
I would continue to take them out seperately, they still need a lot of one-on-one time with people to bond to people. Especially with the pup - letting her play with your boy all the time can get her to bond to him more than to you, which will make future training very hard. I know you don't want to play favorites, and your boy was there first, but the puppy will need more opportunities to burn off energy and to spend fun time with people so she can bond to people over other dogs. It isn't favoritism, it is meeting the pup's needs and setting her up for future success and harmonious integration into your family. So for the first year at least, I would put in the extra time and extra work to get her socialized and trained - a lot of it apart from your older dog - before considering them more 'equal' time-wise. Instead of thinking of it as favoritism, you can think of it as temporary measures until she is more mature.
For now, I would limit their time together in the house also - use crate rotation, and baby-gates to give each dog their own space and time with the humans in the house.
My two sometimes look like they are going to kill each other (to the untrained observer) but it is all fun. My male is 11 months and my female 7 years so it is a bit different for me. You do need to get hubby on the same page with the rules or you may have some issues. Otherwise just let them know how much rough housing you will allow and keep up with the training. You will be fine, enjoy them it is fun watch 2 dogs interact.
sounds like the dogs are getting along just fine.
if things become to much for the older dog
seperate for a while so the older dog can have a break.
with training and socializing everyone should be on the same page.
when we were training our pup we made sure we did things the same way.
our neighbor helped and helps with our dog alot. all of us make
sure we do things the same way. those cute GSD faces are to
discipline. my GF thought everything our pup did was a Kodac moment.
"babe, look the pup is peeing on the floor"; "honey, the puppers tipped
both water bowls"; " babe, hurry up and come here and look at the dog
pulling the towels off the line"; :crazy:.
your dogs are doing well together. the pup will calm down.
the older dog will let the pup know when it's to much.
enjoy the pup. good luck with training and socializing.
if things become to much for the older dog
seperate for a while so the older dog can have a break.
with training and socializing everyone should be on the same page.
when we were training our pup we made sure we did things the same way.
our neighbor helped and helps with our dog alot. all of us make
sure we do things the same way. those cute GSD faces are to
discipline. my GF thought everything our pup did was a Kodac moment.
"babe, look the pup is peeing on the floor"; "honey, the puppers tipped
both water bowls"; " babe, hurry up and come here and look at the dog
pulling the towels off the line"; :crazy:.
your dogs are doing well together. the pup will calm down.
the older dog will let the pup know when it's to much.
enjoy the pup. good luck with training and socializing.
2
I have no idea what you are talking about.
When fosters attack...It is very normal for dogs to play like dogs, and herding dogs can be kind of rough on each other. If I am picking up on signs that someone is not liking the play, it stops. If they are having fun and I am comfortable with it, it can continue.
I yell out enough - you have to teach what it means though - not enough to yell something and have them keep going! So usually if they don't stop, we go in.
Is it a scratch or a gash - a gash I would want him seen by a vet.
I say let them play, assuming there is supervision. My last dog played with my son's dog and they looked and sounded like they were killing each other but there was never a scratch. My son's dog was dominant but mine was a little bigger so that when son's dog got carried away my dog would put him in his place. Still with no injuries.
Have to admit with the growling and teeth baring it was something to behold but neither ever bit down.
Have to admit with the growling and teeth baring it was something to behold but neither ever bit down.
yea my hubby said last nite while i was at work that my two started in on a scene from the lion king where the two are fighting and reared back on the haunches and what not, he had to put a stop to it...my two can get pretty rough but we just tell then to settle.
To address the other part of your first post, you do need to get your husband in line too. Having two sets of rules in the house is a problem. You can't expect the dogs to know that one behavior is okay when Mom's out of the house, but not okay when she's home. It's confusing, and might even make your rules harder to enforce, because some of the time they can get away with it, and sometimes not. If you can try to explain to your husband that he is undermining your authority and making it twice as difficult to teach your dogs proper house manners, maybe he will understand why letting the dogs break the rules is a bad idea.
Good luck!
Good luck!
I agree, it's important to have everyone on the same page, and for everything. What kind of manners and rules will you have? What kind of play is okay and at what point do you stop it? What commands you're going to use, so everyone is consistently using the same words for the same things, all of that stuff should be discussed and agreed upon so that the dogs don't get confused.To address the other part of your first post, you do need to get your husband in line too. Having two sets of rules in the house is a problem. You can't expect the dogs to know that one behavior is okay when Mom's out of the house, but not okay when she's home. It's confusing, and might even make your rules harder to enforce, because some of the time they can get away with it, and sometimes not. If you can try to explain to your husband that he is undermining your authority and making it twice as difficult to teach your dogs proper house manners, maybe he will understand why letting the dogs break the rules is a bad idea.
Thank you everybody so much!
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