# My puppy plays too rough with tiny puppies.



## becksterorange (Nov 13, 2010)

My puppy's most frequent playmate is a year old pit mix. The pit mix is a very sweet dog, but he plays rough and my puppy has learned to play rough. My puppy is a 7 month old border collie/lab mix. A week ago another friend got a 9 week old wirehaired pointing griffon. My puppy did not know how to be gentle with her. Is this a problem? More importantly, is there a way to get him to play more gently?


----------



## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Socialization and Bite Inhibition. Expose your dog to as many different dogs as possible, as well as different people, and teach your dog Bite Inhibition, see the New Dog Owner Sticky - The Bite Stops Here.

Labs, Pits, and Rotts are very tough dogs that are not very pain sensitive, so they can learn to play too roughly and hurt other dogs. Not mean, just rough. And, it looks like your dog learned the same thing.

In this case, you either need to supervise very closely or keep yours away. My suggestion is that most 7 month dogs are too rough for a 9 week old pup. After you socialize your dog with lots of other dogs, big and small, he will learn to be more gentle and you can come back.

Interestingly, Labs and Pits are very easy to socialize so that they are gentle with smaller dogs, but you have to actively socialize with many types of dogs.

I don't know how easy it is to socialize a border collie/Lab, but I would expect it to be even easier, so find some other friends to play with, and soon he'll be a gentle soul.

Added Thought: Labs nip. How did you teach him not to nip you. If you used the yelp method, then you might use the same method when playing with the young pup. Assume that the young pup doesn't know enough to yelp, so you need to yelp for her, and stop yours when things get too rough.

Also, at 7 mos, your dog may be overly interested in a little female. You'll have to stop that also, marking anything that bothers the little pup with a yelp, because it can increase his excitement, quickly.


----------



## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

Wow, border collie/lab. You've got your hands full! Hang in there. I bet it'll be a great dog once it's past it's puppy terrors. 2 of mine are a bit rough also. When they play with smaller dogs, I keep a leash on them. The owners of the little dog say 'oh let them play, he wont hurt them'. Well, no. I'm not going to take a chance. I've seen dogs get seriously hurt from rough play and I'd be devestated if one of my 'beasts' caused an injury! I dont know of any way to get them to be gentler, but my 3 yr old is getting better now that he's maturing.


----------



## becksterorange (Nov 13, 2010)

He has never nipped at me. I had no idea the labs were nippers. It is not that he bit her or anything, he just bowls her over. I have taken him to the dag park. All though he was afraid at first, he now does great. I don't know anyone with a small dog. I will try the yelp method with the pointer. If it doesn't work, I guess I will just have to keep him away and hope that he mellows with age. He is not trying to be mean or aggressive, he just doesn't know that he is hurting the pup.


----------

