# 7 month old lab/rott mix doesn't know when to stop playing with younger pup



## derekc06 (Jun 30, 2011)

Hi,

My wife and I recently adopted a 3 month old male german shepherd(/terrier?) mix, named Bruin. Our roommate had previously adopted a male lab/rott mix, named Luke, back in January who is now 7 months old. As far as their playing goes, Luke is absolutely fantastic when it comes to being gentle with Bruin. The only problem I'm seeing is that he doesn't know when to stop. Occasionally, Bruin will simply want to sit down with his own toy and chew on it for a bit, but Luke is incessant about grabbing whatever Bruin has taken to play with, trying to get Bruin to play with him instead (it never seems dominant or anything, just a way to get Bruin's attention). Other times, they will have been playing for awhile and Bruin will get tired/bored with it and will start to inspect other things such as the house or the aforementioned toys, but Luke simply will not leave him alone. Bruin will run away from him but Luke will continue to pester him to the point where, on a couple occasions, Bruin has angrily started trying to walk away from him turning to growl and bark and tell him to stop. None of this deters Luke, of course, because Bruin is so small that he has no real way of making Luke stop.

My theory is that Luke was never properly socialized as a younger puppy and that we should simply, when Bruin indicates that he no longer wants to play with Luke, help Bruin out by telling Luke to leave him alone. My concern however, is that Bruin now has an insufficient role model from whom he will learn his dog-to-dog social behaviors.

Am I right is how we should go about handling it, just tell Luke to stop when Bruin indicates he's had enough? Or should I just let them go at it and they'll figure it eventually? And am I right to be worried about Bruin learning such behavior from Luke?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## dmickle1 (Jun 19, 2011)

I definitely don't think you should let it continue, because Bruin could indeed learn poor social skills from this other pup! Sounds like he's trying to make his voice heard and it's just being ignored by Luke. 

My puppy liked to pester my dad's older dogs when I first adopted him, so I taught him a "leave it" command. It might be harder because Luke isn't your dog. 

With Loki, I first worked with him outside, not near any of the other dogs, and started teaching "leave it" with his toys. He got a treat when I dropped a tennis ball on the ground, he went to pick it up and then didn't when I said "leave it". Eventually, he understand what "leave it" meant and I then began commanding him that way when he was bothering the other dogs. Worked pretty well for me, at least  

There are plenty of very good trainers on this forum who may have different/better insights into your problem and I'm sure some of them will come along and respond soon!


----------



## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

You'll hear people tell you that Pit Bulls are bad, but you've got a double whammy . Pits, Rotts, and Labs all love to play and they are fairly indestructible, so they don't know that other dogs or people are not.... And, I think a Lab-Rott will have a similar personality as a Lab or a Rott, for this circumstance.

It is very common for Lab pups to torture an adult who will snarl but not bite... You have the same issue with a different context, but I believe the solution is the same. Say Stop or Come, then snap on the leash and walk Luke away. Then, have him sit, until he calms down. The first two or three times, he may try to get back to Bruin to play. You have to be firm, but not harsh or angry, because you do want him to continue playing... but you also want him to stop when you call.

The next step is important - When Luke is calm, then look at Bruin to see if he is ready to play. If he is, then release Luke, saying "Go Play" and let him play with Bruin, until things get too rough. Then call Luke away, snapping on the leash, when he ignores you after the first recall.

What you want to do is to teach Luke that when Bruin whines, snaps, growls, or shows that he is not having fun, then Luke has to back off. You'll have to work on your timing, allowing Bruin to be a little uncomfortable, so that Luke has a little time to consider what to do. If Bruin snap and Luke backs off then comes back, then Bruin snaps again, and Luke backs off, then you're making progress... but you realize that Bruin doesn't want to play, so you have to calm Luke again. As Bruin gains confidence with his ability to stop when desired, he may play a bit longer.... But Labs tolerate a lot more discomfort and rougher play than GSDs. Again, you don't want them to stop playing, you just want Luke to stop when asked. BTW, if Bruin comes up to both of you, that means he probably wants to play some more, and that is a very good sign.


----------



## katG (Jun 27, 2011)

I have a kinda similar problem.. my 7.5 month old pitbull wants to play all the time with my parents' 7 and 9 year old boston terriers. They do want to play with him.. but not all the time. They will growl and snap at him, and he just does not get it! He is never aggressive, he just play bows and pounces and barks. It drives the older dogs nuts! I've been putting him in time out when he gets obnoxious with them but it doesn't seem to work. Only thing I can do is give him plenty of exercise before he is let in the house with them. My puppy also grabs their toys and tries to get them to chase him like it sounds like Luke does. Maybe Luke and my puppy need to get together and annoy each other! haha


----------



## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Teaching a really good "leave it" will help. Cracker has a really good advice for this kind of thing... she can probably explain it better than I can but basically if your dog is annoying the other dog you give a verbal warning (like "enough" or I think you can even use your "leave it") and if your dog doesn't comply, you leash and remove him for a few minutes. Then release him and let him play again. If you have to do this 3 times, the 3rd time you have to remove him, he's just done for the day and doesn't get to play anymore until another day. Eventually he'll learn he has to listen to your verbal warning or the fun ends for good (well, not forever, but until the next play session).


----------



## katG (Jun 27, 2011)

sassafras said:


> Teaching a really good "leave it" will help. Cracker has a really good advice for this kind of thing... she can probably explain it better than I can but basically if your dog is annoying the other dog you give a verbal warning (like "enough" or I think you can even use your "leave it") and if your dog doesn't comply, you leash and remove him for a few minutes. Then release him and let him play again. If you have to do this 3 times, the 3rd time you have to remove him, he's just done for the day and doesn't get to play anymore until another day. Eventually he'll learn he has to listen to your verbal warning or the fun ends for good (well, not forever, but until the next play session).


I will give this a try. He does well with new dogs he is meeting... he will lay down to play with smaller dogs at petsmart, but this is likely because he is on a leash and I don't allow him to meet them unless he is down. It is more difficult with my parents dogs because he is there everyday loose in the house. I usually just gate him off in the kitchen for 5 minutes and then let him back out, and he usually immediately goes back to harassing them. Do you think holding him on a leash would be a better option?


----------



## derekc06 (Jun 30, 2011)

Thanks for the responses everybody! I took both dmickle1's and hanksimon's advice and put Luke on a lease for a couple nights and also used a command to let him know when I wanted him to stop. I simply said "Luke, no" when he was going overboard and it seems to work pretty well. He's still a little over-eager but it's definitely gotten better. That being said, Bruin also seems to want to play more now so that helps, too.

Thanks for the help!


----------

