Sensitive to roughhousing? What to do?

[Sara Schultz]

Our sweet foster labradoodle, Meg, is bothered when my three sons wrestle, whether it's in fun or in anger. She barks and gets agitated and at times gets "nippy." (She doesn't bite - it's just that her teeth become a part of her actions, if that makes sense.)

As I have looked into this, I've read that poodles are sensitive and do not like roughhousing. They prefer a calm home environment. Perhaps it is the poodle in Meg that contributes to this aspect of her temperament.

Have any of you experience this? Do you have ideas to offer as far as working with Meg on this behavior?

Thanks!
Sara

[Chris & Boys]

My senior golden retriever is the same way, but never nipped.........he doesn't understand that they are just playing, he is being protective. He even gets that way if they are arguing (just verbal). I personally never wanted to correct that behavior, because if we ever needed to be protected we would be.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

I don't feel you need to teach a dog to protect you, that is something most dogs automatically do for the ones they love. To not correct bad behaviour and rewarding it by no corrections is wrong also and could lead to someone being seriously injured.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Since Meg is a foster she could have been around a lot of abuse..abuse to her as well as humans she loved. It could be Megs way of showing anxiety, fear, love, protection for the boys. You need to be carefull that she does not snap or bite someone thinking she is protecting them. I would tell the three boys to do the roughhousing somewhere the dog is not, so she does not need to feel she has to protect one over the other. Explain to the boys why Meg does what she does, and they will understand and go elsewhere with it so they don't upset Meg. You might also want to purchase a book called Scardey Dog, by Ali Brown, it really hits home for any rescue dog that has suffered many forms of abuse, it teaches you how to understand and the rehabilitating your reactive dog.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

Yankee doesn't like yelling or anything that looks like fighting. He is very sensitive. When my autistic grandson is about to have a meltdown or get angry, he senses it and jumps on me like he is scared. It just may be her personality or she may have experienced something similar.

[Karen & Lucy]

All my DH has to do is put his arms around me and Lucy gets, I call jealous. She starts barking and jumping up trying to get in between us. All we have to do is put our arms around her and tell her "it is OK, we love you to" and she seems to be better. It may be protection too I don't know. There is no nipping though. Is Meg still a puppy, Lucy did alot of "mouthing" as a pup and I had to stop that. That was her way of playing.

[Erin]

hmmm... I have noticed that when my husband and I show each other affection, like hugging, Hershey gets excited/aggitated...

But if a someone Hershey doesn't know comes into our home, she is a little wary until I give them a hug or put my arm around them. Then, she knows its safe. Or, if they give her a treat... hehe...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My son's doberman will not allow ANYBODY but my son and his wife to wrestle with each other. He will pull people away. They do martial arts so it gets pretty funny. My lab mix gets very agitated when the kids wrestle.If people talk loud and firmly, he get upset. The Springer and doodle try to get involved in the wrestling - but to play. I know dogs who will "herd" people by nipping their ankles.