Puppy & Dog Play Causing Matting & Tearing of Fur

[Leslie C.]

Hi.  Well, my 2 yo Goldendoodle will be spending part of a weekend with a teething/ biting 4 month old Goldendoodle puppy.  It appears that the puppy is going to want to chomp on LiliBear's coat and tail as he had several mouthfuls of her fur.  Any suggestions?   

Also, another dog Iikes mouth her at the shoulders when they run and play.... I believe this is what has caused multiple matts in her chest / shoulder area - I plan on looking into dematting/ de-tangle types of thread discussions ... 

I do have Show Sheen in the house and Bitter Apple.... thinking about using these products as part of my puppy defense :)  Suggestions welcomed.

~Leslie

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Stuart (3 mnth) goldendoodle chews on Rooney's (11 mnth) ALD ears so bad that there are several matts as a result.  I've actually just taken to cutting the biggest hunks out - the groomer, when she comes in 2 wks is going to die.  They run and puppy wrestle which is normal but if you find a way to stop the ear chewing - please let me know.

[Sandy]

I have no answers, but my son's girlfriend has a 7month old retriever, and the same thing happens with Toby.  He gets really matted around the neck because her dog tugs on him there.  I'll watch and see if anyone else has suggestions.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

I have to tell you folks that these are training issues. Puppies are dominant over older dogs. Just like a crying baby can make any of us take some kind of action whether we want to or not, puppies force older dogs into types of play that they would really rather not participate in if given a choice. Being bitten on the ears, neck or any other part is not someting most dogs enjoy. Mean dogs tell the play biters off by biting back, grumpy dogs growl and make it clear to stay away, nice dogs are forced into the play. If you see the ear or neck biting is going on by both dogs, then that is at least equal. If it is one sided, some training needs to happen. IMHO

My dogs do not bite each other in play, they grab toys from each other, chase each other, play tug...sometimes 3 or 4 way tug etc. Puppies that playbite kids, people or other dogs need to be corrected from this behavior. None of my adults gets any ears chewed or anything like that from younger dogs and I always have lots of each. Right now I have 7 adult ALD's, 4 one year olds, 1 six month old, 5 four month olds and various young puppies.Plus my shepherd, schauzer and f1.  I have my own built in doggy daycare and no one chews on ears etc. The younger puppies, still in their litter do play bite etc, but when they are with the adults, this behaviour is either stopped by me or another older dog. Mostly I try and stop it before an older dog needs to correct. I do not put dogs under one year of age with younger puppies. These age groups are separate because they don't yet know respect.

If you took a child to play with another child and the mother was there and one of the kids was initiating aggressive play towards the other, is it not natural for the parent of that child to do the correcting and not the guest mom? You don't expect the victum child to do the correcting, because that is called a fight or at least it may turn into a fight. I know some of you will say that kids and dogs have to work it out, but it doesn't have to be that way. We can teach our dogs and kids manners at home and then enforce the lessons outside the home.

If I was in that situation, I would do some clicker training with the 2 dogs in question. Especially if I was the guest and could not correct the other dog. Everytime I saw the start of the ear biting etc, I would call the dogs, click and treat them for coming. Every time I saw a good interaction, I would click and they would learn come for a treat. I would have plenty of toys around to playing tug.

 

[Leslie C.]

Barb - Thanks for your very detailed reply... I am on my way to grab the clicker and treats..... our young guest will be here soon.  There are tons of toys, 2 crates and several gates to give each of them their space.  ~Leslie

[Bonnie and Kona]

Barb, thank you so much for posting this reply. We kept waiting for our older dog to "put the puppy in his place" and it never happened. I finally couldn't stand to see the incessant ear, tail and cheek biting and intervened. I only wish I had stepped in sooner. This is important information for people to have when bring a pup into the home with a gentle older dog. 

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

This sounds like great advice Barb-Myla always goes for Chloe's ears!

[Kristine and Charlie]

Funny that I came across this post.  My Charlie, a GD who turned 1 yesterday and his 'cousin' Toby a mixed breed/non-doodle who is 9 months old have played like that since day one.  Well at least I thought they 'both' were playing like that until yesterday.  Toby came over to play and when they were getting ready to leave I felt Toby's face/neck and it was dry and Charlie's face, neck, bottom of ears were just a wet gross mess.  That's how it normally looks when they play but I've always thought it's because they both just mouth each other, Charlie has long hair and Toby has very short hair and they are both puppies.  Charlie has never seemed to mind much, meaning he doesn't yelp at all.  A couple of times (and this is in the last 7 months) he has let out a quiet cry after they had been playing for a few hrs. and he was tired.  That's when we usually step in and let them rest.  I usually cringe when Toby gets a hold of Charlie's ear or cheek because sometimes he just pulls and doesn't let go.  Toby is a very mouthy pup to humans as well.  When we pet him he always turns towards our hand and his teeth graze our arm/hand.  Every so often he actually closes his mouth (it doesn't hurt but is disturbing) or if I'm petting Charlie he always come over very quickly and shoves his face by my hand and same thing, opens his mouth on my hand. He's definitely 'acts out' to his owners (air snaps, barks at them when he doesn't like something or is getting scolded, runs away like crazy) which I've thought was his 'adolescent stage' or maybe he is just a more aggressive dog?  His is a lot different then my mellow, calm, sweet doodle.  :)  Hmmm, I'm going to have to step in next time they play.  I'm sure I will look like the crazy dog lady and they will be like oh they're just 'dogs', let them play.....

[Kathy Hoppe]

My only suggest is for everyone in this group who uses Bitter Apple or what ever brand name you buy. First taste it yourself. A tiny, tiny, tiny bit on your finger BEFORE YOU EVER USE IT with your doodle.... It's bad very bad and if you knew how bad it taste you'd only use it very sparely!! My experience comes from when my 9 month old grandaughter licked Grammy's electric computer cord... Oh was that aweful.. And Mommy wasn't happy either... Kathy & Lauscha

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Perhaps I would not want  a human child to get the bitter apple, but my dog - YES that is exactly what I would want if I am spraying a deterrent.  It is way better to get a mouthful of bitter apple than an electric shock. Sadly, my dogs are not deterred by bitter apple or mint as the predominent ingredient in deterrent sprays.  I am looking for something else.  My living room couches are getting ruined by the doodles jumping on them to see out or laying on the pillow-back tops to lounge!  As a puppy, Ned did chew a computer cord and did get shocked - luckily he wasn't hurt, but he never chewed an electric cord again.  I would much rather have had him deterred by bitter apple.

[Donna K & Quincy]

@Nancy, Quincy was never deterred by bitter apple and then I found bitter lime which he absolutely hates, after a couple of times I only had to show him the bottle. If you want your dogs to stay off your couch, put tinfoil on it, I did that and Quincy jumped up and back down like he had gotten shocked. Of course he was back there again once I took the tinfoil off. That was back when I thought I didn't want my dog on the furniture but I am way over that now. Good luck.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What is the bitter lime product called?  And I WILL try the tin foil.  I have tried plastic  - those cheapy table cloths as well as old shower curtains. I thought they would hate the crinkle or the slippery feeling, but they just tore them up!  Clancy is way, way too big to be sitting his butt on the back of the couch and permanently squishing those pillow cushions!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Chloe loved bitter apple as a puppy-relentless!