Needing some help

[Carol Hanr]

Willow and LuLu go out to play in the yard.  I've noticed two big bruises on Willow's hind legs. I saw LuLu grab Willow on each leg when wrestling, almost trying to pull her by her legs. What can I do. Willow does not cry, but keeps on playing. Is this normal doodle play??? Do they play this rough??? Like I said, Willow does not cry and there is no growling or dog fighting involved.

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Hi Carol,

 

I live in a household with four dogs. My goldendoodle Barley does this, as does my family's nine-month-old Saint Bernard. I don't think it's solely a doodle thing; I think it's a type of rough play for many young dogs. I don't get too upset when Barley and Baron (the St. Bernard) do this to each other as they are equally obnoxious and are best buds. However, I quickly intervene when Barley or Baron does it to our two older female dogs since they don't play that way, and I don't want one of them to snap or retaliate against them. It's to the point that Barley has to potty outside by himself; otherwise, he'll try to pull the other dogs off the porch by their legs. You might want to break it up by saying "No!" and walking between them. I've noticed one of our older female dogs cuts between two of the dogs if she thinks the play is getting rough.

 

Since one of your dogs is getting hurt, I would try to intervene if I were you. Our one goldendoodle, Daisy Mae, used to upset our older collie while playing fetch. The older collie couldn't stand the excitement and would try to "herd" Daisy by grabbing her collar. So, Daisy ended up having to drag Candy by the collar all over the yard. We used to think it was annoying, but not a big deal because Daisy never snapped or did anything to let us know she was bothered by it. However, Daisy eventually got tired of it and snapped, launching herself on Candy and ripping her ear to our shock. I think that was extreme and we certainly weren't expecting it. I've learned to advocate for the dog that appears to be getting bullied, before the bullied dog takes it into her own paws and retaliates. Better to keep the peace!

[Aimee Santa Monica]

Oh No, poor Willow!!
Our Storm (mini) will play real rough with our newer pup Ayla, she's a medium, (they are both 5 mo) that i have to seperate Storm. It was much worse at the 1st week, Storm did alot of nipping, but now it does not happen too much anymore. The 1st week, Ayla hardly made noise, now, she's more vocal and will bark, if annoyed by something! :)

[Dreamydoodles Northwest]

I think normal DOG play can be rough in a humans opinion.

I have three dogs.. an Aussiedoodles, a Standard Poodle and a Goldendoodle and they all grew up together so they don't tend to play as rough because they know each others boundaries.

It could be that Lulu is either getting more comfortable with Willow and starting to take more liberties in play or she's trying to dominate Willow. Dogs that play rough because they want to dominate the situation are not really playing. The play stopped being a game and becomes a dominance issue. Dogs that are trying to dominant in play will start to growl and bite in a non-playful way. If these situations are happening in your opinion, than your dogs need a time out from play.

If Willow is not crying out then Lulu might not understand completely that she's being too rough. When puppies are little they will cry out when the play gets too rough with their litter mates and that's how they learn boundaries in their play. Then again maybe it's not too rough for Willow I honestly believe if a dog is hurt they will cry out. I don't believe this is something they can control but maybe I'm wrong.

Some younger dogs, and dogs that are unaware of their own strength, sometimes become over excited when they are playing and can get too rough. If that happens you can just separate them for a time as well.

 

[Julie, Boomer, Milo & Casey]

I've seen my doodle do this too without any crying or growling.  Along these same lines, my 14 week old puppy isn't getting the 'signs' from my 2yo doodle about appropriate play.   For example, I've never seen the puppy do a play-bow . . . he just pounces on top of the 2yo.   My 2yo was just resting on the floor and the puppy started gnawing on his ears....2yo flipped his head around (as to say - get away!) but the puppy kept at it.   My 2yo is very well socialized and knows how to tell dogs at the park to back-off and he attempts to do this with the puppy too but the puppy doesn't get it.    Here's my concern:  we went to our second puppy class this weekend and Milo had to be separated from the only other puppy that was his size.   Milo came on too strong (the instructor said).   He did not play-bow or sniff at the other puppy - he just went right toward his face (like he does at home with our 2yo).    The other puppy in class growled at Milo and the instructor said its because Milo didn't greet appropriately.    

 

Is this common for those with two doodles...the younger not knowing how to play appropriate (maybe I should have asked this in another group but your post had me thinking.....) but to answer your questions...sounds normal sibling play behavior to me. 

 

Thanks!

Julie

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

Hi Julie,

 

Your situation with your two doodles mirrors my two doodles. Barley did not recognize or acknowledge any of Daisy's warning signs in the beginning, so she snapped at him several times and sometimes pinned him down. However, Barley soon learned to leave her alone for the most part inside the house. He's uncontrollable outside though. I've found that it's important for me to intervene when Daisy shows signs of getting upset, such as beginning to snarl. Barley thinks it's play. Also, we have four dogs and Barley now has to go potty by himself because he won't leave the other dogs alone. My advice is to intervene when you see your older dog getting upset, such as walking between them to split them up. I've also used loud noise to distract my puppy, such as dropping a book on the floor. He'll jump back and I'm able to put him in time out.

 

Barley does do the play bow. However, he smacks dogs in the face with his paw. They seem to hate that. Barley did end up in puppy timeout on the first night of puppy K, and was once described as being a "jerk" because he "didn't get it" when dogs didn't want to play with him. He's mellowed out a lot at 15 months because he really wants to please. He is now getting what he gave from our 9 month old St. Bernard (it's not just doodles). Also, at the Super Pet Expo in Edison, NJ, Barley began to play with a boxer puppy because they were both doing the play bow. However, the boxer ended up being the aggressive one and pinned Barley on his back. (I think the boxer hated being hit in the face with Barley's paw.)  It seems like other doodles, labs, golden retrievers, and his St. Bernard buddy understand his play style. Anyway, just be watchful and don't let it escalate.