When do we intervene with play biting?

[Jenny and Cooper]

Cooper just turned 1 on the 10th. He goes to the dog park once a week and plays well with others. We rarely have to stop him from his play. His problem sometimes is barking at other dogs to play with him, and of course leashimg him when it's time to go.

He has a lab friend (Toby) who he plays with about 4 times a week. For some reason Cooper likes to nip at his skin, near the cheek area or sometimes his ears. I don't like that and neither does the lab's owner. Toby never yelps so I'm wondering if he just has thick skin and it doesn't hurt??? I always have to squeak a ball to break it up and Toby will instantly stop playing and wait for me to throw the ball. Cooper would either run after Toby or just wait until Toby comes back to play with him. They both love to play with each other and seems like BFF.

So my question is how do your dogs play??? Is biting and pulling skin involved? How to I stop Cooper from doing that? He doesn't do it to all dogs, or maybe other dogs doesn't allow him to? I'm not quite sure and have a hard time reading into their plays!

Thanks in advance!

[Lois Maturo]

I have 3 dogs. a 4 year poodle, 2 year old labradoodle and 7 month labradoodle.  The poodle does not like to play rough and will definitely let the other two know it.  The 2 doodles will play very rough.  There is lots of nipping, biting and ear pulling. They seem to let each other know when enough is enough. When I first got the puppy I would stop them but he kept going back for more.  So eventually I just let them do what they do. So the puppy plays with the labradoodle and snuggles the poodle. I guess he has the best of both worlds.

I got my 2 year old first and took him to puppy play group.  I remember not liking the way the puppies played. But the trainers said this was normal. Now it is just the norm in my house.

I would think if the other dog didn't like it he would cower or lay down and be submissive or he would be like my poodle and bark and snarl and let your dog know he has had enough. My poodle will play tug with the other dogs or run around the yard with them.  We take walks together.  So I feel like they all get along and have figured each other out and where they each stand with each other.

I am by no means an expert. But this is what I have seen.

[Jenny and Cooper]

Thank you for your input. Toby always come back to Cooper after he fetches the ball. He seems to love playing with Cooper. They are the same age, just two weeks apart. They do take turn being on top when they wrestle. Since Toby's owner doesn't like the biting part, I have to respect that. I just don't know how. I feel like every two minutes I have to squeak that ball. It ends up being a play of fetch for Toby instead of a play date :/ I know If Cooper can speak, he'd ask me why am I not letting him play. Lol

[Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney]

Doggy Dan just uploaded a new video about that. They tend to play rough with their friends and siblings. It's normal. You can give time outs when you think it's gone too far. But they do communicate with each other. So I'm sure the other dog would let your puppy know if he didn't like it.

[Jenny and Cooper]

Thank you Helga. Unfortunately I am no longer subscribed to doggy Dan. I would love to see the video though! Since my boy is the biter, I don't think I could be the one to tell her it's "normal". :/ From both their body language, I know they both love each other. Thanks again!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I was picking up my guys from Daycare yesterday and happened to overhear a conversation between a customer and the owner who is also a trainer.  Apparently during the afternoon the dog of this customer (who is a big lab puppy about 7 mos old) had gotten pretty rough with one of the other dogs and the other dog reacted by nipping the ear (I had to laugh as the owner described it as a "pierced ear").  The dog owners were upset and the Daycare owner explained to them that this was a "lesson" that their dog needed to learn....and that after that incident everything was fine and the play was appropriate.  It was one dog teaching another a lesson that needed to be learned....and there was no real damage...and they went on to continue to play.  There are some dogs who will allow it because they are too submissive to object...but I have to respect the ones who are able to communicate what is appropriate without doing any harm.  My two guys correct each other all the time....I always appreciate it because otherwise I'd have to do it...LOL.

[Jenny and Cooper]

Thanks for sharing the story, Jane. It seems though that Cooper is just playing and not teaching Toby a lesson. They'd be running full speed side by side then you see Cooper trying to get s piece of his skin. Or they'd be running full speed, stop and wrestle and Cooper getting a piece of him. :/

You could be right, Toby might be the submissive one. He does occasionally try to hump. Lol I just wish he would give a loud yelp so we don't have to be the one correcting Cooper.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

My youngest doodle always plays like this with Yogi. She bites at his ears, mouth, and his feet.
They just keep playing. I have in the past put my hand in between them because I needed to be
sure it wasn't too hard, but it's an easy nipping.
They've done this for over a year, I guess it's okay because Yogi plays with her and taunts her to
get her to keep playing with him.

[Jenny and Cooper]

Thanks Leslie. Even though I'm still not sure what to do, at least I feel a little better knowing Cooper's play is normal and he's not some mean monster dog. Lol

[Melanie Brazier]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. Our one year old is a play biter as well. I was about to break apart some play fighting at the dog park as i thought Rielly was being aggressive. The other dog owner stopped me and explained that they were playing and having a great time. If his dog didn't like it, he would let Rielly know. 

It made me feel better, but I was still concerned about it. This forum has brought me more comfort about the situation as a first time dog owner. Thanks.

[Jenny and Cooper]

Same here, I learned so much from this forum! I think I will let Toby's owner know that I did some research and ask if she would be comfortable letting Toby work it out on his own if he doesn't like it.

[Missy]

so, I don't know when you feel you need to step in or maybe make Toby's owner feel comfortable.

Our doodle loves to go for the ears and cheek area too.  but he is not really nipping hard.  As others have stated, I can fit my hand in there at any time.

my brother has an older lab that our doodle loves to play with.  (10 years difference in age)  When our dog was a pup, the lab was not into playing and snapped at (no contact) and put our dog down with a paw. Because I was a new dog owner, my brother was just saying they were working out their issues. And we just let them be. For the first year, they co existed, but not really play.  Fast forward 1 year, they run and wrestle all the time. Mouths are open, but there isn't really any contact. 

We have friends with a great dane and we played with her until she just out grew play dates.  She is 2 years younger than our dog and she is in the nipping stage and has not learned her mouth strength.  So when she nips it is like a bite and our dog corrected her.  Which was fine for a few visits, but now she is like a horse (150 pounds) and even though the great dane is not mean, the size alone plus the nips is set up for our dog getting hurt.  so we no longer have play dates.

I think you and the owners of the other dogs have to be in discussion and observation of what you want to happen.  Dogs have a tendency to work things out in my opinion, but I am not a professional.

I think you are doing the right thing by throwing a ball, but how about throwing two of something so they both have a chance to bring back something.  (instead of grabbing away from the other)

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Just a thought on your comment of throwing two "somethings". It's funny, if I try two, it never works. They still want to play together with one. Maci likes to let Yogi lead the way usually. He normally retrieves, but she is on him within a few feet to wrestle it away. :-)