Need help with my 7 month old doodle playing too rough with our smaller dog.

[Deborah and Molly]

 

Hi,

I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought about asking here sooner!

Molly, my golden doodle, is 7 months old.  I have two other dogs that are much smaller and older than Molly; they are 7 years old.  When we brought Molly home she was smaller than our other two dogs (Jug and Puggle).  The puggle (Abby) was Molly’s playmate when she was small and still is.  Molly still plays, with Abby, as if she were small.  Molly is relentlessly “playing” with Abby by grabbing her neck and pulling or pouncing on her.  Molly will even stalk Abby when they are in the yard and run full force and run into her.  Abby will play with Molly in the house, especially if there is a ball or rope involved, but cowers from Molly when they are in the yard.

Molly has just completed her obedience 1 training and while I was taking her to the classes, I brought this to the attention of the trainers and asked their guidance.  They were of the opinion that my husband and I have to let Abby set boundaries with Molly and that if we interfere we will teach Molly that playing is bad. Dogs are pack animals and must establish their order.   I don’t have a problem with this except when Molly runs into and over Abby and sends her rolling.  I am afraid that ribs or legs will be broken.  I know that boundary setting does work since I witnessed Molly trying to romp with one of the trainer’s pugs.  The pug (Macho) did not allow it and nipped at Molly.  Molly immediately stopped and didn’t try again.  Molly also doesn’t bother our smallest dog (Dixie) who is a 20lb jug.  Dixie will bite Molly and Molly will stop and walk the other way.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  My husband is a lot harder to sale on the idea that they will work it out.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I have two Doods...one mini and one standard.  There is a 40 pound difference between my two guys, and I had to teach the larger one (Murphy) that rough play with the little guy (Guinness) was not going to be allowed.  They play together but when it starts to get too excited and I see that Murphy is doing things that could hurt Guinness I stop it.  This is also true of "charging" when they're running around outside.  Murph will run full speed ahead and knock Guinness off his feet.  If I see that I verbally correct, track him down, and put him in a down/stay to calm down.  In the house he used to "stalk" Guinness waiting quietly and then pouncing on him or biting his leg to knock him down.  He now knows that this is never okay, and it results in a time out (a really long one).  I think it's all part of them seeing that you are setting all the rules...and how they play together is part of that.  With my two just letting them "work it out" would definitely not have worked.  Guinness does not have enough of an alpha disposition or physical strength to teach Murph acceptable play boundaries.

[Shirley Ames]

This problem has happened at our house also. My standard 7 month doodle puppy weigh 45 lbs and she often likes to throw her Wgt around. LOL. My Senior sheltie has arthritis , and could easily be hurt, so I have been working on the command "off" to distinguish that action from "down "
I have been using that command (off) on her and she does very well, however she will be back in most cases, see if that rule still exists. Just like when we had toddlers in our home right.
Gotta love these doodles.