is it ok to allow dogs to playfight?

[Mandie]

I recently (five months ago) got my very first dog, so I'm a complete rookie. I have a very well behaved medium sized 1 yr old ALD, super sweet, loves everyone. A friend has a 2 yr old german shepherd/lab cross and acquired a 13 month old lab 10 days ago. We walk the dogs together or go to the dog park (usually at a time when there are few/no other dogs there) most days. The three dogs walk together perfectly and generally get along fine (even in the house). 

Here's the issue: when we are at the dog park, the dogs like to wrestle and "bite" each other. They don't escalate into fighting. Never any fur lost or blood drawn. But it doesn't look like the submissive dog is having a good time (the german shepherd/lab). I don't know enough to know if this is normal, acceptable dog behaviour or if my dog is learning bad manners that could land him in a fight one day.

This has become more of an issue with the introduction of the third dog, they seem to be rougher. Although the other day at the dog park they went from rough-housing to very gentle when a 10 week old puppy showed up. They remained noticeably more gently even when the puppy (who weighs the same as my ALD) began to join in the play.

The last couple of times we've gone to the dog park we have tired them out playing frisbee before walking off leash, and they settle down pretty well. By the end of the hour at the dog park they walk well and don't playfight.

Am I right to be concerned? Is this a problem that deserves attention until its fixed or should I accept this as normal dog behaviour?

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

This might help a little.

I have a 16 month old ALD named Hurley.  Our son has his 'cousin' (ALD from the same breeder) named Oakley.   Oakley is 2 1/2 years old.   When they get together they play 'rough' and wrestle around.   After awhile Oakley has enough of the playing and will get rougher with Hurley using a loud voice and more forceful rough housing until Hurley submits to get Hurley to stop playing for awhile.   It is all playing and rough housing with each other and Hurley is usually the submissive one.  In fact, Hurley is submissive with other dogs he may be around or play with.  It is just his nature/personality.

Per Hurley's trainer this is completely normal behavior for the two dogs to play rough (not actually biting each other) and wrestle being mouthy, chasing each other around, and in essence modeling what could be aggressive behavior should the dogs be threatened or needing to protect themselves against a hostile dog (s).   

[Lynda Kamrath]

I think playfighting is a pretty normal doggie behavior.  My dogs love to play fight with each other and with other dogs.  You can tell when they are getting too rough and break it up.  My dogs start wrestling in the house and I tell them "out" and open the back door.  They head into the back yard and continue for a while and then come to the back door to come back in.  Same thing at the dog park.  Some dogs just love to wrestle and they seem to know each other in the dog park.  But supervise them always.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

My dog greets her best friend by tackling her (actually, they rear up on their hind legs and tackle each other).  They tug each others' ears, wrestle to the ground and mouth other body parts.  If it goes too far and it hurts one of them lets out a warning yip and the other backs off (but this is very rare).

As long as the play is even and not escalating into something one-sided or possibly dangerous then play fighting is pretty normal.

At the dog park our dog is VERY submissive and if it looks like another dog is "playing" with her but she's not enjoying it we call her to come back to us and separate them.  

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

J stated very well what Oakley and Hurley do when they play together. It reminds me of play acting the natural behavior of many species in the wild.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I have two dogs...one (Vern) is 100 pounds and one (Fudge) is 46 pounds. They wrestle like crazy and Vern is so huge that I always worry about Fudge, but when she has had enough, look out, and Vern gets the message. Other times, I jump in to help Fudge and then she runs by Vern purposely teasing him to get him to chase her. I think if they are play bowing to each other and coming back for more, it is probably fine. If one dogs seems to be submissive and scared or coming to you for help, I think I would stop the play.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this Laurie.  Playing and even roughhousing is okay IMO, but the minute I suspected the more submissive dog was uncomfortable I would stop it.  Usually Guinness (our mini) is able to get a message across to Murph (standard) that he's being too rough, but if Murphy doesn't stop, I end the play.  Guinness kind of knows that I'm not going to let it get out of hand.

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

It took me a long time to understand and accept that what I call play is really dogs exerting their dominance/ pack order not the type of play that children do for fun. I let my boys wrestle and chew and roll around but only after they learned that when I call and say stop they stop. And if one shows signs of wanting to stop but the other does not then I stop them.
I do enjoy watching and hearing them "play". Shaggy stalks Fozzie as Fozzie returns with the ball he just fetched and Gus just barks at them both :)

[Bonnie and Kona]

I have two doodles who wrestle every day. Kona is almost 6 and weighs 94 pounds and is very gentle. Owen is 2 1/2 and weighs almost 70. Owen has always been the "instigator". Kona will play wrestle for quite a while, but when he is done he just stops and either gets on the couch or if they are outside he goes into the "dog room" we have under the stairs. He has never done much about putting the puppy in his place but he only tolerates so much and then stops the action. Not seeing your dogs wrestle makes it hard to determine if they are being aggressive or just playing. My guess would be that they are playing. If one dog is more submissive and doesn't look like he is having fun, I would interfere. We used to do that when Kona wasn't getting away from Owen's pestering. He was completely deferring to his puppy-ness. Now that he is also an adult, Kona stops playing by himself. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

My dogs play fight daily. Rarely is a yelp ever heard. It's great exercise and they love it. Calla, who is bigger, always loses in the end and she seems fine with that. I do not allow this in the house but it really isn't an issue inside.

[Camus]

I always look at the tail. If the tail is relaxed, everything is fine. When the dog puts the tail between his/her legs and presses it to his/her belly, it means that it is time to stop and separate the dogs. Same when the dogs chase each other.