Puppy? Or Shark?

[Stephanie & Reggie]

My sister and I have mini goldendoodle pups (7 months) from the same litter (awww) and frequently get together for play dates. The boys are always very excited to see each other (understatement) which is cute and great, but I'm worried that their play is too rough...

This week, my sister and her puppy Oliver spent 2 days with us, and I am not joking, I think Reggie (my pup) spent 85% of that time either biting or trying to bite his brother. The other 15% was pretty much all sleeping.  The biting doesn't seem aggressive because both tails are wagging and they seem like they are having a good time, but Reggie is CONSTANTLY in Oliver's business, chasing or biting or something. Oliver tolerates it and plays along, bites back of course, but he has a big doodle brother at home, so I think gets bored with it after awhile. Reggie is definitely the instigator! The dogs have plenty of toys to chase/bite/play with, are given ample chewy bones/rawhides treats to exercise their biting, and are both given plenty of exercise.

Reggie never used to be a nipper, but he is getting worse by the day, and I'm worried it's partly because of his rough play with other dogs (we have a couple of other doggie friends, and there's a lot of chasing/biting going on there too, seems playful but who knows? All of the dogs are relatively young, and small, so Reggie's never been put in his place) - is he working his way into some bad habits? I own a dance studio and bring him to work with me every day - my students love to say hi to Reggie after their classes, but I'm worried that if this nipping keeps up, I'll have to keep him away from the kids!

My questions are:

1) Is constant biting between dogs/puppies normal play? If so, when do they grow out of it? Also if so, do you just let them bite until one gets mad enough to stick up for himself? 

2) Do dogs generalize nipping as ok to do to people, if they are allowed to bite other dogs? 

3) What can we do to get our dogs to play nice, independently? Or do we just need to separate them when can't control the play?

4) Is my dog now going to assume it is ok to bite other dogs, and be a social moron? Or a dog bully? 

Our office manager actually got Reggie a shark suit because he's such a chomper (see below)! Help!

[Bob Johnston]

That all sounds like a puppy being a puppy. If no one is being aggressive or yelping from being hurt then it is ok. Playing with another dog or puppy that way is just how it is since they cant talk but biting a human should be given a stern NO every time it happens. I wish I had made a video of how luna and sophie used to play you would have thought someone was being murdered or eaten but it was just how they played. Here is a great shot of them on the sofa and then notice the next one is sophie standing on to of luna.   

[Bill Burkhart]

We got our doodle puppy six months ago. My daughter has a two year old doodle. As soon as we got the pup, we let the two of them play. The puppy growled and barked non-stop at the two year old. We were all nervous wrecks, but it was important to us that they be together because we spend so much time with our daughter. Also, we agreed to always watch each others dogs during vacation times, weekends away, etc. After about a month of this aggressive nerve-wracking wrestling, they settled into a routine together. I am happy to report that they are best friends. In fact, we can't wait to get them together to play. They wrestle, then lay on top of one another to sleep, then play some more, then line up for treats, walks, etc. it turned out to be very successful for us. I really was worried that our puppy would develop aggressive behavior as a result of fending for herself with this full size dog, but as it turned out, they are both lovely, well adjusted doodles and are a joy to all of us. Others may have different experiences, but this is how it turned out for us. We just let them figure it out for themselves. Bill

[Alex & Mattie]

We've been taking our little girl to puppy play time where we also do our obedience training.  The guy who sort of has the job of referee for the pups encourages them to work things out on their own.  He says as long as they don't stay in the same dynamic for an overly long period of time (i.e. one dog pins the other down on their back and doesn't move or let the other dog up, or one of the dogs barks incessantly without letting up when the other is clearly not into it, for instance), then they usually figure it out.  When the other dog has had enough, they will growl or yelp and let the other know that they're done and this gives them a chance to learn bite inhibition and manners.  Of course I am not a professional trainer or anything like that, so take my words with a grain of salt :)

Here are some photos of our ferocious girl with *her* brother.....

[Judith and Griffin]

CUUUUTE!  I'm glad you asked these questions b/c the answers you were given help me as well :-)

[Janie & Sadie Mae]

Sadie is 7 mo old and Barney her brother is 8yrs old. What you describe is normal puppy play. When Barney tires of it all, he gives Sadie a different kind of growl and she knows to back off. They will learn each other's signals. It is very interesting to watch. Lots of teeth gnashing goin on here, but they love it. Your pups are darling.