I need help for my pushover...

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Meg and Polly are a great pair, meg is 1 3/4 years old and Polly is 8 months old.  They play rough (or is sounds rough) but no one ever cries, once in a blue moon an occasional yelp, short and they keep playing.  Meg really lets Polly get the best of her in every single occasion and the bad thing at our house is that when Polly gets a correction, Meg takes it as well.  At first I just thought that makes Meg and even more awesome dog than she ever was before, lately I hate that she thinks I am correcting her each time so I generally walk by and give her a good scratch and remind her she is awesome.  The real problem is Polly constantly grabs Meg's ears or face when rough housing.  Meg has had multiple scabs on her beautiful ears, the curls over her nose between her eyes is half pulled out, we have found a few sore spots on the side of her mouth and occasionally on her back legs where Polly grabs her.  Meg is not complaining and as soon as the rough housing is over they are napping together but I think I need to stop Polly from doing that.  The question, how to correct Polly without Meg taking it personally as well.  The minute I get firm with Polly, Meg takes position in front of the chair, lays flat and melts into the floor.  I am sure at some point Polly will out grow most of this but I would like to hasten it along if anyone has any ideas.  Thanks in advance.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I do NOT know if this would work, but what is you sprayed some bitter apple on your hand and then rubbed it on the ends of Meg's ears.  Perhaps it would be an aversive to Polly.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Great idea Nancy, I will try that and see if it helps. Thank you.

[John Francis]

On a scale from 1 to 10, Cesar Milan reports that dogs rough housing is normal and should never be higher than 5, on the rough house scale. Spaying helps tone down the aggression.

When my 2 (both neutered males) get to a 6-10, I generally step in as the Alpha and physically remove the aggressor till submission. Normally my Doodle will lay on his back and submit....Then and most important, I am told to give positive attention to him (the agressor) to similate the pack leaders acceptance of him.

I know, crazy, but it totally worked. 

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Thanks John.  Both of my girls were spayed young.  We do keep the rough housing to a minimum and they really do know I am the leader, a sharp "enough" will stop them in their tracks.  In the house Polly is the leader between them and Meg caves, in the yard Meg is the leader and Polly gets tired and comes to the gate to signal enough.  Neither have aggression issues, there is never a snarl or growl, tails continue to wag.

[John Francis]

Thats great Judy, sound like normal play...Tho only thing about "Cesars" method was that it isolated the aggressors behavior. He also said that each dog, if only playing, will take turns submitting, which it sounds like in your case......which is a good sign.....In my case my male doodle (9 months old) was literally attacking my 1 year old English bulldog..What I did seemed to work well, because the doodle now is much less aggressive....

There should be a doggy psychology course at some adult ed somewhere!!! lol

 

[Sally S Miles]

I can only offer you consolation, we are paddling the same boat here. Journey has begun to revoke Elmer's puppy license, but it's oh so gently. He has begun to back off on her ears, but not her lovely beard and it's a mess.  She doesn't seem to mind for the most part. When they play they are often silent, I monitor them constantly, but oh now and then....  He is much smaller than she, but is a tuff guy.    She has gotten better at differentiating between his commands and hers, but does get the wounded dove look now and then. So we do praise her for being such a tolerant big sister, and for not biting his head off when he pounces on her, here we have recently commented on how things are beginning to settle a bit - she lets him know now if he has pushed the wrong button -  I hope you see relief soon.

I am going to try the bitter apple on some curls today, thanks for the idea Nancy.