Will roughhousing with the dog make the dog more hyper or nippy?

[Wendy and Sophie]

My DH likes to "wrestle" with our 11 week old puppy and have her roll around while she's got a toy in her mouth.  Is this good because it will wear her out, or less good because there's a possibility of getting her more nippy/hyper by doing so?

Thanks for your thoughts.  It's nerve-wracking having a new puppy!  Exciting, but boy am I nervous. :-)

[Amy and Annabelle]

My own experience has been she gets really hyper/nippy and aggressive with rough housing and tug of war playing. Our trainer said it was an inaccurate assumption, but it still seems to be the way it is with Annabelle. I think she gets over stimulated and needs a chill out for a few minutes to calm herself down. I can now recognize it before she gets to that point. We will have a quiet time and then maybe some quieter play time. I know they say a tired dog is a good dog. I guess my dog missed that memo because when she is tired she gets kind of mean and bitey. Sophie is adorable.

[Wendy and Sophie]

thank you so much!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Hi Wendy ~ You might google "rough housing with your puppy".  You will probably find many articles written by those studying animal behavior like the one below which explains some of the more important reasons for not roughhousing with your puppy.  If after you read this, you or your husband still want to rough house with your little girl, there is a proper way to do it.  BYW - your puppy is off the charts cute!  Maybe your DH could be encouraged to take Sophie to obedience after she has had her puppy shots.  I hope you can open the link below. 

http://http://blog.smartanimaltraining.com/2013/08/13/roughhousing-...

[Wendy and Sophie]

Thank you so much, Linda, for both the info and shout out to Sophie. :-)

[Cyndi, The Boys & Callie]

My husband played with all three of ours similar to gentle wrestling.  When they were young and had those sharp puppy teeth, he wore my rose gloves :)  At least for us, it did not make them nippy or more aggressive, it's how dogs play, I don't who enjoyed it more, him or the doodles.   Now, they are two and three years old and would never even think about acting that way with a human.  Their brothers are another story, but not people.

[Wendy and Sophie]

Thanks so much!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I'm not sure , but I played it safe with my doods. I don't allow people to play rough or aggressive with them.
I didn't want to take a chance. We didn't even play tug of war with Yogi until he was 10 months old. Perhaps
overprotective, but I felt I had one shot at their puppy training to do it right. I've been training them to be the adult
dogs I want them to be.
You can still wear them out with games of fetch, find it, food puzzles, training, walking, etc...

[Wendy and Sophie]

Thanks so much, Leslie.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Professional opinions aside, we have always roughhoused with our puppies.  It is important for her to learn how to cool it when play is over and to halt play immediately if she crosses the line between play and fight. A good firm "enough" was our signal and if she jumps up with teeth to keep it going really make it a firm loud "enough".  I think there are probably dogs that you can't roughhouse with because of aggression issues, but we have never had one. It is easier to teach "enough' when she is young and small than when she is older and bigger.  

[Wendy and Sophie]

Thank you, Maryann.  I appreciate the insights.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this....and it really does depend on the dog IMO.  Some dogs are just really "balanced" and they can get excited during play and behave appropriately, while others kind of "lose it" when they're overly stimulated.  I spend so much time trying to keep my Murphy from getting excited (because that's when he gets crazy), that "roughhousing" is off limits.

[jenn D]

I only let my boys really rough house with each other, and they know when they do it to "take it outside". We didn't roughhouse with them as pups (the ones we has as pups) because we knew our boys were going to be big as adults. My son who is 6 and has cerebral palsy, has no idea how to stop if the dogs show signs of being overly enthusiastic with play so therefore we don't allow roughhousing human to dog. It's overly strict at our house though because our son needs very clear cut rules and he would have been full body wrestling with them had we not said no. I'm not sure if it's genetic or environmental (how rough they play). But I will say a tired pup I'd a good pup so yey to your DH for getting her exhausted!! :)