Always antagonizing her older brother!

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Gracie is constantly chewing on, Barkley, her older 14.5 lb brother. As it is now she's at least 20 lb. She is the same height, but her body weight is definitely an advantage. She pulls on his collar, his tail, the scruff of his neck. Sometimes she just nibbles like she is grooming him. He is not always amused. However, he does not do too much except growl and bare his teeth. He will come and sit by me - like mom help.
I'm attaching a photo - he looks mean - but believe me he's not. There's only been a few times where he has lashed out enough to make her let out a yelp and walk away.
Should I do more to tame her down in regards to him? I do give him alone time w/o her. He has his own crate and will go seek refuge when he feels like he needs a break. He's even closed the door in her face. :D
Trying to distract her with toys does not work when it comes to pestering her older brother. ;)

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

I do. It's just that I don't think she's getting the message. :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

If he gets fed up enough, he will grab her by the nose and gently squeeze which will tell her that he is DONE.  Of course,if he isn't going to be the dog-in-charge between the two of them, he will have to go to his 'safe' place when she gets too wild for him.  Usually dogs do work it out over time. Puppies can be so annoying to an adult dog. Ned has always been higher in the pecking order than our Springer and he has always stolen his toys. Our Springer is not playful, so I don't think Ned ever annoyed him in that way.  At the time we also had another dog who was in charge of the world.  That dog put Ned in his place and that was simply it - done and over. Obviously I am not an expert in this at all.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Thanks. Nancy. He seems to be too gentle on her. But, there have been a few times he must have nipped her as she yelped
and ran away.
It's just that it is constant. She grabs at his collar and chews on it. He just turned around and put his paws around her like a mean hug. Lol.
Yep we're up already this morning!

[Marie and Hoka]

The collar chewing has been the biggest issue for me! I think it is an ownership thing. 

Hoka chews on Moxie's tags and/or collar.  I am afraid he'll get the tags off and choke, so I bought a collar with the phone number embroidered, he chewed it off the first time I left the house. Moxie just sits there and ignores him. I don't want her out without tags.

So I just bought another on Easy of sturdy leather with strong metal buckles and a solid plate with name info- so far so good.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Its a good thing he's got a leather collar and metal tags then. I figure if she chews through a leather collar then we are in big trouble. Hehe.

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

This sounds like us, too!  To say that 9 month old Beasley needs to be put in her place is the understatement of the year.  And to say that 3 yr old Eloise is unwilling to put Beasley in her place is the 2nd biggest understatement.  They play well together and really get along - they'll wrestle and act like crazy fools.  But Beasley's puppy "enthusiasm" often gets out of hand, and Ellie is not assertive.  I mostly stay out of it and let Ellie fend for herself, but when she's smashed up against a wall, looking kind of terrified, with Beasley grabbing and tugging the scruff of her neck or ears, I tell Beasley to knock it off. Beaz is super rough with play, and Eloise is just not.

I don't want Eloise to become reliant on me sticking up for her, but I also want Beasley to know there are limits, as her ultimate boss, lol.  Just as I've been typing this, alligator Beasley has put Ellie's whole face in her mouth about 15 times. I'm just relieved she no longer has the razor shark teeth...poor Eloise had cuts under her eyes for a couple months last summer from those nasty puppy teeth. :\

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

Awe. I love their names!
I do tell her to stop.
I am actually surprised that Barkley is not more aggressive with her. He always acted like he was the boss before when he had an older brother. Lol
Or so it seemed, maybe I misread their relationship since they were pretty much both laid back.

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Aw, thanks!  I love your names too - Gracie was always on my short list of names. :) 

That's funny, it's kind of the same here - the way they interacted when Beaz was a small puppy, I thought Eloise would be the boss.  I was wrong!  As Beasley grew, she quickly moved into the "higher" position.  Now she's a toy-stealing little tyrant, lol.  If only Eloise knew what "let her have it!" means (and, if only she would "let her have it!")  I tell people Eloise is a saint and she deserves a medal for what she puts up with.  But the good thing is they do really like each other and get along - even if Beasley's antics are annoying and fray mom's nerves sometimes. :)

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

My two seem to have an understanding of when too much is too much. Sometimes Wally is the instigator and other times Charlotte is the initiator. When their roughhousing gets to the point when one of them has had enough and the other won't let up, I say, "Leave him (or her) alone," and the aggressor knows that it's time to cut it out and back off. You should be able to teach the "Leave him alone," command to Gracie. It's a good command to have in your repertoire.  

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

I am trying to get her to leave him alone or at least give him a break. There's just so much teaching going on that I get anxious trying to get it all done. :)
I think she really wants him to do things with her. Like when I tell her it's time to go out - she goes right over to him and starts chewing on his collar. Of course it's because he hears out and even though he doesn't need to as often - he's ready to go. So she's feeding on his energy and vice versa.