growling and biting during play

[meliss&kash]

Hi,

we have a 9 week old female puppy named Kashmir. she growls, barks and bites a lot during play. She rarely "plays nice"... i am wondering whether this is normal puppy behavior. I'm scared that she'll grow up to be an agressive dog. She sometimes bites my pants so hard and shakes her head so quickly that I can't pry them out of her mouth. I've tried spritzing a little binaca mouth spray in front of her face (I have a puppies for dummies book that suggests this), and it works for about 1 minute and then she starts again. Am i overreacting? How can I make play time fun and not scary?

Thanks,
Melissa & Kashmir

 

[ladyluck_t]

Congratulations! you have a boxer puppy! (not meant to be sarcastic ) Boxers are very vocal dogs and just love playing. Mix the two and you have an adventure. I have recently read some threads on here that talk about this exact thing. Since my little one is 4 i didnt really pay attention to where they were, but check the puppy section or the behaviour threads.

Good Luck!

Carolyn and Kate
:D

 

[ilovevegas]

vegas was alot like this when he was younger(and he still is sometimes!). whenever he started getting too rough we would redirect his play to another game he liked by waving a toy or ball in front of him-its good to have lots of toys handy! same thing when he was wrestling with another dog and it got too rough. i think it was a phase because he has seemed to mellow out(as much as a 10 month old boxer can!) hope this helps!
crystal

 

[Lovely Layla]

I posted something like this about 3 weeks ago. My Lola was acting the same way. I read so much and finally gave the tin can a try. I took a soda can and put some penny's in the can. Everytime Lola played to ruff started to bite I would shake the can and tell her "NO BITING". I have to say many people think this is negative but all I have to say is she is new dog. I've been doing it for a week and now all I have to say where is the can and she stops. She has changed so much, they are so smart and they know to much even as a puppy.

 

[meliss&kash]

Thanks, I'll give the penny can a try. I hope it works! I know she's just a puppy and I have to be patient, but it's a little frightening sometimes! I'll let you know how it turns out. Wish me luck!

 

[Poetic_thing]

What worked for us was this...

When Dakota started to bite, we would say "no" firmly and then "be nice" in a soft gentle manner and stroke her. This worked very well for her. Later when she was older and she started to get really rambunctious (sp ?) we would say be nice and she would settle down.

As for the growling, she used to do this all the time when we played, especially if you put your hand under her jowls on her neck. She would bounce around growling & action tough. We let her do it for awhile and when we were finished playing we would say "be nice" and then end the play / growl session with hugs.

Good Luck - PT

 

[Oscar's Mom]

Oscar was the same way when he was a pup. And he is still very vocal when he plays. I wouldn't worry about it unless your pup is growling over food or when you try to take something away from him (and it's not during playtime).

Myra