How to get puppy to play nice??

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Anybody have any ideas on how to get a 10 1/2 month old "puppy" (who is 65 pounds) to play nicely with a 6 1/2 year old dog (both Boxers)? My girl is kind of like a Mastiff or Bull Dog in that she has A LOT of skin on her face. Well "puppy" pulls at her face to get her to play, and I guess he either pulled too many times in the same spot or too hard but anyway it's basically a minor bite mark that got infected so grown dog (Erin) had to go to the vet yesterday and get the hair around that area shaved, put on oral antibiotics, and then I have to clean it twice a day and put a topical antibiotic on it as well until it's healed (infection is not that bad though). Well he now also bites are her hind legs and a couple of times when she sits to get him to go away or turns she has fallen on her own legs and hurts or pulls something and yelps as well as then is hopping on 3 legs for a couple of minutes. He is in the process of command training (sit, stay, down, etc), but how do I teach him to play "nicer" with a non spring chicken?

 

[boxmom]

Our 6 month old Fred likes to pull on our 7 year old Lucy's jowels a lot too, as well as her ears. Lucy has always been way too nice about it, but we try to stop him if we think he is hurting her. We usually just toss him a toy or get him interested in something else when he gets too rough. It was much worse when he was younger. How long have your two been together?

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Well Tyson is 10 1/2 months and I got him at 7 weeks, so 8 1/2 months and counting...basically his whole life, my girl is 6 1/2 years with arthritis and a degenerative knee problem and is more submissive than him he's alpha between the two of them. Thing is the wound on her face never bothered her, I only found it because I was petting her face and noticed it. And even at that she let me mess with it without so much as batting an eye lash. She never yelped, got upset, NOTHING. The only time she gets upset is if she falls and hurts her leg, but other than that they just play. He simply bit too hard and bites too hard on her face. So we somehow need to train him that biting her face and legs is NOT okay.

 

[ehayes21]

I think the biting of the legs must be a boxer thing. Both of mine do this to each other and it's hilarious to watch. Sometimes it looks like it's gotta hurt, doesn't it? They never hurt each other, though - there are only a few times when I've had to intervene, but I usually leave it up to them to decide when rough becomes too rough. Aside from you stepping in and redirecting him, I think you are going to have to leave it up to her to tell him. Its amazing how tolerant they are - things you and I would get upset or hurt over doesn't even seem to phase them. Rowdy is very tolerant of Disco's little antics, but there have been a few times where he's had to tell her off and she's been smart enough to listen.

 

[ELubas]

I have an older male and a young girl. I agree wtih Ellen above that you can teach them to "stop". Nysa knows now (she is two) if i say "leave him" she needs to find something else to do. My boy is like your older girl-he just does not correct and i wish he would but it is not to be... So it takes a little time but in your case I think it is important that you protect your older girl a bit. Not to interfere with thier pack dynamic but more to let them know what you like and what you do not like. Not to say your wild one will stop all together but at least you can be confident that you can stop it before it gets to be too much for your girl. I guess I draw the line at vet visits due to the play Good luck

 

[reggiesmom]

I have a 11 month old basenji that does the same thing to my boxer all the time, and I either just spray some bitter apple on Reggie (boxer) or I squirt Tiggy (basenji) with a water bottle. I try not the squirt Tiggy to much because Reggie thinks he's done something bad, but the bitter apple helps quite a bit, and then work on training them to knock it off on command, you can't get them to stop completely but if I see Tiggy starting to really tug and bite hard I will verbally correct him and he will lighten up. I wish Reggie would stop him, but he just stands there and unless Tiggy grabs a sensitive place like jowls or ears Reggie won't really correct the pup much.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I think the biting of the legs must be a boxer thing. Both of mine do this to each other and it's hilarious to watch. Sometimes it looks like it's gotta hurt, doesn't it? They never hurt each other, though - there are only a few times when I've had to intervene, but I usually leave it up to them to decide when rough becomes too rough. Aside from you stepping in and redirecting him, I think you are going to have to leave it up to her to tell him. Its amazing how tolerant they are - things you and I would get upset or hurt over doesn't even seem to phase them. Rowdy is very tolerant of Disco's little antics, but there have been a few times where he's had to tell her off and she's been smart enough to listen.

Well and I have been now she has an infected wound that requires oral antibiotics, twice a day cleaning, and a topical antibiotic to ger rid of (about the size of a quarter) because he bit her face too hard or too often in the same spot. Obviously it didn't bother her, but geez-O I can't have her face getting infected every few months either.

And I should comment as well that he is not "wild" in fact he is one of the mellowist puppies I have ever seen BUT when he wants her to play he pulls at her massive amount of facial skin and pulls and pulls hard and yeah to me it looks like it would hurt but she doesn't say anything so I let it go, but I can't have her getting infections on a regular basis either. The biting at the leg thing isn't a HUGE deal it's only once in awhile, the face pulling is often and we need to find a way to deter him from biting at her "cheeks".

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I have a 11 month old basenji that does the same thing to my boxer all the time, and I either just spray some bitter apple on Reggie (boxer) or I squirt Tiggy (basenji) with a water bottle. I try not the squirt Tiggy to much because Reggie thinks he's done something bad, but the bitter apple helps quite a bit, and then work on training them to knock it off on command, you can't get them to stop completely but if I see Tiggy starting to really tug and bite hard I will verbally correct him and he will lighten up. I wish Reggie would stop him, but he just stands there and unless Tiggy grabs a sensitive place like jowls or ears Reggie won't really correct the pup much.

Thank you, I may try the bitter apple spray and put some on her face and see if that keeps him away from her face. If that doesn't work I'll try the squirt bottle.

 

[ehayes21]

Well and I have been now she has an infected wound that requires oral antibiotics, twice a day cleaning, and a topical antibiotic to ger rid of (about the size of a quarter) because he bit her face too hard or too often in the same spot. Obviously it didn't bother her, but geez-O I can't have her face getting infected every few months either.

And I should comment as well that he is not "wild" in fact he is one of the mellowist puppies I have ever seen BUT when he wants her to play he pulls at her massive amount of facial skin and pulls and pulls hard and yeah to me it looks like it would hurt but she doesn't say anything so I let it go, but I can't have her getting infections on a regular basis either. The biting at the leg thing isn't a HUGE deal it's only once in awhile, the face pulling is often and we need to find a way to deter him from biting at her "cheeks".

Your poor girl! I agree with the wounds though - I would just start stepping in if he goes for the face.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Your poor girl! I agree with the wounds though - I would just start stepping in if he goes for the face.

Funny thing is she never cared the wound didn't seem to bother her. I was messing with it trying to see what it was, I was cleaning it, the vet shaved that small area and Erin never so much as batted an eye lash, they cleaned it and put cream on it and she could have cared less, just laid on her back happy as could be. I've been cleaning it twice a day at home and putting cream on it again never cared. Vet was squeezing it to make sure it wasn't a seeping Valley Fever skin lesion and again she didn't care. So it didn't seem to hurt her or bother her in anyway, which is good in that aspect, but bad in that she never let me know it was there.