how to train to play "Nice" ?

[awoww]

I have a 2 month old female boxer puppy and I understand that they naturally play rough with their high energy, but I have seen some adult boxers who do play nice and keep their paws on the ground around little dogs.

How do you start to train them so they can be like that when they're older??

 

[Gilbert]

I would have liked to see this questions aswered but i doubt that there is any solution. My achilles plays wild with certain dogs.
You might want to teach the "relax" command and have learn that when you say that he has to either stop and calm down.

 

[johann]

We kept a long leash on Johann when he was learning to play with smalll dogs. It helped immensely that my brother has 2 bichons that are used to/not scared of big dogs.

Johann was removed (quietly, but quickly) from the playtime whenever he would get to rough. After a few minutes, I would bring him back and let him play again. Took forever for him to make the connection, but he did figure out that "punching little dogs = time out".

It is so hard for boxer puppies to play calmly. Ridiculousy hard, like asking them to cure cancer or something. Johann is now pretty good, but has his moments of punching/tackling....but responds quickly to us yelling "be gentle" at him.

 

[Chevyboxer]

The Boxers I've had just know. They know when they can be rough and they know when they need to take it a bit easier. The most extreme example would be my 2nd boxer who I assumed snorted crack while I was gone. She had so much energy and me and her would regularly play rough.

My sister came over one day and wanted my 9 month old nephew to see the dog so she sat him down. My nephew had just undergone heart surgery and his rib cage was wired together we had to be careful with how we picked him up. As soon as she set him down it was like I had a different dog. She walked gently over to him and sniffed him. I got her to kinda bark and play around but she made sure that she kept her distance.

My newest puppy right now is being kept at my sisters. She has a 2 year old boxer that will play really rough with some dogs but is extremely gentle with the puppies. She lays down on her back showing her stomach and letting them bite the stupid out of her. Never once does she snap or growl.

 

[Tuff Love]

Oh man- when you find the secret, let us all in on it! I'm on my 2nd boxer and both were insane as pups. Tuff eventually became a very calm dog that played well with some dogs, but still more aggressive with others. Thora is a maniac still at 4 months old. She boxes, tail bites, jumps on, and all around annoys the heck out of her lab uncle who she's with 5 days a week while I'm at work. I don't know how my parent's handle it when I leave but I have been stopping her when she gets too rough and holding her near me and redirecting her to a bone. Of course.. that only works for so long.....

 

[elgerdes]

Oh man- when you find the secret, let us all in on it!

I hear ya!

Zoe loves to play rough with Macy, our bulldog. Just a not- Macy is 5 years old, 60 lbs and not very active. She isn't overweight for her structure, just big!
Zoe loves to box her, bite her-a lot!, chase her and just be a brat to her. I think nice play just comes with age. Until then, other dogs and people beware!

 

[fredsmum]

HAHA, Im so feeling for you, Fred is 11 weeks and when i take him out and he meets other dogs, oh the shame , my cute little pup turns into some insane bouncing machine ! he grumbles and stands on other dogs, nips tails, the works.... well i get some disaproving looks, but hey he's a boxer baby !!

 

[johann]

What I forgot to include in my previous post....

It took until Johann was around 1.5 to truly trust his behavior off leash around small dogs.

 

[rayandsarah]

Does your pup have a little dog she can play with now? Rowdy loves playing with my mom's mini dachshund. They are the same age so they grew up together and I think that really helped. He wrestles with her but is gentle at the same time. Capone on the other hand likes to put his muzzle under her and throw her in the air and he punches her all the time. I keep a leash on him when we are there so I can move him away if I need to.

 

[awoww]

Umm i do have a 4 yr male CHI, but he does not want anything to do with her right now, he will walk up to her and scope her out and sniff her bum then she would turn around and box him in the face or bite his leg and he would squeal. I really do want them to play, But she does need to learn to play gentle with smaller dogs.. I just need some advice how to? And i know it will take some time, but how do i work to get it there?