Puppy Play?

[trc4941]

Well we must have been out of our minds because we just got another puppy this weekend. Romeo is almost 5 mos old and we now have a 8 wk old boxer/French mastiff mix - Luca. So you can imagine what a nut house we are now living in!

My question is....is there a limit as to how hard and long you should let puppies play with each other? As I type this question, it sounds like a stupid question but, sometimes I think they're going to get hurt. The little guy, Luca keeps up with Romeo just fine so it's not the age difference I'm worried about. I just see so much biting and ROUGH play. Do we just let them go at it? Or do we try to stop them if it looks too rough?

 

[LILYLARUE]

As excitement builds, watch them. If you see them getting a little too forceful or assertive and the other backs away, then give them a little time out to cool their jets.

The best way to tell if one has had enough is that they will try to back away, avoid their advances, lays down with turned away head, etc. Any body language that says "give me a minute". Monitoring them and stoppng play when you think it's just about too far, then stop them by redirecting with a sit command, or something to get their minds off hard play and onto paying attention on something. This also helps to teach them that they can also stop play when they want or feel overwelmed. Eventually they will learn to regulate their own play energy.