Retreating????

[elmwood]

In the midst of heavy puppy playing one of our pups retreats to her crate- sometimes she will return and play, but other times she stays in. (They are pups, she sometimes retreats after a yelp from playing and other times just retreats). What should we make of this behavior? She does enjoy sleeping in there, maybe she uses it as a safe place. Also, we try not to let the other pup go and bother her when she has retreated to her crate. Is this the right thing to do?

 

[gmacleod]

Sounds normal to me Puppies learn about bite inhibition (how to use their jaws gently) from precisely the behaviour of your puppy. When one is too rough or bites too hard, the bitten puppy shrieks in pain and retreats - ignoring the biter and refusing to play with him. So the over-enthusiastic biter learns to be more gentle if he wants anyone to play with him.

Those people with only one puppy have to teach bite inhibition themselves - and do so by exactly the same method: shrieking in "pain" when the pup bites, and ignoring him for a few minutes refusing to play (and, btw, that's what you should be doing as well if either pup bites too hard when playing with you). They need to know that human skin is fragile

Within reason, yes it's the right thing to ensure that the retreating puppy gets peace in the crate when she retires there following over-enthusiastic play by the rougher pup. So long as she doesn't spend an excessive amount of time hiding. But from your description, she doesn't sound overly shy. Just a puppy reacting normally to a rough littermate.