Young puppies playing/fighting??

[elmwood]

My wife and I just got two boxer puppies. Two beautiful fawn pups. We are familiar with the breed, I having grown up with three, but not so much at this age and two at one time. Hudson, a male, is 9w5d, and Marais, a female, is 5w6d play constantly. However, sometimes Marais starts lifting her lips when she growls and biting/nipping at Hudson. Is this normal? I know about the growls boxers often let out during playing, but this seems as if she is trying to establish dominance. She is much smaller than Hudson at this age, even though they are only a month apart. At this age, there is an amazing size difference. We have just begun to separate them, saying "play nice" this seems to work for a bit. We also understand that they are very very young, and their attention span is only so long. About taking Marais home so early, (5 1/2w) we thought the kennel was appalling, playing/sitting in feces and urine. We figured we could give her a better/cleaner place at her new home.

 

[courtney323]

elmwood -

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[KonaKoffe]

I would just monitor their play. They are most likely just playing and getting used to each other.

 

[kassa]

If that's not a typo and she's really 5 weeks old, I'd restrict the heavy duty playing until she's at least 10 lbs and 7 weeks old. She should still be with her mother and same-age littermates, and a 9 week old littermate shouldn't be the one to teach her about bite inhibition -- he's still learning himself!

A month is a HUGE developmental distance at this time.

 

[beachshoer]

I agree keeping the play to a definite minimum would be a good thing. I'm sure she's trying to establish dominance, most females do and get it. But let her do it later when she understands what she's doing and going up against.