Rough Housing

wypadek

Is it bad to rough house with the dogs? DH just got Collins all riled up and then her and Ziva started zoomies and wrestling and other puppy fun-ness and I was just wondering if we were wrestling and playing around with them if it would be bad? Kinda sounds fun (for when I'm NOT 8 months pregnant that is lol)

kellbell1919

I chAse them in circles and stuff but was just told not to play tug of war with them by a behaviorist at our shelter.

Mryan209

I think it really depends on the dog.  For example, Kali will rough house when Tom initiates and stops when he stops.  She has never, ever tried to play rough with me or anyone else.  For her, I don't mind it. 

Our foster, Magic, has no impulse control and will not stop when Tom stops.  He also tries to mouth and rough house with anyone.  We don't rough house with him.  

BrittanyKD111

My dad always had a pair of heavy duty work gloves that he used to play with our labs when I was a kid. The dogs knew as soon as those gloves went on it they could get rough with whomever was wearing them. When we went home for Christmas, he started it with Jax. I've debated on getting a set for us to use with him. It was fun to do when I did it with Jax. He knows what "OW" means so he knew if he got too rough and someone said that he had to calm down.

Plus side, every dog I've seen my dad do that with was always so tired afterwords. It was fun for dad and the dogs.

nital

I play ROUGH with my dogs.  Couple of rules though.  Teeth are NEVER allowed to touch people.  Any sort of contact gets a verbal correction, and it's the end of the game.  They also have to be good with drop it.  Especially when we play tug, i get the toy when I ask for it, or the game's over.  And, the dogs have a command to stop playing (I use settle.)

wypadek

Thanks!! Thankfully my two do already have a command to stop playing (enough) simply because they get a little.... crazy with each other sometimes lol. I guess we do play a bit of tug with Ziva although Collins has never shown any interest in it.

Neither of them have EVER tried mouthing us (unless your foot + chew toy are next to each other, you might get a residual scrape, but an offended 'OW!' stops that real quick) so maybe I'll have to try this post baby.

Also, I like the idea of the special work gloves.... that's a genius idea!

kellbell1919

wypadek:

Thanks!! Thankfully my two do already have a command to stop playing (enough) simply because they get a little.... crazy with each other sometimes lol. I guess we do play a bit of tug with Ziva although Collins has never shown any interest in it.

Neither of them have EVER tried mouthing us (unless your foot + chew toy are next to each other, you might get a residual scrape, but an offended 'OW!' stops that real quick) so maybe I'll have to try this post baby.

Also, I like the idea of the special work gloves.... that's a genius idea!

Please do not use the work gloves especially with a baby around.  It teaches them mouthing is ok and encourages them being rowdy to a point you can't control.  It's easier to teach a dog not to do a behavior,, like mouthing, than it is to teach them it's ok but only under certain circumstances.   It's setting your dogs up to be confused once and possibly bite.

setsail1999

I roughhouse with Poe all the time. She is really mouthy anyway but super gentle and we work on her impulse control while playing. Jackson is not a fan of rough housing (his idea is just kind of poking us in the face with his paw lol). And both dogs love to play tug so we do that a lot (tug drive is a huge component of reward/drive building in many sports).

hboo2011

kellbell1919:

wypadek:

Thanks!! Thankfully my two do already have a command to stop playing (enough) simply because they get a little.... crazy with each other sometimes lol. I guess we do play a bit of tug with Ziva although Collins has never shown any interest in it.

Neither of them have EVER tried mouthing us (unless your foot + chew toy are next to each other, you might get a residual scrape, but an offended 'OW!' stops that real quick) so maybe I'll have to try this post baby.

Also, I like the idea of the special work gloves.... that's a genius idea!

Please do not use the work gloves especially with a baby around.  It teaches them mouthing is ok and encourages them being rowdy to a point you can't control.  It's easier to teach a dog not to do a behavior,, like mouthing, than it is to teach them it's ok but only under certain circumstances.   It's setting your dogs up to be confused once and possibly bite.

 

I agree with this. Don't give them the opportunity to be confused. "Mom is wearing winter gloves, does that mean I can mouth?" No. No mouthing is ok, ever.

Reesey (on left) used to play rough and mouthy when we first got her. We had a trainer come to the house to work with her, and we learned that we couldn't rough house with her. But because we didn't want her to get confused and think it was ok to play like that with everyone, and now especially with a baby on the way, we stopped that behavior completely. She still wrestles with dog #2, but when she gets mouthy, we stop their play time to cool off.

wypadek

kellbell1919:

Please do not use the work gloves especially with a baby around.  It teaches them mouthing is ok and encourages them being rowdy to a point you can't control.  It's easier to teach a dog not to do a behavior,, like mouthing, than it is to teach them it's ok but only under certain circumstances.   It's setting your dogs up to be confused once and possibly bite.

Hmm... hadn't thought of that at ALL. And this is why I ask you guys these things! While I would be highly surprised if it became an issue at all, I don't want to risk it either. They are good puppers, if a little hyper sometimes, I don't want to make them naughty puppers!

Thank you for the insight!