Can you teach a dog to play less rough?
Carmelo Collier
2025-06-07 08:09:42
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Dogs are definitely no exception to becoming overexcited and getting caught up in the moment. Although it can be fun to watch or even engage in excitable play, too often your dog can misread your signals and think it’s acceptable to play rough. Rough play often comes from overexcitement, or a dog learning to play rough from other dogs. In some instances, dogs can play rough because their owners have taught them that behavior or it may be a dog exerting dominance over another dog or person. Whatever your dog’s circumstance, she can be trained to stop rough play by following any of these effective training methods. Make sure you are in a calm mindset and remain patient and consistent throughout the training session. Careful observation is needed as well to determine the point at which your dog crosses from happy and energetic to overly excitable. Keep a positive attitude, and soon your dog will be able to play gently.
Willy Smith
2025-06-05 21:16:46
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If we still chose to roughhouse with our dog, a few rules will help keep the situation under control: Put the behavior on cue and don’t encourage it when the dog initiates roughhousing without the cue. If you like your dog to jump on you, teach her that it’s OK to jump on you, only on you and when given a cue. Teach your dog to settle on cue. Keep your dog under close supervision when around other people, especially children, people with disabilities or of a certain age. Watch for signs that your dog is getting stressed and would rather get out of the situation. Take short breaks and allow the dog to calm down on a regular basis. There are many fun and dynamic ways to have a good time with our dogs, like playing fetch, that don’t encourage behaviors that are considered problematic in all other instances. Dogs need us to be consistent, if one moment we’re allowing jumping and mouthing, we can’t expect them to understand that just because we’re now wearing expensive work clothes, that behavior will no longer be tolerated. Certain movements that we make or things that we say, that are similar to those used during roughhousing could trigger rough responses from the dog. In my house, dogs learn to be gentle with people. We’re responsible for our dog’s behavior during their entire life.
Macey Hagenes
2025-05-22 22:08:52
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It is helpful if your dog knows basic commands, as this will make it easier to intervene if dog play becomes too rough. ‘Leave’, ‘sit’ and ‘down’ are all useful cues for your dog to learn. Training your dog is an integral part of dog ownership and all dogs need to learn good manners when around people and other dogs. Always make sure training is positive. If play turns too rough, dogs can become mildly stressed. Therefore, it is a good idea to separate the dogs for a short while so that tension levels can drop. Neutering is an option if you find you have an excessively boisterous male dog, as this may help to calm things down. If you feel you might be dealing with a more serious behaviour issue involving frequent, or sudden aggression during social play, it would be wise to consult your vet.
Makenna Thiel
2025-05-22 19:00:54
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: 12
You must also teach your puppy to be gentle with hands, and that nipping results in unpleasant consequences for her. Teach your puppy that nipping turns off any attention and social interaction with you. After a nip, look your puppy right in the eye, and yell, “Ouch!” as though you’ve been mortally wounded, then ignore her. Nipping and mouthing hands can also be discouraged by loosely holding your puppy’s lower jaw between your thumb and forefinger after she’s taken your hand in her mouth. Don’t hurt her by squeezing too hard, just gently hang on so that wherever her mouth goes, your hand hangs on. A third alternative is to wear cotton gloves coated with a substance with an unpleasant taste such as Bitter Apple. Remember that any of these three methods will probably not be effective unless you work hard to teach your puppy the right behavior by offering her an acceptable chew toy.
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