How rough is too rough for dog play?
Bradley Kertzmann
2025-05-23 10:45:24
Count answers: 2
Normal play between dogs will involve a lot of rough and tumbling, often high pitched ‘yips’, growls and snarls. Play fighting may involve leg nipping, neck pulling and lots of tumbling from both dogs – and if you watch carefully dogs will take turns at being ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. However, if the play seems one sided, it is time to step in and calm the situation down. Growling becomes low, long and ferocious sounding. Stiff posturing. Lip curling and glazed stares. Running away with tail tucked up. Distressed yelping. Lip licking, turning away, retreating. 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. It is also important to be especially observant if the dogs at play of differing sizes. It may seem obvious, but a larger dog can quickly easily hurt a smaller dog, even in normal play.
Yadira Muller
2025-05-23 06:33:56
Count answers: 5
When we roughhouse with our dog, because we’re not dogs, we don’t master the rules of play and will often bring the excitement level out of control. Playtime with others takes the dogs to very high levels of energy, increasing the chances for things to turn bad. Some dogs however play too rough, in a hyper-aroused state. 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. Don’t push the excitement level too high. Take short breaks and allow the dog to calm down on a regular basis. We’re teaching the dog that humans are fun playmates to wrestle with and jump on. The dog will not always know the difference and understand when it’s alright to play this way or when it’s not. 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.
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