Do dogs bite each other's necks when playing?
Idella Mosciski
2025-07-20 04:43:45
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: 7
If two dogs are wrestling and it seems too rough to you, with all that growling and snarling, body-slamming, and biting of each other’s necks, should you intervene. This is normal dog play. Puppies play with their littermates constantly. From around two weeks, when their eyes open, until they go to their own homes, they spend almost all of their waking hours wrestling with each other. It’s a critical time for social development because it is when they learn bite inhibition and good dog manners. Although play-growling is exaggerated and friendly, it can be loud and can sound scary. Dogs who are play-growling are over-exaggerating their snarls, which may make this noise sound scarier than if they were actually fighting. Dogs will take turns with most play-fighting behaviors.
Florida Beahan
2025-07-20 03:10:49
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: 10
When dogs are playing with each other and something out-of-line or undesirable is done, the dogs will let the other know with a preemptive growl or bite, not usually harmful, but just as a warning. If your male dog seems to be biting down pretty hard on the female dog's scruff/neck area, and she doesn't seem to mind or still exhibits classic play signs, then you probably shouldn't separate the fight. A lot of dog play looks like it's aggressive and can be misinterpreted by other dogs playing, most social canines have specific signs to signal that their behavior has playful intentions. Play bow before and after aggressive-seeming actions, a lot of times, when dogs do something like bite another dog, jump on them, whack them with their paw, lunge in, or something else, they'll do a play bow before or after to signal that there were no aggressive intentions and that the other dogs shouldn't take it as aggression. Bear hugging, it looks pretty mean and aggressive, but it's typically 100% friendly behavior and it's a good indicator that your dogs are playing just fine. If you're really worried about your male dog's biting of the females neck, you can let out a real high-pitched yelp, this should immediately get both dogs attentions, they'll give you a surprised face, and then should continue playing, but it lets them know that you're not entirely comfortable with what they're doing.
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