puppy and older dog play fighting roughly

[londondoc]

hi all, our gorgeous 9 week lab pup eve loves to play fight with lola, rescue lab cross who is 5. lola likes it too, but it seems pretty rough. they dont seem to be able to be with each other calmly yet. im worried the pup will get hurt, but however much lola puts her in her place, she comes back for more! lola growls and pushes her but looks relaxed and both dogs seem to be having fun, but i keep getting nervous and separating them, and its a bit exhausting. any thoughts ? any tips for helping them to be calmly in each others company? thanks

Sounds like an amazing game of "bitey face" to me!

As long as someone is around to supervise and separate them if necessary, I'd let them get on with it :)

Lola needs to be allowed plenty of puppy-free respite.

But Eve needs to learn manners and how far is acceptable (and unacceptable) and the best way for her to learn that is from Lola. So they need that time together.

Make sure Lola has places she can go anytime, where puppy cannot get to her. This is especially important at night.

Then gradually increase their time together, supervised initially. Don't stop Lola telling puppy off, that is the important lesson. But do remove Eve if she absolutely won't leave older dog alone.

I have a (grumpy, cantankerous) 6yo dog who doesn't like any dog jumping at her, and we are in the process of introducing a 11 week old puppy, who obviously jumps anyone and anything 100% of awake time.

For the first week they slept in seperate rooms. They are now in the same room to sleep but pup crated so she leaves older one to sleep. Older dog can get on sofa, so goes there because pup can't. Older dog is always grateful when puppy is asleep.

We're are 2 weeks in now and their friendship is slowly developing. But we prioritise giving older dog a break as much as possible.

Agree with icedcoffees, labs love mouthy play. Just keep an eye that puppy doesn’t get over-excited.
My 2 still play like this and there’s 5 years between them. I initially stopped them and got that ‘aw, mum’ face. So let them have at it.

Does sound like mouthy play and it is good they are getting on BUT I would not just let them get on with it. Short play sessions are fine and then I would interrupt them. Dogs get very good at things they are allowed to practise!

Personally I would be happy with short play sessions like this outside but not in the house. Inside the house is time to teach calm and encourage them to be calm around each other.

Resident dogs can also be extremely patient with puppies but allowing your puppy to play in this manner may cause issues when they meet other dogs outside of the home many dog will not tolerate this level of play with strange dogs.

It would be good to have areas where the dogs can be together and also areas where they can be apart. Supervise all play sessions and do allow short play sessions only. It is not your older dogs responsibility to have to teach your puppy manners. That is your role as you have been doing.

There are signs of healthy play that you can look out for when deciding whether or not to separate them, these include turn taking, self-handicapping and mutual pauses: pethelpful.com/dogs/Signs-of-Healthy-Normal-Play-in-Dogs

Some breeds love to play fight. Supervise them. When my dogs get two rough I stop them. I usually judge this by them being on two legs. They are enjoying it however my dogs are bonded I would not want them doing it to other dogs. They can get overexcited but they soon learn with supervision.