Help! Playing to rough!

[Lucy123]

Hi, I recently just got a male rottie puppy, he's 11 weeks old and lovely temperement. I have a 3 year old entire male boxer dog who is as soft as anything and gets on with everything and everyone. I know dogs play rough, and mouth and knock each other about but Colin(rottie) plays extremely rough, growling, and hanging off Ian's(boxer) mouth and cheeks and ears. I know his growl isn't aggressive he's just a vocal player, ian was too at his age, but I took him to socialisation classes and with time outs he soon nipped it in the bud.

The growling doesn't necessarily bother me it's how hard he clamps on to poor Ian. Ian's not an assertive dog, he won't snap and tell Colin that's not appropriate behaviour. He does however whimper when Colin hurts him but Colin ignores these behaviours and carrys on hanging off of him. Time outs don't seem to work(by time out I mean as soon as an unwanted behaviour is shown he immediately has play stopped by picking him up for 30 seconds). Colin's going to be quite a dominant dog but he is going to be neutered and I'm hoping this will hopefully take most of the dominance out of him, even though he's only 11 weeks he try's to mount ian, and bites his testicles which he has now pierced the skin on Ian's testicles more then once, and I'm getting really disheartend that he's going to cause Ian some major injury.

As I've said previously I've used time outs, when Ive noticed that he's being particularly rough, hanging off him, I pick him up not a word spoken for about 30 seconds then I pop him back on the floor so he can resume play, this hasn't been working. I then used a rattle bottle which had no effect what so ever! Only Ian was startled when i shook it! I have used a spray bottle with just water in, paired with the word 'no' for when he try's to mouth me, tryed whimpering but he didn't take any notice! As he was clamping hard on me too, the spray hasnt stopped him mouthing completely but has stopped him mouthing excessively hard on me. I don't particularly want to use the spray bottle when he's getting to rough with Ian as I don't want him to assosiate playing with something negative. I know dogs mouth when they play but his really is excessive. I have been taking him to socialisation classes and he does it the puppies there too.

I'm not a first time Rottweiler owner and I know the breed so knew what to expect, but he's the first one I've had an issue with biting to hard, and it doesn't help that Ian's a pushover and won't tell him when play is to much!

Any advice or help on how to stop him being so rough, I would be extremely thankful for!

[Catherine.J]

Hi Lucy123 , firstly well done for taking him to socialisation classes , at this age dogs soak up training /information like a sponge .
When your boxer and pup are around each other keep a close eye on interaction . As soon as puppy is too rough , its really important to remove him using a time out .I think you are doing the right thing by using time outs however if he goes straight back to the boxer and continues the rough play the the time out might need to be a bit longer . I would take puppy into another room out of view of your boxer and until he has calmed down or got distracted he cant leave the room ..stay in the room with him. (ignore any whinging )When he is calm he can go back in to play .

Each and every time he is too rough he gets removed and placed in a time out. This may take a while for him to get the message but if the boxer isnt confident enough to say tell pup off its down to you as an owner to say ..this behaviour is unacceptable .
However you mentioned that your boxer will whimper when it hurts .. this is a great signal by your boxer .. this is also the perfect opportunity to remove pup for a time out . If you leave pup hanging on the boxers ear after the boxer has said ouch that hurt .. pup wont learn this behaviour is unacceptable .
Try to make sure that your boxer has some times and space away from pup during the day so pup isnt pestering him all day

In the nicest possible way please dont use any spray bottles or rattle bottles anymore ... they wont work and can make the situation worse cause fear in some cases . Time outs are much more effective

If pup is mouthing you .. as soon as he uses his teeth on your skin or clothes .. yelp (a short high pitched yelp or ouch ) .. the yelp must be within 1 second of the teeth touching your skin/clothes . Immediately stop all attention to the pup . Dont say anything after the yelp / dont look at him / stand up turn your back and fold your arms ... completely ignore him . ( You are basically saying that really hurt me , I dont want this behaviour )
When he is calm you can continue with play or fuss .
If he does it again do as above . If he continues even after yelping a time out might be needed . Be patient with him it might take a few days to a week or so before he starts to get the message.

At this early age pups are still learning and it does take a while for some pups to learn how to behave properly with other dogs . One thing that is really important is to socialize him with as many dogs as possible early on. If he has had all his injections I really advise you to take him out to a local field so he can meet other dogs . ( Be-careful when you approach another dog as not all dogs are happy meeting pups , I would put him on the lead so you can ask the owner is your dog ok with pups )

The walks should also help calm him down a little so he is less likely to want to mouth. He may also be teething .. sore gums and teeth need something to chew on the get relief from the pain.. a Kong toy can be a great way for a pup to get some of that chewing out on a toy (which can also be frozen to help with sore gums.

Keep taking him to the socialization classes as this should help to teach him some manners ( as long as its a small group and you intervene when he is too rough )

Hope this helps

[JudyN]

I agree with all the above - I'd just add that for some pups, the human 'yelping' can make them more excited and so more mouthy. For these dogs, walking away or giving a timeout without making any noise at all is more effective.

[Lucy123]

Hi Lucy123 , firstly well done for taking him to socialisation classes , at this age dogs soak up training /information like a sponge .
When your boxer and pup are around each other keep a close eye on interaction . As soon as puppy is too rough , its really important to remove him using a time out .I think you are doing the right thing by using time outs however if he goes straight back to the boxer and continues the rough play the the time out might need to be a bit longer . I would take puppy into another room out of view of your boxer and until he has calmed down or got distracted he cant leave the room ..stay in the room with him. (ignore any whinging )When he is calm he can go back in to play .

Each and every time he is too rough he gets removed and placed in a time out. This may take a while for him to get the message but if the boxer isnt confident enough to say tell pup off its down to you as an owner to say ..this behaviour is unacceptable .
However you mentioned that your boxer will whimper when it hurts .. this is a great signal by your boxer .. this is also the perfect opportunity to remove pup for a time out . If you leave pup hanging on the boxers ear after the boxer has said ouch that hurt .. pup wont learn this behaviour is unacceptable .
Try to make sure that your boxer has some times and space away from pup during the day so pup isnt pestering him all day

In the nicest possible way please dont use any spray bottles or rattle bottles anymore ... they wont work and can make the situation worse cause fear in some cases . Time outs are much more effective

If pup is mouthing you .. as soon as he uses his teeth on your skin or clothes .. yelp (a short high pitched yelp or ouch ) .. the yelp must be within 1 second of the teeth touching your skin/clothes . Immediately stop all attention to the pup . Dont say anything after the yelp / dont look at him / stand up turn your back and fold your arms ... completely ignore him . ( You are basically saying that really hurt me , I dont want this behaviour )
When he is calm you can continue with play or fuss .
If he does it again do as above . If he continues even after yelping a time out might be needed . Be patient with him it might take a few days to a week or so before he starts to get the message.

At this early age pups are still learning and it does take a while for some pups to learn how to behave properly with other dogs . One thing that is really important is to socialize him with as many dogs as possible early on. If he has had all his injections I really advise you to take him out to a local field so he can meet other dogs . ( Be-careful when you approach another dog as not all dogs are happy meeting pups , I would put him on the lead so you can ask the owner is your dog ok with pups )

The walks should also help calm him down a little so he is less likely to want to mouth. He may also be teething .. sore gums and teeth need something to chew on the get relief from the pain.. a Kong toy can be a great way for a pup to get some of that chewing out on a toy (which can also be frozen to help with sore gums.

Keep taking him to the socialization classes as this should help to teach him some manners ( as long as its a small group and you intervene when he is too rough )

Hope this helps