First Injury

[pjackson]

Hello All,

I have researched threads on this forum for quite some time before acquiring my love. She's a little over three months, and I got her at 7 1/2 weeks. We are doing very good with house training, and basic commands. She does recognize me as Alpha, and gives me the respect due. Sometime I will rough house with her, althoug some people have different opinions in it. When we play, she is biting, lunging, growling as I push her away. We play for a few minutes, then I clap tell her no then down, and she stops. I wait a little and the same thing, just so sje knows I start and end our play sessions. Well we we playing over the weekend, and as I attempted to push her muzzle away, and my hand went in her mouth. As I pulled back one of her teeth sliced my handed. It wasn't her fault, so I caouldn't get mad at her. I hollered a little, and she could tell something was wrong, so she walk to me and sat at my feet. Is this recommended play as long as I set the boundaried, or am I doing something that will escalate as she gets older?

[Judi W]

I don't like head slapping or pushing as it stimulates alligator jaws. If I am going to play physically, I will give a small shove to the shoulder.

[pjackson]

Thanks Judi. I will try that instead. You always come to my rescue. Is there anything wrong with playing with her in this manner?

[Judi W]

Only if it has her snapping her jaws!!!!! A little bit of rough play goes a long way. I'd look for other fun games. "Tug enough" is great (tug with a beginning and an end teaches the dog to out, established boundaries and burns off some great energy), fetching, hide and seek (sets the foundation for a happy fast recall).....

[mickeymichellie]

I don't mind this play, but you might want to leave the rougher stuff until she is older and can control herself better. I play like this with Xander, but not until he was around 10 months, and he knew the command "enough". Now I let him grab my arm and hands and play rough, but he never has hurt me and when it gets too rough I say "enough" and he immediately sits and sees that is going to happen next.

[LORHEL]

Excellent advice above.... there are other things you can do to play with her, a tug rope if she likes that... make sure YOU always win that game, keep it short too... if you see any real aggression , discontinue it.

As a general rule: the pup should never have her hands on anyone's skin...(biting, etc)...licking is okay, but I mean play fighting, or teething on you, no.

:)

[jollyfattroll]

Accidents like that are another reason that I don't "rough play" like that with my rottie any more. I was advised by quite a few folks on this forum not to wrestle, or "push him away" when playing. IMHO, limited "tug of war" is OK if you have a piece of rope, etc that is long enough to keep an accidental nip from happening. Now our favorite games are "hide and seek" and "tag". How our "tag" works: I grab his "kong" and run around the basement until "Wrecks" catches up with me. He tags me with his wet nose and goes into a "sit" automatically! Then I put the kong in his mouth and HE takes off. Eventually, I catch him and tag him. He sits again and drops the kong. Then the whole cycle starts again. He's had enough when he no longer drops the kong on his own!

When "Wrecks" came here, I started to lose weight, almost 40 pounds now! Just another good reason to own a rottie! :p

Play well, but play safe!