May 10, 2011
We got a new dog 2 weeks ago and when she plays with our male dog he gets quite rough. She rolls over and puts her tail between her legs. Should we step in?
Full Question:
Hi,My husband and I really enjoy watching and reading your various articles on dog training. We currently have two GSD (1 male, 1 female). The female is the newest in the family and the two seem to get along quite well. The question we have is this... the female is very submissive and the male very dominant. We give them their own time to play with us and we also allow them time to play together. The problem (we think) when they play together is that the female just runs after the male while he is chasing the ball or frizbee. She will nip at his neck. Not aggressively though. Her ears stay up and the tail is out (not up or down). However when they play with each other, the male is quite rough with her because of his nature (again not aggressive - no hackles) but she will "fight" back (teeth showing but again no hackles) for a bit and then she submits, and rolls over whining, tail between her legs. Should we allow this to occur as neither are hurting each other? Are they trying to obtain their pecking order? I worry because we have only had the female for 2 weeks and would like to try to determine if this is natural behavior, or if we should step in. We don't want her to be SO submissive. He (Metro) would just like a playmate.
Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
John and Gail
Cindy's Answer:
I’d read the article Ed wrote on introducing dogs.
I don’t allow this kind of play/bossy behavior with my own dogs. Some dogs play nicely and some get too rough. You are setting the dogs up for injury or a fight. You can’t control how submissive a dog is, but you can control the behavior of the dogs when they are together through training and leadership. I don’t put my less assertive dogs in the situation that they feel the need to roll over and tuck their tail and I don’t allow my more dominant dogs to be bullies. I’m the boss and when they are with me they abide by my rules. I don’t allow dogs like this to be together unless I’m supervising. Dogs don’t really NEED playmates, this is a human idea that sounds nice to us. I do have dogs that enjoy playing but all of them would prefer spending one on one time with me, as opposed to romping around with other dogs (we have 5 house dogs).
I’d recommend reading our groundwork article and watching the Pack Structure for the Family Pet DVD.
For future questions, you might benefit from learning to use our SEARCH function, which is located in the top left corner of every page of the website. If you type in your key words or question it will find you articles, Q & A’s, free streaming video and links to threads on our discussion forum. Our website has over 16,000 pages and it’s very likely you’ll find the information you are looking for. I hope this helps.
Cindy Rhodes
I don’t allow this kind of play/bossy behavior with my own dogs. Some dogs play nicely and some get too rough. You are setting the dogs up for injury or a fight. You can’t control how submissive a dog is, but you can control the behavior of the dogs when they are together through training and leadership. I don’t put my less assertive dogs in the situation that they feel the need to roll over and tuck their tail and I don’t allow my more dominant dogs to be bullies. I’m the boss and when they are with me they abide by my rules. I don’t allow dogs like this to be together unless I’m supervising. Dogs don’t really NEED playmates, this is a human idea that sounds nice to us. I do have dogs that enjoy playing but all of them would prefer spending one on one time with me, as opposed to romping around with other dogs (we have 5 house dogs).
I’d recommend reading our groundwork article and watching the Pack Structure for the Family Pet DVD.
For future questions, you might benefit from learning to use our SEARCH function, which is located in the top left corner of every page of the website. If you type in your key words or question it will find you articles, Q & A’s, free streaming video and links to threads on our discussion forum. Our website has over 16,000 pages and it’s very likely you’ll find the information you are looking for. I hope this helps.
Cindy Rhodes
100% (5 out of 5)
respondents found this answer helpful
Can't find what you're looking for?
100% (5 out of 5)
respondents found this answer helpful
.jpg)
