No problem here but wanted a little more insight from those of you who are multiple dog owners. My 16 month intact male, Gunnar, plays several times a week with my sister's 6 month old female, Kira.

Gunnar is 80 lbs. Kira is 45 lbs. After a few minutes of playing shy, Kira seems to beat the crap out of my dog. My yard is one acre and fenced in. So they run like crazy all over and thru bushes etc. If he falls, he'll stay on the ground and "fight" from there so I know he's not feeling threatened by her but after a while of running around, he starts to show his teeth more in a snarly kind of way. I would bet the farm it's not an aggressive gesture but I was wondering if it is his way of saying, "I'm tired. Leave me alone"?

Are there any signs with male and female play that I should be aware of? For instance, one dog play nips too hard. Would that cause the other to bite back? This hasn't happened but I was curious as to what male and female tendencies are in play?

Our male pup, 6mo old roughhouses with our 3yr old female dobe. He is full of boundless energy and she plays until she has had enough. One of two things happens at that time; I step in and force the pup to stop by getting between them and commanding him to stop. He pretty much gets it works 99% of the time in short order. This reinforces that I say when playtime is over, I'm the leader. I always keep watch so I will step in when I think its appropriate. The second way it ends is the dobe has just had enough of his nonsence and will show warning aggression toward him. This always stops the roughhousing but almost always starts an new game of the pup tearing around the yard at full speed until he gets the dobie to chase him and then they both run for what is normally 5 to 10 minutes. Great exercise and they both come back into the house tired. Both of my dogs are sound and I'm not worried about a real fight breaking out, I step in long before I feel that would happen. One other thing, when one bites too hard and the other yelps it always causes a break in the play for a few seconds, nothing more.

Hey thanks Glenn for resurrecting that post. Don't know why I never got any responses.

Either it was too boring of a post <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> or there aren't too many things that can go wrong with sound male/female friends playing.

I guess my sister and I doing the right thing by watching the dogs' every move. One thing is for sure; I can't replicate that type of exercise. It's a fantastic workout! Thanks again Glenn.

I've got a Kira here too lol...she's four months old and does a fair bit of rough housing with my 4 year old female. I watch them every minute or they are not together. I also keep the squirt bottle handy for the pup, although I can warn my 4 year old with the "tone" to ease up...I'll get there with the pup soon enough.

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.....I watch them every minute or they are not together......

That's my "method" !

It sounds like a pain, but it's really not. I know several people who have two or even three dogs who are kept separated, some 100% and some just when there's no human supervision. And I definitely keep a new pack member apart from the other(s) at first, unless I am right there watching the playing or walking between them on leads.

Judy, you and Glenn are so right about the workout a good chase supplies! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I've seen more than one senior couch potato kick up the activity level a lot when a younger guy joins the pack and goads them into a game of chase on the lawn....... <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />