They Want To Start To Play

[XTRAWLD]

Our boys have been together now for over a year. Kasey "tolerates" Ryder. Ryder is a spunky 3 year old, soon to be 4. You just pick up a toy and he will play with you. Kasey is 8 and he picks the times to be happy and playful. We've had Kasey 6 years now, so we are familiar with him. Over the past couple of days, I have seen Kasey with a full high wag of his tail, try to approach Ryder to play. Earlier this week he went into a full bow, tail wagging, barking at Ryder. Ryder shys away, kinda stands there hoping Kasey won't pounce on him. Ryder is very careful not to place a foot wrong in our house! Kasey has started to pick up and play with toys that Ryder plays with. Kasey usually uses only his teddy bear, but now he's grabbed a squaky "wubba" and Ryder's favorite toy "dragon". This morning Kasey held "wubba" and I was tugging and Ryder came in for a grab of the end I had....but when he saw Kasey attached to the other end he backed off, but I did encourage him to try to grab the other end if he wanted, because I've noticed this "play" behaviour from Kasey.

 

Kasey is a big party pooper in our house. In the past, if Ryder is playing too much Kasey will just come into the room and Ryder will stop. But now, it seems like he wants to get along. We waited to see what would happen each time Kasey has tried to play. Kasey has tried to nip Ryder, going mostly for the neck and ears, a couple times trying the back. No injury, but Ryder's fur is a little damp so I know he made contact. We are very carefully watching and call it off when we think Kasey is getting ahead of himself and he immediately stops. I think Ryder is too scared to play with Kasey when Kasey is in full out play mode, so we try to protect Ryder by calling Kasey off when he's going nuts. Ryder's tail is not tucked between his legs when this happens, he just sorta turns his body to the side away from Kasey and stands there.

 

How do I know when it's ok and try to let him play? If I think they are starting to play and I grab the muzzles, they immediately stop and Kasey tried desperately to get the muzzle off like he's never had to deal with it ever in his life, so the total focus of play is gone in an instant.

[Batmom]

Really a judgement call. Barring any signs of "do that one more time and I'll nail ya": Indoors, with supervision, I'd let them check each other out and see how they do. Mouthing and bitey-face are pretty common play behaviors. Outside, I'd muzzle.

[kikibean]

I'd just watch them. When we first got Maddy we were careful when she and Rocky played because they get pretty wound up.

 

This is them playing not too long after we got Maddy. They're not quite this wild anymore (they're old hounds).

Strangely the 2 play police sleeping didn't put an end to this

 

 

They've never played outside, but if they did we would have muzzled them.

Edited August 12, 2011 by kikibean

[TheFullHouse]

When Kasey has gone too far, Ryder will let him know, probably with a growl, bark, snap warning. I'd definitely call a halt to the play at that point. Until then I'd watch very closely and let them discover the fun of playing together rather than separately. They may or may not ever play together.

[greysmom]

If Kasey has been the fun police for a long time, it can take some time for the others to learn it's OK to play. I would just monitor them and see if Ryder will get more comfortable with Kasey's play behavior. Don't let the nipping get out of hand - it can easily turn into something that needs a vet with their thin skin. You might also see if they will both play with *you* when then want to play, so you can encourage them to play together.

[XTRAWLD]

The playing is indoors, in our basement that has a little bit of room to stretch their legs and have some room around each of them for tug, etc. They both willingly play with me or hubby at the same time. It's a bit of an acrobatic display though because they play separately....one hand holds the bear, the other holds the dragon. LOL

 

I did figure Ryder wasn't sure about the fun police wanting to play. I'm worried Kasey might be rough, but as mentioned Ryder would put him in his place I would hope if he did something where he was too uncomfortable. So we should stop intervening and stopping Kasey until we see something more aggressive? We should have Ryder stand up for himself instead? I've seen the skin tear thread when hounds get upset with eachother and I would never forgive myself if Kasey did that to Ryder.

 

I'd like to get the interaction on video and then post it here, but of course the camera is never within reach when play time begins.

 

I'd just watch them. When we first got Maddy we were careful when she and Rocky played because they get pretty wound up.

 

This is them playing not too long after we got Maddy. They're not quite this wild anymore (they're old hounds).

Strangely the 2 play police sleeping didn't put an end to this

 

 

They've never played outside, but if they did we would have muzzled them.

 

I watched the vid. Neither of them are lying down when play time is about to start, both are always standing. Ryder is the more submissive one, but I doubt he would be up for Kasey grabbing his head! At this stage of the game anyway!

 

AHHH, the teeth are so close to the eyeballs!

[kikibean]

Rocky and Maddy usually play with both of them standing up. At first we weren't sure if it was all play since our other girls never played like that.

 

I think you can't be too careful, especially at first when they're feeling each other out, about making sure it doesn't get out of hand.

 

Luckily Rocky and Maddy are both pretty non-alpha. The two laying down are/were the bosses and would put a stop to it when it got out of hand. (in their eyes).

[NeylasMom]

You might consider getting a video on dog behavior, or at least a well illustrated book so you can familiarize yourself better with what's play and what isn't. Or go to a dog park by yourself and just watch how other dogs play. I know how nerve wracking it is. Zuri is my "fun police" but the other night my foster was doing springs up and down the condo when he came charging in. It was midnight and therefore his bedtime so I fully expected a snark and started saying our cue for calm down ("easy"), but I quickly realized Zuri was actually interested in playing so I shut up and watched. Lo and behold, he wanted to play and they did, then they ended it on their own.

 

Unfortunately our dogs pick up on our reactions so if you're stressed, it may effect their play. I'm starting to think more and more that it's better to have a hands off approach and to better familiarize myself with dog behavior so I can tell when it is play and relax and let things happen. Most dogs aren't going to escalate a fight to the point of injury unless they feel really trapped so while I do think caution is a good idea, I think maybe we don't need to be as protective as we sometimes are (and I'm speaking for myself more than anyone else there).