Manners while playing with other dogs

Luna has a new friend called Harvey, he is a 10 month old jack russell-spaniel mix. Big enough boy he’s slightly longer and taller than her but with short little legs

Thing is Luna is like a little psycho around him we brought them to a field together and they were loving it, chasing each other zooming around, Luna was a bit annoying as he would loose interest every now and then and go off sniffing and she’d just keep jumping at him to get attention but he was wagging his tail and was happy about it.

Yesterday however Harvey came over to our house and they played in the back garden. Luna was very controlling. Harvey lives in an apartment and doesn’t have a garden so it’s new for him to be running around without his lead, he wanted to play with her a bit but he also wanted to sniff around and rest a bit but she would not let him. She kept jumping at him to try to initiate chasing and would pull at his ears when he didn’t want to chase. She wasn’t being aggressive or jealous even when he was drinking her water or touching her food- she was very surprisingly open for him to be able to use her food and water and even toys. Only problem is her constantly nagging at him and getting too rough playing. When they were playing she but him too hard once on the ear as he let out a squeal and snapped at her to warn her.

This was only their third time ever seeing each other and Luna has never had a different dog in her house before so it is all a very new situation for her and I think she is just trying to get the most out of it incase it doesn’t happen again, she sees other dogs on walks but doesn’t see them again so maybe she’s just excited over that. I just want to teach her to play nicer though, chasing and all that is fine but she can’t be hurting other dogs in over excitement.. I need to teach her to be able to relax infront of the other dog and when he’s tired and trying to lie down for a minute she can’t be pulling his ear biting it hard and barking at him so that he plays with her

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBpervHgzXL/?igshid=1shmmddpa9tay

That is a link to them playing together. They really like each other and aren’t aggressive towards each other in any way, just that Luna gets too rough after few minutes and he tries to step away from her then but she’ll just chase him.

They look like they're getting on well together, certainly not aggressive She will learn to leave him alone when he tells her off enough.

If at any time you think it's going too far, or if you think her playmate has had enough for the time being, you should stop her yourself. Use a trigger word ('enough' or 'stop' for example), and take her away. If necessary, put her on her lead for a while.

Most dogs will put others in their place, but some wait until they've really had enough & snap. That's all well & good, but you shouldn't always rely on that. You should always have a way to stop rough or niggling okay to give both dogs a rest.

Oh, and I wouldn't allow another dog to touch Luna's food. That is also bad manners! And the other dog may be allergic to or intolerant of something in her food.

If at any time you think it's going too far, or if you think her playmate has had enough for the time being, you should stop her yourself. Use a trigger word ('enough' or 'stop' for example), and take her away. If necessary, put her on her lead for a while.

Most dogs will put others in their place, but some wait until they've really had enough & snap. That's all well & good, but you shouldn't always rely on that. You should always have a way to stop rough or niggling okay to give both dogs a rest.

Oh, and I wouldn't allow another dog to touch Luna's food. That is also bad manners! And the other dog may be allergic to or intolerant of something in her food.

Yes that is the main problem that the other dog is quiet he isn’t really telling her off he tries to just walk off from her but she just chases him then and pulls his ears to get his attention. She definitely dominates him and he knows it and just kind of accepts it but I feel bad as I don’t want her to be a bully that either gets to play her way or starts nipping the dog

I had her collar on so when she was getting too much I pulled her back to me and kept her sitting down to calm down for few minutes but the second you let go she’s like a rocket launching for him

However this was her very first time ever having a dog in her home so I think considering that she did well. Maybe when she gets to know Harvey more and realises she will see him again soon she won’t be that excited to play non stop?

This thread and another thread have really reassured me tonight as I've had a slight issue of Vincent's play with his Staffy buddy getting a little out of hand today. I can see that much of the set up was my fault and it was too much to expect of my boy to be able to be calm in the situation, and I also wasn't happy with the location (which the other Staffy owner had suggested)- something just felt "off"... I will be more guided by my instincts in future as I can see how Vincent would have picked up on this.

Anyway, I though I'd jump on here to ask @gillybrent please or indeed anyone else if you have any tips for teaching a trigger word. Vincent isn't good with "leave" or "no", I can't seem to make it stick in a way which will override his enthusiasm for absolutely everything under the sun, so I'd really like to improve our grasp of this concept. In fact, any tips for getting their attention whilst they're engaged in something more interesting to them would be very much appreciated. Thanks so much x

Repetition & treats.

I've always used 'enough', mainly because it doesn't sound like any other word I used in training.

When you want him to stop something, just say "enough" in a firm (not too loud) voice & pull him round to face you if you can. Then treat. It can take quite a few repetitions, though, so don't get disheartened if he doesn't pick it up straight away; after all, you're stopping his fun!

gillybrent wrote:Repetition & treats.

I've always used 'enough', mainly because it doesn't sound like any other word I used in training.

When you want him to stop something, just say "enough" in a firm (not too loud) voice & pull him round to face you if you can. Then treat. It can take quite a few repetitions, though, so don't get disheartened if he doesn't pick it up straight away; after all, you're stopping his fun!

Thank you so much, my confidence has taken a bashing so we're going to do lots of this at home! x

We’ve been trying a simple “stop” but Luna is stubborn she knows what it means but if she’s having fun she doesn’t care we say stop. It does work with the cat however, she learned to leave him alone so I’d say when she sees other dogs more often she will get less excited and listen a bit more. Fingers crossed