Separate or Allow Fighting?

[Nicole Leveque]

I have a well behaved 11 mo. old female rottweiler (Zoe), and just this week added a 4.5 mo. old male mixed rescue (Oliver or "Ollie"). He's 1/2 American Eskimo and 1/2 ???, but possibly JRT. He's just 11 pounds; she's 75 pounds.

Oliver is constantly biting Zoe. He latches onto her face, usually her cheeks or chin. He sometimes bites at her legs, too. Zoe tolerates for a while, but then ends up pinning him, body slamming him, or sitting on him. I don't think she's really hurting him, but the size difference certainly gives me reason to be concerned. Ollie's not always the one to instigate things. Zoe will frequently either approach with one of his toys, or come up and start licking his face until he licks back and eventually starts the biting.

My question is, should I be taking steps to stop Ollie from biting Zoe, or should I just allow them to work it out themselves? He's not really hurting her (it takes a lot to really hurt a rottie - much more than a few baby teeth on the cheek), but the behavior concerns me. I would also prefer that they don't spend 1/2 their time fighting.

If I should get involved, what do you recommend that I do? When I'm at work they are crated. At night they share a dog bed outside my bedroom, and there are no fights at all at night.

[Melissa Brunoehler]

Hi Nicole~

I'm not worried by what you've written here so far. Hopefully Ollie will learn his boundaries & learn to give your big guy a break. However if you think Ollie is really annoying Zoe by all means step in & seperate the 2. Or separate them if you need a break from it. Put one dog in a seperate room with a really fun treat/toy & practice obedience with the other. I recommend you put each dog on NILIF. You can read more about NILIF in the article section.
I'd also suggest they each have their own dog bed. They may stay together on one bed, but they should have the option of their own individual bed.

I have a well behaved 11 mo. old female rottweiler (Zoe), and just this week added a 4.5 mo. old male mixed rescue (Oliver or "Ollie"). He's 1/2 American Eskimo and 1/2 ???, but possibly JRT. He's just 11 pounds; she's 75 pounds.

Oliver is constantly biting Zoe. He latches onto her face, usually her cheeks or chin. He sometimes bites at her legs, too. Zoe tolerates for a while, but then ends up pinning him, body slamming him, or sitting on him. I don't think she's really hurting him, but the size difference certainly gives me reason to be concerned. Ollie's not always the one to instigate things. Zoe will frequently either approach with one of his toys, or come up and start licking his face until he licks back and eventually starts the biting.

My question is, should I be taking steps to stop Ollie from biting Zoe, or should I just allow them to work it out themselves? He's not really hurting her (it takes a lot to really hurt a rottie - much more than a few baby teeth on the cheek), but the behavior concerns me. I would also prefer that they don't spend 1/2 their time fighting.

If I should get involved, what do you recommend that I do? When I'm at work they are crated. At night they share a dog bed outside my bedroom, and there are no fights at all at night.

[Nicole Leveque]

Melissa, thanks for the post and the advice. Things went really well yesterday. I had friends over, one of whom brought a 3rd dog for a visit. My 2 were wonderful! They were well behaved, and didn't play rough with the visiting pup. When we used a baby gate to keep the dogs in an adjoining room, my 2 laid down together while the 3rd dog kept trying to escape (by squeezing its little body through the gate).

Last night I added a 2nd dog bed in the hallway, but they both plopped down on the bed they've shared all week, and they were both there together when I woke up this a.m. I really feel that this will work out well, and I'm now convinced that the fighting is play, not aggression.

[zok]

Nicole,

We have two dogs - one 2-year-old Lab/Golden mix and a new JRT/something mix puppy that is going on 4 1/2 months. It's really funny (and terrific!) to read your post because I see a lot of what Ruby and Piper do to each other in what you have written.

Piper will sometimes instigate and play bite Ruby's legs, butt, nose, ear (whatever she can reach) and then Ruby will play bite Piper back. Then they romp all over the house (sounding like a heard and a half of elephants) jumping on each other and trying to knock each other over. Piper will jump on Ruby's head and then Ruby (who is a whole lot bigger) will pin Piper to the floor. Then Piper will chew on Ruby's cheek (just like you said) and Ruby will put her mouth around Piper's head (but not biting, just putting her mouth there ... like, 'hey little puppy, I COULD bite your head off if I really WANTED to'). Then Piper will run off to a safe space (she’ll hop on the sofa because Ruby knows that she’s not allowed to play there) and will catch her breath and then she’ll jump on Ruby’s head again.

Then after all that, they've worn themselves out and they'll cuddle on the floor or the sofa together or they'll settle down on the floor next to each other and groom each other.

Initially, I was really concerned about the play biting, but as far as Ruby and Piper are concerned, it's just fun. There are times when I will stop their playing because it is rough enough to cause ME to worry ... but they always seem irritated that I barged in to their play and as soon as I'm not looking they'll start at each other again :)

I can definitely commiserate with you that it can be exhausting for the person who is watching the doggies ... but the doggies seem to really be enjoying themselves :) And, the upshot for you is that you don't need to exercise them anywhere near as much as you had to with only one dog, they get super muscular and healthy from all of the play, and they zonk out at night and sleep the whole night through! :D

We watch out for 'yipes' and growls and any aggression, but we weren't seeing those things so we decided that our girls are OK and they seem to think so too.

A final note, just to keep everyone happy and give the pups a break from one another, we will sometimes split them up (we'll each take a pup into a different room and give them some cuddle time). We also remove any toys that seem to cause friction between them (the both really love one particular toy so we only allow one of them to play with it when they are apart from one another). And they each have their own crate where they can look at one another but each have their own toys that they can play with without fear that the other one will try to steal the toys away.

I hope that this helps, and GOOD LUCK :D

zok

[Luciann]

My two chis do that also, they chase each other and chew on each other all the time. You know when one is getting aggressive with the other, which is what i tend to watch for to seperate them. Otherwise i let them play wrestle and chase each other.

good luck with your furbabies

[magoo]

I concur! I thought for a while that my dog was being ultra-aggressive to our foster dog... turns out dogs are just more violent-play than we are. If I stop their "fight" it lasts 4 times longer than if I don't. Most likely they are just exhibiting pack ordinance behavior - better to stay out of it until it REALLY sounds like someone is being hurt (high pitched squealing...) The puppy can do NO damage to the already grown Rott that it doesn't want.

[Sharon Alcon]

Please be careful and do let them have their alone time as others have written. My sister has a Jack Russell that is the Queen in their house she is about 10 now but still full of spit and vinegar. About 2 years ago they got a 8 wk old Yellow Lab. From day one that puppy was constantly tormented, nipping at the heels, butt, tail, ears. It was like a kid poking over and over for years. The bad thing was my sister never took any steps to correct the JRT. They are both females and the Lab is always a nice dog, but the JRT is really pesty even to people and has never had any training. One day the lab finally can't take it any more, and the aggession starts. Today they can not even be in the same room together or yard. The lab took the JRT by the neck one day and shook her, the vet said as small as she was if the was bite was positioned differently it could of snapped her neck. They love both dogs but now they have 2 dogs that can never be together at all. I have 2 male dogs that get along great but I still believe in separating them sometimes, taking only one for a ride or walk just to give them some quiet alone time. I am not saying your situation sounds like my sisters but just to keep watch that they are both ok with the playing, not aggrivated and everyone needs space even dogs.