dachsie play

[Mel]

Hi All,
Pip, Zoe, and I have a question concerning the furkids playing together. How do your dogs interact? Pip is 1 1/2 yr. old and Zoe is 5 months. She is a WILD thinghttp://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/bounce.gif! She definitely dominates the games with Pip. She chases him and growls and snarls and chews his ears, etc. Their play seems awfully aggressive, but neither seems to mind. Is this normal? Pip finally gets fed up and jumps onto the couch to escape. They are SOOO different. Pip is very stand-offish and looks very aloof and Zoe is like "Come on, look at me, lets play" I'm worried that they may not get along as well when they are older and that Pip just tolerates Zoe now because she's just a baby. Do I need to do anything to help them have a good relationship or will the furkids just work it out themselves?
Mel

[Wienergal]

From my own experience, what you're seeing is completely normal. I know what you mean about how aggressive their play looks! Sometimes it's hard to stand back and let them do their thing.

When we brought Arnold, a very playful rescue pup into the fold, he was a terror with my boy Farfel. He would run down the hall full-tilt and just plow into Farfie, then jump on him, growling and play-biting. Farfel always ended up on top, often with his jaws chewing away on Arnold's neck, but I realized after a while that this was their natural way of interacting. No one was hurt and I just stepped aside.

My guess is that in time, it will actually get better. As she gets older, Zoe won't be quite so frisky. The conventional wisdom is that if there is no blood, leave 'em alone!

[Mrs.F]

As the saying goes, "Been there, done that!" http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif
I too was really concerned about the rough playing and wrestling that Penny and Maggie indulge in. Our friends here assure me that it's normal, so I've relaxed - but sometimes as I watch Penny & Maggie thumping each other and rolling around on the rug with assorted body parts in their mouths, I wonder why I bothered with ramps. Surely the wrestling has to be as hard on their backs as jumping!

Anyway, Penny looks great - she is getting much more exercise than she ever got as an "only child" and both dogs seem to really enjoy themselves. I'm about ready to sew two little blue and silver uniforms and send the dogs along to the high school wrestling team try outs with my son this winter.
(Hmmm.... although that could mean that instead of the normal small fortune I usually spend during wrestling season, this year we'd have to spend the big bucks x 3 on special shoes, knee pads, ear protectors, mouthguards, etc. Yikes!)

[Augie Dog]

Augie and my mother-in-laws jack russle look like they are going to draw blood at any second while playing. Kat, the JR, pins Aug down and you would think that one of them is going to loose a leg!

All play, all the time.