fighting or playing-how to tell?? (poodle, golden retriever, bite, barking)

[amyla]

Hi. We have a new 6 month old puppy and a 1 1/2 year old dog. They run around the house and pounce on eachother a lot( almost like cats). They bite at eachothers faces and necks. My older dog might be standing on couch-they are both small dogs-and the puppy will be jumping up and down and each try to bite eachothers faces. How do you know if they are fighting or having a good time-there is growling and barking going on but when my older dog get the puppy on her back, she lets her go. Thanks-Amy

[wolfeyes]

You babies are just playing...All dogs play that way.. You will know if they are fighting the playing will get intense and way out of hand.. Best thing to do is when you feel they are playing to rough make them stop and settle down.
I have a 6month old great dane puppy(he weighs 100lbs) also and a 3 year old mixed greatdane/some kind of hound(he weighs 70lbs)and a 2 year old female great dane(she weighs 115-120lbs).. now try and imagine them inside jumping all over the house playing..lol

[Travel'r]

We knew our dogs were serious when we saw a real snarl. Hardly ever, thank God. But that was the telling point. And when the ears go way back with the snarl.

[APBT_Samara]

You should be able to tell by body language. Mine do that a lot with the couch, one will be on the couch and the other on the floor trying to bite the others face. That is how pups and even adult dogs play. If they are serious you will see a different demeanor in their actions.

[amyla]

Thanks for the replies. The puppy is 100% play, its the older dog I'm unsure about. She stands on the end of the bed or couch and tries to bite her back. I guess if she was annoyed enough, she would walk away. It is very funny to watch go.

[LingLing]

The other day, my GSD was playing with a standard poodle. After several rounds, the poodle suddenly made an aggressive growl and my GSD growled back. The poodle started to run and my GSD started to chase. Somehow, I don't feel comfortable about the play. I stopped play. The poodle's owner felt that I overreacted and they were just playing. But I just don't feel right. If the poodle is my dog too, I may let them play out. It is hard for me to judge.

[PitBullMommie1206]

Originally Posted by amyla

Hi. We have a new 6 month old puppy and a 1 1/2 year old dog. They run around the house and pounce on eachother a lot( almost like cats). They bite at eachothers faces and necks. My older dog might be standing on couch-they are both small dogs-and the puppy will be jumping up and down and each try to bite eachothers faces. How do you know if they are fighting or having a good time-there is growling and barking going on but when my older dog get the puppy on her back, she lets her go. Thanks-Amy

They are just playing, that's completely normal. Trust me, if they were fighting, you would know. There would be no question! lol!

We own 3 APBTs that are all under 2 years old. They are very playful, they get very loud when they are playing and they tend to get pretty rough. To a stranger, our dogs playing would look like they were trying to kill each other! But, they are just playing. The body language of a playing dog and a fighting dog are way different!

Play can turn into a fight very easily and very quickly though. Our dogs are all very friendly and they absolutely love each other, but we still keep a very close eye on them when they are playing. Just to make sure if anything does start to turn into what could be a fight, we can catch it before it gets out of hand. I'm telling you though, it's very obvious if they are fighting, or about to be in a fight, especially if you are keeping a close eye on them.

[amyla]

Its like having 2 more children!

[regarese]

Does the same go with a cat and a dog? We have a 6 year old male cat (and others but he's the only one interested in the dog) and a 1 year old choc. lab/golden retriever mix. We have had the dog since March and the cat is just now starting to venture into the same room with the dog-or he'll sit on the counter to antagonize her. Anyway, I can tell that they both really just want to play with each other, but sometimes it looks like the dog is really going to hurt the cat-nipping at his neck or backside or just clobbering over him because she's so much bigger. Are they still playing?

[surfingatwork]

Originally Posted by amyla

Its like having 2 more children!

It certainly is just like having children. My two were playing just like this last night and they're big dogs (110lbs and 85lbs). They were playing so much they pushed the loveseat up against the wall and pushed my coffee table up against the couch with their bodies. The room was starting to get a mess so I told them ENOUGH, outside you go and they did. Just like children (except they listened).