J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

As per the title, my missus goes mad when me or one of the kids has a bit of a battle with the Dog, he loves it but its just fun, he isn't aggressive, doesn't bite, just kind of holds your arm and bounds around, he knows when you are playing and stops straight away when told, The wife has read that his teeth should never touch your skin or clothes but blokes have had rough and tumble with their Dogs for ever, well we have. Her mate was over and she has an opinion on everything and bollocked me for playing with my Dog, I asked her how many Dogs she had owned and it was zero, she decided the Dog should be put down in case he does it to any children, er, he does ours and none of them have died.

He doesn't go into full on attack or bite down hard, have seen what he can do to a rubber chicken and got my finger in the way on a ball once and that did make me wince and made me realise the power even a small Dog has when they put their mind to it,

Are they right, is my small Terrier/Poodle dog now a potential angel of death ?

Jamz3k

My old West Highland White Snowy loved a good fight. The same as your dog, mine knew that it was only playtime so would never bite down hard or anything like that. Brilliant little dog he was. RIP.

My boxer Tyson on the other hand didn't like fighting at all, he would have just stood there looking stupid at me.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Nothing wrong with play fighting with your dog, they like to be kept running around, they can use their teeth, most (not all ) wont even make a mark on your skin, thats why its play fighting

Tony

Jaybird-UK

My Labrador loves a play fight although she normally rolls on her back and attempts a combined biting/kicking combo move. it's funny as heck as she carrys on even when I move away

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Nope...

Play fighting should not really be encorouged with a dog..

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

All the time.

Should ideally use a toy a a biting object, but my hand/arm sometimes is the nearest thing handy...has NEVER left a mark on my skin.


However will easily tear the average dog toy to shreds.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Yes - and if we do use a toy and he goes for it and accidently catches my finger he immediately lets go. They are very careful and clearly know it is play. All dogs do it together, it is natural.

I would not do it with a dog that was not socialised or was clearly not submissive in the family context. Dogs will play fight to gain dominance and if your dog has any sense of dominance in the family situation then play fighting does carry risk.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Yup angel of death!

My two used to love a good brawl with each other, or me...

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

have a bit of rough and tumble with my border collie....shes pretty soft tho! obviously not all dogs act the same though. I can do anything to my collie and shes totally fine with me....my 6 year old nephew she can get a bit funny with though? I think its fine with family, wouldnt necessarily encourage it with strangers though.

boxst

We play fight with our Yorkshire Terrier. He knows it is play and if he catches our hand the teeth never go in.

He is a pain with strangers when out walking though -- but Yorkshire Terriers all have Napolean complexes anyway. Once he knows someone he is soppy.

TH3_5T1G

iTrader: (15)

I have 2 dogue de bordeauxs and couldn't imagine not play fighting with them. Sometimes they'll both gang up on me or one of them will find themselves fighting off myself and the other.

Should one of them yelp (not from me, i'm not rough) or i get nipped they stop straight away. They're both very gentle considering the size of them and the damage they could cause if they weren't. Combined weight is about 19 stone

eelz

iTrader: (10)

I miss playing like that with my late Rhodesian ridgeback, It keeps them invigorated and i'm sure they know its just a show of love and affection from their owners.

5 was no age for a dam good dog to die, even our vet said he was the most placid well behaved animal they had ever encountered.

R.I.P Gez.

billythekid

All dogs are different. If your dog understands the pack structure then a bit of rough play is just play to them. As said use a toy, not yourself just to prevent accidents really.

Only you know your dog at the end of the day. If it knows its play then great. My working dog 'plays' at her job in training. She enjoys it - a lot. But when that play that we do in training is a real situation she knows and she is a different dog and her attitude is very different.

stilover

I play fight with a Staffie. I trust him to quite happily stick my hand or arm in his mouth while play fighting. He knows just how hard (or not hard) to bite down.

He is soft as Sh!te in the real world.

birchy2010

iTrader: (12)

Play fight with both my sisters staffies. never bee marked by either of them. Both soft as anything and have more chance of licking a burgular to death than anything else. just make alot of noise more than anything especially when play fighting each other.

Lee247

Hell yeah My kids aggravate the life out of our GSD.
Chris get's him in a wrestle type hole while Alex grabs his tail and pretends to chew it. He goes crackers. I swear he is laughing.
Loads of daft doggie noises. Great fun and he is wonderful. Never, ever bites or anything nasty. He seems to enjoy it as much as they do.

CrisPDuk

I fight with our Springer all the time, couldn't imagine not doing

I've had the odd accidental nip, but I've never been marked. She's always aware when she's caught me and releases immediately

She seems to be aware that MrsD is not so keen so never tries to play with her

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

I once had a cat called tyson.

Adrian F

of course it is ok to play with your job as long as it is clear it is play so train a command that indicates play stops that way you can let you dog know when to stop.

As to dominance that is just media hype dogs dont have ridged pack structures and dont believe in dominance in that way but like all living things they push boundaries to try and get some thing they want like the right to site on the furniture as its more comfortable than the floor but they dont have plans to rule the house lol

There are a lot of books by experts like Karen Pryor and Jean Donaldson for those that want to understand how dogs think. These are the types of methods used by the top trainers in the country like Mary Ray

In fact the experts encourage play with your dog when a young puppy so it learns that biting to hard stops the playing especially as humans bare skin is easier to hurt than a dogs fur coat so the dog has to learn to bit softer when playing with humans which a well socialised dog does easily

S2martin

I have a Labrador and a Collie and play fight with them all the time and can honestly say they have never hurt me, They know exactly how hard they can bite me and its only ever on my forearms and both tails are wagging like its going out of fashion,
When they play fight each other its a different thing entirely as they really go for it but never to the point of actual fighting so its pretty clear they both know the difference between playing with humans and playing with dogs.
My brother can visit with the kids and both dogs will play fight with the kids but i think its mainly so they can try and lick/sneaky steal the sweets etc off the kids hands lol
Actually every person i know who has a dog play fights with them

Martin

boxst

And this is soppy he is after fighting ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=wqWzc5w1pC0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ec2W...eature=related

subaruturbo_18

Definitely do with my dog all the time. She loves it.

If somebody came in to my house telling me my dog should be put down I'd tell them to keep their thoughts to themselves or ill put them down!

Saint AAI

Play fight with mine all the time, he always grabs my arm in his mouth, but never bites me. He loves it.

GazTheHat

As above, you shouldn't play fight. But then our dog is 40kg!

billythekid

Not rigid, but they do have the pack structure in their heads from birth. So long as you can recognise that and notice any issues with human on dog play fighting becoming more aggressive or dominating, especially in male dogs, then great. Because then the game stops, you are the boss, the toys go away and its back to "normal". Dog goes back into low drive, and everyone is happy.

I do agree to an extent though, so long as your dog understands its place then great. I dont stick to all this "you must eat before your dog eats" etc etc. My dogs eat before me, its easier for me that way. They still know their place. My dogs can go anywhere in the house, again they know their place. My GSD does not go on my bed, I dont tell her not too, but she knows its not hers. She can if she wants, and the odd time she jumps up on it I will just tell her to get off and she gets down. In the last 8 years of dog ownership I have only had 1 thing damaged in my house, and that was a pillow which one of the dogs decided to chew at random.

Its all down to how you treat them in subtle ways, not "beating them with a stick" (metaphorical stick) so they know they are not top dog.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I have always had play fights with dogs. Our old lab (now passed on bless him) used to love play fighting. When I was a young boy, we used to all have our dinner at 5pm and then my Dad and I would go into the playroom with our dog Max and have a good hour play time. He loved it and so did we.

My brother has a Rottweiler/American Bulldog cross and I play fight with him all the time. He is just a soppy/stupid/loving mutt. He knows who is boss though.

I think because of how I have interacted with dogs over the years has made me confident of dealing with a nasty one if I ever came across such a dog.

Coffin Dodger

Our border collie used to love a good battle on the living room floor. As mentioned he always had a toy in his gob to take out any aggression on. Only once did I overstep the mark, he had this big toy hippo that we'd got from the charity shop. I was punching that while he had it as it used to make him go a bit mental shaking it and stuff, anyway a badly timed punch got him on the end of the nose and he dropped the hippo and went for me. Luckily I was quick to react and shoved him away, with seconds he realised he'd done wrong and went all sheepish and subordinate like dogs generally do when they know they've done wrong. Poor thing, probably hurt quite a bit. Anyway didn't stop further rough and tumble

An0n0m0us

Play fight with my Labrador once a day as it is stimulation she needs, to let off a bit of steam. I wouldn't want her having pent up energy from lack of play (she is walked 5 miles daily).

I will put my hand in her mouth and get quite rough but the only time it hurts is if I take my hand away and catch it on a tooth, she doesn't bite just mouth like a puppy would. She is not yet 3 so I will expect this to reduce in time as she matures.

This is something she only does with me and a much lesser extent with the wife. The kids she is very gentle with and never attempts to initiate rough play with them. She knows her place OK and that is in on par with the pet rabbits, budgie and hamsters which she doesn't like but it's the way it is. They all get a fuss and she isn't aloud to muscle in when the other pets are played with.

As for your wife's friend tell her to **** right off, can't stand opinionated bitches like that who know nothing about what they are giving an opinion on but come round and tell you how to run your life.

Cammy5106

iTrader: (3)

I used to do it with my old dog Lucy she loved a good toy fight. Nothing wrong with it, completely different from training a killer dog to attack things.

My cat likes a good toy fight loves getting roughed up too, she bites and hits but never scratches. Our daughter of 17month is constantly tormenting the cat, does than mean I should put it down too..

ChrisB

Our long gone Cairn Terrior (Tobie) loved a good play scrap. He could "bite" and gnaw at your arm or hand but would never draw blood.