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Post by windowdog on May 16, 2008 14:23:33 GMT -5
I've been socializing my pit with friends/family and their dogs since we got her. One problem I'm running into is that Devin and my parents Malamute/Retriever mix like to play a bit too much. They'll doing these little quick short growls and whines at each other and then they... box for the lack of a better term, they repeatedly drop down on their stomachs and try to push each others head around with their front paws. After a while of that they chase each other around and do lots of bluff charges, with lots of dropping to the ground mixed in by both of them. Their tails are going like mad and I don't think it's really aggressive, but I've really never seen play like this before and I'm worried about whether I should break it up when it happens.
Are their any good books or articles on the signs of real dog aggression vs play postures? I know from having been a dog walker that the whole tail thing isn't 100% reliable, some dogs will do into a full on attach while their tail keeps wagging.
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Post by RealPitBull on May 16, 2008 14:39:37 GMT -5
Based on your description it sounds like very enthusiastic play. If they were fighting, BELIEVE me you'd know it. Although rough play can look scary, when compared to a real dog fight, it's nothing! You do need to be aware that rough play can LEAD to a dog fight - dogs play rough and tumble, someone doesn't read someone else's signals appropriately and the signaling dog could react aggressively since the signals were ignored. Also, sometimes dogs who are in a state of arousal in play can easily drift over to full blown fighting behavior. A good rule of thumb I use (aside from know your dog!!) is to intermittantly interrupt play when it looks like it is getting too rough. Time-outs where both dogs are taken to their respective 'corners' and allowed to relax a moment before resuming play. As a safety precaution, you can also let one or both dogs dangle a leash so you can get them out of trouble quick should something happen (this is safety only! and should not be used as a crutch, as in, "oh it's ok if they fight, I have the leash to pull them apart" - I know YOU wouldn't think like this, but for the sake of our 200+ forum members, I must state this ;D). You should also be able to read signs of stress in your own dog and others. There are two books on dog body language that I would recommend - they will help you stay ahead of the game and interrupt any behavior you will be able to identifiy as problematic. The first is Turid Rugaas' book on Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals and the second book is Brenda Aloff's CANINE BODY LANGUAGE. You can get both of these books here: www.dogwise.com/Browse/SubCatList.cfm?SubCat=General%20Training&AffiliateID=45933&Method=5
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Post by jov1962 on May 18, 2008 12:55:27 GMT -5
You have no idea how glad I was to see this post. I have a huskey and a 7 month old pit. They play just as you described and I was a little concerned it might not really be just play, yet they were always wagging tails. I would relax them when it was heading toward what I felt was a little rough and this would tone it down.
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