errica

I am happy to report that Athena (3 yr old female) and Apollo (3 month old male) are getting along really well. They hang out and play together all day and seem very happy.

Athena is very gentle with the pup, she'll play bite him, but never hard enough to really hurt him, and she has certainly never broken skin. Apollo, on the other hand, is a puppy, and a boy, and honestly just a little dumb at times. He will chew on Athena, chase her, bite on her and just harass her for hours on end. She doesn't mind all the playing, but I have noticed that she has a few little scabs from superficial scratches and bites from the pup.

My question is this: Are they playing too rough, how to I determine if it's too rough, how do I stop the really rough play without stopping all play and am I just over-reacting? Will Athena protect herself if the need really arises and can Apollo do any major damage?

I have been keeping an eye on the scabs, cleaning the areas he seems to prefer to chew on and making sure that they all heal up quickly...

RedFawnRising

1. Athena is a Saint

2. How old was Apollo when he came to live with y'all?

3. Sounds like maybe a play date or three with another stable and safe, but less tolerant, dog may help Apollo learn his bite inhibition and puppy manners!

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It takes more than a baby and a box to make a normal monkey.—Harry F. Harlow

errica

He was 8 weeks old when we got him. They have been playing like this for about 3 of the last 4 weeks.

ellenm

My girl was the same way to my sweet old rescue, Rex. He finally stood up for himself as she got older. He is just a saint with puppies and lets them get away with murder!

I would crate her, or keep her in the kitchen with me and let him have the run of the house etc to give him a break from babysitting! She is 20 months now and still crated at night to give him peace and quiet in the bedroom on his dog bed. They have a great mutual agreement about food, toys, playing etc....she calls the shots and most of the time he agrees!!

**Meant to add I'd let Athena have some one on one time with you, or let her time alone away from puppy teeth every day!

HICAP40

Excalibur is a pain in the butt also to our shepherd mix female
(5 yrs old), she`s been a great girl. as much of a pain in the butt he is she has not bit him, just warns him really well when she has food, they play hard but I keep it from getting out of hand, dont need no accidents.

Kratty

Sounds like its more about puppy teeth than rough playing. Nikita had so many puppy teeth wounds around her neck, that all I felt was scab after scab. Once the puppy teeth are gone, so will be the wounds. Older dogs are real good at letting the little ones when they have enough. They will let them know, it won't look or sound pretty, but it gets the point across, as long as they only take it as far as needed and stop on their own, without our intervention.

I would be worried more if the older dog was playing too rough to the puppy. In most cases, the puppy will yelp away and it only takes that for the play to change. If the older dog continues the rough play and the puppy is not enjoying it, I would step in.

Those puppy teeth are too sharp.

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errica

We've been taking her on walks by herself (the pup still doesn't have all his shots anyway) and she has bedtime in our room with Apollo in the crate. Other than that they are usually together. Athena gets sad if she isn't with him!

That is kind of what I was wondering, because these are all real shallow scratches, not really bites. So now I just have to keep a close eye on the scratches to prevent an infection, right?

Other than the scabs on Athena there really isn't anything in their play that worries me. They eat out of the same food bowl, chew on the same toys together, take toys away from each other without any problems...they seems to respect each other - honestly they are almost sickening how "together" they are!

I'll keep an eye on the two of them and make sure that Athena isn't overwhelming the pup at all!