Why doesn't my small dog react to rough play or show discomfort?

It's true that play between two dogs can sometimes get out of hand and become a more serious fight. It can be hard for many owners to distinguish this from rough play, so feel free to request a one-on-one consultation if you wish - you can take a video of the behavior for me to look at, so that I can give you a better idea of whether this is normal play or something more serious. In the meantime, I would recommend distracting the dogs from their play session and redirecting them to something else if you are concerned that things are getting too intense. You can do this by shaking a treat bag, and asking both dogs to sit for a treat when they come to you. This helps to bring their arousal level down a bit, so that they are calmer when they go back to playing.

Your worry is very valid! It is best to make sure the two are only playing together when you can directly supervise them and that puppy and your older dog are separated when you are away so that an accident can't happen - even the most well intentioned of a dog can cause an injury! If the puppy starts playing too rough, a "time out" of a few minutes for everyone to calm down can also help and teaches your puppy that too rough of play is frowned upon. Diverting with treats and toys is also a great way, so keep that up.

Hello, rough play is ok as long as they are not showing teeth or biting each other. It is also ok, as long as both of them want to play and not one picking on the other. If you think they are showing some aggression or if it is getting too rough, you can separate them for some time. Also ensure they have enough toys, especially chew toys so that they can redirect their rough play to those chew toys in particular. Hope this helps.

If your puppy is young, you will have to monitor their play sessions until you feel confident that your cat is not going to get injured. Usually, cats will warn dogs when the play is getting too rough for comfort, but this can take time for both animals to figure out. Check out this great behavior website for tips on introducing new pets to one another safely: dog stardaily.com. Good luck!

This is a tough situation, because the overly rough behavior has a great deal to do with his personality, which is very difficult to fix. You are doing the exactly correct thing in response to his behavior, but you will likely have to continue doing this for a long time until he gets it. The best way to keep him from doing this behavior is to not let him get into the excited/playful state where he starts to scratch and bite too hard. However, that would likely mean that you would have a lot less playtime and likely a different relationship with your dog, which may not be desirable for you. If you want to continue with the training, then keep in mind that you have to stop playing and let Aramis know that he's being bad as soon as he starts the undesirable behavior. You only have three seconds from the time that he does the behavior before he will not associate the punishment with the act. You can try doing hour-long training sessions where you break from playing as long as it takes for him to calm down. Hopefully that will speed up the learning, but again, it's going to take a while and may not be 100% successful. I hope that helps some, but if you need further help, you may consider hiring a dog trainer, or scheduling a consult with a veterinary behaviorist.

If they are playing to the point of causing cuts and scratches, and you feel it is too rough, I'd definitely instill some "time out" time where both dogs can relax, rest, and maybe focus on a chew toy or quiet activity. Once they are calm, you can let them resume play. Normal play can be a little rough, and if the dogs are enjoying it, it's fine. You may also want to trim back their nails or file down the nails to make them softer to help avoid scratches while playing.

I'm sorry to hear of your concerns with Beckett. It is frustrating when our pets don't always get along. From your description it does sound like he is too rough with the other dogs. It may be possible to correct this behavior, but I think it would be best to get a certified animal behaviorist involved. They will be able to observe how the dogs interact and be able to develop an in-depth plan for how to correct the behavior. It may be a matter of just recognizing when things are getting out of hand and separating the dogs or more significant behavior modification may be required. It is impossible to know without observing the dogs in action. And good behaviorist will be able to do this for you.