Cincy'sMom
03-11-2002, 08:28 PM
We have had Cincy now for about 4 months now (she is almost 6 months old)and she and Sadie get along great...most of the time. They love to play together and often curl up and sleep together when they are tired out.
What concerns me is that maybe Cincy is too aggressive in her play. Although she is about 25 lbs. lighter and a year younger, she often goes after Sadie, growling and biting. She never seems mean when she does this, mostly it seems like just noise. I have never seen her act like this with any of the other dogs she plays with and she never does it with humans. Sometimes Sadie will put Cincy on her back, but other times, Sadie runs away and will try to hide behind me or Ralph instead of standing up for herself. Sadie will also give up her toys very easily to Cincy, whereas Cincy will growl to defend hers. If we think it is getting to be too much we will tell them "time out" and they take a break...for a minute. I give Sadie the option of going to her bed in our room, so she can get a break, but she wants to be where we are.
I have let this go because I thought it was better to let the dogs work it out for themselves and establish their own order. We have tried to maintian Sadie's dominance by feeding her first, rewarding her first, etc. I jusdt don't want to see this turn into a fight later on and want to make sure we are encouraging a good relationship between the two dogs.
What concerns me is that maybe Cincy is too aggressive in her play. Although she is about 25 lbs. lighter and a year younger, she often goes after Sadie, growling and biting. She never seems mean when she does this, mostly it seems like just noise. I have never seen her act like this with any of the other dogs she plays with and she never does it with humans. Sometimes Sadie will put Cincy on her back, but other times, Sadie runs away and will try to hide behind me or Ralph instead of standing up for herself. Sadie will also give up her toys very easily to Cincy, whereas Cincy will growl to defend hers. If we think it is getting to be too much we will tell them "time out" and they take a break...for a minute. I give Sadie the option of going to her bed in our room, so she can get a break, but she wants to be where we are.
I have let this go because I thought it was better to let the dogs work it out for themselves and establish their own order. We have tried to maintian Sadie's dominance by feeding her first, rewarding her first, etc. I jusdt don't want to see this turn into a fight later on and want to make sure we are encouraging a good relationship between the two dogs.