Play fighting with Mikey

[Alysser]

I was wondering if play-fighting is a bad thing to do with Mikey. I'll be blunt, me and him play fight/wrestle alot. He bites me, but it doesn't really hurt and he knows we're playing I think. He seems to be having fun, he's never acted out agressively before. I start it and when I stand up he knows the fights over. He's never dont anything that bad, he bites my hands and wrists althoug sometimes he pulls my fingers and that's usually when I stand up and tell him enough is enough. I was wondering if this would be a bad thing for him in the future. I've heard of people saying it's bad, and some say it shows pack order and all that and is a good thing. So, I'm thoroughly confused.

He's only 2 years old, still impressionable at that, so I was wondering If I should put a stop to it before it gets out of hand. His previous owner have said he's too rough with little kids. He is ROUGH when he fights though, but he does know who is alpha and when the fights over.

[*LabLoverKEB*]

I do the same thing with Rita. But I am going to stop with her, because of her being aggressive towards other animals.
It isn't a good thing to do- but we all do it. It's not good in the sense where someone doesn't know he's playing, and that could be bad. I know Mikey is only playing with you, but someone else who plays with him, and he gets mouthy (just as Rita does) may not see it as 'playing'.

[MonicanHonda]

Maybe it's a beagle thing because Remy loves play fighting. We kind of just push her lightly on her sides and try to grab her and she likes jumping over our hands and stuff. She NEVER bites at us though. She knows to keep mouth closed. Maybe I would try to work on that with Mikey? She knows as soon as we grab her and pet her gently it's over and she lays there for some good lovin', or if we walk away.

I would think if he's already used to it, then maybe it's not really going to change anything? He may still be rough with children, even if you do stop.

[IRescue452]

I play fight with all of my dogs. Well trained and socialized dogs aren't as likely to develop temperment problems as are those kept in a backyard and only played with when the kids are outside. If he's biting too much you are good to say "enough" firmly and end the play session. You might also want to keep a stuffed animal or fabric scrap involved in the play session. He can bite on the fabric while you roll him around.

[CountryWolf07]

Hank is the first dog we've had that really likes to play/fight. He is all PLAY.

[buttercup132]

It's fine, as long as he listens when you say stop.
Mouthing is fine it's called bite inhibition and it's a good thing!
He knows play biting is ok and not to go hard.

[Pep]

It is good to be active with your dog. You just have to be sure to establish your dominance and make sure he does not confuse himself with the upper hand at any point during the game.

It's great to see that you are maintaining dog's activity level though. I was recently inspired to become more active with my dog after watching the dog olympics. Have any of you heard of the Incredible Dog Challenge? It's taking place at Whistler Mountain with dogs and trainers from the US and Canada. It's definitely dog games at its best.

Have a great weekend, everyone

[CatsMeow]

Well, it's not that great.


I used to do that with my dog, now he tries to attack people

[SWHouston]

Greetings All, this is my first post. This looks like a very nice Forum.

I've done the "fighting" play with my Male Yorkie, since he was able to see !
He's two years old now, and one could not wish for a more gentile and forgiving animal.

He is VERY protective, and I don't get a very good chance to socialize him as much as I'd like to. Seems like he's ok with small dogs, but, the bigger they are, the more he doesn't like them. I'm not sure if the "fighting" had anything to do with that.

Beyond that, I'd say play Play PLAY !
They love it, and SO DO I !!!

Have a good Day !
S.W.

PS: Here's Sneakers, my Male Yorkie



EDIT: Uoops !, this picture displayed a bit larger than I expected it to be, I'll try to moderate my pride as I go

[GoldenLover]

We don't encourage or allow biting as part of the play-fight, but we do play-fight with both our dogs. Sometimes we'll chase them around the house or play hide-and-seek. Sometimes we roll them onto their backs and rub their bellies really erratically to get them going, then throw a ball or toy. We have Golden's though, and they already "mouth" people enough instictively, so that's why I don't condone allowing any sort of biting. I'm trying to break their habit.
However, the cat is a totally different story. Sometimes, he just gets in the mood to fight. It's funny- you can be petting him and he's purring, then the next second he's decided he wants to play and is trying to bat your hand into his mouth. We play-fight like crazy with him- roll him around, grab his paws, rub his belly erratically- anything to rile him up. Usually about 3 minutes later, he's had his fix and he goes back to being a lazy sweetheart. I guess that's not very consistant to fight hard with the cat and scold the dogs when they bite during play-fights... but Jinx doesn't have a mouthing problem either, and his mouth is a *whole* lot smaller and less powerful than the big dogs' mouths!

[SWHouston]

Golden Lover,

I know exactly what you mean. Given that both my Yorkies use their mouths like hands, it's hard to teach them not to bite. When both were young (2 years apart) their teeth are SO sharp, it's hard to tell if they're just holding, or biting !!

I think it must be something that my (older Male) Sneakers taught my (younger female) Becca, but both do what I call a "Rampage" !

When we get to playing hard, either of them will just take off at as high of speed as the area allows, run around furniture, back and forth, or when in the yard, XX high speed sprints, quick turns, I guess showing me how agile they are. I can't think of any other reason, other than energy to burn, ha !

Have a good Day !
S.W.

[Vette]

If youre unsure or not comfortable with it then stop. no point in doing something youre unsure of or not totally at ease with. as for if its really bad or not i think it depends on how hard he bites an if any signs of aggression is there as others have mentioned.

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ETA: i notice this is a older thread now though. did you continue with the play or didcha stop?

[menmy3dogs]

I don't encourage playing fighting and biting. In no way do I want to encourage my dogs to put their teeth on me or anyone else. We play with their tug toys, fetch, squeaky toys, etc, but if teeth accidently touch skin the game is over.