Puppy playing becomes fighting

Hi there

It is quite normal for your puppies to challenge each other for a higher place in the pack as they are growing up. Eventually an order will be established and they will stop fighting. Your place as the alpha dog should not be challenged though, and you should be extra vigilant during this period to make sure that they know that you are the leader of the pack.

If the fighting continues, you can help reinforce the hierarchy by always paying attention to Sarah first, including feeding, playing and greeting them when you come home. This will make it clear to Jagger that he is below her in the pack order and so should respect her and not challenge her for her place.

I hope this helps and all the best with your training!

Thank you Robyn,
I will try giving Sarah attention before Jagger. It will be hard as Sarah is my husband's dog and I love both equally.

swampyann,

That's a great idea you have. By calling before the playing gets rough and treating them, you are teaching them that "come" is always a good word. When you then let them go back to playing, you are also letting them know that "come" does not always stop their fun. This will be a great help if you ever take them to a dog park. Too often, owners only call their dogs back when they want to go home. So their dogs become deaf when they want to keep on playing. If your dogs know that most of the time you are going to let them return to their play, they won't hesitate to come when called.

kjd

Hi swampyann,

I am glad that you are already calling them when they are playing rough houses.

>I have been calling them to me when their playing gets rough but most of the time they ignore me.

I want to add my two cents here:

When they ignore you, don't give up. Make sure they will stop playing and come to you just for a second. By letting them ignore you, it is the same thing you are inadvertently teaching them "ignoring when called is OK".

If they are too much involved in playing, I would make a big noise (usually clapping my hands and shouting "Doggies! Over here!! (I don't use "Come" when there is a chance they might not come)" in a very happy voice. I can even say something like "Hey Doggies! Look what I've got !" by showing them treats.

As kjd mentioned you should let them go back to play once they come to you. This practice will help you tremendously when you want to collect your doggies in the dog park to go home since they will learn coming to you is usually not an end of fun. By the way, I have trained my dogs to come to me by just saying "Hey Doggies, shall we go home now?". They all love going home (they all came from shelters so they LOVE home) and they know they get treats as soon as they jump in the car.

Sarah and Jagger seem like having a lot of fun! They keep each other busy and happy but they still need to socialize with other dogs as well so dog parks or puppy training classes will be perfect for them. Good luck