Advice needed (training)

[jodysh]

My parents have a mini dachshund named Piper. She's about 6 years old. She's starting to warm up to Malcolm when we go to visit and they've been playing.

My concern is Malcolm is playing too rough and I'm afraid he'll hurt her when he jumps on her because of the delicate backs the dachshunds have. Especially as he gets bigger I want him to know he shouldn't jump on her.

So what I've been doing is stopping the play and telling him "careful" when I see him jump on her.

Any other advice/thoughts/opinions would be appreciated. I know he is just being playful like all puppies are, but I don't think he's aware that he's bigger than Piper and could seriously hurt her. I see no aggression in the play so I have no concerns there.

[becka]

I can understand your worries. Does your parents' dog ever play with other big (bigger?) dogs? If so, does she let them know when she's had enough? When Malcolm plays with other dogs, does he respect their signals? I would continue to keep a careful eye on them, and especially avoid letting them play unsupervised.

Sadie and I spend a couple of hours at the dog park every day, so I feel like I've had the opportunity to witness a lot of different styles of dog play. It seems to me that dogs are very good at letting each other know (usually with a yelp) when things get too rough, and they're also very good at finding partners who enjoy the same level of play. Sadie's nipping and biting issues stopped completely after we started spending time at the dog park and I really think it's because she started to learn bite inhibition from the other dogs. From what I've witnessed, dogs that have been well socialized can work it out among themselves 99% of the time. But of course it's up to the owners to keep paying attention.

[deepnite10]

a mini-pin lives with Toby..and in the past we ve had problems with them playing together..

they d play..but, Toby would end up running over the poor little guy..but, min-pins and dachounds come from similar backgrounds..they re ratters and can be nasty when provoked..and let Toby know to back off..

cept for his size..Toby is just a little girly guy..we ve also got a schnoodle and shipoo from my children who come by often..they like chasing and Toby likes running away..and when they do connect..Toby will get into the down position and allow the little guy s jump on him..

i too..watch closely when they do play..when i see a smaller dog approaching, i get Toby in the down position and allow the smaller to paw at Toby till they warm up to each other..

after monitoring their play and over time Toby has come to understand how to play with smaller dogs..and more importantly how to behave around small children..

[jodysh]

She grew up with our lab, Jesse. But he was already grown when they got her so he was always very gentle. He would just lay down and she would run around him and nip his ears and face and he would just push her around with his muzzle.

She has snapped at Malcolm a couple times and he did back off for a few minutes so I guess he's getting her message. I just would hate for her to get hurt.

We've been to 3 different dog parks but due to the time of day I usually get to take him (early afternoon or late morning usually) there's nobody else there. There are a couple of other parks in the area but they have a minimum age of 4 months old. He starts puppy class july 28, so hopefully it will be a full class and he'll make some new friends.

He did make friends with the goldendoodle who lives across the way (she's big) though. She ran over and he screamed ran behind me, but he quickly came around and started playing.