At what point do you step in?

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Annette4

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I may have acquired a new puppy who has very much found his feet over the last two days and discovered the joys of bitey face. Now I am fully aware whippets especially can sound awful when playing and I'm stopping them when it's been going on too long etc but what I've found today is that he will not back down.

Fizz told him she'd had enough tonight and he went to go back for more! I stepped in, both calmed down and all is fine. I'm no doubt over thinking it but should I let her tell him off properly and hope he gets the message rather than getting hurt or keep stepping in when it gets too much?

I'm so used to bringing puppies in to Jack who wouldn't entertain them so having a dog who will play is new to me :lol:
 
I was lucky with my two. Dylan is incredibly placid and put up with a lot of nonsense, but then did stop it if it went too far. I left them to it. Floyd got three proper telling offs. One for sticking his nose in Dylans food, and two for pushing and escalating in order to get a reaction when the game was over. Dylan made a lot of noise and the second time he told him to stop and was ignored he gave him a pretty hard shove with his teeth. Not biting, but pushed his teeth flat into him. Floyd got the message. These happened over a period of about two months. If they had been happening closer together or if Floyd hadnt backed off then I would have stepped in, but I firmly believe that the best "person" to raise a puppy is a steady older dog. Dylan taught Floyd more about life and behaviour than I ever could :)

Floyd is a 15 months old now and they play all the time. It sounds ferocious but is pretty gentle really. Its just endless games of bitey face, or bitey knees till they both flop down in a heap!
 
If the older dog is struggling and getting mobbed and upset then I would step in. My younger dog got a lot of time outs as a pup for harassing the older one who just couldn't get his message across (he's too soft). At first I thought I should leave them to it (as many people say) but when the older dog started jumping the baby gate and going and hiding upstairs I started stepping in and everyone got happier. Pup learned to control himself and calm down and older dog stopped hiding! They're best buds now.
 
Phew! I thought I might be over reacting but there was a very different tone from madam (the same she uses to tell her friends she's had enough, they then back off and calm down) and despite being pinned and told to back off, when she walked away he went back for more so will continue with the time outs and hopefully he'll get the message!
 
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