Tempering Play

[JMFS]

I'm happy to report that Gertie is healed. As was evidenced yesterday when I finally let her out to play with Momo on a trial run. They were running full speed, he lost his balance and landed on his side, Gertie took full advantage of the prone position and used her head like a bulldozer to scoot him another 15 feet, stopping 3 feet short of the side of the house. For non-aggressive players these two are going to kill each other through sheer exuberance, I swear! I am supervising and limiting their time together. I'm also attempting to encourage running over rough housing - they both love running so that makes it easier to reinforce. I stop the rough housing after it starts, and am trying to figure out the cues so I can stop it Before it starts. Again, it's only play, but they're so rough with each other that I want to limit it to short sessions until they learn how much I'm going to accept and allow them to keep going. It's Excellent exercise for them and she's definitely better behaved after they've tired each other out, but it won't do if one of them gets injured again. If I praise the running then Momo takes that to mean "commence rough housing," so I'm stumped as to how to keep them running, short of keeping my mouth shut and "disciplining" rough housing by stopping the play. They act the way fraternity boys are portrayed in movies when they're doing things like running their heads into walls just to see who gets knocked out first.

 

I took her to the dog park a week ago and she was Tiny compared to all the other dogs. She's 41 lbs so not small, but I guess people around here really like their big dogs (me, too, but it would appear I'm a sucker for pound puppies who tend to stay medium-sized). She played with a couple German Shepherds who Literally walked all over her, lol. She figured out she could run under them, but she still had to do some bobbing and weaving. She's all play - no aggression, but her excitement gets others riled up and she ends up getting rolled and tossed. I'm not sure how to temper her zeal other than exercising her before the park. I might rule parks out until I can solve this riddle. Initially we walked around the trail that makes up the perimeter of the park and she stayed within 20'ish feet of me, and wasn't showing much interest in the other occupants. I let her sniff and do her thing while I kept walking and she'd catch up after I got to a certain distance. After three laps I stopped near the other dogs and let them approach us, that was the Shepherds (whom I wanted to love all over, but restrained myself, lol). I also need to decide whether I want her socialized to play with other dogs, or socialized to accept but ignore other dogs. There are benefits and drawbacks to both.

 

In the house poor Abbi gets thwapped by Gertie's paw, and pounced on as Gertie is hopping all over and Abbi lacks the agility to escape. Not cool for 10 lbs vs 41 lbs. Then the Dachshund little dog complex kicks in and Gertie's still playing, but Abbi is out for blood and truly angry. Abbi's personality is one of luxury and naps, so for her to get ticked off is out of character. Currently I tell Gertie to leave it and then we scoop Abbi up and separate the two because Abbi's still going for Gertie's throat. Fortunately it's a manageable situation that happens infrequently because Abbi generally prefers to remain in her corner sleeping, but it needs to be nipped in the bud. I'm not sure how to teach Gertie that Abbi is off limits. As soon as we see Gertie start to get playful towards Abbi we stop it, but it's not seeming to sink into her thick skull. The oddest thing is that she leaves the cat largely alone. She still does the hopping thing, trying to get him to play, but she keeps her paws off him. I haven't ever seen him swipe at her, but my guess is he must have tagged her with his claws a time or two.

 

So, I suppose my post is getting around to: a) her toe is definitely better and b) any ideas on how to teach "gentle" play would be appreciated.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

 

I stop the rough housing after it starts, and am trying to figure out the cues so I can stop it Before it starts. Again, it's only play, but they're so rough with each other that I want to limit it to short sessions until they learn how much I'm going to accept and allow them to keep going. It's Excellent exercise for them and she's definitely better behaved after they've tired each other out, but it won't do if one of them gets injured again. If I praise the running then Momo takes that to mean "commence rough housing," so I'm stumped as to how to keep them running, short of keeping my mouth shut and "disciplining" rough housing by stopping the play. They act the way fraternity boys are portrayed in movies when they're doing things like running their heads into walls just to see who gets knocked out first....

 

So, I suppose my post is getting around to: a) her toe is definitely better and b) any ideas on how to teach "gentle" play would be appreciated.

 

Good to hear Gertie is doing better! They sure heal fast, but it may feel like a very long time when activities must be restricted. I agree with you that it's better to interrupt play before it gets rough rather than afterward when dogs are too focused on each other and aroused. There are several ways one can go about this. I will list three methods:

 

1) Train your dogs to respond to an interrupter cue that tells them to rush towards you for a treat. I like to personally use a whistle (but other options are verbal cues such as "enough" or "'that'll do!'') which teaches the dogs to happily break apart and come to you for a treat. After some time, you can also insert a few calm behaviors--sit, down to help them calm down before giving the treat. After some time, a pleasant surprise is that some dogs may learn to self monitor and when things start escalating they automatically break apart to come get their treat!

 

2) An alternative option if you are looking for longer-lasting time-out is to use a verbal cue such as "chill!" where you redirect the dogs to lie down on their mats where they get a stuffed Kong or some other longer lasting goodie to work on.

 

3) Clicker training can also help and you can work on capturing calm play. Simply, capture breaks (click/reward them as they happen spontaneously) and shape less intense forms of play. Clickwhen play is at a low level of arousal and use valuable treats. Soon, you may notice that your dogs will start checking in with you every now and then during play.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[JMFS]

Good stuff, thank you, Adrienne. I've noticed Momo, for all I complain about his hyperactivity and resource guarding (ugh!), actually does listen and he looks to me for cues sometimes. Not so much when he's full on Momo Mode, but a good portion of the time. With your tips I think I can use that to my advantage. I silent whistle trained Mo a long time ago and he'll break out of a barking fury to come see if I have bacon. :D Gertie is still kind of that dopey teenager who goes, "huh? wha?" and then keeps chasing whatever bug she's located.

 

I've also noticed when Gertie is off in her own world and can't hear a thing I'm saying or doing, Momo looks at me, looks at Gertie, looks at me. I tell him, "get her," and he Does! Never knew he had herding tendencies. He just tends to want to bite whatever he's herding so I'l need to figure that one out, lol. It's nice to know, though, that I can pull her off the screens around the pool if I send big brother in.

 

This morning I sent him off after her, she was doing goodness-knows-what in a copse of trees that I saw jiggling and shaking. He ran her right up to the patio and I was at the ready with praise when he bites her ankle and takes off, initiating a game of chase. Sigh, I'm going to have to be Fast with these two. I ended up having to use what I call "growl voice," to get them to stop. It's not a loud yell, but it's a deep voice with a little rumble that stops them in their tracks. Even my husband straightens up a bit, haha. Why-oh-why they can't just do it the first time instead of making me grr at them I'll never know. It's like a child who knows they're going to have to clean their room but they wait until Mom is boiling mad with steam coming out of her ears and screaming before they'll Finally do it.

 

I'll work on the treat thing - Momo is Highly food motivated, and Gertie copies him. Most of the time. :D

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You're very welcome!

Sounds like you are doing very well in managing your canine crew. I always end up laughing out loud when I read your posts, particularly "Momo mode" and your hubby sounds a lot like mine;)

Best,

Adrienne

[JMFS]

I saw a sign the other day that said, "When I use Mom Voice, the neighbors' kids clean their rooms." I actually snorted in the store, haha.

 

My dogs are definitely the paper eaters in the classroom, but I love them - they fit my personality. When Mo plays dead he gets Really excited about it and he turns around a couple times, jerkily gets down to the ground on his side and scoots around until he finds just the right spot, stiffens his legs and stares at me until I tell him, "all the way dead," before he'll put his head down, the whole time doing that eye shift thing like, "am I doing it?! I'm doing it, aren't I, oh boy, I'm doing it, omg I'm so excited I got it right!" Then he starts to get up and we repeat the process two or three more times before he Finally stays still. Paper eater. :D Once we get to that point, though, I can put a treat on his head and tell him to leave it, and he will until I tell him to break. I feel badly that I can't train him better because he has so much potential. I end up shaking my head most of the time over how dorky and hyper he is. I make him sound awful, but he does listen, it just takes a few tries to get past his excitement.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

OMD, your dogs are so silly, Gotta love them! :):D:D

[JMFS]

Update: the "big" dogs have been doing a great job after I implemented the "check-in" idea. The silent whistle is the winner for that - gets them every time. :D I stopped the treats because they wouldn't leave my side, the little devils. After all, how are you to curb their behavior when they won't exhibit said behavior? Since they get a gajillion treats when whistle training I can pull them off of most things right away with that whistle. It helps that it's so flippin' hot these days that even Gertie is done running after 10 minutes.

 

They mostly run, Gertie in the lead, Momo chasing. She'll run him around a copse of trees three times before Mo says, "heeeey, wait a minute," then he stops and waits for her to come around on the 4th trip and he pounces her. Then they run full speed to me and around another set of trees before they start rough housing, which is when I blow the whistle and they come running to me, almost wheezing. Mo gets to go for a swim while Gertie comes in with me for water and to die on the tile, tongue flapped out sliming up the floor with water and drool. Hubby slipped on it one day, lol. We're going to have to watch that - we're not That far from hip replacement age!

 

I've also been Very much consciously praising the dogs for coming, even when they're in big trouble. Man-oh-man is it tough to override knee-jerk reactions by cheerily greeting instead of griping them out, but it sure does make a difference. Gertie especially is recalling better lately.

 

BTW, Zuke's Minis are excellent for whistle training - they're tiny and I can speed feed without stuffing the pups full. It's just kind of wet work with all the slobber. :D

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like you are doing a great job! Kudos to you for the effort, it's sure rewarding when the dogs start running to you enthusiastically. Zuke's minis are a big favorite of mine, great tasting, the perfect size and low-calorie. A win-win!