The coarseness and excessive intensity that some dogs show when playing is a very frequent concern among guardians, especially among those who have children at home or who live with very large or strong dogs.
Jumping, barking, growling or biting hands and feet are behaviors that can appear during play but, on occasion, they can also be signs that the animal is not comfortable in the situation in which it is being played. that is foundIn this case, we must respect the dog and stop the interaction to prevent any possible aggressive reaction on his part. In this article on our site we help you find out why your dog plays too rough and what you can do to prevent it.
My puppy plays very aggressively, is this normal?
Once they open their eyes and begin to walk, the puppies spend most of the day playing with their siblings and their mother. These first weeks of life are key in their physical, cognitive and social development, since, among many other things, puppies learn to use and interpret communication signals through playtypical of their species and to relate optimally with others. But that's not all, because thanks to these first games the puppies also learn to regulate the intensity of their bite so as not to hurt their siblings while they are playing with each other. they. In order for puppies to be able to process this and other learnings and successfully adapt to their future human family, it is very important that, whenever possible, they are never separated from their mother before they are two months old. In this other article we talk more in depth about the consequences of early separation: "At what age can puppies be separated from their mother?"
It is likely that, once the puppy comes home, he will start playing with us very roughly, growling and biting us hard, but don't panic! what does it mean that our furry is aggressive, far from it. We must bear in mind that the puppies' natural way of playing consists precisely of chasing, "hunting" and "fighting" each other them Thus, they bite each other and the excitement of the moment causes many to start barking or growling, so this is normal.
The problem is that, although the puppy is able to control the intensity of his bite when playing with other dogs, we are human, which means that we have a greater sensitivity to touch and, therefore, we feel more pain when it bites us. That is why, as tutors, we must teach him what is the most appropriate way to play with us. Later in this article we explain how to do it. Keep reading!
Why does my adult dog play too rough?
After verifying how important it is to keep the puppy with its mother and siblings during its first months of life so that it learns to communicate and control the intensity of its bite, we can see how this directly influences adult behavior. Therefore, there are several causes that can explain why an adult dog plays aggressive or rough.
If our furry was separated too soon from his mother, if He didn't socialize properlywith other dogs during their puppy stage or, simply, if we don't teach him from an early age to control the force with which he bites, it's we may later come across an adult dog that plays very roughly.
Is my adult dog rough or aggressive?
To modify this behavior, the first thing we must do is learn to differentiate when the dog is playing (even if he does it roughly) and when he is trying to send us signals of discomfort. To do this, it is essential, first of all, to analyze the context in which we find ourselves, observe facial and body expressions of the dog and assess the relationship that the animal has with the people who are interacting with it.
If the environment is hostile, the dog is tense, anxious or scared, does not trust the people around him or feels threatened in any way, it is highly unlikely that he intends to the one to play In this case, we will be able to observe behaviors that often appear during the game (wagging the tail, jumping on people, showing the teeth, growling, adopting a "reverence" position with the butt held high, etc.), but that the can now emits with a totally different intent. These behaviors are known as calm signals and threat signals (according to their intensity) and they are nothing more than attempts by the dog to tell us not to feel comfortable and that, please, we move away. Of course, these communicative signals in no case indicate that the dog is aggressive, but, if we respect them or punish them repeatedly, it is possible that the dog ends up marking or biting us.
What to do if my dog plays too rough?
As we have already said, the natural way for dogs to play is, among other things, to chase and nibble each other, so it is not surprising that they also try to play with us in the same way way. To prevent them from hurting us or others, it is advisable to start practicing what we call bite inhibition from the moment the dog comes home being a puppy, although there is no problem if we adopt or if we already have an adult dog at home, they are also perfectly capable of learning to control the intensity with which they play!
Teaching a dog to inhibit the bite aims to get him used to not using his mouth when he plays with us. To do this, the first thing we must do is avoid playing directly using our hands, since it is very tempting for a puppy to try to "catch" them. When the dog jumps on you or bites you too hard, it can be a good idea to make a short, loud, high-pitched sound as a "complain" to let the dog know it has hurt you, and then stop the game for a few seconds and then resume it always using a suitable toy or teether In this way, we are teaching the dog that, if it behaves too abruptly, the activity ends.
Of course, it goes without saying that we should never physically punish the dog, intimidate him or yell at him for the way he plays, since this only it will make the animal frustrated and lose confidence in us, which can seriously damage the relationship.
