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The 5 Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
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The 5 Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
#93 There is a fine line between play and fight
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Not sure if it is play or fight? Watch for body language cues.
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Do you have a multi-dog household? Do the dogs start playing—and sometimes you can't tell whether they're playing or fighting?
That's a pretty common concern in a multi-dog household, especially if you have dogs who enjoy physical play, bumping each other, and wrestling. There can be a fine line between play and fight, so we always want to make sure that we're watching those play sessions and interrupting them before they cross over into fights.
Here are the things you want to look for that will tell you it's time to end the play session:
First, if it starts getting really rough and maybe a little louder, interrupt it—even if nothing is going wrong. That adrenaline is starting to build up in your dogs, so give them a quick little break. Let them calm down a little bit, then they can go back and play.
But if you notice one dog is instigating all the play—Dog B keeps bumping into Dog A, jumping on Dog A—and Dog A is maybe trying to get away, trying to walk across the room or find something else to do, but Dog B continues to chase and bump him, that’s your sign.
It doesn’t mean that Dog B is doing anything wrong—he just still wants to play. But that's a signal from Dog A that, “I've sort of had enough.” If you ever notice one dog trying to subtly escape the play session, interrupt the play and give them something else to do.