Puppies playing to rough
 

My 8 week Yorkie and my 5 month old Yorkie like to play, but they play so rough. Piper weighs about 4.8lbs and Nikkel weighs about 1.6lbs. They bite lightly, and Piper pulls Nikkel and it looks rough. Any advice on how to calm down their interactions with one another? I want them to have fun and play together, but safety is my first concern.

I would try startling them to interrupt them - use a can of pennies or a can of nails - and shake it hard to interrupt their behavior. I wouldn't necessarily tell them "no" at the same time, bc they're not really doing anything wrong here - but perhaps try just redirecting them...

With the size difference I would be concerned too. My two 1 year old pups are the same weight and size for the most part so they are evenly matched but can get rough sometimes. I use a squirt bottle of water and say no when they get rough and squirt them. It has work well for us. It startles them without loud noise or hurting them.

Thank you! I will try both, and see which idea works best. The older pup (Piper) knows the word "easy" as we have taught her to take the treat gently, I wonder if while using one of these techniques if she would understand how that word transfers. One thing that has worked (just found out totally by accident this morning) is putting their dresses on. For some reason, they were so much calmer when dressed! They acted like little ladies with their dresses on haha!!
Again, thanks so much for the input, I am off to put some pennies in a can, and locate a squirt bottle.
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Are they yelping when they play? I raised 2 litter mates together a couple years ago (they are now 2 1/2 years old and live in separate states) that were mine and my daughters puppies. They would play so rough. They would be running at full speed and grab each other by the tail and pull each other to the ground. They would really play rough but unless there is yelping (which tells the other they are too rough) I would not be concerned. I just brought home a new Yorkie and while my 2 1/2 year old and 12 year old were playing she got near them and she bit the 12 year old and he yelped. Since then the 2 1/2 year old has taught her how to "play" and now she will jump in and play with them with no yelping.

They will let the other know if they are being too rough by yelping. Otherwise it can sound pretty intense but they are having fun.

Good luck and enjoy them when they are this little.

Both my Yorkies play rough but no yelping and they love it. Mr Milo is 11 months now and Mr BeanO is 2 years old. It is a riot to watch but I keep a wary eye in case they get too rough and jump in before a real battle ensues. This has happened too few times to worry about it. Mr Milo is only about 8 lbs and Mr BeanO is 16 1/3 lbs so there is quite a difference. They run after each other like jack rabbit speed. From on room to the forth room and back. Mr Milo (who playfully entagenizes Mr BeanO) usually leads the run and Mr BeanO runs after him. Milo takes cover under chairs where Mr BeanO can't really fit. Milo waits. When BeanO turns his back, Milo takes a playful bite then takes off running with BeanO growling and barking (cause he can't catch Milo). They play hard, don't hurt each other. But, anyone else watching would be alarmed. I know my Yorkies. They really love each other. After they are both exhausted, they both lay down to relax right next to each other.

You will get the hang of it when to step in and when not to. A yelp from one of the Yorkies is just a "yellow" warning light while two yelps means they R getting tooo rough at which point I jump in.

Not sure if this counts but my cat and my yorkie get a little rough sometimes. They play constantly and when you hear Duchess growl at my cat you would think Duchess is full own attack mode but she isn't.

At first I thought Duchess was playing to rough but than I noticed how my cat is always starting it. After that, I left them alone. They are still happily playing "rough" and loving it.

One of the things I noticed is that even though it may seem like they are playing rough.......I've notice how very gentle they are with each other. For example......I've notice my cat be extra careful in making sure her claws are not out when she is "attacking" Duchess. And Duchess is extra careful not to bite down when she is going for "the kill". It's like she bites down with her mouth but not her teeth (if that makes sense or she doesn't really bite down at all)....sort of like when we bite down with our lips covering our teeth so as not to bite with our teeth.

Once I noticed the things they do to prevent from hurting each other, i stopped worrying about how rough they play. See if you can notice those two doing the same thing, if they do then do need to worry. Let them have fun.

My two can play pretty rough too. Casie is 1 lb lighter than Scottie but she is 10 times as feisty! Casie is a big leg biter. Scottie is a growler and humper. I don't know why, but sometimes he loses sense of direction and humps her face. Then, Casie can be pretty mean and go for his privates! :eek: They absolutely love chasing and wrestling each other though! :D

When they play too rough and one of them yelps, I usually quickly ask them "what happened?!". They'll look guiltily at me with the "uh oh, busted..." face and then stop playing.