Does your dog play too rough? Train your dog to adjust it's play

Watch a playtime with a nervous dog and 6 other dogs

[Coopercaroline]

I taught my dogs to calm down and be gentle as commands and they understood it perfectly and always followed my lead if needed!! They were such gentlemen and gentle giants!! (Rhodesian Ridgebacks)

[Court]

Definitely need to practice this more with my pit. She doesn't read other dogs well at all, she's always on go mode. I just wish I had more dogs to train her with because dog parks are completely out of the question for her right now haha

[jeradhoffman]

If more people would do this, I might consider bringing my dog to a dog park. Unfortunately, there’s a strongly self entitled portion of the population that thinks it’s OK for their dog to do whatever it’s impulses dictate and they’ll fight you if you suggest they’re possibly in the wrong. As a result, my poor dog is off leash trained and plays in public wherever it’s appropriate. lol I do keep pointing dog owners to this channel. Thanks again for the great content, this is hugely helpful to the dog owning community as a whole.

[huskr]

Would love to see more videos like this. My 1.5 year old dog will play rough with other dogs. Usually it's only with dogs who also play hard, but it's difficult to have her recall when she's in that zone. It has never escalated into a fight, but that level of play has made some other dog owners uncomfortable. Would love some advice

[rachelm]

One thing I'm proud of: my Mini seems to AUTOMATICALLY adjust his play for senior, nervous or unwell dogs. He's been socialized from a young age, and seems to know. 🙂

[annabackman]

I used to have a Briard girl. (I had to put her down three years ago, she from nowhere, aged 11, got epilepsy, probably a brain tumor 💔)
Late in her life I realized that she had ADHD, maybe a light version of autism too, another story, but she played MORE than rough, with dogs as well as with humans.
She never listened to other dogs, she didn't learn from other dogs. The message never got through to her. (Later I understood she wasn't "listening", she was so into her role in the play, 'hyper-focused')
She WAS friendly, she loved EVERYONE, she just didn't get the rules. Upon that, she never got tired, so after a while even dogs that could also play like her got tired, she didn't. And she didn't stop trying to get them back on the field again, so to speak.
I had to stop her, literally go and get her, because in that stage she was deaf.
I had hoped that she would have learned from other dogs, but no. When she was around a year old I started to go in and throw a ball or rope (dog toy) at her hind, shouting "CUT", like the director of a film 😂, the second I thought it was enough, reading the other dog was just about to have it. She stopped, stood still, watching me like she waited for me to give her more direction. Since the other dog wasn't tired, just thought she was over the line for what is acceptable, I gave a calm 'go' again. Repeated that a couple of times, until the other dog was tired. I was surprised that it worked so well. After that first day a loud "CUT" was enough. (Cut is a perfect word for stopping something, when you use it like a command, it literally cuts through the air like a whiplash.)

I kept using this method FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE, every time she met a new dog, or a friend she hadn't seen for a while. (She didn't notice the signs from the other dog, OR just didn't understand, I can't tell which).
The "break through", as I see it, was when she understood "maybe I'm too rough now?", and SHE STOPPED BY HERSELF, and look at me, with a smile (you know, you can tell about your own too!), looking for support and further direction. I said "good girl" several times, and "go". I cried with happiness and a deeply touched heart. After that she most of the time saw when she was over the line, but she always turned to ME, not the other dog. I didn't want her to be more rough than the limit for that dog.
This worked so well that she could play with most any dog, she immediately picked up the rules for every individual. But she never learned to read from the other dogs.
On the other hand, SHE had crystal clear body language. And couldn't read it especially well from other dogs. (Autism?)
She was a special dog, very special. Everyone who knows just a little about dogs agrees with that.

I wanted to tell you about Tilly, because before I started to understand that she actually was different, I lost my patients many times too much with her. Many people said I should put her down, she had something wrong in her head, was like a biting, nibbling puppy as three years old, absolutely wild, but NEVER aggressive. NEVER. But she couldn't understand what humans said, what other dogs communicated, had emormously difficulties to take no for an answer, and in most behaved like a human three years old kid with ADHD.
When I turned my back to practically everything I had read and had been told by dog trainers (EXCEPT for playing - stop (cut) - playing - stop etc to make her understand that also humans could have enough 👍) and experts, I got through to her mind about more things than playing with other dogs. I had to LITERALLY show her, holding her body, to make her walk by my side, sit by my side, to sit and wait, walk on my right hand side, left hand side, right or left side of the road and so on.
When she was four I only needed a leash on her, other than when there was too much going on around her. She got stressed, panting, one minute she wanted to examine everything, sniff all people, being overexcited, next she wanted to get out of there, next moment back to meeting everyone. Overstimulated by what she just had around her.
She could walk calmly by my side, when someone else had to wrap the leash around a tree when they saw us because their dog became like a total freak. Tilly was like "what a fool🙄" in those moments.

She became a wonderful companion, friend and baby.
Never give up on a dog because it is difficult!
In Tilly's case she needed something more, or else, than other dogs. She had never could have been what she became if she had lived in a family with children, or even in a home with two people who didn't have EXACTLY the same rules and ideas. She had been confused and stressed out, maybe turned aggressive, cause to stress.
Now it was me my old Bichon Frisé and two kittens, the latter she adopted as her puppies.
And a lot of my friends, the majority dog owners.
That gave her enough calmness, no one who wanted to play indoor, relaxation. She needed that until she was six-seven years old. By then the cotton ball (Bichon) was gone, so was one of the cats, and she had finally matured to a "normal" four years old Briard, but she was two years older 😆.
I miss that crazy, furry big heart to death.

[leeheat]

Love your videos man. New owner to my 1st dog and I used all your tips for my pup. It was a lot of work and discipline on my end, but she’s sooo well trained now. She was a feral pup and has came a long way. Woud love to get a video on her overcoming anxiety with people (gets skiddish but is getting better slowly).

[terridavis]

It looks like Charlie is doing better. Another great video. Thanks.

[gainztrain]

It sure is interesting how much more calm Charlie seemed around Prince compared to the others in the group. I would think he would be super intimidated, but a scared dog like Charlie must be able to relax in such a strong presence that Prince carries. Awesome to observe.

[slimjim]

Another banger man. Consider 2 vids on training away fear of people and fear of other dogs.

[meliquoi]

Great video. My female can be rude to these types of dogs as she seems to not comprehend when dogs avoid her, then she barks almost as if shes confused as to why they wont engage with her. I actually have to keep an eye on her so that I can redirect her before she gets to that level where she begins to bark.

[ElephantPatronus]

This video is timely for us. We have an almost 5 month old retriever/pyr mix who constantly harasses our 12 year old boxer/American bully. He's too laid back and won't correct her, even though we can tell he's really bothered by her behavior. We step in and correct her each time, but she just keeps going back for more until we finally just put her in time out to give our old boy a break. I'm not sure how to make her stop doing this.

[austinkraft]

I was thinking about this idea today. Just last week my 9 momth old Aussie played too rough at the dog park and sparked a pain yelp from 4 month old lab. This caused the labs brother, to come and be aggressive with my Aussie.

[dania]

Im so glad you compare parents raising children to raising their dogs. It seems to hit home better. I also dont let my dogs sleep with me for the same reason I didnt let my children. Its a part of life.

[sarahpullen]

Thanks for the great content! Would love it if you could do a video on how to teach a dog to stop going nuts at the fence when people walk past. Our German shepherd has done this for years, running up and down the fence, even barking at people who don’t have dogs with them.

[jillsorbera]

Will you go over what are the appropriate ways for a dog to initiate play (besides play bow)? 🐾❤️

[MagneticDwarfReptile]

Being able to wrestle with your dog is one of the greatest pleasures in life. N.0 reason to get a big dog imo. That Aussie looks a lot like our pup, likes the rough play but is starting to learn other both people and dogs aren't like him. Max socializing is key imo, every play session is a learning session too.

[kylasbibi]

I like your videos because they are real life situations.

[Needabreak]

My last GSD learned gentle naturally. My new 5 mo old GSD isn’t picking it up so quickly lol. Granted his siblings are a 1 year old Aussie and cats who aren’t scared of him.

[annylaurie]

I have taught my mini schnauzers the command gently even if the dogs are bigger than them - I don’t want my dogs intimidated so I don’t let mine be intimidating. They also know leave because they can be intense.