Rough-Housing

[colbycorgi]

Hey All,

I have Colby, 14 month old sable fluff and recently welcomed Cammie into our home, 11 week old female hopefully sable fluff...they are getting along great, we think...sharing toys, sharing bed, sometimes sharing food (!)...sharing us...no one seems to be vying for attention more and we have been very conscious of giving both the same...my question is when is their playing "too rough"??? I dont want either one to get hurt...Cammie can hold her own, shes going to be telling Colby whats what before we know it....and she lets him know if hes hurting her and he backs off then and when we tell him, shes just keeps at him, so we are working on teaching her to "relax" too....they do play with the toys together, tug of war etc. but it always seems to end up in a beat up session..just dont want to end up with aggression issues, as Colby has always been a happy go lucky guy...hes also used to the big dogs at the dog park and he holds his own there...as i said, we keep a very close eye...we just dont want what we think of as cute playing mostly to turn into something ugly down the road....im off now to get her a new bed for herself as she keeps stealing his and the one in her crate stays in there....talk to you all soon....hope you have some good advice for us....and i am working on a photo situtaion so you can see the bigger shots as we also gota new camera....till then....julie

[Jane Austen]

I for one am looking forward to those pictures. She is so adorable in the pics you have posted so far. (No need to repeat the obvious. )but since I am in a position to eventually see her, it is great to be able to keep up with her growth and developement. Both Pat_M's, Fergie and Colby's new sister are something to look forward to.

[Penutsma]

When I first got Delilah, we were staying at Cheryl's house. She only had Checkers at the time. I don't have but two of the videos (on my photobucket) from that time of her playing as a puppy, but I'm sure somewhere in her vast archives of video, she must have something showing how "aggressive and mean" Delilah was to Checkers and how he handled it. We used to just stand back and laugh! She has changed alittle bit as she has grown up, but she can still be a mean little stinker when she isn't getting her way (ie - balls or frisbees!). She adores her corgi brothers, Checkers and Gator, but she could be really nasty first thing in the am when they would go out to potty and play.

[Bobbie]

Two of my corgi pups grew up wrestling Labradors. What you are seeing is more the girl thing, I think. Cammie is telling him his place is now SECOND to hers. The only time I would worry is if she pursues him into his safe place (crate) as then he might lash back at her. Otherwise he will be smart and just won't play if she is too rough, and she is already telling him when he is too rough. Two corgis playing can sound pretty vicious, but most of the time there is no need to interfere.

[Jespah]

That's good that she tells Colby when he's being a bit too rough. They have to test each others limits. As much as in the human world it makes sense to treat "sibblings" equally, it doesn't always make sense to do so with dogs. It's a good idea to start playing with them separately to burn off some of the extra energy and to make sure they will be fine with being left out of things sometimes.

[colbycorgi]

Thanks for the advice so far everyone...it really is helpful..im a nervous nelly though when it comes to my pups :)

[taflar]

I have Colby, 14 month old sable fluff and recently welcomed Cammie into our home, 11 week old female hopefully sable fluff...they are getting along great, we think...sharing toys, sharing bed, sometimes sharing food (!)...sharing us...no one seems to be vying for attention more and we have been very conscious of giving both the same...my question is when is their playing "too rough"??? I dont want either one to get hurt...Cammie can hold her own, shes going to be telling Colby whats what before we know it....and she lets him know if hes hurting her and he backs off then and when we tell him, shes just keeps at him, so we are working on teaching her to "relax" too....they do play with the toys together, tug of war etc. but it always seems to end up in a beat up session..just dont want to end up with aggression issues, as Colby has always been a happy go lucky guy...hes also used to the big dogs at the dog park and he holds his own there...as i said, we keep a very close eye...we just dont want what we think of as cute playing mostly to turn into something ugly down the road....l

I wouldn't worry, corgis, even puppies play rough. A litter of puppies or even two from a litter can sound like they're having a serious fight and they're only playing.

It would be very rare for an adult corgi and a puppy to get into a fight. An adult corgi might get serious but a puppy usually doesn't. And it doesn't sound like Colby's serious about fighting. If he didn't like her you'd know by now.

I'd not be worried, they sound typical and normal. It's doubtful that they will be aggressive to each other as they get older. A male and a female usually get along just fine.

Peggy

[Corginut]

Wylm is the biggest marshmallow ever so I understand about a
'bossy ' puppy. From the time we brought Mya home she has bullied him i.e. taking his toy or chewing on him whenever they were together. Poor Wylm does a lot of "protective custody" in the living room. He roarewd at her once when she sashayed up to take his marrow bone and she broke records getting out of there so she now has a wee bit more respect. Once she's a bit bigger and they can have the run of the yard, it will be easier for Wylm. Right now,its just monitor and teach. Its not like aggression but --

[Kassie]

Maeve was 14 months when we brought Aine home. I worried a lot about their rough housing and monitored pretty closely. In truth we were more likely to have Aine lose control than Maeve hurt her. In retrospect we realized Maeve was realy holding back when Aine was tiny and as she got older took less and less from her. Maeve is a very laid back dog and Aine is our wild child! Not that we've never broken up a spat, but no one has been hurt yet!