# My 9 month old male puppy plays roughly with my 2 month old pup



## tiedyedbutterfly (Jun 24, 2013)

Hi, 

I have a 9 month old male golden retriever named Cheeko and he's very sweet and loving.. just a few days ago. I adopted a 2 month old male golden retriever.. both are okay with each other.. they love to cuddle with each other but i always get scared when they start playing.. my 9 month old GR is too rough and huge that i fear he might hurt the little one.. 

whenever they play and it starts to get rough i try to stop them but i fear that i might get hurt.. coz they play bite..sometimes the little one would start barking and growling.. is that normal when they play? what should i do? so that they would learn to play gently with each other.. not too rough


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Rough play is normal, as long as there are no injuries let them work it out. It always looks ferocious and like they are going to tear each other apart, but it really is all play and fun to them. 

If they are getting too wound up separate them, but for the most part let them play.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Buddy was 65 pounds when I brought him home as a rescue. I had 4 yorkies at the time. Roxy my smallest and most active/adventurous is only 3.5-4 pounds. He would get super excited and pick her up in his mouth. He never hurt her and while she looked ticked off my the whole thing she never made a sound! She used to grab onto my previous Golden's tail and she would be airborne as he went in circles trying to get her off. He is now 95 pounds and will still play rough with them. None of the yorkies have ever been injured it is usually Buddy. The yorkies can run underneath him and nip his man parts 

Someone always kept a close eye on the interactions at first but once the girls/yorkies would make noise at him to signal enough- He would immediately back down or face being put on a leash and tethered to a person indoors- Something he did not like!

They worked it out themselves.


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## tiedyedbutterfly (Jun 24, 2013)

thanks for your replies.. i was a bit worried about their play.. but i guess its just all fun and play for them hehehe


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## akgolden (Jun 18, 2011)

mylissyk said:


> Rough play is normal, as long as there are no injuries let them work it out. It always looks ferocious and like they are going to tear each other apart, but it really is all play and fun to them.
> 
> If they are getting too wound up separate them, but for the most part let them play.


This. Both my lab and my golden went through this with my brothers shelter mix that he adopted. It sounded ferocious and looked bad watching them snap and growl but they figured out who landed where on their pecking order and after that did great together. Occasionally they will get into it but never to the point of drawing blood or clamping down on each other. 

Just keep an eye on them, sounds like they are just puppies figuring out who is the leader. 


tiedyedbutterfly said:


> thanks for your replies.. i was a bit worried about their play.. but i guess its just all fun and play for them hehehe


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## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

I world not let the 9 month old play rough with 2 month old at all. The older pup does not know his own strength and the little one could be hurt.


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## akgolden (Jun 18, 2011)

Leslie B said:


> I world not let the 9 month old play rough with 2 month old at all. The older pup does not know his own strength and the little one could be hurt.


That's why you supervise their play time and if they get to worked up you separate them and let them take a break. Pups roll around, bite, paw and tumble into each other all the time, it's how they learn what's ok and what's to much.

My lab and brothers shelter dog had a huge age gap and they did great. Lab got rolled across the yard plenty of times LOL


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## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

akgolden said:


> That's why you supervise their play time and if they get to worked up you separate them and let them take a break. Pups roll around, bite, paw and tumble into each other all the time, it's how they learn what's ok and what's to much.
> 
> My lab and brothers shelter dog had a huge age gap and they did great. Lab got rolled across the yard plenty of times LOL


 
I did not say that I would not let them play - I said that I would not let them play rough.

An 8 week old puppy is incredibly fragile. Being rolled by another dog can break bones or cause internal bleeding. None of it is intentional but it is avoidable.

On top of it, a 9 month old is a teen ager with extra energy. Most lack an understanding that the 8 week old is a baby. They want to play with it like it is another 9 month old. 

The op was expressing a concern that the some of the play seemed too rough for her comfort level. If it feels too rough then it problably is too rough.


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## Chaya (Aug 18, 2012)

When Laika was a baby puppy, I closely supervised all play sessions between her and my older, 3 year old golden. I only interfered when they started chasing each other around the house, because I didn't want the puppy running into furniture, or getting trampled. Also, if I saw that Chaya, the older dog, was becoming too excited when mouthing the puppy, I made them take a break. Not a punishment to stop - in fact that's when I would do some quick training (sit, down, stay, etc), and afterward let them start playing again.

In general it's good to work on stopping/starting play so that the dogs learn their off switch really well.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

IMO you shoul let them play as much as the puppy is OK with. Watch the puppy--if it's looking at all intimidated, gently break it up by calling one over to you. Never let them play unsupervised though until they are much closer in size. 

If you search on GRF for "bitey face" you will find videos and photos of GRs playing. It's just how they play and is perfectly normal. In this case you have a baby to protect from an unschooled teenager so you are right to be a bit concerned. 

Welcome to GRF. Would love to see pics of your two pups. Sounds like you have a busy house.


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