puppy plays too rough with older dog

I have a six month old lab and a 5 year old retriever. They wrestle and play all the time but my retriever has scabs all over his neck from scrapes from her teeth. . The lab grabs his neck and hangs on or shakes it and doesn't let go even when he whines. He is a very submissive dog. I am trying to intervene and she is starting to listen to me and back off, but I am not always close enough. I am wondering if I should stop them from that kind of play altogether. I am worried about her with other dogs if this one lets her get away with this kind of behaviour.

Around 6, 7 or 8 months we stop all rough play that our pups do. Especially if we don't have an older dog that does the correction for us. I think it is important to protect the more submissive dogs from that rough play and it teaches the young dogs to have some boundries and respect.

With fighting dogs (no, not anything I condone) a heavy leather with metal stud collar is used to protect the animal's neck. Perhaps that would help for times when you aren't there to protect your older dog.

Ooh, our old lab would never have tolerated that at all. She was a beautiful even tempered dog but the other dog was shown in no uncertain terms who was boss.

Do you have a friend who has a more dominant dog?

When Bella started getting rough and pushy with Bull, he'd put her in her place so quickly. If you've never been party to it, it can be a scary event. Lots of teeth, noise, yipping and drool/snot, but it's all smoke and drama, there are no actual bites that take place. If a dog wishes to bite, it simply will -- they have more control over their mouth than many people give credit for.

IMHO, Puppies learn by being taken down a peg or two by another dog (not fought), it's just part of it. With our puppies right now, Lola will get in the middle of it if they start playing too rough and has started growling and snipping at them to put them in line if things start to escalate.

With our puppies right now, Lola will get in the middle of it if they start playing too rough and has started growling and snipping at them to put them in line if things start to escalate.

I agree Sweetened and others, but when there is no other dog it is our responsibility to step in. You must do it as strongly as it needs to be done to get the point across.

coopslave wrote:I agree Sweetened and others, but when there is no other dog it is our responsibility to step in. You must do it as strongly as it needs to be done to get the point across.

Agreed. It needs to be taken into consideration how explosive a correction needs to be. With Bull I learned a paw hit was fine, a tug and a bite was fine, but an actual chomp down was too far and there was a quick flip, pin, growl and snarl. Done -- puppy was yiping the moment he even started to move.

thanks everyone. I was thinking I should stop them from playing like that but wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing. The pup isn't really that aggressive. No growling or biting hard. I can put my hand right in between them when they play and not get hurt but my retriever has really loose skin around his neck. She grabs hold of it and hangs on. He pulls away and I think that is how he is getting injured. The scabs are long and thin like scrape marks.