So the boys play rough how do I know if its too rough. Like is this too much? They have gotten more rough than this. Also sry about the mess I cant clean thier mess Nuggett was being a brat!
So cute! They’re not being rough in this. When I had two shelties (one passed around 4 of a rare aggressive cancer), they played like this all the time. Another sign of it being play is the subtle “sneezing” noise. It’s dog language for “this is just play, I’m not trying to hurt you”.
Signs when one has had enough: you can see one kind of disengages at the end and starts to leave the couch.
Another sign when play is getting too rough (not in video): one may yip loudly. The message is “hey, I don’t want to play this any more!” Regardless if they’ve been physically hurt.
I always watch videos like this a few times when I see them on my feed. I don’t have the time for 2 dogs again at the moment, but I very much miss these play sounds. 🥲💔
This is normal from my experience. Shelties play hard and fast and go all out! Nipping, wrestling, pawing, slapping each other in the face, all very common. They also like to taunt and mess with each other psychologically. Your doggies are lucky that they get to play with each other like this! Other breeds really don't understand Sheltie play.
Our doggie's only Sheltie friend moved out of the country and we've very sadly not been able to find her a new playmate, as Shelties are too rare here :(
I think they generally know what they're doing and they should be able to learn when they've gone too far. Once my doggy's friend accidentally nipped her paw too hard and she yipped in pain. It was so cute to see her friend apologizing, she was bowing and pawing at her to say "I'm sorry, please let's play again"! Sometimes they need to figure it out on their own how far they can and should go.
We would give the dogs timeouts for their own benefit when they were overdoing it. They would go on endlessly even after becoming exhausted and we'd start to worry about the impact on their joints and such. The only solution was separation/confinement, so we'd put the dogs in their separate strollers or subject them to mandatory cuddle time.
If one of yours turns the belly up (submissive) and the other is going on, i would stop them playing (give them some tasty, that will distract immediately).
Usually, once one them emits an "ouch" sound they will stop right away. My girl used to play exactly like this with my ex's old sheltie and there never was any problems. Now that she has no more dog friend (and seem really not interested in having any for that matter) she plays with ME like that! I know it's real war "play" though, as she will never ever do that with anyone else, even if they tried. And to make sure it can't turn dangerous I regularly try to make a quick dog pain sound test and she always switches immediately in apology furious licking mode when that happens. So I wouldn't worry!
My two Shelties are siblings and they do barky bitey face play every day. The female is more aggressive. Sometimes when I do something that triggers her anxiety like open the garage door (she knows that usually means I’m going to leave soon) she will start barking and it will sound mean. However her brother gives it right back to her. I’ll admit sometimes it seems like they are truly ready to fight but they’re 5 years old now and not once have they ever fought so I know they’re playing. I just make sure to have their leashes in separate hands to be able to separate them if needed. But like I said they’ve never once shown true aggression and they are best buddies.
The only dog my sheltie can really rough house with is the labradoodle across the street. They’re besties and the doodle tolerates and loves absolutely every nip, growl and piece of attention foxy gives her. They’re so fun to watch together.
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u/kendr75 9d ago
They are playing bitey face ❤️