# Sharky puppy playing too rough



## rbabydap (May 18, 2021)

This is my first post on the forum, and i'm so glad to have found it! My partner and I brought home our 12 week old girl Juneauper (Junie) about 4 weeks ago. Overall things have been going well, she sleeps in the crate with minimal complaining, and has had minimal accidents in the house. We weren't totally prepared for her sharkies every night between 6-8, but they are generally fixed with a nap in her crate or a trip outside to go potty. We do not have a fenced yard, but we get her out for 2-3 walks a day, usually with some off leash time chasing her ball, and as many potty breaks as she needs. 

The main trouble we have been having is with getting her to settle down around our other two dogs. We have two small older dogs (12yo Australian Terrier and a 13yo Toy Poodle) that she generally gets along with, however, when she gets excited she plays VERY rough with them. The terrier has been able to establish some boundaries with her, so she doesn't pummel him as much, but the poodle is only 5lbs, and anything she does just seems to egg Junie on. I try to distract her with treats, training sessions, toys, and nothing seems to be as exciting as beating up her sister. when I separate them, it usually leads to two dogs barking on different sides of a door or baby gate. Is this just a phase that she will grow out of? Or is there something I can be doing to help her realize she can't do that? I have contemplated using a spray bottle but i'm not sure if that will help or hurt the situation. 

We're starting puppy classes tonight, so I hope that will help. She is a very confident girl, very fun to be around, but definitely a significant amount more work than any other puppy i've had.


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## InTheNet (Jun 1, 2016)

Welcome
well puppies tend to play a little rough. Our experience with the V's we have /had was they played VERY rough.

We were kicked out a dog park because our first male was to 'ROUGH". 
The 2 we have now play fight a lot. You would think they are killing each other with all the growling/barking they do.

We baby sat a shihtsu (sp) for several weeks and they never got rough with it. 
as your pup gets older it should be able to sense what other dogs will accept.

But now as pup you will have to do your best to intervene


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## InTheNet (Jun 1, 2016)

Our 2 leave the cats alone, unless they run! then the chase is on. No biting just chase till the cat climbs up a cat tree.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

I agree that they do play rough for puppies. We take Ellie to a day-camp occasionally where the dogs are placed in play areas by size and energy types. I think she learns a lot from these experiences. Good example today she met a rather plump Chihuahua type dog who wasn't really into running around much, but had the experience to be able to communicate to Ellie in terms of what was too much. She adapted but did result in a lot of barking and her trying to "convince" the Chi to come chase her. If you have such day-camps around you, they usually will place puppies in with the small dog areas, perhaps the dogs there can teach her some play manners. Mature small dogs accustomed to the day camp scene know how to handle themselves and teach the new crazy puppies how to play nice.


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## rbabydap (May 18, 2021)

Dan_A said:


> I agree that they do play rough for puppies. We take Ellie to a day-camp occasionally where the dogs are placed in play areas by size and energy types. I think she learns a lot from these experiences. Good example today she met a rather plump Chihuahua type dog who wasn't really into running around much, but had the experience to be able to communicate to Ellie in terms of what was too much. She adapted but did result in a lot of barking and her trying to "convince" the Chi to come chase her. If you have such day-camps around you, they usually will place puppies in with the small dog areas, perhaps the dogs there can teach her some play manners. Mature small dogs accustomed to the day camp scene know how to handle themselves and teach the new crazy puppies how to play nice.


Thank you for the tip! I have been thinking that a day camp would be a good idea, so she can get some more exposure to other dogs in a semi-controlled environment. It's nice to hear that it helped out your puppy.


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