Play biting

[Bienchen]

Ein is now 8 month old. Whenever she plays with other dogs she starts biting their necks.

When she was younger she didn't have a lot of contact with other dogs, we lived in an apartment and there were not a lot of dogs around.
We moved and now we are starting having play dates with the neighbor dog. He takes her biting for a while and then he starts barking at her.

My brother in law has a little puppy and she is very good with her. Really gentle. But when dogs are the same height like her she is biting their necks.

She also bites my In laws dog and we will move in with them in a 2 month and I don't know if there is a way to stop it? Or will she grow out of it? She loves playing with other dogs but the biting concerns me.

Thank you
Sabrina

[MyPemCharlie]

Hi Sabrina,

Charlie is about 7 1/2 months now. When I take him to the dog park, I watch him like hawk for behavior. He seems to be dominant over some dogs and subordinate to others, but gets along happily with most dogs. He's a "middle of the pack" dog I guess.

Anyway at this age, older dogs will start to put pushy little teenagers in their place if they aren't socializing nicely. That's why your neighbor's dog will bark at her when he's had enough. My neighbor's rottie and mixed dog do the same with Charlie (whereas they let him get away with murder when he was younger).

As long as none of the dogs are getting too anxious (trying to get away) or too aggressive (really stiff body language, growling with teeth) I let them work it out.

Charlie tried to bully one dog out of dozens of dogs last weekend, and I pulled him away for "time out". The other dog's owner was laughing and said it was "OK", but I told her I wasn't going to let Charlie be a bully. He was clearly making her little dog afraid and angry. And one dog came up to try to bully Charlie, where Charlie was looking for an "out". I pulled Charlie away from that dog since its owner was nowhere in sight.

Anyway, for the most part, some biting, growling, chasing and 'rough' wrestling is normal play and socialization. Just keep an eye on the body language. You'll be able to tell if a dog needs to be timed out.

[KJohnson]

Westin is like that too, our friends have a rottie that is only a week and a half younger than Westin (and twice as big!) and Westin will not leave his neck alone! But Gary doesn't seem to mind and gives it back to him, so I would think that as long as the other dog doesn't seem to be bothered by it, then they are just playing.
Plus, by playing like that they learn bite inhibition, (especially if they didn't learn it as a puppy) so they learn when they are biting too hard, because the other dog will let them know.

[colbycorgi]

We have a new puppy at home and I was very worried about the same thing as Colby, the older dog, is also a neck biter....colby seems to feel the need to jump up on larger dogs and goes to grab their necks cuz that what he can reech....i see Cammie,the little pup doing the same to him...after many hand ringing sessions by me, i have learned to let them work it out and just keep a watchful eye...the dogs at the dog park actually taught me this...colby keeps going back for more and hes a rough-houser...they all seem to tell each other when enough is enough...colby is used to playing with my brothers mastiff and aunts 5 labs so he learned to hold him own.. and cammie will whine when shes had enough from him and the minute he lets up shes in his face telling him whats what...go figure..but it took and still is taking some adjusting to hearing them "play" as colby was never very vocal and cammie is....also, recently colby has been sick and now it is very clear to me what is playing and what is leave me alone noise...sorry for the ramble...

[Michael Romanos]

Canine PLAY-biting ( ie using their mouths and teeth like a hand) is completely natural especially with other dogs. I'd be worried if Taylor, when fully involved in combative play with another dog, did NOT play-bite. Of course we are distinguishing here play-biting from serious biting that can inflict wounds.

[Matt W]

Ein (Am I the only one that gets the refrence?)

I have noticed within my personal experiance that alot of the time girl corgis are VERY bossy, Any dog that is bigger than her she is quite nasty to. Hence why ive noticed getting a Older girl corgi and a Younger Girl corgi together from diffrent homes it can get nasty.

I think its alot of playing unless it looks like they are getting violent then you just need to monitor them. I think thats why alot of Girl corgis are drawn to big boy dogs, they can bite and be bossy and the big dog will just bow down.

Now how to get it to stop.. Just watch them and make sure it is play. When its boy and girl it seems to be all play when i watch it. But when its Girl and Girl it can be a bit more than play.

And Snickers has played with a Few Eins. And if yours is like all the other Eins there all EXTRA smart (again, dont know if anyone is picking up on this Joke)

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by Matt W

Ein (Am I the only one that gets the refrence?)

You sure aren't. I almost named Shippo Ein, but he was too fluffy, so I chose another anime lmao.

The neck-biting sounds normal to me. Shippo is always biting Eevee's (my other dog) neck, and even handing off it lmfao. Eevee always puts Shippo in his place if he gets too rough.

[jakort1]

Neck biting is normal and so is nipping at the legs and ears during social play. This being said, I will mention that when dogs fight to assert dominance they go for the neck (think wolves bringing down game). A dog can take this "play" too far very quickly if they're not watched. My dog loves to play, but, I've seen others at different times in my life that did not play well for more than a few moments. A few signs to look for when the play has escalated:
The hackles come up.
There's no barking, just growling/snarling.
The lips have pulled back from the teeth.
Ears are down, so is the tail.

Michael I don't allow Will to use his mouth for anything other than eating. It is not a substitute hand. It's a jaw with strong canine teeth capable of crushing a golf ball. I've got a five year old daughter at home and I would NEVER tolerate a dog mouthing her.

[Bienchen]

Thank you so much for the answers.

[Michael Romanos]

John - whether you tolerate it (a Corgi handling a person with his/her mouth) or not, this action is completely normal for a dog.

[KJohnson]

Ein is a VERY popular name for Corgi's now-a-days...
we also almost named Westin Ein... but I put my foot down!
can you imagine going to the dog park and calling your dog only to have 5 corgis at your feet!?!? =D

[jakort1]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

John - whether you tolerate it (a Corgi handling a person with his/her mouth) or not, this action is completely normal for a dog.

I did not say that it was not normal, and as someone that has raised much larger and stronger dogs...you do NOT want them testing your dominance. I absolutely do not allow Will or any other dog to mouth me or my family.

[chanathon]

yea, tater tot does the same thing to my gf's pomeranian. At first it looks a little scary, but I guess that's just the way he plays...with the pom atleast, since i've never seen him do it to any other dog. I've noticed that tater tot likes to bark and chase other dogs, but recently at the local dog park, the other dog owners asked me to leave because they were considering his behavior as overly agressive even though I knew he was just playing. I guess some people aren't as receptive to rough housing,, so we just have to keep a closer eye on our dogs.