My JRT pup and Rottie pup playfighting??

Hi,

I am the proud owner of two lovely dogs. An 8th old male Jack Russell Terrier and a 12weeks old female Rottweiller, (runt). The JRT is a loving amiable little guy, moreso since he was fixed, and loves to play. Well when I brought (Tyra) the Rottie home, (Ozzie) the JRT saw a new pack member, and plamate, but perhaps some competition as well.

For the most part they chase eachother, steal eachother's toys etc. The one thing that concern's me is after reading your puppy play habits and body language I noticed that the JRT will use his mouth in a play sort of way i.e. light bting, nipping, dominance play etc. the Rottie however, seems to get a little aggrssive (teeth showing, gums raised with her little gnarr, gnarr, gnarr sounds. It seems sometimes that the JRT is bugging her.......is this still a feeling out period for both of them?? I brought her home at 8weeks, so they've been together about 3 1/2 weeks now. He trys to steal her toys, sit on her, push her off my lap.....typical puppy jealously....sibling rivalry stuff I assume??

Does she just dislike him and that's that?? She also growls when I kiss her too much on the face, the JRT never seemed bothered when he was a pup, but she seems to need more coaxing, I know they are different breeds, but isn't a pup, a pup at heart........ I mean isn't a dog a product of its surrounding?? I show nothing but love to them both, and I am stern but benevolent so they listen to me.

Will they eventually get along? Is this puppy growling going to turn into a dead JRT when the Rottie is full grown?? I mean they are of the opposite sex, and my intention is to raise them together so we can be a family.....should I be worried????
:thumbs up

Sounds like you have your hands full there! I have two dogs that are about 6 months apart in age and LOVE to play wrestle. My GSD is 16 months and my Border Collie is almost a year, so they are still very playful! Anyway, there are lots of growly growly and teeth baring and snipping. The only time it gets serious is over rawhides and then the one will usually growl and give the "look" and the other one will slink away. I would definetly supervise these two and not leave them unattended. I guess I worry about fighting because it doesn't seem to take much to get feelings hurt. I'm sure there will be others along with some good advice for you too! btw, mine are opposite sex too, both fixed.

yup, definitely got my hands full, but i luv the breeds....so its work yes...but if you love dogs its rewarding and fun work.

you have a lot of pets....i'd have more if i had more space where i live both inside and out.

its amazing what combinations of pets people will put together. oh yeah i also have 3 budgies for background music........and an old rabbit, it not mine, i'm keeping it for a friend.

Not that it could not develop into some aggressive tendencies in the future, but at 3 months old, your rottie is likely not being aggressive toward your jack at this point; but certainly keep them supervised. When you feel like things are getting a bit wild for your liking, separate them, distract them with a toy, praise them for listening to you, etc. So long as you establish the rules (not them) they will most likely grow old together, palying all the way. I'm sure that in a year or so you will get a great kick out of watching a 20lb jack playing with an 80lb rottie.

My two are about a year apart (ages 2 and 3). Listening to my youngest (and littliest) guy go after Lucy you would think that he was being very very aggressive. However, he has always been a very vocal dog when playing (likely a result of coming into the house as an 8lb 5-mos old who got to play with a 40lb 18-mos old). I think he has a touch of little dog syndrom.

what kind of dogs to you have??

Mine are very vocal too when they play. Especially my Border Collie. And the teeth baring it looks like they are going to rip each other's throats out. But I always look for signs of submission too. Usually they will take turns lying on their backs exposing their throats. This is a big submissive sign to the other dog. However, when things start getting a little loud or rough I always call them off, because it sends them the message that I'm the boss and they stop when I say, not when they want to. (sorry for the run on sentence)

Bridie is seven ~ she has never liked being kissed. Ceili, her litter sister loves being kissed. Declan, who has been with us for a year is just getting used to being kissed and hugged. Some dogs do, some don't.

Some dogs play HARD. So all the fussing, barking and growling may just be play or it may be working out the relationship. When the grrrls were little they fought HARD all the time for about 2 years, with lots of play-fighting all the while now they only occasionally get into an actual fight. I found re-direction was really helpful i.e. "get a stick". As well Bridie (my resident dominant :queen: ) has learned "be nice" means to cool it or go back on leash and home with a very unhappy Mum.

oops.. forgot one more thing. My grrrls have no idea how big they are and go galumphing over to these little dogs who start out cowering until they discover my dogs think they are puppy-size. As such you're Rottie may not be attuned to how little the JRT is and JRT's are famous for being BIG DOG fearless despite their size.

Both breeds of dogs you have NEED obedience school. Especially the rottweiler. You need to be a strong leader with this breed. Give them time alone for training to bond to you

what kind of dogs to you have??

The oldest, Lucy, is a border terrier mixed with lord knows what (she's about 45lbs)
The youngest, Jack, is a yorkie mixed with minurature poodle (this is our newest guess), he's pushing 20 lbs