puppy fighting

can you tell me what i should do when jadan goes for another pup? jadan is 6 half months now and i may have mentioned before on another listing about him playing with my sisters pups. one is a doberman who he no longer sees because bruno (doberman ) got a big big for him even though they are the same age. but even when they did play there was NEVER an incident. however my brother and sis have both got springer spaniels. one aged 10 weeks ( trixie) and the other aged about five months(barney) jadan does like to play with them as they are puppies after all. BUT......both springers will end up nipping jadan and he obviously doesnt like it. im not saying that both springers are there together. just when ever jadan meets these two in particular at their homes or even when one comes to visit us. they are both younger and more excitable i suppose, but jadan doesnt like getting nipped and will defend himself. i worry over this as i didnt think he had it in him and wonder what else may set him off in future. i know he is after an animal and so some part of me thinks that this is only natural...or is it? i dont know. he is my first pup and i need advice. what should i do when this happens. tonight i told jadan off and he went very quiet for a while. i thought he should know that i was not happy with his behaviour. but should i have done after all if he doesnt want to be nipped then what should he do? if we seperate them they pine for each other and start to play again when brought together but again it ends up with jadan being nipped and he retaliates. he never starts it though. im being long winded. sorry. basically. what do i do in that situation. ignore it. seperate them. tell them off. i have told my sister/brother that they need to teach there pups not to bite. but in the mean time....what should i be doing with jadan?

I'm no expert but maybe they are getting over excited from playing too long. You could try giving them breaks especially if they play rough. I used to have a dog who played rough for hours. My sisters dog was very patient but my dog did wear her dog out.

I'm not sure what you should do either. My mum has golden retrievers and the boys have play fought since they were pups ( they are now nearly 12) Even Silje at neraly 14 will still grab Tell and give him a good shake of his scruff when she feels inclined. Theres never been any agression in all those years and if one of them did bite the other too hard they would yelp and the fight would stop with them all looking at each other as if to say " wasn't me, but if it was sorry" - 5 mins later they'd be playing again.

It may just be over excitement, and being a pup he just doesn't know how to calm down yet.

Merlin can get very giddy sometimes and will get mouthy with your hands. I just put him in a sit with his back against the front of my legs and I just stroke his chest for a few minutes telling him to calm down quietly and that seems to do the trick!

First off make sure they're never left alone I guess. It sounds like normal enough puppy behaviour. I had a bit of expierience with this when I had Aggie. She used to terrorise the cat with her 'playing' (she'd grab it by the scruff of the neck and try to shake it) and the cat used to let her! We'd just remove her for a while when it got like that.

Then when my mother got a pup (pom X jack russell) called Ben, we let them play together once or twice. Unfortunately Ben was a chewer. He loved Aggies long ears, her tail, her nose... everything!! Aggie would defend herself and Ben backed off. We didn't tell her off because I feel this is an important instinct for them to have. I read somewhere about dogs that are told off for growling... Growling is an important warning sign to people or other dogs. If they're stopped from doing it they skip that step and can go straight to biting. Highly unlikely to be a problem with a Cavalier but like Pauline said I'd separate them everytime the play gets too rough and they should learn where the boundaries are.

it only ever seems to happen with these two springers. he has met so many pups at training and in the park but never comes to blows with them. i do take him to one side to calm down. but sometimes the springers just come straight out with the biting. jadan growls and then if they dont back off he bares his teethand goes for them etc. ive not seen this in him except with these two because they will play rough. i am just concerned that as i have so many nieces and nephews that even though he loves them to bits and likes nothing more than to give them a good licking that one day when he has had enough he may turn on them. or is it just the puppies? he ended up just hiding behind my legs last night to get out of the way. trixie was picked up and made to calm down but as soon as she was put down again she just wanted to play and jadan just didnt, he had had enough. so trixie went home. they had played quite happilty for a while so it was a shame she had to go. again i am just a bit worried as i have not seen this side of him and that he wont know who or what he can turn on. he is such a laid back pup normally. its just these two. is it a springer thing i wonder!!!! maybe they are just to over the top for him. it makes me not want to go and visit just so i dont have to keep telling my family that their dogs arent trained right because they just keep saying oh they will grow out of it. but in the mean time, jadan isnt getting buliied ,but is fed up with the nipping!! :x i just dont know if it is normal or not and what i should do about it. :sl*p: just read your mailing cecily. i didnt think it was right to stop jadan defending himself either. like you said it is natural even when we have had enough we get fed up. do you think that as long as its supervised that the other pups will eventually get the idea then that he doesnt like it and stop? obviously we will have to make sure they dont get ovr tired like was said.

I think Cecily is right, keep it supervised and then you can intervene when necessary. The springers probably don't realise that Jadan is a good few pounds lighter and more delicately boned than they are and of course being royalty cavaliers are more reserved and well behaved!!!

(TBH - if you follow Cecily's advised they probably will with time learn each others boundaries just like children do)

Don't worry Angie,
Jadan's not doing anything wrong and the springers are just pups too. As merlinsmum said they don't realise they're dealing with a smaller dog! Incidentally the afore mentioned biter (Ben) EVENTUALLY learned not to bite and is now a much better behaved dog at 8months. The springers will learn too and in a few weeks/months time they'll be great companions.

Hi Angie,

I agree with Cecily here. They are all just babies. The springers will soon learn the boundaries but in the meantime just keep it supervised.

Springers are extremely wild and rowdy as pups and to some extent as adults too. They are also extremely intelligent and trainable which is why the Forces use them as sniffer dogs.

I don't think I've ever met an aggressive one though, they usually have far too much energy for me :lol:

thanks peeps for the advice. :flwr: i will keep it supervised and make sure that if they start getting too hyped up to call time out. :? i was getting to the point of not going round with him and that would have been unfair as i would have left him at home when he loves people so much. i must remember to think back on my kids younger days as you say, as the same rules apply to an extent. they get tired and grumpy and over excited etc. :sl*p: but at least they didnt over take you in size until they hit there teens. :? these pups grow so quick you blink an eye and they are nearly full grow in a few months. so i suppose whilst jadan pricks his ears up at there names and cant wait to go see them...once hes there....boy did they get big quick and it must be frightning having a bulldozer come at you with its great big wet drooly mouth open ready for a big wet droooly round of get the pup!!! :yikes