Play fighting

[lesjoanne]

Hi,
We have two CKCS - one 7mth old & 1 3mth old - both males. They are constantly fighting - I think it is play fighting as their tails are constantly wagging, but it does seem excessive - what is the best way to deal with it? And, the older one keeps trying to "hump" the young one - should we stop this, or let them figure it out on their own?

[Louisma]

I dont have the humping issue but I do have the play fighting with two of mine - 12 months and 26 months - they enjoy themselves and although the mouths are going if I watch carefully I can see there is a lot more noise being made than contact...

[petcrazyme]

Hi,
We have two CKCS - one 7mth old & 1 3mth old - both males. They are constantly fighting - I think it is play fighting as their tails are constantly wagging, but it does seem excessive - what is the best way to deal with it? And, the older one keeps trying to "hump" the young one - should we stop this, or let them figure it out on their own?

I'll be checking the replies you get to your question because I have the exact some issue and concern except with my female dog and male cat.

The dog is now 4 months, the cat 10 mnths. My husband swears the dog is harassing the cat but if the dog lets up at all, the cat pounces him. Also, the cat has his claws and a cat door escape to the basement ...he uses neither so I tend to think he is far more into this rough play than it might appear. However, I wonder if I should be discouraging this type of play as it is constant and involves growling, barking and just plain hyper, frenetic behaviour. Recently the dog has been standing over the cat ...a pre-humping stance?

[nicoles94]

I'll be checking the replies you get to your question because I have the exact some issue and concern except with my female dog and male cat.

The dog is now 4 months, the cat 10 mnths. My husband swears the dog is harassing the cat but if the dog lets up at all, the cat pounces him. Also, the cat has his claws and a cat door escape to the basement ...he uses neither so I tend to think he is far more into this rough play than it might appear. However, I wonder if I should be discouraging this type of play as it is constant and involves growling, barking and just plain hyper, frenetic behaviour. Recently the dog has been standing over the cat ...a pre-humping stance?

Tybalt and Romeo play like this. At first, I thought Tybalt was harassing Romeo as well. But the longer I watched, the more certain I was that Romeo was playing along too. My only concern is that Romeo has been declawed and Tybalt will sometimes nip too hard and get on top of Romeo and continue to play and Romeo has no real way of getting himself out of a rough bite other then a few swats to Tybalts head. I've found if I catch Tybalt playing too rough with Romeo all I have to do is call out 'Tybalt Stop!' and he lets up.

Tybalt growls at Romeo too, but it's not a threatning growl. They 'talk' to each other. They run all over the house, like a pair of lunatics, playing. Their playing looks much more rough then it is and often Romeo is the instigator who will swat Tybalt on the head as he passes by or will pounce and tumble Tybalt to the floor.

[Karlin]

Well, if tails are wagging, there's really nothing to control -- they are simply enjoying themselves and it is a positive if they play like this because it helps keep them active and to tire them out.

Are they neutered? If they are neutered they are a lot less likely to be humping each other (and everything else). It's a training issue -- if you don't want them humping, then distract them and give them something else to do, like engage them in a game of fetch or other form of play.

You probably will want to consider neutering at least one of them anyway -- generally it is not a good idea to keep a group of intact dogs together. Two unneutered males will be prone to fighting as they mature. Right now the younger one is still jut a puppy, but in another two months or so the 7 month old will likely start to get in scraps with the older male if both are intact.

Playing with cats has to be monitored -- a playful cat can easily remove a cavalier's eyeball or blind it for life. We have at least three people on this board over time with dogs that are blind in one eye due to a cat's claw. That includes friendly cats!

[lesjoanne]

Thanks for all the comments. We are planning on getting the older one neutered in a month or so, so hopefully that will help. I have been watching more closely and yes there seems more noise than contact!! At least it gives my lap a break for a while when they are playing. lol