# Is "rough housing" with my GSD bad?



## exacto (Jul 10, 2012)

I like to play with my dog a lot and sometimes i like to rough house with him too, meaning i will wrestle/push him down/tap him all over/ rub his stomach/ just be rough with him... Hes wagging his tail and I always make sure never to hurt him. When he nips at me I divert him to a toy or stick to chew on and not me. 

Today, my family/friends are telling me that this will eventually lead to aggressive behavior and a generally rough playing dog. Is this true? 

My GSD is 13 weeks old today, and roughly 30lbs.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Most GSD's play rough to begin with. As long as you can calm your dog down as fast as you rile him up...I think your okay. Its a process where your dog will learn when he's biting to hard or where he's biting you is acceptable or not acceptable. I wouldn't worry about it...playing and teasing are two different things. I think teasing can cause issues down the road, not playing.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

your pup will learn how to rough house. they learn
how how hard to bite/grab us. i would be careful
with the pushing down


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

I've wrestled with my girl since she was six weeks and if anything it had made her more tolerant and taught her where/how hard she can bite. But like doggiedad said, be careful about pushing down.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Rough housing is fine, as long as their are rules and she doesn't get out of control.

I know I use tug toys to make sure I don't get accidentally bitten by an over excited dog.

Show your friends/parents the following video. IF you use 'play' properly its actually a training tool the top trainers take advantage of!


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

It teaches them a lot about control. In my house I get on the floor of the living room and we have a giant wrestle-pile, usually 4 dogs. I've never been injured or bitten harder than a play hold and the only time I've ever had blood drawn was when someone raked me with a claw by accident, lol. The biggest hazard in wrestling is definitely the claws and getting covered with fur. 

It's fun for everybody and you can/should call 'time out' occasionally to train impulse control. Chose your cue, call it (I use 'time out') and put everybody in a sit or down. If they're motivated they'll sit there trembling to be let back in to play. The resulting explosion on the release is always hilarious!


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## misterW (Jan 25, 2011)

marbury said:


> It teaches them a lot about control. In my house I get on the floor of the living room and we have a giant wrestle-pile, usually 4 dogs. I've never been injured or bitten harder than a play hold and the only time I've ever had blood drawn was when someone raked me with a claw by accident, lol. The biggest hazard in wrestling is definitely the claws and getting covered with fur.
> 
> It's fun for everybody and you can/should call 'time out' occasionally to train impulse control. Chose your cue, call it (I use 'time out') and put everybody in a sit or down. If they're motivated they'll sit there trembling to be let back in to play. The resulting explosion on the release is always hilarious!


Do you have four shepherds?? That sounds as if it would be absolutely hilarious to see. Make a video, please.


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## misterW (Jan 25, 2011)

I've always rough housed with my girl; she's about 2 1/2 now. I don't care if she bites my arm as long as she does it with play pressure. She's not aggressive. I would say, if anything, it's taught her how hard she can bite me before it hurts.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

My husband plays that way with Stosh, but I don't. Stosh is very good about stopping when my husband says "That's enough". He'll play bite with me and act like he's going to tackle me but just brushes me in a gentle body slam action. It certainly hasn't developed into any aggression.


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## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

I rough house with Nala all the time. We both love it. She is four months old today and really learned Bite controll real quick. A few weeks ago if she got too wild I would get up and walk away. She learned the limits real fast if she wanted me to stay and play. Now when we are done rough housing she gets a treat.


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## Shaine (Jul 15, 2012)

I think that is with GSD because they are so smart, they learn quickly and when we rought play with them when we want to, it confuse them we we aren't playing. We ALL KNOW that with GSD we must keep the upper hand. That's just my thought.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Yours friends and family are wrong!


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## Sarah~ (Apr 30, 2012)

Wow I think I need to learn more about what's appropriate play and what's not! We rough-house with Eko and the guys don't really have a problem stopping it but with me it takes much longer and he is much rougher with me. I am usually covered in scratches from his claws and on two occasions he bit me hard enough to bruise. When I tell him no and go sit on the couch to ignore him he'll jump on the couch and bark right next to my ear then tear off down the hallway. :/ We are having a big problem with his nipping, it has gotten a LITTLE better, he doesn't bite anything that moves anymore, but when you pet him he will put his mouth on you. Not hard, actually there's almost no pressure at all and when you say no bite he will usually just start licking, but I wish he would stop automatically moving to bite when we just want to give him a nice pat. He is teething too, though, so I guess I will just have to wait it out some more.


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

Rough housing is fine as long as you teach the dog to stop and they do it EVERY TIME you say so.


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## exacto (Jul 10, 2012)

Ok so from the responses, its ok to rough house but not push them down or push them on their side( but why is that?) Im not hurting him in the least and he just gets even more excited so its fun for both of us...but im curious as to why its not good for him

Also, how do you go about teaching him to "stop play" when hes all excited? Usually I just stop playing with him when his visibly tired and we both are panting hahaha.

thanks for the comments so far! really helpful!


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

Well, I reckon the 'no pushing down' is probably because it can be awful close to an 'alpha roll'. But honestly, my pack and I go crazy. If they're lying beside me I'll roll 'em over my chest onto their backs on the other side, not to assert anything but because it psyches them up. They've never reacted with "oh dear god I just got alpha rolled", it's always "WOOHOO YEAH WRESTLE!" followed swiftly with pouncing and zoomies. But that is my experience with my dynamics in my house, so it's not kosher for everybody. 'Course, I have the kind of dogs who think a good roll of thumps on the butt is the best reward ever, so they're already whacky in the head.


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## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

As long as you and your dog are having fun, go for it! When I got Sasha (at about two years old) she didn't know how to play games like fetch or what not, so we played "dog games" we'd rough house, we'd play chase, and even to this day that's just how we play. I'll push her, or whatever and get the game started, and she just has a blast. She "bites" at me, but it's never hard. If they have good bit inhibition, then it's no problem. In fact, she stops the game if she believes she's bit me too hard, and will actually lick the area that she's bitten. lol Play how y'all want, as long as it's not hurting your dog, you, or anyone else.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Shaine said:


> I think that is with GSD because they are so smart, they learn quickly and when we rought play with them when we want to, it confuse them we we aren't playing. We ALL KNOW that with GSD we must keep the upper hand. That's just my thought.


I think you mean well, but you have a lot to learn. My dog 100% knows when we're playing and when we're not. He's not confused about the difference between a legitimate correction and a playful swat or push. 

And no, with none of my 3 GSDs have I had to worry about "keeping the upper hand." They know Mom is in charge. They know that during playtime it's permissible to climb on top of me and put my hands and arms in their mouths, but they never get confused about who is the boss.


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