Play biting

When I got Hero and he began to interact with the dogs around us (two golden retrievers and two yellow Labs), I was struck by how much play biting dogs do. Put two young dogs together, and the first thing they do is gnaw on each other, and sometimes jaw wrestle. Hero's method of interacting with the big dogs mostly involved biting them by the ear or neck, then hanging on doggedly (so to speak) until the big dog got annoyed and snarled a warning, or just rolled over and squished him. But I also observed that no matter how persistent he was, none of the big dogs ever did any serious biting back.

As a puppy, Hero liked to bite hands when he got excited, but I noticed that if he got adequate time in with the big dogs, his tendency to gnaw on humans was reduced. Clearly biting was something he needed to do. To dogs, it's a form of communication and play. In teaching a puppy not to bite people, then, what we're doing is teaching him not that biting per se is bad, but that biting people, even in play, is bad. It must be like learning a whole different language for the puppy, and what they learn is, "Jaw wrestle with other dogs all you want, but don't put your teeth on humans." Considering how important play biting seems to be in dog society, it's amazing they can learn that lesson at all.

When I got Impulse, I wondered if Hero was old enough to tolerate a puppy hanging off of him the way the grownup dogs had tolerated him, or if it might cause fights. As it turned out, there was no cause for concern. Every morning, I let out Hero to do his business, and once he's ready he stands at the back door and yips for his brother. I let out Impulse, and Hero grabs him by the neck and pushes him to the deck. Impulse yelps and rolls over to show submission, and Hero lets him up. And they're off and running.

Sometimes Hero does get Impulse down on the ground and appears to be murdering him, biting his neck and stomach and legs with what looks like brutal savagery. (Over Thanksgiving, my father-in-law was quite alarmed by this show of apparent viciousness, and kept trying to break the dogs apart when they did this.) Impulse tolerates it for a while, then yelps, and if Hero doesn't heed his yelp, his little lips curl back and he utters a falsetto growl. Hero then leaps back and barks indignantly: I was just playing, kid, what's your problem?

But Hero's not the only one who does the biting. When Hero is sprawled out, peacefully chewing on a stick or a toy, Impulse will tend to sneak up on him and "savagely attack" him, leaping on his back and biting his ear and neck, and Hero will then amiably roll over and show his belly: Yeah, yeah, kid, you got me. You're the boss. Let me get back to my stick, will ya?

Hero has gotten two small scratches on his muzzle from Impulse's needle-like baby teeth from this sort of play. Impulse, on the other hand, has never ever gotten so much as a scratch. I check him over for scabs daily, and I've never seen one. As much as it looks like they're earnestly trying to kill each other... they're not.

Now, I don't know how things will shift as they get older. I expect some changes in the power structure (I have a feeling Impulse will one day be the alpha), and that may cause some real fights eventually. But I hope that since they grew up together, and since they will both be neutered, that they'll work it out peacefully and without any serious quarrels.