[Aida-Christine]

My step-sister recently adopted a now 2 month old tweeny sized Dachshund. Unfortunately my standard Hermione, tends to play too vigorously with small dogs. Her version of playing is to pounce on and slap other dogs which isn't a problem when the other dog is her size, but she could really hurt, not to mention scare, a much smaller dog. Part of it is that she seems to get over excited, and part of it is that she grew up surrounded by larger siblings that always ruff housed with her. Maybe playing with a small dog is like a power trip to her, who knows.
Anyone ever have this problem or know of any solutions? I just need to figure out how get her to play more gently.

 

[Ladybug]

Gentry is mostly gentle, but sometimes gets too full of himself. My small dog is older than him though and will let him know if he is getting too rough.

I will also say "Ahhhhhkkkk, enough." when he is being rough and sometimes he may need a little time out. He has to sit while I play with the little dog a little. Not a lot, I don't want to make him jealous, just enough so he realizes that it's more fun to play nice. He listens very well now. Mostly all I have to say is "Gentle!" and he will calm down, or just run and run. Which is great because my little dog can't catch him anyway

 

[Olie]

I too have some of this going on and would be very interested in some people's take on this.
Also adding a few things I see when playing gets rough IMO - Nose butting, mugging, pushing their weight onto the other dog small or same size.

 

[*tina*]

I have no help, because our mini picks on our bigger dog :lol: She'll let him know when enough is enough, and when they get too rough, I crate them apart for a little while for down time.

 

[Locket]

I would keep them separated. Don't want the dachshund to be afraid of large dogs.

 

[Savannah]

My dog is terrible with this one! What's worse, if the pouncing doesn't seem to be working, he'll actually snap at the back of the other dog's neck-- he's hoping to make them angry enough to chase him!

I watch him closely whenever he plays with other dogs, and if I see him starting to get too rowdy I tell him "relax." (this is actually a command for him, and he does take it seriously). If he's too excited to listen, I move him a few feet away from the other dog and ask him to sit for 10-15 seconds. Then he can go back to playing, and he's usually a bit better. Sometimes he needs the exercise repeated a few times, and if it gets way out of hand I'll separate them completely.

His rough housing is much less of a problem when he's been exercised sufficiently-- if he misses his daily walk, I can't trust him with other dogs.

 

[calidani]

My lab is the same way. He does well about 1/2 of the time, but he tends to get excited and just doesn't know when to stop. The only little dog who can make him stop is my Mini Schnauzer, but she pretty much always bosses the lab around.
When Elliot gets too excited I make him lay down until I feel his muscles relax and he is able to look at me calmly. At that point, I know that he has calmed down, and I release him. He needs reminders sometimes though.

 

[Mister]

I say put him with an tough (JRT or something similar) small alpha dog and let the little one push him around and let him know what ok and whats not. He needs to know when enough is enough. Slapping is not ok neither is picking on them when they dont want to play. The doxie sounds too timid to put him in his place.