I just wanted to ask peoples opinions on 2 dogs playing tug of war. I have always been of the opinion that humans v dogs tug of war is fine, as long as the dog understands you are in control, the game is fair and you have taught a drop it command - all of which I have with both of them.

I posted on here recently about my second dog :) A year old male rottweiler who we have had now for 2 months today. We already have a female 5 year old german shepherd cross rottie (mostly german shepherd). They appear to be getting on fine, my gsd bitch seems happy enough although I wouldn't say she loves him lol. She told him off a lot at the start and this has declined rapidly, now she will only tell him off if he starts to get rougher with his nose rubs while enticing her to play, or gets the opportunity to jump on her neck/back - which I might add have been stopping before it gets that far as much as possible. Apart from that she may tell him off for chasing her bee or if she thinks a treat has been dropped by accident or a crumb.

However I think he (rottie) will maybe end up higher ranking than her. I say this because this morning, when I let them both out he bought his kong with him (usually they are kept seperate when they have kongs and food) and dropped it by the door and ran out. She immediately went over and sniffed it, he snarled and growled at her quite a bit lol (understandably as it was his kong) and she just hovered, he didn't make a move to get it though. I picked it up and as soon as he knew I was looking after it he was fine. I should add he was quite possessive when we first got him but I worked on this alot.

Anyway this leads me up to tug of war. He keeps trying to make her play, and sometimes she wants too. From watching it appears he is stronger than her, and never wants to give up. Sometimes she will get bored and drop it, he will come back to her straight away and entice her to play again. Sometimes she looses grip and will chase to get it back which she usually does, I can tell she is enjoying herself. But I have never seen her 'win'. Although every time he gets the rope he always brings it right back to try and get her to play again. Now to me it completely looks like play. No hackles are raised, obviously there is growling but it's the same growl they do when enjoying a game of tug with me. I must admit though when they first played to make sure all was well I held it in the middle to make it fair, and got them both to drop it at the same time (he will always drop it after her ;)) and I always ended the game quite early and got them both to sit/watch me etc  to calm them down.

Bearing all of that in mind above, should I continue to let them play tug?

It seems to be the only thing they 'enjoy' doing together but obviously I don't want this to silently escalate into something bad. They are both fine on walks although they don't really play together, she will always be near me and he is usually up in front - the same when they are walked separately.

Sorry for the long post, love them both to bits and want them both to be happy together!

Yes, let them play, remember the Rotti is still very young and needs to play, your bitch is very accomodating in playing with him. Whoever wins a game of tuggy or shows guarding behaviour over a toy, bone etc does not make them the higher ranking dog, some things are just more precious to one and not worth fighting about, it has nothing to do with rank. Males in most species have the upper hand in strength, they are usually much larger too but the bitch runs the show still for any important things. :-) Plenty of people have terriers which are the more alpha over a dog 5 times their size. :-D

When there are two dogs often a clear alpha is not there, and not needed, but your bitch is much older is already teaching doggy manners and will be a good influence on him, pretty sure she will stay the higher influence no matter how big and strong the Rotti gets. She just won't be too worried about challenge for most things.

You are handling them well and being watchful, but the game of tuggy in this inst, is just a game of tuggy. :-)

Agree, sounds normal and healthy behaviour to me. Look at it a different way the bitch has just taught the dog that you must respect others property. Also agree I would expect the bitch to be in charge, it is often the quite one that is in control as they do it with a glance and body language hardly ever a growl. (Perhaps not so in the case of a terrier) As long as the handler is able to stop whatever is going on and get the attention of both dogs everything seem fine and dandy - let them play just stop it sometimes to show you can and then restart the game.

Thank you for both of your replies :) I am pleased they can both play tug as I enjoy watching them as much as they enjoy playing.

I guess I over analyse things to make sure all will be well!

That's also true what you say Nova, my bitch doesn't growl an awful lot to tell him off, I will catch her however giving a quick lip curl if she thinks he is pushing his luck - it's amazing how quickly dogs do things like this and very easy to miss.

I have had as many as 4 dogs all tugging together on one toy. :)

this is exactly what i need...more DOGS ! so that my pup plays tug of war with DOGS not me !! LOL !!!

Mine tug of war and the smallest always win! he jut latches on gets pulled around and will not let go. The BC then thinks "this isnt much fun" and lets go so the cocker always wins.

Let them play.  They are already showing signs of working out the heirarchy themselves which is good.  In our experience, although the males are physically bigger and stronger than the females, the girls often take on a matriarchal role and keep the boys in line.  Much the same as humans really!

My setter shoves tuggy toys into the puppy's face to get her to play - its really funny to watch them and they love it!

Dakkobear that's what the rottie does to my gsd, it is funny to watch lol. He even managed to actually swing it into her open mouth the other day while I was stroking her and she managed to realise in time and grabbed hold of it :D

One thing I realised I left out was that when the she tells him off he doesn't really walk away as he did before, he jumps on the spot barking back at her. But saying that that's him all over, even when he wants to play - he is a very loving full of energy puppy!

> They appear to be getting on fine, my gsd bitch seems happy enough although I wouldn't say she loves him lol. She told him off a lot at the start and this has declined rapidly, now she will only tell him off if he starts to get rougher

This sounds just like my 2.  My staffy is 7 and my rott is 18 months and she didn't like him at the beginning but now tolerates him unless there is a good game to be had and they are like best mates.  They go wild for a tug toy and this seems to be the things that brings them together.  They are really funny to watch as like your dogs,my rott is much stronger but not nearly as tenacious as my staff.  She will be tugging for all she is worth and he will just be lying down putting in no effort or be on his back legs in the air and she is attempting to drag him and the toy around.