We are new to dog owning. We got our Tibetan Terrier male pup in May this year and overall he's an absolute joy. We are doing training classes with him and passed puppy foundation and are now in a beginners class. He is 7 months old this week.

However, we do have a bit of an issue.  Our adult son also has a young dog, an 18 month old male (neutered) JRT. Unfortunately, every attempt we have made to introduce the two dogs results in crazy rough-housing play, which never seems to abate and quite honestly it's making family socialising very tiresome.

His JRT is maturing and is now no longer the one who keeps the game going and is now by far the smaller of the two dogs (although he was initially the big and manic one of the two). Instead, it's our pup who keeps going back for more as soon as the pace drops. What can I do to keep control when his dog visits us?  There's no aggression between the dogs, but we are struggling to deal with the non-stop zooming and jumping and crashing around every time they meet and I fear that our dog is learning that this is how playing is done (with any dog).

So far, they have met up about half a dozen times, and it's not getting any better, even though the tables have turned regarding who is the worst of the two.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I teach my dogs time and place.  I know the sisters of both my younger dogs very well and they often come to stay, if left unchecked the two youngest would play and play until completely exhausted.  My lads sister is also very rough with him and literally sits on his chest whilst pummelling him - he lets her mind you!!

My friend and I allow the dogs to greet each other and we allow a certain amount of this rough play outside but they aren't allowed to continue indoors, they'd be a hazard to the other dogs, the furniture, people, and themselves :)

Over time, they have learnt to respond to either "take it outside" or "enough" as we have previously separated them with baby gates, crates, and doors.  We will also put one or other on the lead to prevent them from restarting the play.   I don't worry about doing this as it's for their own health and safety but it's clear that they love to play this way and if we don't pay attention they'll do a series of surreptitious sneaky movements to get back together again - then we find them boxing quietly in the corner obviously hoping we won't notice them!!

Baby gates are brilliant for allowing dogs some space and the removable ones mean you won't have to keep them up the all the time if you don't want to.  Have a look at the Freecycle pages as they are often given away on there :)

I got what looks like a brand new stairgate off freecycle and the lady said she'd got it second hand!

Babygates, crates and leads are your friends here.

This has been so rewarding for your TT boy in the past he is NOT going to quit it now, they are not a breed known for giving up on a thing if it has EVER been rewarding in any way.

So - enforce the behaviour you do want - and set them up to succeed.

Visits are to be preceeded by LONG walks or training sessions or ideally, both, so that both dogs are knackered before they ever clap eyes on one another.
Split up the house so that you can use time outs to back up what you are saying. In case you don't know: time outs must not involve lots of chasing the dog around or tellings off or 'last chance and...' type stuff. Just evict the dog from the room, shut the door, count ten, allow him back in, repeat as necessary.

The first few times you WILL have to repeat it almost immediately, and ad nauseum because frankly, he would be a fool to just accept that something no longer works (you wouldn't.. if your pen stops writing you scribble harder, if the car won't start first time you turn the key a few more times.. etc), so he WILL try harder at first.

Dont be surprised if your TT is a canny little git and 'tests' behaviours on you. When we first used time outs on my boy, for being a pest towards our older dog (up in his face barking to get the toy he had), he thought after three time outs that it was teh NOISE he was making we didnt like... so persisted in the pestering and bullying IN SILENCE... he swiftly discovered that it was the entire behaviour, not JUST the yapping, that wasn't permitted, but the persistance and thought that went with it, 'ooh maybe if I bully him quietly...' was quite amazing.

If you have a situation where you cannot use time outs (because you are eating or otherwise cannot leap up and down evicting the dog every two seconds), use the crates/dogleads/baby gates to prevent the behaviour, and give them something better to do like stuffed kongs so that they are entertained and not just building up frustrations.

I will say that you have had great advice.  My dogs know that indoors rumbling is not allowed in the living room but this is taught very early and my dogs have constant access to each other.
And this is where MY problem lies.  i don't think it's very fair to try and calm your dogs at a time that's obviously very exciting.  Your son visiting, bringing his friendly little dog, who loves a great game, and your pup is still very young.  If the JRT lived with your dog and you had posted this, I could quite easily understood your frustration but if it's only for a short while every few days or so, I can't see the big problem.  If it bothers you all, why not put the dogs in another room to play?  They get their fun visit and you all get quiet to chat.
TBH, there are far more posts on here about trying to get visiting dogs to get along.  I would thank my stars that you obviously have well-adjusted, friendly dogs who are great friends.  It'd be much worse if they didn't get along.

OM,
I think one of the key comments you make is about your TT getting the idea that this is how to behave with other dogs. I think one of the most important things to teach young dogs is how to behave with other adult dogs. He may try this with the wrong dog at some point and you will all live to regret it. It's rambunctious/Kevin behaviour and immensely rewarding for him but you need to only allow short bursts and then make him stop. I would not leave him unsupervised with the JRT as if it gets truly out of hand a fight may ensue and then all sorts of other problems may emerge. In a sense you've got to help teach him manners and, as others have said that there is not only a time and place but he needs to be reading other dogs too. Sometimes youngsters get so fired up and into the boisterous play that they don't read the back off signals from the other dog which may suddenly feel overwhelmed and threatened.

Again, as others have said use the leads, timeouts, crates. It's not a punishment it's simply calling a halt on fun when it looks to be getting too much, it's also about helping your lad to become a well socialised boy with good doggie etiquette.

Thanks for your advice folks. Lots to think about. We're probably on the right lines because we have used the crate and leads for separation and we tried taking them for a long walk together - and separately - before meeting them up at home. I do want them to play and have fun, I just need to apply boundaries and I expect the main thing is to talk it through with the JRT's loved ones and get everyone to understand the strategy. The JRT is boisterous and has way more energy but is hugely tolerant and even submissive.  My TT is headstrong and playful, but has no etiquette and doesn't yet understand that enough is enough. I will continue to help him get the message. With people, my TT is great, but with other dogs he has a lot, lot, lot to learn.

> we tried taking them for a long walk together - and separately - before meeting them up at home.

At 7 months old he really doesn't need a long walk (5 minutes per month of life for on-lead walking) and you don't want him engaging in very silly play when he's over tired as he'll be less able to control his impulses :)

As long as you apply simple boundaries and apply the rules consistently he'll soon learn and of course it's better that you tell him when to stop, rather than another dog.  As you rightly say it will require both sets of dog owners to apply the same rules - and dogs are easier to train than people I find!!

Yes, I meant a long walk within the range for his age - which is not long at all really!  Just one where he can bounce around a bit in the open, as opposed to a little sniff around the street where we live. When we walked them together, the JRT had already walked much further before meeting - so a long walk for him and a puppy-sized walk for us!  The thinking behind this was that neither of them were on their own territory and would have other interest around them, but I'm not sure it made any difference.