Hi everyone,

This is my first time on here and i need some help.

i have an AKita bitch, she is nearly 2 and we have had her for about a year. she is great with kids. Very loving and gentle.

i recently acquired a male German Shepherd puppy who is 12 weeks old. Now he has had his first lot of vaccinations but not his 2nd as his previous owner didn't get it done. I have made an appointment for him for next week, but until he has these injections he cannot go out and hence has a lot of energy.

He likes to play fight with my Akita and she play fights back. his tail wags and her tail stays up the entire time.

i have been told to let them carry on but sometimes i have to stop them as im not sure if its getting too aggressive or not?  i know that sounds stupid. I mean they are not aggressive aggressive but you can tell that she becomes tired of him after a bit and he just wants to play?

so do i stop them or let them carry on until she tells him to stop???

i try to separate them for a time out but he crys to get back in (from my utility room) and then when i let him back in they start again???

I've always just left my dogs to play fight :) Run a search on here and you'll see the subject has been discussed many times.

Play fighting can sometimes seem rough, but if either of your dog does get hurt it will yell out and the other will stop.  If your older girl does tire of the puppy's continuous fighting she will let him know and put him in his place.  It might be a good idea to give them a seperate 'sleeping/resting space'!

On vaccinations, if your puppy has had one vaccination at 12 weeks or after then he doesn't need another for the parvo and distemper virus.  He will need his second part of the lepto but that is all - no puppy or adult dog needs 3 vaccinations.  

I agree leave them to it, but you must always watch when playing like this in a split second the mood may change and your Akita may decide she has just had enough if her body langauge changes and she begins to growl unplayfully or run away then seperate immediately, otherwise she will be forced to give a proper nip to give your pup the message.

She may be one of those bitches whom are extremely tolerant with pups though.

When your GSD is approx 7 months though it will be more important for you to segregate at times, having experienced my brothers two GSD's as teenagers they do tend to get very over-s-x-d and testosterone is flying everywhere so in having a female dog, spayed or not, he may well often try to grab her by the neck and pin her down a lot so protect your Akita when he gets to this stage or you will have one very stressed female. :-)

I let play go on to a limit, the problem with a puppy is they get told and they dont stop!! i step in at those times as its not fair to enforce a norty puppy on an established dog.. they need space too..

Especailly in this case as this bitch is still not settled and confident.

thanks for all your advice everyone! x