Lennox and my husband - I dont know if it's a male bonding thing or what - but it drives Sugar and I a bit crazy.

They box - they wrestle - Lennox LIVES for this. And my husband is pretty good about makeing sure Lennox only does this when it's OK to play rough - and they have a "settle" period after where my husband says "OK, settle" and Lennox instantly calms down and gives kisses - and my husband snuggels him and tells him he is a good boy.

But the funny thing is how it begins. Lennox will start it - he will kinda "snort" like a bull and make a "Humpff" sound - paw at my husbands hand. If my husband doesnt want to play he will simply say "no, humpff" - but if my husband DOES want to play he will say "HUMPFF" and it's on.................... I dont see the fun of it but then again - I dont like football either...lol.

Sugar though - she gets upset - she "woo woos" and tries to distract Lennox with a toy. I think she's not sure if Lennox is hurting my husband or if they are playing.

I used to discourage this but they both enjoy it and my husband has it under control to stop on command.

Does anyone else play like this????????

Marty,

I think it's a guy thing. Both my hubby and my son play the exact same with with Sting. And they also use the settle command to end the game. I'm not too crazy about the rough play, but like you, as long as it can be ended on command I don't say too much about it. Funny thing is that Sting won't play with me like this at all, even if I try. Apparently I'm just not as much FUN as the boys

Well here its both kids that like to play ruff. When Bandi was a bit younger you couldnt play too ruff for her. Now she ruff houses for a few minutes and she has had enuff, Stryker loves it, we wrestle every night before bed. But like your hubby I say OK thats good lets settle down now and they calm down . I will also say I have a few battle scars from not bein as tuff as they are

Josh and I both are guilty of playing "rough" with Kato. Kato loves it so much. It is also funny to see him batting with his paws. We do have to be careful since Kato can be a tad clumsy sometimes. If he knocks something over or bumps something he lays his ear back and looks totally ashamed with himself! He has always been so careful about retrieving toys from precarious places as well. Odie and kato are both such people pleasers unlike my two females who think it is all about them.

Kato knows that if I am singing to music and dancing that he can jump up and dance too. He also knows only to jump during "rough" play or when I tap my shoulders. We don't really have a word to begin "rough" play. Kato just senses by our behavior that it is okay. Our word to end it is enough.

I play like this with my girls and so does hubby. I think it's one of the joys of owning a rough and tumble breed like the boxer. I think that rough housing is fine, as long as it starts when we say it starts and stops when we say it stops.

Koda loves to wrestle with my fiance. They play so rough that I worry one of them will get hurt, but they always come out of it mostly unharmed. Koda will NOT play this game with me. He gets upset if I try! Lucy sort of likes to get in on the game, but she's not really sure what she's supposed to do so she just kind of runs around barking at the two of them! Our foster girl, Asia, is the peace maker. She gets upset at the rough play and tries to distract them with a toy, like another poster said above. It's all in good fun, and the game stops as soon as daddy says enough. I think these kinds of games are fine with boundaries. Same goes for tug games. Very safe and beneficial if the rules are followed.

My husband and Comet play this way as well... thye snort at each other and they both love it. Comet, however, starts with a her woo woos that sounds like chewbacca from Star Wars! She is hysterically vocal! When Comet is done playing she is just all loving on my husband. She loves to put her forehead up to my husbands and she likes to snuggle into his neck...I joke with my husband that she really thinks she's the wife or that they are secret lovers! If for some reason my husband was gone for any length of time, I think that Comet would go into a deep depression... although she loves all of us, she just loves him more than anything!