mouth licking is driving me crazy!
my shiba has stopped attacking my AA puppy of 5 months old and started licking his mouth and ears. excessively. the puppy trys to play and my shiba starts licking and licking and licking pushing into the akitas mouth. it is annoying. why is he doing this? should I stop him? the puppy dont seem to be bothered by it. it just bugs me alot... maybe cuz I dont understand it.
Comments
Bella on other hand she loves licking people's face being boxer it is loud and annoying.
Not sure since Saya doesn't do it.
They're cute together! Glad to see they are getting along.
I don't know your dogs, and I'm sure the initial scuffle where the Shiba punctured your pup was scary and I'm not discounting it, but the muzzle may not be necessary, imo, if they're just playing and it's an accident when the pup yelps. Just temporary break-up and separation for a few seconds.
Don't worry about dominance. It is a misused word even in the behavior community and has proven itself fairly irrelevant. As for your situation, by letting your dogs play and snark a bit you are allowing them to establish their own boundaries. You will get more confident in knowing what is play and when a line is crossed. Obviously don't allow things to escalate too much but a correction can be healthy.
Crispy is totally right that a ten minute time out is very long. By then the pup has no idea for what it is being isolated. Minute tops is all you need.
In Jessica's pics, esp. the second, you can see that the Shikoku is on her back, and actually looks pretty relaxed...it looks like the kind of self-handicapping dogs do in play. (When my Akita plays with my Kai, he often rolls onto his back and lets the Kai get on top of him or stand over him). The eyes are soft too.
My Akita tends to be very quiet but will play growl some. If he "woofs" he's probably not happy and not playing. Silent snarls are also not a good sign with him, so I watch for that. (Since he's a quiet dog, I have to really watch--sound will not always tell me if he is playing or not).
He's really getting in there!