agression or play?

[2DogOwner]

I have 2 puppies both maltese. One is 9 months female spayed the other is 6months male. The older one from day one jumps all over the little one. The little one never yips or cries out athough the older one growls and nips at his ears the only thing he does is hide under the chair then jump out at the dog when she is not looking. Lately though whenever I prepare food or take a shower the older dog jumps on the younger one and growls.Is this agression or play and what should I do

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi, I have 2 border collie mixes too. The older one (female 5 yrs old) is the one who starts wrestling 90% of time, but the younger one (male 2 yrs old) does start 10% of time. The older one is very talkative and also she growls as she plays.

My question is - is it always the female one who starts attacking? Does the younger one fight back?

I read your posting as my doggies wrestled around quite aggressively. I know they are playing and having a good time but if somebody who doesn't know my doggies see them doing this he might think they are fighting. What you want to look for is a sign of getting hurt (yelping?- I don't know if this is the correct word or not since I am not a native speaker - I mean making noise of being hurt) . Usually, if one dog gets hurt it should tell the other it hurts and the other one stops. My dogs never get to this point but it looks quite vicious.

Another thing you can do is to control their play by stopping every now and then. You can just tell them "You guys that's enough!" and give them toys or treats to distract them. Then, you can tell them to play again by saying "Ok. Now lets play!" by getting them excited. By controlling their play as a daily basis, you will have overall control over your dog behaviors.

Hope this will help