My large dog plays too rough. How to teach him to be gentle?

Question

My dog doesn’t seem to realize when he hurts someone. He’s a large dog (70 lbs) and even though he’s very well behaved, accidents happen. When he gets mouthy, scratches, or runs into us we usually stop playing immediately but this just confuses and upsets him. How do we get through to him that he needs to be more careful? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 70 lbs

Kevin Sanada, DVM · Accepted Answer

This is a tough situation, because the overly rough behavior has a great deal to do with his personality, which is very difficult to fix. You are doing the exactly correct thing in response to his behavior, but you will likely have to continue doing this for a long time until he gets it. The best way to keep him from doing this behavior is to not let him get into the excited/playful state where he starts to scratch and bite too hard. However, that would likely mean that you would have a lot less playtime and likely a different relationship with your dog, which may not be desirable for you. If you want to continue with the training, then keep in mind that you have to stop playing and let Aramis know that he's being bad as soon as he starts the undesirable behavior. You only have three seconds from the time that he does the behavior before he will not associate the punishment with the act. You can try doing hour-long training sessions where you break from playing as long as it takes for him to calm down. Hopefully that will speed up the learning, but again, it's going to take a while and may not be 100% successful. I hope that helps some, but if you need further help, you may consider hiring a dog trainer, or scheduling a consult with a veterinary behaviorist.

My large dog plays too rough. How to teach him to be gentle?

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