[afh7819]

We have 2 female neutered pups, one a Vizla mix 1.5 years old and the other a lab mix 9 months old. The lab was smaller than the Vizla when we got her and the vet thought they would end up the same size. However the lab is now 2 inches (at least) taller and still growing. She is overpowering our first dog and last night they were in the yard playing and I heard squealing like someone was hurt and ran outside. Somehow the Vizla had the Labs collar wrapped around her bottom teeth and as they wrestled it got tighter and tighter on her jaw and of course it was strangling the lab. I undid the collar and they were both pretty shook up and the vizla had broken the skin on the lab's face. Their playing is getting too rough and I'm not sure how to deal with this while I'm at work. How do you get them to play nice. There seems to be an uneasy truce this morning I don't know what to do.

[CorkyMax]

Not sure what you can do but I wouldn't have their collars on when you are not there---esp all the time you are at work!---Going to give you a link to a thread I started a couple years back in here: Dangers of Dog collars

[cigwyllt]

First of all, if you know they are contained and safe within your yard then remove the collars. Keep them for times when you are away from your property. My older terrier used to wear a harness all the time but I took it off her because the younger one used to grab it and drag her around!

Secondly, are they playing or fighting? I have two terriers and believe me, they play ROUGH! They bite, snarl, growl and roll around on top of each other but when we call a halt they stop. There is no aggression between them, just rough play. If that is what your two are doing you can work on setting limits on them when you are around - give them 5 minutes of rough and tumble outside then call them to you, maybe give them both a treat or a bit of fuss then send them on their way. They may go back to rough housing or they may just mooch around on their own but the point is they are rewarded for stopping when you tell them.

If they are actually fighting then you will need to separate them when they are left until you are satisfied that they are easy and relaxed with each other again.

[Lara's mom]

I could be very wrong but, could this whole business have been accidental? They may have just been fooling around and when the collar became lodged in one dogs mouth, both got frightened.

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by Lara's mom

I could be very wrong but, could this whole business have been accidental? They may have just been fooling around and when the collar became lodged in one dogs mouth, both got frightened.

It does sound like an accident to me.