Little Boy is a very bold puppy, liking nothing better than a good rough-and-tumble with Little Girl. However, he has still to learn self-control and does not like her gentle(-ish) reprimands in the middle of a play session. He has a tendency to lose control when this happens and launch himself at her in fury - all snapping teeth and furious growls. She wisely ignores him, but when he catches her in a tender spot she can leap up, or thrash about in surprise - kicking him halfway across the room with her back legs. She also starts to lose control when he starts mad labbie dashes and joins in, chasing him through the house or around the garden with the result that he usually gets stood on or run over. Furthermore, in the last day or so he has started humping whatever part of her body is convenient when in the middle of an exciting tussle. He has also been growling at us when we interrupt his game by picking him up (for his own safety), or if we interrupt him in the middle of something he is enjoying.
All of these behaviours are related and simply mean that he is becoming over-stimulated and unable to control his level of excitement. At the moment they are a minor irritation, but if I allow them to continue he could become a rather unpleasant adult. For that reason we have instigated a 'Time-out' rule and when he becomes over-stimulated he is gently removed to his crate and the utility room where he can be safely confined away from Little Girl and allowed to unwind and go to sleep. He is happy to go to into his crate with a hide chew as it is not a punishment, but rather about managing his excitement levels.
'Enforcing' sleep periods also stops him becoming grouchy as if he gets over-tired he is not only bad-tempered but cannot manage to get to sleep and throws himself around from position to position, trying to get comfy.
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