What does ‘bitey-face’ play look like between Great Danes?
How can I tell if play is getting too rough?
Does neutering actually help reduce aggression in same-sex pairs?
What ‘bitey-face’ play looks like. When Great Danes play “bitey-face,” they engage in a mix of zoomies and intense wrestling matches where they bare their teeth, joust, and fake growl. Because of their massive size, it often looks like they want to kill each other, and their collisions can sound incredibly loud—like punching meat—but it is usually just harmless fun. During this play, you will see them open their mouths wide and deliver soft, inhibited “play bites” directed mostly at each other’s legs and paws, making sure not to latch onto a single spot for more than a few seconds.
How to tell if the play is getting too rough. Because their play is so boisterous, you must monitor them to ensure it is not spiraling into a fight. You can tell play is getting too rough by watching for the following warning signs:
• A lack of reciprocity: Healthy play involves dogs taking turns being on top and on the bottom. If one dog is always on top while the other repeatedly tries to get away, slink off, or hide under furniture, the play is inappropriate.
• Yelping and hard bites: While occasional brief yelps can happen from clumsy collisions, you should intervene if you observe hard, uninhibited bites or hear yelps that indicate a dog is genuinely scared or in pain.
• Escalating growls: While normal play growls are intense, you should redirect the dogs if their growling begins to escalate by becoming louder and lower-pitched.
• Posturing and mounting: Play may be turning into a status conflict if the dogs spend long periods standing up on their hind legs, or if they engage in relentless mounting, clasping, and placing of their paws, heads, or bodies over the other dog’s shoulders.
How neutering impacts aggression in same-sex pairs. Neutering can help reduce reactivity and aggression in male pairings, but it is not a complete “fix”. In intact males, testosterone facilitates fighting by causing dogs to react more quickly, with greater intensity, and to take much longer to calm down. Castration removes these hormones and has been reported to diminish fighting in approximately 60% of dogs with these problems. However, aggression involves learned behavioral components that do not disappear instantly simply because the hormones are gone. To truly resolve the issue, you must pair the neutering with behavior modification training to teach the dogs how to respond appropriately to one another.
For female pairings, research indicates that female hormones do not play a large role in interdog aggression. While spaying will not necessarily cure aggressive behavior, the mood, appetite, and activity changes a female experiences before and during her heat cycle can certainly exacerbate any mild pre-existing tension between the dogs.