We received an email from Steph, who was worried about the behaviour of her West Highland Terrier. She writes: "Hi H&C, Please help - I have a two-year-old Westie, whom I have had since he was eight weeks old. Since he was little he has always growled when playing, whether that was playing with us, fetching a ball/stick, or with another dog. He is never vicious, just very vocal. 

"However, we have recently got a new puppy, a Dogue De Bordeux. When the two dogs play, my Westie does his usual thing and growls and now the puppy has started to pick up on it and is doing it as well. She is going to be a big dog and I don't want her growling. Both dogs are socialised all the time and have no problems with other dogs. I just don't want them to growl anymore - do you have any ideas on how I can stop this? "

Dog trainer and behavioural expert Howard Kirby writes:

Your question is an interesting one, but I would not be unduly worried by either your Westie or his playmate, your Dogue De Bordeux. Dogs by their very nature growl to communicate, particularly during play. You tell us that they are well socialised, never vicious and get on well together both with each other and other dogs.

Play between dogs can be incredibly rough and is the way that they learn many skills, such as communication, hunting and bite inhibition, besides the physical and mental stimulation that they get from all the rough and tumble. The one that you might find most interesting is that this play actually teaches the puppy how rough or gentle that they need to be. They learn restraint, or 'bite inhibition' - a term used to describe a puppy’s ability to restrict how hard he bites a fellow playmate before they get cross and it turns into something more serious.

Human siblings play and learn this self control in pretty much the same way, very quickly learning that rough play is great fun unless someone gets too rough. Sometimes however if there is a serious physical or mental gap between two children or puppies the play can develop into dominance and a hierarchy evolves. Again this is normal, however it can encourage serious bullying if left unchecked. This is where parents and experienced dog owners should step in and enforce some pack control. 

The size difference that will develop between your two-year-old Westie and the Dogue De Bordeaux puppy will quite obviously be huge, meaning that the Westie is going to have to be fairly robust to keep the developing puppy at bay. My advice is that you monitor what happens - every puppy should grow up around an older Uncle or Aunty. I think you might be surprised how efficient your Westie is at keeping the puppy in check. To do this the Westie will need to do a lot of growling and give the puppy a really good telling off every now and then.

In conclusion, you will need to keep your eye on things, and providing you are happy with the balance of the play then leave them to enjoy each other's company. Teach your dogs good basic obedience so that you are able to influence their behaviour and, if necessary, intervene with nothing more than a change in your voice tone.

If you are still worried, then I recommend you find an experienced dog professional in your area who'll be able to advise and help you to manage the unlikely couple.

It would be fantastic to hear how things go. If possible, you could send a video clip of their play to webeditor@horseandcountry.tv, as I'd love to see some video of the dogs playing. Good luck.