I want to destroy her!

Having spent a fair amount of time around dogs, I feel like I understand some of the things they do. But  if I live with 50 more puppies, I'm not sure I'll ever comprehend why they play the way they do. 

I've watched some more, as Dionne and Ella (5 days younger than Dionne and our houseguest for the weekend) have played throughout the day. A few times, when they've been out in the yard, they've chased each other as fast as they could run. I get that. 

What I don't get is why they think it's fun to act like they want to rip their playmate apart (but not really). Dionne and Ella will grab the other girl's ear and pull her around the room. It looks like it would hurt like hell. Sometimes they grab the other one's thick neck fur and yank on that.

 Or they fence with their teeth....

 ...they jockey for toys... 

...they tackle each other...

...and generally beat each other up.

To our relief, most of the time, all this play has not broken many of CCI's rules. Only occasionally have they growled while attempting to destroy each other.

Ella is something of a humper. 

...so we've had to discourage that.  And sometimes in their wild abandon, they leap up on a piece of furniture, another no-no requiring intervention.

But happily, throughout all this intense activity, Dionne hasn't vomited again. Puppy play must be a tonic.