Rough play

We had arranged a full day out yesterday for my sisters birthday so we arrange for zig to go and stay with our friends and their 2 10 month old staffies misty and zac . He has a blast there and runs in their big garden like a loon . There is lots of rough and tumble and dive bombing and bowling over among the dogs . Can you explain the play invites ? I often see them raise their bum which i know is one of them , watching zig he does alot of neck grabbing (i watch close and can see hes only mouthing ) but the other one that ziggy does which sometimes raises abit of concern is he puts his mouth around the front leg of misty especially when shes lying down and give a gentle play shake, sometimes however he tries to shake abit harder it would seem , i only witnessed her cry out once, so i stepped in and corrected him , is this normal is it not play ? I also notice he throws himself of his back alot when playing which i took as i good sign ? Im trying to keep him socialized with other dogs , he does like to play rough but i havent seen any propper aggresssion but just wanted some pointers on play signs and also what to check for to make sure its not going to far ?
any help would be great especially as we are considering another dog next year . Zig is neutered and just gone 3

Im sorry im not much help with this as Rocky has never showed any signs of mouthing contact with other dogs, not yet at least, however maybe this is his way of telling the other dog 'cumon get up lets play'? Im not too sure though, im sure someone with more advise and knowledge on this will be along soon

Staffords play rough it all sounds normal to me

i grew up with cocker spaniels you see so the dynamic of a staff and indeed the fact staffies play hard is all new to me , so just after pointers to make sure its definitely just play. He is most defiantely more rough with the male than the female and we keep a close eye on the boys as they get quite vocal and rough but when we call them they move away from each other . Its the paw shaking that i worry about the most as if we considered a puppy in the future i would hat for him to damage the pups leg if that makes sense . can i correct him with a firm "NO" when he does this ? i dont want him to stop playing just to stop doing that

yes the leg grab is normal to get the other to play, there are many play invites obviously the play bow is the most well known.

But there will be different ones for the individual dogs. For example harvey headbutts chance, whereas chance punches harvey in the face

Yes, it's all play!

As Ella says, they all act differently (although within certain limits) and you just need to watch the play to make sure that nobody is getting bullied!

it sounds perfectly normal to me   our two 'play bow' to the cats but it's not working, strangely!! between themselves, they pull each other round with their faces and legs - they always have a few scabs round their necks because of this. they are very strong and very rough - don't worry i'd say x

Yes Daisy plays rough too and the noises she makes!!  

Sazzle wrote:Yes Daisy plays rough too and the noises she makes!!  

Haha yes I think I could record these two when they're play fighting and sell it for a soundtrack for a re-make of Jurassic Park  

All sounds normal to me too. If the dog whose leg is being mouthed doesn't object, then there's nothing to worry about.

Another game I would mention is "bite cheeks". My Staff only plays this game with his Patterdale best chum (who is a feisty little git with other dogs) and the Patterdale only plays "bite cheeks" with Kuchar. They trust each other absolutely, which is key otherwise it wouldn't work. They grab hold of each other's cheek with "soft" teeth and pull gently. They both love it, but I know that people passing by have thought that they were fighting to the death!

my two do neck, head, legs, ears and barging and knocking over, this is what i would class as mild half hearted play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1cwNV_cvT4
when they can stretch there legs they can really go for it but are self regulating and when one goes to far a high pitched yelp stops play, they look at each other and then go at it hammer and tonges again. it sounds god awfull to us but they seem okay with it

thanks for your replies guys , i just get worried as it is indeed rough play but they always go back for more . Ziggy and the female lick each other alot and ziggy rolls over infront of them so ive no doubt its play . I just got abit concerned with the whole let grab and head shake , hes made her cry out before when he has done it but like i say they always go back for more . How can i tell when its no longer play and getting more serious ? As silly as that may sound , what signs should i watch out for ?