Play fighting or too rough ?

Hi

Can I ask your opinions on my dogs play fighting. I have Alfie a 7 Month old staff (15kg) and 2 year old lab Sam (30kg).

We have had Alfie a month and he had been in rescue before so no training or anything. They play fight a lot but I'm not sure if I should stop it as Alfie keeps biting the loose skin on Sams neck as they play. Sam yelps but only very occasionally, the rest of the time he seems ok, although he is less keen to play fight than Alfie.

When Alfie starts I think it's when he gets over excited so I have started stopping them and putting Alfie in his bed for a nap. But should I be intervening or letting Sam sort it out? He is much bigger but very placid.

Any advice appreciated, thanks

Staffs have a habit of playing rough, so for some dogs it is too much. If you feel like one dog is getting too over-the-top or one of them is getting annoyed, you can separate them for a bit until they calm down

It certainly sounds like staffy play which can be rough at times. I think separating them when it gets too much works very well. When my Vinny was a pup he used to grab hold of Roxy's skin around the jaw and neck and she would drag him around by it - purely play. But once one had had enough I would separate them until they were both calm again. It tought them that playing too rough will result in us stopping play until they calm down.

Agree with the advice given. They do play rough but if you get concerned or think it's getting out of hand just seperate them for a time

Ok thanks, will keep putting Alfie in bed when it happens.

Have just found out I need to work on food stealing too, he has just nicked my sandwich off the kitchen worktop

Staffies can play very rough and it usually sounds a lot worse than it is, I too would separate them though if it appears to be getting out of hand.

Millyjude8 wrote:Have just found out I need to work on food stealing too, he has just nicked my sandwich off the kitchen worktop

play fighting definitely staffs tend to bite alot in play and hang off each others necks

My girls play fight a lot, it shows up more on Lola as she is white. I just stop them if it gets too noisy

Agree with all the great advice given ^^^^ and I think it not funny st all about your sandwich

All great advice above. As soon as you feel uncomfortable with the behaviour separate them and allow the situation to cool off. Very normal behaviour though .

hi all advice is good. When I got my Kyra, Tilly was petrified of the lil bundle but now they are curled up together, now and again I have to remind Tilly that too rough is not on which I do by voice and they stop but they do hang off each other. And when they yelp they stop automatically.
Nessa

Hi, it seems like it's a Staff - Lab thing. My staff cross boy is 9 months old and is in love with other dogs. But when he meets a labrador (a nice, dopey, peaceful and playful one) he latches onto the skin on the neck and tries to pull the lab on the ground. (If it's a grumpy, dominant lab, they get on just fine.) It looks absolutely scary (especially for the lab's owner) and I need to jump onto Munch and get his mouth open by hand and drag him away. He never hurts them, as soon as there's yelping he'd let go (as he does with his lurcher friend) but labs don't seem to yelp (maybe it's a thick, insensitive skin around the neck). He's a rowdy teenager and I am indeed taking him to a trainer / behaviourist as I don't want an of us to get in trouble because he's a rough player. At the moment I'd let him off the lead with any big and scary and grumpy dog (GSDs are the best playmates) but I'll keep him on when there's a friendly and soft dog around (especially labs - they are just too nice for their own good and Munch takes advantage of it).

Hi ya Surgeonfish, welcome to the forum

When you get a min, pop along to the link below and say hi to everyone:-

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

Hi everyone,
We have 2 staffys female Ellie-May who is 11 months & male Jed who is 6 months. Jed has just joined our family (this is his 3rd family) when we picked him up he was skinny, his fur yuk & missing in places over his body, we got him home & Ellie-May loves him they play well, play chasings but Jed is biting Ellie behind the ears breaking the skin & now I've noticed that Ellie has lumps over her back, legs, neck where Jed has bitten her. Is this normal? & what can i do to stop it.

Thanks
Cassie

Hi ya Cassie, welcome to the Forum

You have to playful kids there so expect some rough and tumble. It's hard to tell from your description so if you get a chance pop a video on here of them doing this.

If both are just doing a bit of rough n tumble you can leave it but if you see it getting out of hand then separate until they calm down. You could also introduce a command like "Enough" and reward when they separate.

Would love to see some pictures sometime too

Staffies are known to play pretty rough heres a link that may help
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t14672-dogs-body-language here is another link you also may find useful. https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t15126-socializing-your-staffordshire-bull-terrier