Rough play

hi all I have a long leg Staffy called Squid who is now 4.5 months old I have been with him pretty much 24/7 since I got him at 8 weeks, we spet a month or so covering off bite pressure as he didnt have any other puppies to play with and introduced him to hundreds of people, vehicles and other dogs and i have to say he is working out to be a very loving and well balanced dog.

My question is as he sees me as his play mate (as well as the boss) and we dont have any other dogs in the house we play quite hard with toys (and my arms at times) is the rough and tumble ok or should i not be doing that?

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Hello and welcome.

I would say that you need to start as you intend to go on. You cannot allow things from a puppy that you then forbid from the puppy-become-adult. Not only they won’t understand but it’s also very unfair.

I can play hard/intense with my dogs but a very firm rule here is absolutely no biting humans, ever !
Puppies have needle sharp teeth but adult dogs have alot of strength in their jaws. And the dog won’t necessarily understand the circumstances or person they can or cannot bite. I personally think it’s playing with fire but then again, it’s a personal choice that you then need to assume.

You also will need to ensure you have a Stop or some kind of Time Out command to bring the pressure down again.

Hi from me & Katy I completely agree with Nifty's comments. Staffies like nothing better than playing hard & rough! Katy can't get enough of it but when she gets tired or overexcited we use 'enough' & the game is over. Occasionally she will catch us with her teeth but she will know straight away & apologise by giving us a kiss